driving to save $$...but risking sanity?

[CDisney]

We've driven twice from Rome, NY - once straight through and once with a mid-way stop. Both went fine.

We took a ball with us so we could stop at a rest area and throw the ball around for about 15 minutes every four hours or so to give the kids a chance to stretch and blow off some energy.

The TV/VCR was a great diversion for my sons (ages 4 & 6), while my niece, age 9, spent the trip reading Harry Potter.

For the driver, if you have a tendency to get tired when you drive, consider borrowing books on cassette from your local library. When we drove straight through, I had the night shift and the books on cassette kept my mind active. I didn't have any problem staying alert.

 

[drewc]

We're going to do the same thing ourselves - heading out 12/28 from upstate NY.

We were thinking of stopping near Rocky Mount, NC (found a HJ in Battleboro, just north of Rocky Mount, with a very good rate). Anyone familiar with this area? My number 1 concern is safety.

We're also planning on purchasing a tv/vcr for the trip. I've seen a 9" combo at Walmart (I think it's an Emerson) for $158. I've also seen a tv/vcr carseat mounting bag for $49 at jcwhitney.com. Also picked up Harry Potter on Cd on ebay, after seeing so many recommendations for it.

Our kids will be 5, 4 and 18 months. Packing lots of coloring books (got a few crayola magic pen books), kids cds, and travel toys. Making the trek in a base model Caravan. I wish we could take out the middle seat, but with three kids, it just isn't doable (not for a 22 hour trip anyway).

 

[mom2smjn]

I appreciate the tips! My kids are 12,10,7,4 I am more worried about the 12 year old than the 4 yr old! The 4 yr old is easily entertained with toys, crayons, ect...the 12 yr old gets car sick if she reads while driving and we don't own a gameboy,car-tv, ect. I was thinking of borrowing a personal cd player from my niece so she could listen to her own "stuff".
Hmmmmmmm so now I am unsure of where to stop the 1st night. I thought getting to Fredericksburg was a good idea but I was not 100% sure so we were going to wing the hotel thing until we got there but if the crowds are that bad.....eek!

My dh and I are not so sure how WE are oing to do long distance either so I am afraid to book a hotel and be forced to go that far if we are tired(dh will be working Friday)

So I would love some suggestions of what towns are a good bet in the DC area (I think we can get passed DC it about 5 hrs rom here) If we get to DC around 8pm will we still be in the traffic?

Kingsland GA sounds good....or maybe St. Augustine for night 2?

 

[Disneydenise]

I left at around 8 PM from NJ and got to DC around 10 PM we made great time from here to there. I was shocked at the traffic around the DC area. make sure everyone is paying attention to the signage around the area it can be confusing. Have a safe trip

 

[momofdbsdc]

we just got back last night. On the way down we drove straight through with 5 children. We have 9 yo, 6 yo,4 yo,3 yo, and a 1 yo.
I was surprised that the only problem that we had was with the 1 yo. We have a tv/vcr in our van. I packed away all the disney tapes about 1 month before we left so that they wouldn't be board with them. I also packed lots of snack and disney stuff (snacks, books, coloring books...) in back packs for them. I also packed gifts for them. This worked better on the way back then on the way down. On the way down the big incentive was quarters. we gave them each a bag with about $3 worth of quarters in them. ( There was a game room where we were staying.) Everytime they misbehaved, they had to pay me a quarter, every hour taht they were awake and behaved I gave then a quarter to put un their bag. It worked like a charm.

On the way back, we did stop in North Carolina. The baby just couldn't sleep well in his car seat, but everyone else did great.

Have a wonderful and a safe trip!
Kim

 

[Magic2000]

We usually drive down (about 12 hrs), unless we can find a really good airfare. I have three girls - two teenagers and a 6 yr old. (The older two fight just a much as the little one!)

But, one game that keeps my 6 yr old busy is finding the ABCs in the road signs. She has to read the signs to find an A, then find a B, then a C, and so on. Sometimes, we tell her to look on the license plates for the letters. Also, if she's starting to get antsy, we tell her to start looking for someplace for us to stop to eat, or stop for gas, etc.

Also, we usually try to do most of our driving while they are sleeping! A few weeks before our trip, I get each child a bag w/handle (like you would use for a gift), and I fill it with candy/snacks/word search books, colors, etc - and I keep it all a surprise til we're actually in the car on our way. That usually helps keep them busy and its snacks and stuff that I usually don't have at home.

Good luck - take it easy - and have fun!!!

 

[kel3420]

We drove from Chicago last year with two 14 yr olds and a 5 yr old. This was our first road trip and I was extremely anxious. I seriously thought it would be horrible. But it wasn't. Not that I would do it again if we didn't have to, but it went much better than I thought. My son pretty much slept most of the way, lol, you know, those adolescent hormones that kick in making teenagers sleep all the time, lol. My girls stayed up the entire trip while driving. We brought along a laptop computer and had it hooked up to a speaker system with three sets of headphones. This worked like a charm. The kids loved being able to watch a movie whenever they wanted AND we loved not being able to hear it. Please keep in mind that unless a TV is designed for a car, if you get into an accident, it could become airborne and cause some serious harm. We had our laptopo tied down when it was on. You woudn't believe how many times you will see kids watching movies in cars if you do a roadtrip. Many new autos come with screens in the back of the seats. We saw one SUV, with these screens, and the kids were watching three different movies! I thought we were bad, lol.

We left approx 5ish on a Thursday night, but really didn't get out of city traffic till around 8, drove till 3 am got a little sleep, hit the road at 8ish, and had a more leisurely day, stopping at several rest stops just to get out and stretch. Stopped in Ocala for the night and had breakfast with my grandma the next morning, before heading on down to Disney.

THe ride home wasn't bad either. We left early Sat morning, stopped for a nice dinner and early night, and finished the drive off Sunday.

BTW, I love the idea of giving the kids maps except I would have my kids figure out where we were. I will keep this in mind if we ever do another trip.

As for food, we brought along a cooler for sandwich makings, snacks and pop. We made sure that all pop and water were closeable cap types and not pop tops, which could and will spill all over the car.

 

[Poohnatic]

We have driven to Florida from Maryland 3 times in the last 18 months with my 6yo and 3 yo. Older son has a gameboy advance and we pack a ball, and I buy happy meals for me when I'm by myself and tuck the toys away to use for the trip, as my kids normally don't get kid's meals. We also have a bunch of kid's cds that we listen to, mainly Disney stuff (we're all disnoids). We also have a whole load of viewmaster reels that make it into the 'trip bag', and each son has their own viewmaster.

We usually try to do 10 hours the first day, which gets us to Savannah, GA. There's a whole bunch of hotels there, so we can get a good rate-then it's about 5 hours to WDW. There's a website for I95 (http://www.usastar.com/i95/lodging.htm) that lists food and lodging by state and exit number. I made a point of transferring that info to a spreadsheet and trimmed it down to places we would eat/sleep, then printed out a page for each state. They are stapled to the proper page in the road atlas.

We use an adaptable refrigerator that we purchased for the last trip and I'm so glad we bought it. No worrying about where the next rest stop is to get snacks. Pack it with the kids favorite snacks and drinks and you have less whining! We figured if we were going to spend 70 dollars to rent one, why not hit Wal Mart, spend 85 and get one that can be used every trip. I end up eating so much less fast food and our stomachs are happier.

We also hit each state's welcome area. New road maps, leg stretching and my 6 yo gets to say he set foot in that state!

Funny thing is, my sister bought a minivan last year and they tried to sell her on the dvd player. She went into this long diatribe about all the trips she made with me and dad. She went on about all the fun we had making faces at other cars, songs we would create to annoy the other two and fights over who was going to get the backseat to sleep are some of the best memories she has. Made me realize, that even with all the bickering between the kids, they're going to remember those road trips through rose colored glasses.

The only downer is when you're getting out of the hotel on the way home and the little one says "mommy, can I go to Pizza Planet today?", LOL!

Suzanne

 

[jmminarik]

Originally posted by jgates
this sounds pretty stupid, but make sure you have a nationwide plan on your cell phone.

Uhm, do you mean a plan with a national network, or a plan that has nationwide roaming? If the latter, it doesn't make much sense to pay the upcharge for this convenience if you only go out of your home area on rare occasions.

If you mean the former, I didn't realize any truely local cell companies existed anymore. I thought they all got gobbled up by the "new" telephone monopolies.

-Joe
who somehow managed to ride thousands of miles as a kid with just an a.m. radio and lousy philco speakers.

 

[lisajl]

Hi!
We too, are driving to save $$$.
But, we are also going to Savannah to spend Christmas day with family.

We are heading out on the 20th, the kids have that day off school, and driving through to wherever. We are not sure of the stop yet.

My kids will be 17, 8 and 5. We plan on taking activities for the younger ones to do. I am packing snacks, and planning on stopping along the way. It is nice to get out and stretch your legs.

We have travelled a lot with our kids. We went to the U.P. of Michigan a year and a half ago and had a blast! The kids did great!

Just make sure you have a few things hidden up your sleeve in case they get bored. (things hidden in the car that you can grab, new books, toys, etc.) My kids get car sick when they read in the car, but do a lot of drawing and coloring.

Good luck!
Lisajl