Driving from Texas

[DYOBL0305]

We'll be driving to DW from south Texas with 3 kids ages 6 and under....someone please tell me we're not crazy for doing this!!!! lol

As a kid my parents drove us to DW many many times, I remember sleeping A LOT on the way to and back, they don't remember it being a hassle, but then again we were pretty used to traveling so we knew the routine. My girls are pretty good on trips, the last (long) trip we took was in December, about 16 hrs long, and they did really well. Of course, my youngest was 5 months and would sleep a lot then, she doesn't do so well now so that's one concern. The other is trying to figure out what time to leave at and where to stop at. It's about 19 1/2 hrs to Orlando from here, DH and I originally thought about leaving around 1 am, this way our girls sleep for most of the trip, driving halfway & stopping at Slidell for the night, before continuing on the next morning to our destination. Of course the next day we'd be leaving in the morning, which we think might be hard on our girls since they'll be tired from the drive the day before, not wanting to sleep, and definitely not in the mood to be back in the car for another 10 hrs. Soooo we're now thinking of leaving a little earlier, around 10pm and driving further to Tallahassee instead, this way we only have 4 hrs of driving the next day, which, we hope, will make that 2nd day much easier on EVERYONE.

How does everyone else do it? For those of you that drive, especially those with little ones, what do you think are the best times to head out on the road? Any suggestions or tips will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Kirby]

It's been awhile since I've had little ones but we found that having the DVD players in the car so the kids could watch movies was a life saver. Plus stopping every so many hours and letting them run around to burn off energy. Plenty of snacks and other activities like coloring books was good too. We always left about 4:30 am and stopped in Tallahassee.

 

[DYOBL0305]

We're bringing as much as possible to keep them entertained, dvd's, coloring books, reading books, leapfrog/games, snacks. Our youngest is teething so lots of teething toys and snacks for her. Hoping all of this will be enough, it worked really well in December but she's much older now and babies are so unpredictable, praying she surprises us again lol

 

[Kirby]

I know that this wouldn't work for your kids yet but when our kids got older we made a rule that for every time they argued they had to sit in silence for 15 minutes, nothing to do but stare out the window, no movies, no toys, nothing. We never had a problem after that.

 

[Oodalally13]

We just drove from south Texas June 21-29. Although none of us are kids or have kids, maybe it will help. We left at 11am on Friday and drove to a small place around lake Charles (it was a casino hotel and very nice). This was a surprise part of our trip as we were planning on getting up at 5 am Saturday and driving straight to Biloxi for our first night. So Saturday we woke up and left around 10 am an dent to Biloxi. Then Sunday morning we left Biloxi around 7 am and made it to disney pop century around 4:30. On the day we checked out of our disney resort, we ended up going to universal studios for the day and staying in Gainesville that's night. The next day we drove to and stayed in Baton Rouge. Then we just drove home the next day. I have a friend that drove this summer with 3 boys (9, 7, 5) I believe. They went home to mobile for one day and then mobile to disney resort. I know he has the mounted DVD player in his vehicle. Do you maybe have that or a portable DVD player or tablet loaded with kids shows? Also some toys maybe or road bingo games. I've also read on Pinterest where parents have bought cheap disney items at dollar tree/walmart/ etc and wrapped them and if kids behaved for x amount of time they got a reward or stopped for ice cream or something like that. Depending on how much driving you plan on doing and how much stop time I would allow stop and play/explore time if they get antsy. If you go through Biloxi, detour off of I-10 and go by the beach. You can pull up right beside it and run in the sand for 30 minutes or picnic there for a meal. I remember doing that a lot as a kid. We would take food or get some somewhere and then find someplace neat to stop and eat and stretch for a bit. If you have any questions about places along the way, hotels, etc feel free to pm me. I've only driven to disney once, but I've beeneast as far as Pensacola a few times recently.

 

[DYOBL0305]

I know that this wouldn't work for your kids yet but when our kids got older we made a rule that for every time they argued they had to sit in silence for 15 minutes, nothing to do but stare out the window, no movies, no toys, nothing. We never had a problem after that.

LOL Love that idea! Will have to remember that for when they're older

We just drove from south Texas June 21-29. Although none of us are kids or have kids, maybe it will help. We left at 11am on Friday and drove to a small place around lake Charles (it was a casino hotel and very nice). This was a surprise part of our trip as we were planning on getting up at 5 am Saturday and driving straight to Biloxi for our first night. So Saturday we woke up and left around 10 am an dent to Biloxi. Then Sunday morning we left Biloxi around 7 am and made it to disney pop century around 4:30. On the day we checked out of our disney resort, we ended up going to universal studios for the day and staying in Gainesville that's night. The next day we drove to and stayed in Baton Rouge. Then we just drove home the next day. I have a friend that drove this summer with 3 boys (9, 7, 5) I believe. They went home to mobile for one day and then mobile to disney resort. I know he has the mounted DVD player in his vehicle. Do you maybe have that or a portable DVD player or tablet loaded with kids shows? Also some toys maybe or road bingo games. I've also read on Pinterest where parents have bought cheap disney items at dollar tree/walmart/ etc and wrapped them and if kids behaved for x amount of time they got a reward or stopped for ice cream or something like that. Depending on how much driving you plan on doing and how much stop time I would allow stop and play/explore time if they get antsy. If you go through Biloxi, detour off of I-10 and go by the beach. You can pull up right beside it and run in the sand for 30 minutes or picnic there for a meal. I remember doing that a lot as a kid. We would take food or get some somewhere and then find someplace neat to stop and eat and stretch for a bit. If you have any questions about places along the way, hotels, etc feel free to pm me. I've only driven to disney once, but I've beeneast as far as Pensacola a few times recently.

Lots of great ideas, thank you!!

 

[wdwjeffc37]

When we drive from South Louisiana we always plan it so that we stop in Gainesville, FL. That way we sleep as long as we can, have a nice breakfast, and a short drive to WDW. We are always fresh and rested and ready to go to the parks for the afternoon. We have two kids and they mostly slept on the first day. We would leave early in the morning and drive about 10-11 hours. Driving can be a lot of fun or a nightmare. My advice is if the kids get too cranky, stop and get everyone out of the car. A short 15-20 minute break will do wonders for all and won't kill your schedule even if you have to do it a couple of times. Have fun!

 

[StitchBuddy]

We use to take lots of long trips when out daughter starting when she was 6 months old. ink your idea of driving during the night is a good one, we neve that, but I know lots of people who have. The one thing we always did was stoat McDonalds or somewhere simialar once she statred walking. We would take our time eating and let her play until we were ready to get back on the road. This way she got rid of bottled up energy. Right before we were ready to get on the road again I ordered her food to eat in the car. We never had movies or anything for her to watch. She played with her stuff animals. I also took pipe cleaners one time for her to make things. That was a huge hit. Good luck!!

 

[Jrpbabe2003]

We are driving from Houston in a little less than 2 months! We have a 2.5 year old and was wondering if there are any must do places to stop and let her play, like a great fast food play place

 

[Airship Ariadne]

We have made the drive twice now and here is our plans for the third trip:

Day 1, take the day off work, pack and load, when DD gets out of school and gets home at 4pm we hit the road...we drive from home (north of Austin) to Beaumont that evening...stay with family overnight.

Day 2, wake up and hit the road at 6 am...first stop is the Rest Center in the middle of the long bridge on I10 over the swamp...there is a nice little exhibit area about the swamp the kids might enough looking at...this is also about time for our morning leg stretching...DD always says hello to the cat she swears remembers her each time, he or she is ALWAYS wandering around just outside the entrance...then off to try to get lunch once we get into Mississippi...we have made it as far as Live Oak Florida on that drive Day 2, but are stopping in Tallahassee this time as it is a little less of a strain on me. We always stop across each state line to hit the welcome center for rest rooms.

Day 3...straight on to WDW, no stops.

We tend to get audio books that we all would enjoy (have done the Harry Potter books, etc.) but now she is a teenager, she prefers to listen to her own music on her iphone, so DW and I can listen to what we want...portable DVD player is also made use of if she gets tired of music...she also sleeps alot.

If they play car games, and try to include me I get grumpy...sorry, I just prefer to pay attention to driving without trying to guess what someone's little eye spied several miles back.

 

[ericstac]

We leave from Houston about 3pm and drive straight through pulling up about 6am. Check in, then head to rope drop and play at MK until about 2-3pm then head back to the resort for a nap then dinner and pool..

Check out we try to leave at 8am and arrive home by 10-11pm.

Ds12,ds10,ds5. They do great. We pack a ton of snacks, iPads, games, games etc.. They get on each other's nerves occassionally but for the most part they are good until it's bedtime then they really annoy each other lol..

 

[SkubaDis]

Ok. So I need an opinion. There are 8 of us, 4 Adults, 2 - 7 year olds, and 2- 2 year olds. We are renting a 12 passenger van. And we are going the week before Thanksgiving.

We are driving from DFW, and plan on leaving at 8pm on Friday night, driving straight thru the night only stopping ever 4 hours for potty, gas, and switching drivers.

Then about 8am (FL time), stopping for breakfast, and letting the kids get out and run around, and piling back in after about 1.5 hours.

At 12:30 stopping in Tallahassee for lunch, gas, running around for another 1.5 hours.

Stopping at 4 to break, and potty.

And finally checking in at 6:30pm at a hotel near WDW, eating dinner and swimming and resting. This way the next morning, we can wake up, eat breakfast, and take our time to get to AoA, and have pretty much all day to explore the resort, and do DTD for dinner that night.

We will have dvd players x4 for the kids, and all the disney movies. I have also purchased little things for them to play with each hour that they are awake. We will have pillows, blankets, snacks, ipads, books, games. Pretty much everything I've seen on pinterest to do! lol.

There will be 4 drivers, alternating driving, and no one will be driving more than 4 hours at a time. Does this seem reasonable? I am anticipating the children sleeping most of the night, although the first 4 hours will be pure excitement, because we will have just sprung the trip on them.

I want to get there ASAP to get the magic started. What does everyone think? I just don't want to spend two days driving! Have I lost my mind? My husband seems to think so.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Just wondering-what do you mean by "south Texas"? I've seen mention of South Texas and I've seen mention of Houston. I can understand it being 19 1/2 hours from Houston, but we live in south Texas (the Rio Grande Valley) and I thought it was at least 24 hours from here. We've never driven to WDW-DH was working, and we just didn't have the time to drive. But now that DH's retired, we're considering it. Can someone tell me whether the 24 hours or 19 hours is more accurate from here?

 

[ericstac]

Just wondering-what do you mean by "south Texas"? I've seen mention of South Texas and I've seen mention of Houston. I can understand it being 19 1/2 hours from Houston, but we live in south Texas (the Rio Grande Valley) and I thought it was at least 24 hours from here. We've never driven to WDW-DH was working, and we just didn't have the time to drive. But now that DH's retired, we're considering it. Can someone tell me whether the 24 hours or 19 hours is more accurate from here?

I guess that depends on how fast you drive lol

It takes me 6 hrs to get to Brownsville from Sugar Land (SW Houston)
It takes me 14 hours to get to the check in counter at a WDW resort.

This is driving 80-90mph roughly following the flow of traffic, stopping for fuel, restroom breaks, and a quick meal.