Driving or flying with a toddler

[DisneyElite4]

We were originally planning to fly on our trip this December, but now we are planning to sell our home and move this year, and it would be better for us financially if we could drive. There are no direct flights from our city, and I refuse to do layovers with a little one, so we would have had to drive a couple of hours anyway to get a direct flight. The drive will be a total of 20 hours, broken up between two days.

My DS will be 13/14 months at the time. Obviously I have no idea how he will do in the car - he has already been on one long car trip at 2 months old, and did great. I would really, really like to save the money, but need some help figuring out the best way to do this.

What say you, experienced DISer parents? Give this new mom some advice! Drive or fly? If we drive, do we leave at his regular bedtime and let him sleep most of the way? Or just stock him up with movies and toys and drive during daylight? This is hard for me because DS is barely 4 months old now, and he pretty much just sleeps, cries or looks around outside when riding in the car right now.

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

We drove. We always will. DH refuses to fly with how expensive it is! Our first trip DS was 13.5 mos and DD was 2 weeks shy of turning 4. We live in St. Louis so it took around 17/18 hrs. We left early in the morning, stopped after about 6/7 hrs for an early dinner and to stretch our legs, drove till around 10 and finally had to stop for the night. The next morning we were only 4 hrs away from Orlando. On the way back we drove straight through...got home around 4:30 am. We have a DVD player in my car so that helped a lot. We also got each one of the kids a tray thing that straps over their laps so they could color or play games. We also brought a cooler with drinks, lunchables, and snacks.

 

[MSSANDRA]

That is a tough one. At that age he really really should still be rear facing so a DVD player might not be a great plan. If you do decide to drive, I would plan to have someone beside him for a lot of the trip. His car personality can change soooo much between now and then. He will be walking and wanting to get down and move a LOT. Also don't forget to figure in 4 days of travel cost when you compare flight cost. I would bite the bullet and fly but that is just me. My little guy is a six and a GREAT traveler but 20 hours is a long time. I know this sounds crazy but around a year is when a lot of changes start to take place. One of those is taking off the bottle if you are not still nursing. I found having a bottle when my guys were little and we were traveling and away from home soooo comforting and I held off taking each of them off the bottles till after some trips we had planned. One was closer to two but the same idea applies. It is also much easier to nurse or have powder formula than whole milk when traveling too.

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

Oh DS was still RF when we drove. I forgot about that. My mom also sat in between the kids. They still played movies and DS had one of those mirrors facing him so he could see the movie, somewhat. Every child is different but my kids are totally used to being in the car. We of course stopped to get gas, have a diaper change/potty break probably every 3 hrs unless needed before then!

 

[DisneyElite4]

Thanks for the responses so far!

1. He will still be RF. We are definitely not planning on turning him around early for this trip. We have iPads and portable DVD players, so we were thinking we would just attach those to the headrest so he can watch a movie.
2. We have a free place to stay at the halfway point between our house and Orlando. We've done the math with the cost of gas vs. flying, and driving works out to be much, much cheaper.

With that said, you're right, we have no idea what kind of traveler he will be in December, whether we drive or fly. We were planning on renting a car anyway in Orlando because we are making a side trip to visit family, so having the car and his regular car seat would be nice. It would also allow us to bring more groceries and things he might need than if we were flying.

Most of our family doesn't live close to us, so by December DS should already be experienced in longer car rides because we will be making a lot of road trips this summer. Starting in May, he will be on a car trip between 3-9 hours every month of the summer, so that should give us a gauge of how he will do. However, I want to buy airfare now if we are flying to snag the best deal, not wait to see how our car rides go this summer.

 

[QueenQueso]

I took DS2 on a 6 hour car trip at Thanksgiving, he was 12 1/2 months. He did really well, we left early in the morning and we drove almost halfway before we stopped for the first time. Being so little, he was still taking bottles and twice daily naps, so we made sure to be driving during his morning nap and he had his breakfast in bottle-form. My DS1 I took to Florida just after he turned 2, so that was a much longer trip since we live in Indiana. I drove and my sister would move back and forth between the front and back seat when he needed entertained or whatever. He was forward facing by then and not pottytrained yet so it was also pretty easy. We stopped every two hours or so to get out of the seat, try to potty (or change diapers) and eat, and we had snacks in the car.

Both times we left first thing in the morning and drove straight through because that's what my dad has always liked doing and most of our trips are family vacations. My friend though prefers to leave in the evening and drive through the night so that her kids sleep through most of the trip. They go on a lot of cruises so they schedule it so they get down there at a good time to put there car into a long-term parking lot and board the ship. I don't really like that because you don't sleep well in the car and the one time I had to do it I was crabby and so was DS.

 

[mm1971]

We were originally planning to fly on our trip this December, but now we are planning to sell our home and move this year, and it would be better for us financially if we could drive. There are no direct flights from our city, and I refuse to do layovers with a little one, so we would have had to drive a couple of hours anyway to get a direct flight. The drive will be a total of 20 hours, broken up between two days.

My DS will be 13/14 months at the time. Obviously I have no idea how he will do in the car - he has already been on one long car trip at 2 months old, and did great. I would really, really like to save the money, but need some help figuring out the best way to do this.

What say you, experienced DISer parents? Give this new mom some advice! Drive or fly? If we drive, do we leave at his regular bedtime and let him sleep most of the way? Or just stock him up with movies and toys and drive during daylight? This is hard for me because DS is barely 4 months old now, and he pretty much just sleeps, cries or looks around outside when riding in the car right now.

I would try to drive by planning traffic routes and go when there is the least amount of traffic. Rural areas during commute times and busy/city at night or off hours as much as possible. I know you are concerned about your son and how he will do, but nothing is worse than a 20 hour drive becoming 28 hours due to traffic.

For example, I need to take the NJ turnpike. One time we hit the traffic and basically sat still for 10-20 minutes at a time. It took 3.5 hours to drive what should have taken 20 minutes. Map out your route and check the traffic patterns.

 

[Tropics]

So much will depend on how your LO does in the car and so many things can change between now and when you plan on taking your trip. DD used to be a great car traveller when she was your LO's age. Now at 12 mo she can't stand being in the car for 1 hr and after that she will wail non-stop (literally non-stop... she cried for the entire drive from Orlando to Tampa two weeks ago). We just came back from WDW and flew non-direct (only 1 stopover). It worked out very well to have a non-direct flight as the two legs were no more than 2 hrs each and the break in between gave her time to run around and expend energy (so that she would sleep on the plane). For my DD I would definitely not take a 20hr drive and found that doing a non-direct flight worked out really well for us. The trick with the flights was to make sure that there was enough time in between the two flights so that she could run around before we got her on the next plane.

 

[jennylyn_b]

I would not drive with a little one that young for that distance but we fly with our DD and its easier for us. Is there anyway you could consider leaving after their bedtime? If you get them in the car and they sleep the night through you and your other half can take turns and get about eight hours into your trip before they wake up! That would make it much easier for the little one as he won't know he's been confined so long already. Just an idea!

 

[RachaelA]

We drove in October when DD was 11 1/2 months. We're driving again in May when she's 18 months and again in September when she's 22 months. Its a 17 hour drive with stops, but we break it up into 14-15 the first day and 2-3 the last day.

DD is still RFing and will be until probably 3 years old. The DVD player hooks to the headrest. The only issue is that she can kick it if she wants so just keep an eye out of the that.

Honestly, the trip was super easy (hence why we are doing it two more times in less than a year!). We hate spending the money to fly especially because we always rent a car anyways when we are at Disney because we hate Disney transportation (unless we are staying at BLT and walk/use the monorail).

 

[mommy2jack]

We fly, everytime. If we were to drive it would be about a 16 hour drive. I love my kids... but at this age I don't want to be locked in a car with them for that long!! When my DS was 13 months we made our first trip to WDW. We flew. We had gone on a 5 hour car trip several months before and DS was good for 4 hours than complained the entire last hour... nearly lost my mind! Had no problems flying though. My DD has NEVER been good in cars, not even for short rides. So when we went to WDW last year (DD was 14 months) there was no way we were even going to consider driving. The 2 hour plane with my bouncing DD was enough! This year my kids will be 4 and 2... they could probably handle a car ride, but DS excessive 'are we there yet' would drive me nuts and DD still has the ability to complain for long periods (little DIVA). So we are flying again.

It all depends on your DS though.

 

[Kae]

Can I ask what is the difference between driving 20 hours & a layover? We couldn't get direct flights from the closest airport. We did lots of flying when the kids were young with them. Never had a problem.

Kae

 

[SweetMissy]

We flew last year with our baby, he was 4 months at the time. This year, to save money (almost $1,000 to be exact), we're driving. We drove the year before last....it took 2 days because we stopped overnight but this time we're going to drive straight through. Driving wasn't that bad....the kids were surprisingly good (we only had 2 at that time though), it just sucks because it takes so long. But we make it fun by playing games and whatnot. If it's a considerable amount of money you're saving, I would drive.

 

[DisneyElite4]

Can I ask what is the difference between driving 20 hours & a layover? We couldn't get direct flights from the closest airport. We did lots of flying when the kids were young with them. Never had a problem.

Kae

I guess when you put it that way, there really isn't much of a difference.

 

[DisneyElite4]

Thanks everyone!

It seems like everyone's experiences have been across the board. The more I hear, the more I'm convinced we will just have to wait until we get closer to our travel dates to see how he does in the car.

We did change our dates so that we will be leaving from my parents house after Thanksgiving now. It's an 8 hour drive to their house, and we will stay there for a couple nights. From there, it's a 12 hour drive that we would still probably break up between 2 days. The hard part will be on the way back, as we will be in the car longer. Fortunately we can fly direct out of my parents city if we need to change our plans later.

Ultimately the cost savings is significant - so I'm hoping it works out to drive!

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Please note that there is a big difference between a direct and a nonstop flight - two different things.

 

[lucifie]

If it were just me, DH and one child, I'd seriously consider flying. 20 hours each way of driving is probably $400 in gas, plus $200 in gas, plus food along the way, plus two extra days off of work. I would also add about 2 extra hours each day into the plan because you can't do that kind of drive without ever stopping, especially with a toddler. The other thing to take into consideration is wear and tear on the car. We recently drove from MD to WDW with 4 kids in our older van. On the way back we made it just over the SC border before we had to replace the engine. That involved renting another van, driving home and driving back to SC the following weekend to pick up the van (plus the cost of the engine, but that would have happened eventually, whether we had driven down or not). Because of the extra trip to SC and the rental van it probably cost as much to drive.

We left home in the morning - later than we intended - and kept the kids busy with movies, snacks, etc. We wanted to stay on more or less the same sleep schedule as the kids. It's awful to be up all night and then have to take care of kids the next day.

ETA: The kids did great on the drive, but my youngest is 2.5. My kids have always been good in the car and because we have 4 of them we'll probably continue to drive.

 

[DisneyElite4]

Please note that there is a big difference between a direct and a nonstop flight - two different things.

Noted. Poor choice of words on my part. I know the difference.

 

[DisneyElite4]

Thanks lucifie! We will be driving in our 2010 Ford Edge, so we aren't too concerned with wear and tear at this point. We both have plenty of time off work as well.

The gas would still be expensive - but definitely cheaper than buying three plane tickets. We would rent a car anyway, so having our own would save us the cost of that as well.

 

[sb682]

The longest trip we've done with DS is 13 hours split up over 2 days. He is 3 now and we've done that trip twice with him already, and we're leaving for our 3rd one today. We've also taken him on a week-long road trip from Vegas, up through the national parks in Utah and Colorado, then down to Boulder. On that trip, we usually drove for a stretch of 4-6 hours at a time. He was almost 2 on that trip and was absolutely wonderful. Honestly, as long as he has the DVD player in front of him, he's good to go! He doesn't get to watch a ton of TV at home so he is in heaven on road trips. We stop every few hours to stretch our legs, but if he's content, we keep on driving. At about 1 year, he was happy to play with toys and look at board books, and if he got bored and fussy, one of us sat in the back seat next to him and played with him. He was taking 2-3 naps at that age, so we would stop for a diaper change and feeding right before he was due to fall asleep, then drove nonstop while he was sleeping. We think that's the best way to cover a lot of ground while driving.