We're driving overnight from Tennessee to Orlando (driving time = 10 hours) in a few months with four children, ages from 2 to 8. I know that by the end of it I'm probably going to wish I'd just paid the $1,800 and flown, but anyway...
I'm trying to decide the best strategy for maximizing the kids' sleep. We're not really concerned about arriving at a particular time, just want to make the trip as painless for everyone involved and keep the number of times that we're asked "are we there yet?" in the triple digits.
So should we load everyone in the car in their PJ's at their normal bedtime and let them fall asleep on the road, or should we let them fall asleep in their beds and then transfer them to the car after they've had a couple of hours to sleep? My instinct tells me that Option 1 is the way to go, but I'm hoping that some of you have been there/done that and can give me some tips.
Thanks in advance...
I love how you asked for tips on WHEn to leave in the car, not *IF* you should leave in the car, and everyone keeps giving their opinion on how you shouldn't drive. LOL
We routinely travel 5 hours one way to see family a few states away, and have driven to WDW as well as other closer destinations. We are contemplating a trip to the southwest, but now that my kids are teens/tweens and know more than me, I think sending THEM together to torture each other and me staying home and taking a nap sounds like a better idea....
So, we drove from Chicago to WDW a few years ago. At the time, the kids were 11, 7, and 6. In a Chevy Malibu. No row of seats for each person. No built in DVD player. All three kids sat in the backseat. Next to each other. Some people would call this a form of torture. I happen to enjoy torturing my kids, so it all worked out and they got a Disney vacation out of the deal. Win-win.
Anyway....we left at about 7pm on a Friday night. I drove first since I tend to get sleepy first before DH. He took a nap for about 2 hours while the kids yelled "He's touching me!!!" in the backseat. DH has a wonderful want of being able to sleep through that (which is also why he got to sleep first. If it were me, I would be woken up by their fighting and become the mom no one wants). We got stuck in some crazy freak ice on the road - no kidding...a balmy 50-degree late March evening in southern Indiana and the road was completely dry, then the freeway was shut down and noone could figure out why, then the slowly let people through the thickest weirdest looking iced over road I've ever seen. Still have no idea how it got there to this day. Anyway, because of that, the kids didn't go to sleep until about 11:30pm. Which was terrific for me, because I was ready to let DH drive. He drove until we got to Kentucky (we chose the I-75 route for various reasons), I slept, and after about 4 hours, I was ready to drive again. The kids never woke up when we stopped to switch, but as the sun came up through the hills and mountains of kentucky and Tennessee, I just HAD to wake them up to see how beautiful it was. They may never have the chance to see that again, and had we not gotten stuck in Indiana, we would driven through before the sun came up. Lucky us!! It was around 6am. I think 2 out of the three kids fell back asleep, or at least the one in the middle did, effectively creating a barrier between the two on the end and giving the whole family a nice little gift of peace. Come to think of it, I still have to thank him for that.
We traveled on through the day with random bursts of "what state are we in?" and "mom, can you tell S to stop looking at me" and "I'm not looking at HER, but she is in the way of the window on the other side of the car that I am trying to see out of because everything on MY side is boring. I knew she was your favorite- she always gets EVERY-THING she wants!"
We arrived in Orlando at about 8pm. Mapquest said 26 hours, and even with the ice delay, we still made it in 25-26 hours.
Tips:
1. Put the kids in a t-shirt, a fleece pullover, and yoga/sweat pants instead of PJ's because if you are like us and see something cool at an exit that you want to stop at or need to run into Meijer or
Walmart really quick, the 8 year old won't be mortified that you are buying fruit snacks and a roll of paper towels while she is wearing Hello Kitty jammies.
2. Give each kid a water bottle with a sport cap. When they spill it, only a little bit will come out before his big sister starts to tattle that he spilled his drink (again)
3. Do not bring crayons. They end up getting thrown around, dropped, squished, and melted. I suggest invisible ink books. 5Below sells them, Target sometimes, or you can order them online.
4. My kids are allowed to pack one small bag of whatever will fit into the bag that they are in charge of. they are also allowed to bring ONE blanket, ONE pillow, and one stuffed animal if they so choose.
5. Slippers that have soles that can be worn into stores/rest stops, etc or slip on shoes are sanity-savers. We tell the kids about 10 minutes before we stop that if they want or need to go to the bathroom, start getting ready so when we stop we can get out. They know I hate waiting outside of the car in the cold for them, and if it is raining, noone opens a door until we are ALL ready to go.
6. It's OK to turn the radio up really really loud to block out crying, fighting, and complaining. The kids get a kick out of seeing how long it takes dad to realize I cannot hear him (just kidding!!!
)
Seriously though...have FUN!!! We all loved the trip - the kids still talk about it all the time and we have flown down since then and they all agree that the road trip was better. There is something about driving off into the night that screams "adventure" that you just cannot get in an airplane. We would totally do it again.
Good luck!
