CRAZY? Driving with 4yo and 22mo

[LovePug]

I just returned home from the drive from NEPA to WDW with my 1 year old. I actually paced the drive so it took 2 overnights on the way (I know most people can't take so many days for travel) because I didn't know how my son would handle the drive. I knew I couldn't do the whole drive straight through because I'm the only driver. I thought about driving at night, but then knew he'd never let me sleep when we got to our stop. The first 2 days were awful. It took until the 3rd day down to figure out a good routine for him. I started after breakfast and before his nap. He'd fall asleep for a couple of hours and I'd stop for lunch and get him out of the car for a break. After he was back in the car, pop a DVD into the player, then nap. By the time he was waking up again, we were arriving at our destination. The trip back was a breeze. Probably partly my figuring out what would work for him and partly him figuring out that he was in for a long drive and he needed to chill out.

I know your kids are older and, hopefully, it'll be easier for you. Just be ready if you need to adjust your plans...Do you have a DVD player for your car?

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

On our 2003 trip, we drove w/ our 4 yr. old & 18 mos. old DDs. We don't do the night thing. It's about 21-22 hours for us. We left late afternoon on a Friday, drove 4 yrs & stopped to visit family for dinner then went on another 2-3 hours. We did a good chunk of our driving on the 2nd day. Things that helped us .... movies in the van and we stopped in TN to have a picnic lunch & do a tourist activity.

The trip back went okay the 1st day but the 2nd day was tough.

We don't do the night thing ... used to ... but just can't do it anymore.

We are going in April and will be driving. Thankfully, the girls will be almost 6 & almost 9. Planning on movies and doing some "tourist" activities along the way to help break the trip up.

 

[MALE*RN*777]

That will be the ages of the two younger girls on our next trip next year to Disney. We drove through the night last year with the boy 7 and the girl 2 at that time. I worked great and we made it there only about 2-3 hours after the others but they spent $800 plus more on airfare and driving to the airport and parking and renting a car. I rather use my money for the fun stuff.

 

[spalady]

We drove from Pittsburgh last year and it wasn't bad at all (of course my children are older than yours 15&12) All people kept saying was your crazy driving to Disney but we did it anyways and will do it again this August. I like the freedom of having our own car and stopping when we want plus it was a great time to spend in the car without the tv, computer or cell phones always ringing.

 

[auntie]

I agree...my husband and I will be visiting this August ourselves..since now the babies we used to travel with are 16 and 20! We still like to drive. Although the kids..want NO part of that. They got used to flying..which is what we've done our last few trips. If we drive they don't want to go..and THAT is exactly why will want to drive!

 

[wen774]

We always drive from outside of Pittsburgh. Our kids are really good in the car(they are 5 and 7 now). We get an early start the first day, around 6 and drive through to Georgia...stop for dinner and stay for the night. We usually arrive at Disney around lunchtime the next day. Ever since I had kids I get panic attacks on the plane, so Im nervous about flying to begin with. We were actually considering flying this year since the smaller local airport near our house just started flying direct to Orlando, and they have free longterm parking, but we cant justify the price. For the money we save driving we can stay an extra night at Disney!

 

[3mickeymom]

I would just like to add that I suggest bringing a sleep mask and ear plugs for the person who is trying to rest before their driving shift. It makes it easier to grab a nap and not have to deal with bright gas station lights or movie sound effects from the DVD player. Coming home is harder than driving to Disney. The anticipation for your trip is no longer keeping you energized, so pace yourself and you'll do fine. I love the forced togetherness of car rides with my family. We have made lots of happy memories driving together in our car. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[DVCJones]

I don't think you are crazy....

We do the ride every year from MA. Last year my kids were the same age as yours. We left at 5pm on a Thursday( bad weather) and got as far as Wilkes Barre (sp?) spent the night in a nice hotel that had a great breakfast in the morning. We were on the road again by 7:30am and drove the whole day until 11pm. We stopped for a quick lunch and dinner and got to the Florida border. We stayed in another nice hotel that served a nice "extended breakfast". We were at our resort by 11am. Well rested and ready for lunch.

A DVD player is a must. I brought their favorites and two new ones that htey didn't know about. I also made sure I lots of snacks/drinks and things for the kids to do. (magna doodle, stickers and paper, etc.)

One other very important thing...( that hasn't been mentioned yet) That I cannot stress enough....bring a little potty. Yes I said a potty. Some of those rest area/ gas station restrooms are NASTY. I just couldn't/ wouldn't put my girls on the toilets. They haven't mastered the art of hovering yet.

Good luck

 

[hmacmahony]

We drive everywhere, we have done it to disney three times. The first time the kids were 10 weeks, almost two and almost three. My kids are great in the car, and look forward to the trip. We have a DVD player, but it honestly does not get turned on until it is dark out. THe first time we left at night, which was fine, but we went with another family and caravaned, which made it easier. The second and third times we left around 3 in the morning. My kids went back to sleep and we drove until we needed gas (we are in new jersey), and then ate breakfast, last time we packed lunch, and stopped and let them play outside while we ate. That was great, hope to do that again, it burned lots of energy. We drove until we got to the florida border, and stopped right outside of jacksonville (all three times), then got up late the next day, and got to disney right at three for check in. (that last day the drive is only a few hours).
We will hopefully be doing it again this august, with a one year old, almost 4 year old, almost 6 year old and almost 7 year old.
We always bring (laugh if you must), post it notes, bubble wrap, scotch tape, pipe cleaners, and coloring things....hours and hours of fun for my kids with just those things!! We learned the hard way, NO SILLY PUDDY!! It fell down under my one daughters butt, and got stuck to her and the carseat, not a pretty sight...
Good luck, make it an adventure!

 

[belle92471]

Wow, it seems like we're not so crazy after all. Thank you all for your help. I am now looking forward to our Disney driving adventure. Now we just have to wait another 181 days! (at least with the kids - we have a couple only trip planned for May - which I'm nervous about as well. 1st time ever away from the kids except for a nite out for dinner and a movie here and there!) Any advice here as well??

ME(36)DH(39)DD(4)DS(1)

 

[belle92471]

DvcJones thanks for the tip about the potty. My DH actually mentioned bringing one. Sounds great to me! Which DVC do you go to? We own at SSR but are staying at BCV this time around. Looking forward to it.

ME(36)DH(39)DD(4)DS(1)

 

[Grendalynn]

I don't think you are crazy....

....One other very important thing...( that hasn't been mentioned yet) That I cannot stress enough....bring a little potty. Yes I said a potty. Some of those rest area/ gas station restrooms are NASTY. I just couldn't/ wouldn't put my girls on the toilets. They haven't mastered the art of hovering yet.

Good luck

I can SOO TOTALLY relate to this post!! When I was little we always drove to FL from NH. I have 4 sisters, add 2 parents, and it was just too much to fly every vacation week. So we always drove. And with 5 girls, someone ALAWYS had to go! So my parents bought a porta-potty! We made great time not having to stop. And yes,the gas sations bathroom are NASTY! I have boys, so we do the Gatorade bottle trick (AKA thunder jugs). Unless its an emergency #2, the boys are really good.

...We will hopefully be doing it again this august, with a one year old, almost 4 year old, almost 6 year old and almost 7 year old.
We always bring (laugh if you must), post it notes, bubble wrap, scotch tape, pipe cleaners, and coloring things....hours and hours of fun for my kids with just those things!! We learned the hard way, NO SILLY PUDDY!! It fell down under my one daughters butt, and got stuck to her and the carseat, not a pretty sight...
Good luck, make it an adventure!

I agree NO SILlY PUTTY! DS8 fell asleep with it in his bed once, and what a mess!! I had to throw sheets, pillow cases, & jammies away! can only imagine what your car look like wth all those craft supplies: pipe cleaners, post it, .... here is a funny story! One time when we were driving to Florida wen we were kids, our van was broken into wen we stopped in Delaware for the Night. They stole the radio and started to try to strip it, or so the police thought. The cop said to my dad, "Geeze Sir, I am sorry to tell you that you Van has been broken into and vadelized.They got the radio and Man, did they ransack your van looking for other valuables!!" My dad just played along and shook his head! Little did they know that traveling with 5 kids from ages 15 -2, we had made a helluva mess!! Barbies, books,crayons, homework, you name it!! So funny!! We still get a good laugh out of that story to this day!!

 

[ljmetro]

I didn't read through all of the responses, so sorry if this was already mentioned. But when my kids were younger, they would get car sick during drives longer than say 4 hours. I would have to make sure I had the carseat covered or at least had an additional cover I could use. And kept a couple bags, towels and extra clothes available.

I am not sure about your youngest, but the older one should be able to take a little dramamine (sp?) if this happens (check w/pediatrician). And we had to stay away from greasy/fried foods and eat light.

When we traveled, I had a bunch of little dollarstore items for when they were awake, and would let them pick something every once in a while. It was not as bad as I thought. I think it is worse now that they are older, they pick on each other in the car and stay up longer.

 

[DVCJones]

DvcJones thanks for the tip about the potty. My DH actually mentioned bringing one. Sounds great to me! Which DVC do you go to? We own at SSR but are staying at BCV this time around. Looking forward to it.

ME(36)DH(39)DD(4)DS(1)

We own at SSR. This is our first time staying at SSR. In the past we have stayed at BWV and OKW. I want to try them all

 

[DVCJones]

Wow, it seems like we're not so crazy after all. Thank you all for your help. I am now looking forward to our Disney driving adventure. Now we just have to wait another 181 days! (at least with the kids - we have a couple only trip planned for May - which I'm nervous about as well. 1st time ever away from the kids except for a nite out for dinner and a movie here and there!) Any advice here as well??

ME(36)DH(39)DD(4)DS(1)

Haven't done that yet either. I dream of the day, but don't see it happening in the near future. Good luck with that and enjoy!!!!

 

[DevilDuckie]

Driving will actually be easier than flying. We live a 7 hour drive from DL and it's a 1 hour flight. HOWEVER, when you factor in driving to the airport, checking in, security, boarding, doing it all again at the other end... it takes the same amount of time and everyone is stressed out. You cannot have little ones sleep the entire time if you fly like you can driving.

 

[bartleby1]

You're not crazy at all! We've been driving from North Jersey since my oldest was 18 months old and have gone every year except for one since then. We now have 3 kids who are 8yr, 5yr, and 3yr. They've done great at all ages. We drove straight through the first time and NEVER again. As some others have stated, we were exhausted and she was raring to go! Now we stop overnight in South Carolina. We do like to leave around 4 am, that way, the kids are excited to be going and have had enough sleep to not be too cranky, but they are still tired enough to take a nice long nap in the car. We flew one year and I hated it. My little one got some kind of stomach bug on the flight home and threw up all over me and it was after the seatbelt lights were already on so we couldn't get up. Horrible.

Now, if you want to hear crazy, my parents drove from NJ to CALIFORNIA with my sister and I, TWICE! First trip we were 3yr and 5yr and the second trip we were 5yr and 7yr. That is crazy, lol!

 

[bigbabyblues]

We've driven from Ohio to WDW twice. The first time, our boys were 4 and 2. The second time they were 6 and almost 4.

The second time, we left here about kindergarten graduation (8:00 p.m., give or take) and drove straight through.

We were tired when we arrived, and the boys were ready to go. However, the excitement kept us going! DH did all of the driving (14+ hours), because I ended up with a migraine about 4 hours into the trip. If I would have been able to drive, he would have been fine with a little bit of sleep. It helped that he was used to working midnight shift also. The worst part was from about 3 a.m. until 5:30 or so for him. We stopped often at rest areas, and he got out to walk around, get coffee, etc. We had agreed ahead of time that we would stop if he needed to for a few hours, but he didn't.

We're going to do it again at Thanksgiving this year, but we'll leave earlier in the evening.

 

[lauracjc]

We drove from Pgh PA when DD was just shy of 3 and other DD 18mo. We took lots of things to keep them entertained coloring books, lacing cards, doodle pads, snacks etc. But the best was the portable DVD player. We have one with 2 screens so it worked out great. The only thing I can say is expect it to take a bit longer than it normally would. The stops are more frequent and longer. While I could just run into a rest area for a quick potty break and get back on the road, with the little ones every stop was a new adventure to run around and explore. We left in the morning and planned a stop over night. Overall the trip was great and we would do it again however, on our next trip in May we are taking the auto train. We always like a new adventure.