Driving w/kids long car trip tips

[CharityLynn]

I was hoping to get some good tips for a long car ride, we are driving from southern Michigan to Disney in October. This will be the kids first car trip that we have to travel long distance or, I believe their longest maybe like 2-3 hours and this is a 19 hour drive. We do plan on stopping along the way to stay at a hotel that way we break it up. My kids will 7 and 3.5 at the time of travel. Any tips or fact would be greatly appreciated.

Oh and the longest drive I've ever done was 6 hours so tips for me surviving would also be appreciated lol

TIA,

Charity

 

[Pop Daddy]

Its gonna stink, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do

 

[jgmklmhem]

We did the Florida to Utah drive when we moved out here with a 4yo and a 1yo. Some will disagree but the portable DVD player was a god-send for us. Our older girl got to watch a movie in the morning and one after lunch. We never drove for more than 8hrs in a day. Broke it up a bunch. It was also interesting just to see areas we had never been to as well. We played the normal games as well....I-spy, etc. We also play a game called "I am thinking of a character..." where one person thinks of a character (Disney of course) and the others ask yes and no questions until they can figure it out. Another thing we found was make your own CD's for music. We burned about 10 CD's with mixed music. Like 1 song for dad 1 for mom and 1 for DD. That way you don't get burned out on having to listen to a whole kids CD and the kids don't get bored havign to listen to a whole adult CD.

 

[bananiem]

Our kids have been doing 19 hour car trips since they were babies, about once a year. Here are some of our "sanity savers."
Books on tape.
A package of pipe cleaners. They can make people and animals and make up puppet shows.
Color Wonder markers adn paper.
Hand held games like a gameboy, or if you don't have one, get hand held games like Yahtzee, hangman, 20 questions, Boggle...
Snacks
Travel Bingo and little prizes

 

[mudnuri]

well, we've always gone the easy way out.

We drove to florida 4 times with the DD's- starting at ages 2 and 3. At that time, we had a tv/vcr combo in the suburban. Now they each have portable dvd players.

They also brought their leappads, gameboys and coloring books/crayons etc. The one thing I do not allow is eating in any vehicle (DD8 choked once while we were driving down the road) so we did have to stop every 3-4 hours so they could have a snack.

We stopped at big rest area's on 95, and would bring a kick ball, or something for them to run around and around and around with..

We've done it both straight through and with stopping overnight. Neither way was better for the kids, but stopping overnight sure was better for us adults!

I also went online and found touristy attractions where they could run around on our route- think- south of the boarder. i hate that place, but it was good for them....

I will sing praise for portable dvd players till I'm blue in the face, in april 04 coming home from WDW, we sat on the GW bridge in NYC for 4 hours. The only thing I heard from the DD's was "movies over, what are you watching.....im going to watch rugrats..." etc... They didnt even know we were stuck sitting- literally in PARK for almost the entire 4 hours. I cant say that i held up that well in that traffic...We also got a headphone splitter, so if they choose to watch the same movie- they can both hear it. There was very little fighting over movies. I set up a big stack in the morning before leaving between their seats, and they just picked and played them. I also had some new movies they had never seen waiting for the fighting to begin and break them out. It never happened, so they ended up just getting them whenever.

Another thing that I did- when we stopped overnight was to make sure the hotel had an indoor pool. I hate indoor pools, however, knowing they were in the car all day, they needed something to do before bed to tire them out. The pool was perfect! We also went to target, or walmart at night, and walked around picking up stuff I forgot...that helped tire them out too.

Good luck, and just keep an open mind..

Brandy

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Portable DVD player all the way for long car rides!!!!!! Portable video games for daytime (if they play).

When we did Missouri to NYC it was 21hours. We drove straight thru, but our kids were 6 & 11. Now that was tough. DH and I did switched off every 2 hours.

 

[FionaLovesShrek]

Ours was a 12 hour drive. The DVD player saved us. It also had games DD could play between movies. We also carry coloring books and crayons in a ziploc bag, and DD loves puzzle books. We got DD a laptop tray she could write and draw on.

 

[CharityLynn]

My husband and I plan on switching every so often as well, I love to drive, him not so much. We may need to buy a DVD player for the car now. I was thinking that was a good idea, we have a ton of DVD's too.

We plan on leaving early in the morning, I was thinking around 6am but do you think earlier would be even better?

 

[disneysteve]

We've driven to Disney almost every year since DD was 5-1/2 months old. Its about 17 hours of travel time for us. We stop overnite on the way.

Tips: Pack snacks, especially your kids' favorites that you might not often let them have. Make the trip special. Let them break some rules. The 7 yo is big enough to have his own little snack bag. Maybe the 3 yo is too.

Bring new things for them to do and play with: books, puzzles, games, music, etc. For example, if the older one has a GameBoy, buy a new game and give it to him for the trip. Get some new CDs to play. If you have a DVD system in your car, (which we don't) bring some family favorite discs but also bring some brand new ones that they haven't watched yet.

Take frequent rest stops. We usually stop every 3 hours at least. Get out. Walk around. Use the bathrooms. You can save an hour or so by driving longer stretches between breaks, but it isn't worth it.

If possible, plan your hotel so that you will be able to check in when you arrive. Don't pull into town at 11 am, for example, and not be able to check in until 3 or 4, even if it means paying for an extra day at the hotel. Its good to be able to check in right away and flop down and relax after a long drive.

 

[disneysteve]

We plan on leaving early in the morning, I was thinking around 6am but do you think earlier would be even better?

No. Another important tip I forgot. Keep to your kids' regular schedule as much as possible. Wake up the same time. Eat meals the same time. Make bedtime the same time. The more you throw them off schedule, the more off kilter they may be.

 

[Karel]

The hardest thing is to stay neat and organized. Things get thrown every where and then you can't find anything.

My mother once gave them about 20 lunchbags, one treat in each, which they opened throughout the trip. Sadly, those paper bags ended up on the floor, all over the car. It was a mess.

I personally find less is more, and we don't use DVD players. I think it's good for people to learn to entertain themselves and relying on the DVD player makes that ever harder. Getting tape players or cd players is an excellent investment, though. Have one or two things out at a time and then put them away and get something else out.

The hardest part is the return trip so make sure you have things in reserve for that. Plus we don't get up early to leave so kids have more awake time while we drive.

We leave early in the morning, like 3 am but my husband gets up for work at 4 am so that's easier on him. When they were younger, we would just plop the kids in the van in whatever they were wearing the night before. Then we hoped they sleep till at least 7 am, change them in the van when we stopped for breakfast.

 

[mickman1962]

cough syrup

 

[discruisnmom]

We have been driving from NJ to Disneyworld almost every year since my DD was 10 months. We always drive straight through with bathroom/stretch stops. I have to say we borrowed a dvd player last year and the kids loved it. I also brought a huge bag of toys that they never touched. They were so excited to watch Disney movies on our way to Disney. Now this year we are fortunate enough to have a new van with a dvd in it. I do plan on putting new movies in the car rather than the ones that we have on a daily basis. To change it up a little. I always bring different snacks that they enjoy and that won't make a huge mess. My DD-5 has a VSmile that she loves and is learning from so we'll bring that and my other DD-3 has some learning electronic games also that we will bring. We usually leave in the evening so the kids sleep through most of the night. GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[canwegosoon]

This past weekend we ended up doing a 13 hour car ride that is susposed to take 6 hours...Thank you NJ!!!
My Tips are:
Make a schedule(not formal, but have ideas ready)...My Dh does work while we are driving which usually envolves confrence calls(6 hours worth on Friday...not fun for little kids in a car).
Some activities are:
Watch movie(2hrs)
Play the licence plate game
Read a book(kids)
Play the vehicle game
Play with toys
Do an activity book
Get out for Break

Watch a Movie(2 hours)
Play I spy
Get travel printables
Make your own mad libs story
Play hand held games
play with toys
read a book

I get a ton of snacks, in their own bag (like the mini snacks), gum, candies etc...so the kids aren't always asking for something when we gas up. Have water and soda in the car. We usually pull into a hotel between 6-7(unless we can get where we are going with in an hour or two), we try to stay at a hotel with an indoor pool, order a pizza, and have a relaxing night. I find getting 3-4 hours driving done while the kids are still sleeping helps me. I find I waste a lot of time in the morning waiting for people to get dressed. I put the kids in the car in their PJ's, and get changed (in the car) when the kids have been up for a little while (9am). Packing small overnight bag to bring in with a change of clothes better than bringing a suitcase in. Less to keep track of.

Also if your children are young, please take their shoes off while you are driving. Have a safe trip

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My husband and I plan on switching every so often as well, I love to drive, him not so much. We may need to buy a DVD player for the car now. I was thinking that was a good idea, we have a ton of DVD's too.

We plan on leaving early in the morning, I was thinking around 6am but do you think earlier would be even better?

I would get a portable instead. That way it can be used elsewhere.

I would leave about 4/5am. Time it to rush hour traffic and where you need to be past at that time.

 

[GoofieRuthie]

We have 3 girls and always drive straight through. WDW is a 15 hour drive for us. We leave around 9 or 10 pm and drive through the night. In the past we have used a portable tv/vcr combo. We take lots of family movies. This year we will have a portable dvd player with car kit for our trip. It is dual screen so they can watch a movie on one and play a game on the other. We take snacks and color wonder paper and markers. We have a Disney CD that we made that is our WDW trip tradition now. We always start the trip off by listening to Kick it into gear, from the Country bears. We sing, play games, and best of all sleep. After a couple of hours, the girls are sound asleep and sleep most of the way there. If we arrive before we can check in, we go shopping for whatever we need. We rest up in the afternoon, then hit the park in the evening.

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

My family used to drive from LI NY to Florida twice a year for about 10 years. Me and my brother were about 4 and 2 at the time we started.

1. Plan for some fighting. Siblings fight. Especially in close spaces. It's just nature.

2. Play the license plate game. Try to find each US license plate. Before you leave home, draw a map of the US and bring along crayons. That used to keep us busy for hours. I once found 48 of the states.

3. Let each child bring along a walkman/diskman. It keeps them quite and hopefully not fighting.

4. I bought a book once that was for long car trips. I cannot remember the name but it had a lot of games, puzzles, and activities inside. It was really fun and kept me and my brother occupied.

5. Stop for breaks. Even if no one has to use the restroom, stop for a stretching break.

6. If you want Burger King (for example) for lunch, don't use the drive thru. Get out and eat inside. It is another stretching break and allows the drivers to rest their eyes for awhile. Also bring snacks along for the ride. Pretzels are great.

If you have a mini van, allow one kid to sit in the middle and one in the rear seats. We used to drive down in a Chevette. My parents would never do that again. Once we got the minivan a majority of the fighting stopped. At least this is what used to work for us.

 

[Karel]

Also if your children are young, please take their shoes off while you are driving. Have a safe trip

Ok, I can't resist asking....why?

Also, I find that less drinks in the car, the better. Less need to use the bathroom. We do take water with us.

 

[Disneyrsh]

You might want to search the threads because I know I've posted about this before, but anyway, no biggie.

We drive down to Disney about 4-5 times per year, since before our kids were born. THey're now 5 & 7. It takes us about 7 hours door to door (we live in Atlanta).

One of the best tips I can give you is travel at night. It's cooler, there's less traffic, and the kids sleep. We usually leave right after traffic lets up here, sometimes not until about 7 at night, sometimes we can get out at 6:30, and by 8:30 the kids are asleep and my husband and I get grownup talking time, which is great!

We usually get in to Disney at 1 or 2 in the morning, and get up the next day to open the parks. The kids have had a full night's sleep (minus the half hour or so you're shifting them from the car to the hotel room), and we'll nap the next afternoon anyway so the shorter night sleep doesn't hurt.

I'll second (and third) the dvd player in the car, it's just a lifesaver. Here's a hint, get NEW movies for them to watch in the car, don't recycle the same 4 they've been watching at home. We usually try and theme it to whatever big thing we're doing in disney, like the lion king series and then go to AK first.

A few other things; don't give them anything but water in the car; milk makes the car reek (and they will spill it-we have a no dairy rule in my car), and if you give them fruit drinks the car will get sticky and the kids get zany and have to pee more. Water, water, water.

And no sugary snacks, we usually get a good trail mix or some cheerios, cheez its, etc. We've found historically that the rides go much smoother when they're not jazzed up.

We also try and take the kids to the park that afternoon and get them to run around so they're tired on the trip.

We also have them bring their own blankets and pillows in the car, they fall asleep faster on familiar stuff.

We look forward to our trips, we've gotten so used to doing them that the 7 hours goes by in a flash!

 

[Sleepy]

I'm sure my suggestions will be repeats, but I have been doing long distance trips since I was a baby too....along with my younger brother.

1. Those thick pads that contain color crayon pages, connect the dots, riddles, etc. I have done a gazillion of them. Even today, looking at a new one makes me happy inside (reminds me of excitrement of a new trip)
2. Magnet travel games.
3. any game that has stationary pieces.........Cherry-O is a good example.
4. If we only had a DVD player back in the 1970's. My son has one. I don't care what anyone says about them. if it prevents boredom, I am all for them. I know what it is like to be stuck in a car from Washington DC to Washington State...and then a few years later back to SC. Especially when you have an annoying little brother to deal with.
5. If the kid says he/she is tired of riding, PLEASE listen and stop even if only for 5 minutes. My dad made trips miserable because he hated stopping and it would cause mom and dad to fight.
6. Have lots of pillows....it also helps to keep the kids separated if they get on each others nerves.
7. Ritz crackers and squeeze cheese.....nuff said
8. Try to take a route where there is actually something to look at. My dad always took those back roads with nothing but trees and fields...and occassionally a Mc Donalds.
9. Start the trip when it is their normal bedtime.
10. Have a frame of mind that it will be a long trip and things will not be ideal. Everyone will get tired of riding and someone is bound to get cranky.