Driving long distance - any organizational tips?

[threeboysmom]

We are driving from NH to Orlando. Leaving on a Sat. morning & arriving in Orlando the following morning. Anyways, I am looking to organize my mini-van for this trip. I'm one of those who can't stand clutter & who like everything in its place. How would you organize all the "stuff" that you need to take along, especially with 3 kids? All our luggage will be on top of our van, so I'm looking for ideas for all the "needed" stuff for the actual drive, like books, maps, snacks, gameboys, cassettes, videos, toys, pillows, etc. We have a tv/vcr combo between the 2 front seats so that really cuts down on our floor space. We have a Nissan Quest & there's not a lot of leg room at all for kids to put backpacks down on the floor without being cramped. How do you organize? Do you use tote bags or baskets. I'm thinking about possibly buying some of those over the seat hanging organizers, but they don't seem like they would hold very much.

Any help? Any "organizational queens" out there?

 

[perpetualplanner]

Well my husband just told me "I think too much" about every little thing that can go wrong so here's my advice. I don't have a Nissan I have a Chevy Venture but the back of the front seats have those storage things (like for maps) but gameboys and books would fit in there. I've seen, but never bought, that they now have collapsable "boxes" to put kids toys in that can sit on the seat. I have three seats in the 2nd row and only 2 so it would work for me.

I would try to organize by item:
1. All gameboys and accessories in a bag/container
2. A seperate bag for books
3. more and more bags

If you used soft sided bags you could probably put stuff under the kids seats and in the storage areas on the side rear doors if your van has those.

HTH

We made it to Alabama coast and back no problem like this.

 

[Mickeydad]

We are leaving from CT on Thursday afternoon at 4:30p. We are NOT taking I-95. Instead, we are going I-84 to I-81 in Scranton, PA. I-81 to I-77 to I-26. From I-26 we get on I-95 in Georgia.

We're told this route is better. We'll see.

We've got a Ford Windstar with at TV. So the kids should be ok with videos and their LeapFrog computers.

Good driving!

 

[avcchichester]

WOW!!! Mickeydad!!! We are from upstate New York, and we are traveling the same route, leaving Friday morning at 6:00 am. We plan to drive to Charlotte, NC. and staying overnight. Up the next morning and back on the road.. This is our first time at Disney with our 12 year old daughter. We are sooooooo excited, can't wait!!!! Can;t wait to get out of this weather here in N.Y. Have had freezing rain since last thursday night. WARM WEATHER HER WE COME!!!! Have a save trip, and enjoy your vacation!

 

[tinaluis]

We gave each of our girls a backpack that held their books, crayons, coloring books, etc. Then we had one large heavy duty square plastic bag that held the LeapPad, gameboy, movies for the TV/VCR and any miscellaneous stuff that we kept on the floor in the middle of their two seats. We also had a cooler and small bag of snacks that we placed where we took one of our seats from the van out. Despite our best efforts to keep things organized we always seemed to stumble from a too-full van when we stopped for bathroom or gas breaks and my poor DH was always trying to organize it better, to no avail. It's only that way for the trip down and you can clean things up when you get there and remove some of the stuff. Good luck!

 

[Robert P]

Okay, I'll throw in here:

Just an FYI - after you get on I-26 in SC heading East, you are still well in SC when you get on I-95 South. p.s. The state of Georgia has changed it's name recently to 'Work Zone Ahead', so be alert for changes in speed limits and the accompanying law enforcement personnel.
I have a somewhat detailed list of the mileage and exit likes/dislikes for much of that drive, especially the @ 600 miles from Statesville, NC on down. I won't tie up alot of time with that on the board. If you are interested, send me a PM.

Have a safe trip.

 

[natt]

We are driving in August. My DD8 already has seriously planned ALL of the things she's taking for the car. I keep reminding her that we will have alot of things, and that most of her stuff needs to stay around her legs!

She's come up with the solution that "her bag" can be in the gap between the seat and the sliding door, and she will make sure it's out of the way before she opens the door! She just makes me giggle how excited she is for this trip, especially the car ride!

 

[bobcat]

No help here. Minivan + kids+ long drive=messy car. There are only three of us and the van still ends up a huge mess after 1000 miles. I have a basket that I set on the passenger seat with anything I might need while driving (map, sunglasses, tylenol, cds, books on tape, pencil and paper, passporter, small snack, extra batteries for the kids) so it is fairly easy to find. The kids each have a fold down desk that straps to the back of the seat and they each take a back pack for any of their stuff. DD keeps her area fairly neat while DS looks like a tornado hit. I'm somewhere in between. LOL

 

[momof2sons]

We have traveled serveral times to WDW. We drive a Honda Oddessy. I have found that if I give each of our three their own tote (the ones with a handle on the top cost around $4) and tell them to pack what they want to entertain them self for the car trip there is less cluter on the floor and less nose from bag rattling. I also have a small tote for DVD's up front with me (that way the don't get scratched or broken). We also take the u-shapped neck pillows for car use and the fleece little wt throws (got the throws for $2 around christmas). We do take our fullsize pillows but place them in the very back and get them out as we want them. We also take a med. size cooler and have our lunch on the road. I also pack a backpac with just snackes for on the road and while we are at WDW. (We save around 2 to 3 hr drive time if we eat our own pack lunches) Our 1007 mile trip down in 13 1/2 hr last year(our record) but it took us 20hrs to get home thanks to road construction. We only stopped if we need gas. With the DVD player our kids didn't ask to stop. Hope this helps.

PS I do help a little in packing our yougest DS5 tote. But the other 2 are teens and quite capable to selected their own. Remember to get extra batteries for all the games. This can be exspensive if bought on the road at gas stations.