Driving to Florida from MA?

[mickerbaby]

I am considering driving to Florida with my two kids (ages 5 and 3) over February vacation to visit my parents. I was curious if there are people out there that have done this from the MA area with small children. I may travel with my sister in law and her two little ones but it may end up being just me and the kids (dh can't take that week off of work). Since this would be our second trip to FL in a year flying again isn't an option (especially during school vacation week).
Anyway, are there good websites for tips on traveling long distances with small kids? Are there good places to map out a driving route?
How was your expierence driving down? Terrible, hellish, fine???? Also, any other moms attempt to do this drive alone?
thanks!

 

[tyna]

Hi, I have not yet driven this trip but we are considering driving down for our April vacation cruise because of the outrageously high airfares. At the top of this forum there is a sticky For those driving or something similar and it has alot of great info about driving from the northeast. The thread is long but there were several people who posted their experience driving with small children. I hope this helps.
Tyna
PS There is also a stick thread with popular links that has sites for directions, info on exits and problem areas.

 

[QT Pooh]

When I was single, I made this trip several times alone from NH with my two kids. My parents winter in Florida so we'd go down every year to see them. Our experiences were fine, but my kids have always been good travelers. Just take your time and also realize that they're going to be bored and sitting for a looooong time.

If you're not used to driving in cities, avoid going down Rte. 95 in NY (the Cross Bronx Expressway can be pretty scary even when it's not crowded) and Baltimore. I can't comment on other routes because I've always caught route 95 in Southern CT and taken that all the way down. It's the most direct route. Definitely try to take your sister-in-law - it's just an extra set of hands to help out with the kids and with the driving.

 

[sherreis]

When I was single, I made this trip several times alone from NH with my two kids. My parents winter in Florida so we'd go down every year to see them. Our experiences were fine, but my kids have always been good travelers. Just take your time and also realize that they're going to be bored and sitting for a looooong time.

If you're not used to driving in cities, avoid going down Rte. 95 in NY (the Cross Bronx Expressway can be pretty scary even when it's not crowded) and Baltimore. I can't comment on other routes because I've always caught route 95 in Southern CT and taken that all the way down. It's the most direct route. Definitely try to take your sister-in-law - it's just an extra set of hands to help out with the kids and with the driving.

Just wondering....why do you say avoid Baltimore? I would avoid Baltimore at rush hour, but, otherwise, it should be pretty easy to continue on 95 to get through the city. It is congested but it is a good highway. I would use the Ft. McHenry tunnel and not the Harbor Tunnel. You also would want to avoid Washington DC at rush hour (morning and afternoon which starts at 3PM). My SIL used to drive from MD to Orlando by herself and the kids. She wouldn't drive straight through like she would do when DB went with her. There are plenty of internet sites that come up with ideas on keeping children busy during a road trip. We drove to Atlanta last November with our boys who were then 10 and 5. They did great. We bought DVD player for the car and they have not used it since the trip as we told them it is only for LONG car trips - this way it is a novelty. DS6 got a leapster for the car trip and DH10 got new games for his gameboy. We also played some games.

For this trip, we'll be buying them some new DVDs of movies they haven't seen yet, new game for leapster/gameboy. I bought 2 travel games at TRU so far - trouble and something else. They'll be packing up some of their own toys they can play with sitting in their seats. Driving down, we're driving through the night so they'll be sleeping a good chunk of the time. Coming home will be a different story cause we're leaving DW around noon on Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend.
I'll also be packing snacks for the car (more of a money saving idea than time saving idea), plan on stopping every few hours to stretch legs and run around. I'll be packing goodie bags for them to open every few hours to keep them interested.

 

[cranbiz]

I have done the drive with a 2 and a 4 year old. They were great. We left at about 7pm and just drove straight thru. My normal route is I95 to I4. I do use I895 thru Baltimore and I495 to bypass DC but I am travelling during the night so rush hour traffic is of little concern.

We made more stops than usual, but not a lot more. We had plenty of activitites for them, coloring books, hand held games, toys, etc. DW made up small bags of cerial, goldfish, pretzels, etc. for snacks. We would ask about potty before a rest area and if needed, stopped. Other than that, we got them out of the car seats if they were awake to stretch and work off some energy.

Stopped for breakfast in SC and then continued to Florida.

Going home, basically did the same thing in reverse.

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

Febuary snow worries me, but this was our trip/drive on 3/26/04 and 4/2/04.

My wife hates to fly.

The first time we went to Walt Disney World, April 2004 with my 3 year old daughter We decided to go to WDW a couple of months before we went with little planning. We rented some points off the DIS forum, checked the airfares a couple of times and picked up a trip tick from AAA.

We drove from my office in downtown Boston to WDW Old Key West stopping only for gas and bathroom breaks.

After the first 3-4 hours in the car driving the rest of the way to WDW isn't that bad; more like a series of short trips.

Our Trip to WDW started Friday, 3/26/04 at 1 pm: Miles, Stopped, Time

Leaving, Boston to Walt Disney World: Friday, 3/26/04, 1:00pm
1, Boston to New Jersey 212 212 6:00pm
2, N J to Aberdeen MD 183 395 9:07 pm
3, MD to Rocky Mt NC 266 661 1:36 AM
4, NC to Florence SC 209 870 4:40 am
5, SC to S Newport GA 210 1,080 7:58 am
Arrived, GA to WDW 251 1,331 12:00 PM

Started, Friday, 3/26 0 1:00pm
Finished, Saturday, 3/27 1331 12:00pm
A 23 hr trip with 5 stops along the way down
76 gallons of gas, $131 for the gas, 17.78 mpg 58mph
Driving around WDW 21

The Trip Home started Friday, April 2nd 11 AM: Miles Stopped Time

Leaving Walt Disney World to Boston:Friday, April 2nd 11:00 am
1, WDW to St Augustine FL 116 116 12:44 PM
2, FL to Savanah GA 178 294 3:55 PM
3, GA to Florence SC 174 468 6:22 pm
4, SC to Battleboro NC 181 649 9:30 pm
5, NC to Aberdeen MD 295 944 2:17 am
6, MD to Bloomfield NJ 181 1,125 5:30 AM
Arrived, NJ to Boston, MA 237 1,362 9:30 am

Started, Friday, 4/02 11:00 am 0
Finished, Sat, 4/03 9:30 am 1362
A 22 1/2 hr trip with 6 stops on the way home
81 gallons of gas $126 for the gas 17.58 mpg 60.5mph
Driving around WDW 62

157 gallons, $257 for the gas, $44 tolls, 17.68 mpg, 59.2mph 2776


The traffic was a mess from Hartford through Delaware on the way down.
It rained from North Carolina to Boston, Mass. on the way home

Me and my wife alternated turns driving our Nissan Xterra when we stopped for gas. My 3 year old held out a lot better than I thought she would on the way down and on the way back to Boston, WITHOUT, tapes, DVDs, video games, just a lot of singing and sleeping.

It's not that Bad!!!

Last year, April 2005 we caught a break in fares and flue down and back out of Logan on a non-stop with American Airlines , $504 round trip total for the 3 of us.

This year, April 2006 we caught a break in fares so we flew down and back out of Logan on a non-stop with Song/Delta , $496 round trip total for the 3 of us.

April 2007,
If all goes well,
The creek don't rise,
and there ain't no melt down,
We'll do it all again next year.

Good Luck all,
Joe

 

[Poorman]

This may help.



http://www.usastar.com/i95/homepage.htm