Driving down, need advice from the pros!

[patman]

I have drove down 5 times from RI. I rent a mini van and leave at 2 AM. I do this to cut out the traffic around NY. We stop in NC about 5 in the afternnon so that the kids can use the pool, and I can hit the sack early, it takes 22 hours of driving from Ma. I stop about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours one a 15 min gas and the other about 45 min for food. If you have kids bring a frisbee to toss so that they can stretch. I also use a tripkit. My wife won't fly and it saves a lot of money.

 

[Dream]

Another family that truly enjoys the drive! "Forced togetherness" is what my DH and I laughingly call it!! We have never travelled with the TV/VCR (until this upcoming trip in 18 days We have always enjoyed books ontape. Harry Potter is just long enough to get us there and back and we have also enjoyed the Narnia series. There are soo many good ones out there and I undrstand you can rent them at Cracker Barrell restaurants and return them at any Cracker Barrell down the road. There is an awesome book called "Travelling with Kids" that is like our trip "bible". Lots of great car games and fun suggestions for getting there with your sanity intact. Even good suggestions for toddlers!
Stopping every couple of hours is a must but we usually keep the stops short. An absolute MUST is stopping at the Florida welcome center and getting a free glass of orange juice! Yummm....I can taste it already!
Snacks and drinks are another must...a small cooler in the car is all it takes. Saves money too. One "kid rule" we have....only water to drink in the car! After one too many sticky/stinky drink accidents it is now the only way to go! Also no chocolate or anything tha will melt onto the car upholstery. We do cheat on the chocolate from time to time but you get the picture.
Another point to remember if you drive...anything you leave in the car will MELT!!! Learned that the hard way. Crayons liquified and now look very interesting on the leather seats of my in-laws car we borrowed for that trip! CDs melted as did a plastic game we left inside the car. When we park at WDW at the resort, we do not take even a small peek at the car until the sad day we leave. Imagine our surprise on that trip! Yuck!
For those of you travelling with young boys...I know when my DS says "I gotta go", he means NOW! Sometimes there is no safe place to stop on the interstate. Sooo....we always travel with a LARGE disposable cup with a strong lid. You fill in the blanks!
So enjoy your drive to WDW!!! The memories will last a lifetime.

 

[Jon99]

When we drive, its just the two of us so its pretty easy... We usually have dinner at home and then hit the road by about 6... I will drive thru the night and Betsy will sleep a quite a bit and we will stop for breakfest once we get thru Atlanta, allowing us to drive thru the Atlanta area around 4 AM, before the traffic hits... After we eat, she will drive for as long as I can sleep... She will get in about 6 hours of sleep, I will get in a couple... Since we don't get to WDW until after lunch, we make it a relaxing day, hang around the pool, perhaps buy some gifts and have a nice dinner... I think even if I am tired, that doesn't last long because of the excitement...

 

[BarbOKW]

We have a 21 hour drive. We get in the car as soon as the kids get home from school and drive straight through with as few stops as possible. The kids sleep for quite a bit of the drive, which makes the drive more relaxing for me. With 4 kids it always seems that one of them is bored and then they start entertaining themselves by bothering one of their siblings. Maybe this is just a problem with my kids, but the more time they spend sleeping the better. Don't get me wrong I'm a driving convert (we used to always fly). But the drive is more relaxing, even with the get there as fast as you can approach.

 

[BarbOKW]

I forgot to mention in my last post. We've only driven once so far, but what we did was go to the pool, the kids can then play at the pool and the parents can rest. My kids can all swim (they are all swim on teams) so I'm not too worried about them at the pool. Then we went to an early dinner at the Hard Rock (we started our last trip at Universal). After dinner we went back to room got everyone ready for bed and watched a movie in bed. Everyone fell asleep early and we were completely ready for the parks the next morning. And the day at the pool was not wasted we all had a lot of fun.

Also if you split the overnight drive with your DH and make a point of sleeping when you're not driving you really get a reasonable amount of sleep. In our family this works better for me then my DH. I can sleep anywhere at almost anytime. He has trouble falling and staying asleep. So I when he was sleeping I didn't wake him even if it was the "planned time" to change drivers. Your drive is a little farther than mine, but it's worth a try at least once.

 

[Minnie's Mate]

One piece of advise...stop for gas BEFORE you cross the Florida State line. Gas taxes in Georgia are way below Fla's and therefore the gass cost less. One good place to stop on I-75 is Exit #18. There are tons of restaurants and motels (Holiday Inn Express, etc.) and a mall. The cheapest gas is at the Super Kmart about 3 or 4 blocks east of the interstate.

Have a safe trip!