First-time driving questions...

[sailsup]

Hello all!
We will be spending a week in WDW in December 2010 at Old Key West. My wife and I have been coming to OKW and the parks for years now, but this time around we will have our 2 year old with us for the first time.

In previous trips we have always used WDW buses to travel to and from the parks (we always stay at OKW), but this time around we are considering driving our own car to and from the parks so that our son can ride in his car seat and to prevent the bus lines at park closing time. We are familiar with having to wait for a bus, then wait for another bus, then having to stand on a crowded dark bus and we would prefer to not experience this with our toddler in tow.

Is this a crazy idea? I am not really concerned about navigating around the world in our own car, but I am wondering if we will encounter toll roads en route to any of the parks from Old Key West?

Any tips or advice about driving around the world would be appreciated. Also, our son seems to have trouble falling asleep anywhere strange, so we were considering taking a mid-day break from the park to let him nap at OKW. Is this standard practice or totally crazy?

Thanks!

 

[starsgleam]

We stay on property and mostly drive to the parks. There's something nice about being able to mostly control your own destiny. I really think this is a personal preference type of decision. You can always try it the first day and if the experience wasn't good for your family, go back to taking bus, etc. Can definitely see that it could make life easier with a toddler.

I have not stayed at OKW, but can't imagine you'd encounter a toll unless you took a majorly wrong turn, heading to the airport or something!

As for taking a break to go back to the resort and nap, this is very standard and a smart idea, especially with young people.

 

[rwdavis2]

No toll roads that I am aware of from OKW. We always drive and the signs are excellent. You will find that driving can be pretty quick among the parks and hotels.
BD

 

[skiingfast]

I don't think you should be considering renting a car for the reasons you stated. You will have to deal with taking your child, assumingly their stroller, on and off the parking lot trams.

Also don't bet on a two year old staying up until park closing. Or waiting to nap until you are back at the room.

Don't schedule around him. But don't expect him to be awake while watching fireworks or riding Dumbo for that matter.

 

[Tara]

I don't think you should be considering renting a car for the reasons you stated. You will have to deal with taking your child, assumingly their stroller, on and off the parking lot trams.

Also don't bet on a two year old staying up until park closing. Or waiting to nap until you are back at the room.

Don't schedule around him. But don't expect him to be awake while watching fireworks or riding Dumbo for that matter.

The convenience of having our own car and never having to hold a sweaty, sleeping baby while standing up on a crowded bus (or continually fold and unfold a stroller before and after bus rides) FAR outweighed the few times we actually used a parking lot tram. When we did use the tram, we'd typically leave the stroller folded after getting out of the car until we got on and then off the tram at the gates.

Now, my DS would sleep *anywhere* so we never had a need to schedule around him. But OP, if you know your child is going to have trouble napping on the fly, by all means work in daily breaks. I think when traveling with a small child at this age, the key is to just be really flexible.

 

[sailsup]

Thank you all for the replies and the advice!