Driving with 2 kids

[SLPKim]

My daughter is 2 and my son is 6. I'm debating whether to drive to Florida or fly. We are coming from NJ so I think it would about 22 hours?? Anyone recommend driving? Would love to save the $$ but not sure it's worth it. Thoughts??

 

[mockmom3]

I would drive. I have 3 kids and we always drive. I suggest putting the kids in their pjs and putting them to bed early. Then leave out at about 10pm or so and drive straight thru til about 7:30-8:00am and stop for breakfast and to stretch your legs and change the kids into their day clothes. That way, your drive is half over and the kids have slept most of it.

 

[stefplus3]

We did the drive from Mass over 3 days (ma to md, md to sc and sc to fl) and that was 7 years ago. We waited until we could afford the airfare for 5 people before we made plans to go back. The drive was awful imo!!!

 

[dbramer]

What part of Jersey?

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

We are a family of 6 and always drive. Besides saving about $3,000 - we truly enjoy it. We do not drive through the night. We leave between 5am-6am and drive from NYC to Port Wentworth, GA with stopping in South of the Border for a sit down dinner. We usually get to Georgia around 10pm. We sleep and get on the road early for about about a 4 1/2 hour ride. We are in Disney before lunch and relaxed. We love playing games, singing and watching movies in the car.

We love that we can bring whatever we want without worrying about the airlines. We also love that we have our car in case we need it. We stop at Walmart near Disney to stock up on supplies.

This year the airfare was outrageous for the summer. Friends are meeting us there and they are paying $1,100 for 2 tickets. Crazy.

 

[stefplus3]

We are a family of 6 and always drive. Besides saving about $3,000 - we truly enjoy it. We do not drive through the night. We leave between 5am-6am and drive from NYC to Port Wentworth, GA with stopping in South of the Border for a sit down dinner. We usually get to Georgia around 10pm. We sleep and get on the road early for about about a 4 1/2 hour ride. We are in Disney before lunch and relaxed. We love playing games, singing and watching movies in the car.

We love that we can bring whatever we want without worrying about the airlines. We also love that we have our car in case we need it. We stop at Walmart near Disney to stock up on supplies.

This year the airfare was outrageous for the summer. Friends are meeting us there and they are paying $1,100 for 2 tickets. Crazy.

airfare is usually crazy hence no trip in 7 years, lol. We got round trip tickets for 5 people for $1200 for July, I was so excited I booked them on the spot!

 

[mamabird3]

We are also driving from NJ. the estimated time is 22 hours but with kids-I'd add a few on. We are leaving about 8pm and will drive to savannah-arriving just before lunch. Get hotel, walk around, have nice dinner, go swimming and get good night's sleep. Leave about 9am for rest of trip. Stop to grab groceries and be at hotel by about 3pm. It's long but do able. I have been stockpiling car "gifts" for the kids so I can pull out something new every hour if I need to (nothing crazy-just puzzles, coloring, small toys but new to them).

 

[mamabird3]

Oh & it's 3 time driving for our 10yr old and she says it's her favorite part of the trip.

 

[msmama]

How are your kids in the car? Have you done other long trips with them?

I'd say the 6 year old would be fine, but it'd be the 2 year old I'd worry about. Would he/she be entertained enough for that long? After 22 hours in the car would everybody be happy up and getting to the parks?

I don't know where you are in NJ, but I'd look for flights from other airports - Newark, Philly, Laguardia and JFK even. I know Baltimore has cheap flights to Orlando so you could drive a few hours there and fly from there, even.

 

[mm1971]

My daughter is 2 and my son is 6. I'm debating whether to drive to Florida or fly. We are coming from NJ so I think it would about 22 hours?? Anyone recommend driving? Would love to save the $$ but not sure it's worth it. Thoughts??

We are in MA and usually fly. I would say that it depends on how much time you have for vacation and how well you travel. We prefer to be there in 3 hours and have more time to spend in WDW. I know a lot of people like to drive and consider that part of the vacation, but we do not. We do take other trips where we drive, but over 20 hours in the car is not a vacation for us. We have friends that drive every year, but they have 5 kids and it would cost them almost 3X what we pay for flights and certainly understandable.

If you can afford it, I would fly. If flying is a strain on the budget then driving will certainly be helpful.

 

[lovin'fl]

We drive, sometimes, from MD (about 15 hours or so). We 1st drove down in 2007 (moved from NC to MD in 2007...drove from NC all the time) to do a DCL cruise out of Port Canaveral. My kids were 10, 8 and 8. It was okay. We took the autotrain back home and that STUNK!!!! Since then, we have driven down that way (for WDW, cruise or Vero Beach) 5 more times...plus 2 times to Jacksonville for cruises. We flew to WDW 4 times (Dec 2011 to Dec 2013...going back to driving now except when DH and I go down for a quickie F&W trip)...nice using the ME and not dealing with luggage but airfare is crazy expensive and getting through airport is such a hassle. We like having our vehicle down there too. I am driving my mom and DDs down this Aug. We are stopping in Savannah for the night on the way down...on the way home we have 5 night resies at Disney's HHI resort. My DDs are 15 now so it will be easier than when they were little (know how to regulate potty breaks better and will listen to music and whatnot and be pretty laid back). I like that I will be able to stop at grocery store on the way into WDW...avoiding the fees of having groceries delivered and can get exactly what we want/need.

ETA: My DDs, like another poster mentioned, said the drive down is the part they are most looking forward to too...go figure.

 

[starsweeper]

We are in central KY and began annual fall break trips last year. Our kids were 6, 6, 2 and 1. We left after school at 3:30pm and drove 8 hours to Macon, GA for the night. Our kids are early risers, so we leave by 7:00am the next morning and get to WDW around 1-2pm. We take breaks every 2-3 hours so the kids can stretch their legs. It's a longer drive when you have small kids but I'd rather pay for a $100-200 hotel room than airline tickets.

ETA: We're driving to Yellowstone next summer (26 hours) and the kids are super excited about the roadtrip.

 

[Ginny Favers]

I am in PA. We used to always fly, until the one time we got routed to another airport during strong storms. After all the craziness, we ended up spending a lot of money to save practically no park time.

Now we drive every time and WE LOVE IT. Our kids were 3 and 6 the first time. I packed them each a backpack filled with new fun things to keep them occupied, and brought the Dramamine for kids, and they were all set.

My family in NJ had one bad experience on a plane, too, with their 2 year old, and now they drive all the time, also. It saves a ton of money and in our opinion, getting there is half the fun.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

airfare is usually crazy hence no trip in 7 years, lol. We got round trip tickets for 5 people for $1200 for July, I was so excited I booked them on the spot!

That is unbelievable! Great deal. Enjoy!

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

ETA: My DDs, like another poster mentioned, said the drive down is the part they are most looking forward to too...go figure.

Our kids say the same thing - they look forward to the car ride and our oldest is 18. We absolutely love the car ride. We have so much fun together. We started making videos of our car rides - especially when a good song comes on. The money is one thing - but the together time is best part. We started driving when they were very little - so they were used to it at a young age.

 

[maxiesmom]

How are your kids in the car? Have you done other long trips with them?

I'd say the 6 year old would be fine, but it'd be the 2 year old I'd worry about. Would he/she be entertained enough for that long? After 22 hours in the car would everybody be happy up and getting to the parks?

That is what I would worry about too. How would the 2 year old be cooped up in a car seat for that long? How would they entertain themselves? Does the 22 hours you are estimating include numerous stops for the kids to get out of the car and play for a while?

 

[StitchyPoo81]

We are driving at the end of August from Philly Pa. We have 3 kids. the oldest is 12, then 7, then 17months.
My husband will be driving since we are towing a camper and he is planning on sleeping all day so then we can leave after rush hour. We will drive as far as we can before taking a break and getting the youngest 2 in their pjs so they can fall asleep. We have a dvd player in the car so hopefully that will keep the baby entertained.
Hopefully they will sleep for a long time in the morning then we will pull over for breakfast and hopefully will almost be there.
And if this fails I'm finding a nearby airport and I'm flying the rest of the way since my husband wants to camp at Disney and this was his idea

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

Good luck to all those driving

Personally, I could never handle it. I much prefer a two hour flight and get to spend the day at my destination. I love the idea of waking up for our 7am flight and knowing that by lunch we will be in the Magic Kingdom!

It helps that we only have one child, I can understand larger families who drive because they cannot afford the airfare.

We lucked out with Southwests sale and got flights for $69 so all three of us are flying to Disney in September.

If you can budget the airfare, I would choose to fly. It will be easier on the kids in my opinion.

 

[Happiest mommy]

we will be driving for the first time this September we will be saving $3,000 and get to stay longer, DH wants to leave around 3AM and drive straight thru and I say we stay overnight somewhere (we are still debating) but not sure where to stay for the night any sugestions appreciated , I have family/friends that have done the drive from NY/NJ and they love it it's definetly doable but might be longer with the 2 year old .

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

we will be driving for the first time this September we will be saving $3,000 and get to stay longer, DH wants to leave around 3AM and drive straight thru and I say we stay overnight somewhere (we are still debating) but not sure where to stay for the night any sugestions appreciated , I have family/friends that have done the drive from NY/NJ and they love it it's definetly doable but might be longer with the 2 year old .

We drive from Brooklyn, NY and leave around 6am. We stop in South of the Border for a sit down dinner and get to Port Wentworth, GA between 9pm and 10pm. We sleep and usually leave around 7am. We stop at Walmart and get to Disney by noon. With the nice sleep we get there very refreshed.

I understand that driving is not for everyone but our family loves it. When our kids were toddlers - we brought songs that they loved, books, books on CD and DVDs. We also would give them a special present for the car ride. At that time we had a portable DVD player for them to watch their favorite shows and then we could listen to our own music. If you start young then they look forward to the car ride when they are older - like our kids. Enjoy!