Flying or Driving?

[mommyluvsmickey]

We are driving its about 11 hours not sure how dd5 and dd19months will do

 

[powellrj]

we always fly, but if airline prices don't go down, we will be driving. Its really a personal preference. Do you like to drive, how well do your kids ride, how much are airline tickets... Depending on how long you have, you could break the trip up and drive it in 2 days, or many people leave at bedtime and drive all night while their kids sleep (that won't be me). You might ask your question on the transportation board and see what advice they have for you.

 

[hannahsmomma]

we drove two years ago with dd 4 at the time. It is about 12 hours for us and we broke it into two days. I wish we could fly this year though because now we will have a 16 month with us and he does not like the car!

 

[la79al]

I would say exhaust them the day you are leaving, leave at bedtime so they sleep a lot of the time. Be prepared though, when you get there, they will be well rested and ready to go while you need some recooperation time.

 

[gianna2006]

We drove on out last trip - 19 hours pretty much non-stop from New York to Orlando with my DS 5 and DD 2 and believe it or not, not so bad. I would do it again. The key is for the main driver to try to get some sleep on the day you are leaving and to leave in the evening. Let the kids fall asleep in the car at bedtime and while they sleep KEEP GOING!!!! Another key is to have a portable DVD or VCR in the car to occupy the kids time. My husband and I listened to a book on tape in the car during to night to keep us occupied and also got a few CDs of some comedians to keep us entertained. My husband drove until about 4am while I tried to catch some ZZZs. Then I took over until about 8am when we stopped for breakfast (the kids were up by then). The hardest part was when we arrived the kids were raring to go and we were both pretty tired!!! But, a little playground or pool time and early to bed and we were in great shape the next day for a full day in the park!!! One thing to consider, though, is that the ride home seems always longer than the ride there!!!! But, you do save a lot of money in airfare and renting a car if you stay off-site. If you stay on Disney property, really do the math because if you don't need to rent the car it may not be worth it to fly.

COUNTING DOWN TO OUR NEXT TRIP IN MAY!!!

July 1990 off-site
September 1996 off-site
July 1999 off-site
July 2000 off-site
April 2001 off-site
May 2004 off-site
May 2006 Going Dis all the way at Saratoga Springs!!!!!

 

[StinkerbellsMom]

We have driven often from NYC to Orlando with our 3 girls. It was a lot easier when they younger - they fall asleep! LOL It is definitely a personal preference though.

My advice - invest in some new items to keep them busy. I created my own Coloring Books for them using various sites on the web, brought along plenty of child friendly songs (ones that *we liked too since we would be subjected to them for hours on end!). We also broke down and got a DVD Player for the car on our last trip down since we were saving on airfare it was worth it. I was sure to buy them new movies for the road and used that when I saw them getting 'punchy'. I also stashed little 'surprises' for those moments. A new pack of stickers, a lollipop, notebook, fuzzy pencil ... just little treats to keep them pleased for short periods of time. The big advantage is that when they are young they nap on and off. My older girls are now ages 13 and 11 and just don't sleep in the car. We will be driving down on our next trip. The good thing ... they now each have their own music source and books and keep themselves pretty much entertained. Just knowing their destination keeps them happy at this point! LOL Good luck to you!

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

A few years ago, we drove from KY. My DS was 4 at the time and we split up the trip in two days. We went in July and by the time we finally got to WDW, he was exhasuted. Our trip was pretty much miserable. By the end of the trip, DS had a major meltdown at DTD. The heat paired with the exhaustion was just too much for the little guy. We flew for the very first time in Nov, despite my nervousness, and it was wonderful. There is nothing like getting off the plane refreshed and ready to go. Our trip was absolutely wonderful this time. I have vowed never to drive again.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

As I've posted on here before, dh and I prefer to drive just about anywhere with the kids. Every time we fly, we run into delays and cancelled flights. In other words, flying with the kids is a nightmare. Thus, when we take the kids to WDW, we drive; when it's just dh and me, we fly. It doesn't save us any money with gas prices the way they are, but it does save our sanity.

For us, it's a 15 hour trip...if we make only a few brief stops. I prefer to leave home in the late afternoon or early evening. Driving through the night means that we avoid all traffic. The roads are pretty much empty (We even drive through the heart of Atlanta.) until we reach Orlando the next morning. Our 3 children (13, 5, and 3) watch movies until the fall asleep, usually around midnight. They will sleep until we wake them the next morning. Yes, we're tired when we arrived but never so tired that we can't put in a day at the parks. It's no worse than flying, since we have to leave our house by 2 am at the LATEST to make the morning flight to Orlando. I don't know about you, but I'm not able to sleep when I know I'm leaving for WDW in just a few hours!!

 

[DisneyZigs]

Driving here!

We have a 15 hour trip, but we love it! Dh and I enjoy the road trip as part of the whole vacation.

We just got Sirius satellite radio, too, so that will make it even better.

 

[DisneyZigs]

Wooops! Sorry about that....meant to post ADVICE for ya! I hit "Submit" too soon.

When our boys were younger and we had a long road trip ahead, we would sometimes travel at night. This worked out okay for dh because then when we got to our destination, he would just sleep and sleep and sleep and sleep.

Not for me, though. #1 I'm not good at sleeping in the car, so I would definitely be awake while he was driving, and #2 I was always sole caregiver of the babies and as you know the babies don't sleep when you want/need them to so I would be up with them. Sigh!

It can work, though, in some cases. Give it some thought.

Also I agree with collecting some new toys/books/activities that you can pull out for the trip. I have heard the great tip to give the kids a new "goodie" every "so many" miles....every 50 or 100 miles for example.

But the #1 advice I can give is to get an inexpensive DVD player. This can be the difference between an easy-going trip and a stressful, aggravating one.

HTH! Have fun!!!

 

[RllngRckBrw]

I have never been to Disney, however this has always been a question for every trip I take. Our general rule of thumb is if it is a 10 hour drive or more, we fly. Disney is definitely more than that for us here in ohio. We had discussed driveing, but we are only going to be there for 5 days/4 nights (because it is all my wife could get off work), and didnt want the first or the last day to be lost. We would all be well rested for the first day so as to not lose any of our already valuable time. We should be getting up at6:00 and should be in the park by 1:00.

 

[WantToGoNow]

We drove 16 hours last year with a 3.5 y/o and an 11 m/o. We left at night and they slept the entire night. By the time they awoke, we were only a few hours away. On the return trip however, we left mid-afternoon and drove until bedtime, got a room for the night and finished the drive the following day. They actually did much better than I had imagined. I had a small container full of toys between their carseats and at each stop I'd get back there and pick them up from the floor and put them back. We also have a DVD player with 2 screens and they spent a good deal of time being occupied by their favorite Disney movies.

 

[stacy6552]

When are you going? We fly all the time, but I will only drive over spring break or Christmas break, becuase they obserdly overbooked airlines are just so rude.

 

[mikesluss]

Due to DD and being 3 and DS being 8, and the price of airlines nowadays we are definately driving this time
Have driven before and it is no picnic for us about 18 to 20 hours for us in St. Louis but we break the trip into two days
Last year we took the kids then 7 and 2 to Virginia and they did wonderful thank goodness for in the car dvd and video kept them entertained for the entire trip but I did get kinda tired of the Cinderella and Snow white tape, I swear we brought along more than these two but thats all DD wanted to see I could probably sing all the songs still
Will see if we can leave these at home this time.

Only 6 months till we leave for the poly 3rd week in aug

Can't wait

 

[mom2isaac&ella]

We are planning on driving when we go in August. We have DD2 & DS4, when we've driven to the gulf coast (12 hours) we have found it best to put the kids to bed the night before we leave & try to get to bed early ourselves. We get up around 3 or 4 am & start to drive. The kids sleep through the transition to the car (have it warmed up or cooled down, turn off all interior lights & start to drive as soon as everyone is buckled in). We don't stop until they wake usually 8ish. If its summer and the sun rises early use window shades to block the sun. This way we have had some sleep and at least they sleep part of the trip. We also use a DVD player, bags of new toys (or put away some of their toys a few months before the trip & they will seem new). We try and stop to eat at a place that has a playground or a rest stop with lots of green area to run & play with bubbles & balls I've packed. We don't make the kids eat if they don't want to - they can eat in the car - we let them run as much as possible. It takes longer than it did when it was just the two of us, but I hope some memories are made. I have fond memories of our yearly drive to Florida when I was growing up with no DVD players or McDonalds playlands!

 

[aterriq]

We fly since we live in Denver. If my wife and I had the vacation time, we would drive. My girls have year round school and go for 9 weeks and are off for 3 weeks. This would be enough time to take a drive and see either family and sights along with a WDW trip.

I would recommend the DVD, the leather multi-pack DVD holder (try for one with 15-20 DVDs), and headphones if possible. If you use head phones, check the volume to make sure your little ones don't have the headphones blaring. If your kids color or draw, get a small lap desk so they can write or color. This what we use when we travel.

 

[mommyluvsmickey]

Thanks for all the great advice. We are gonna drive just because we can save more money. plus we want to have a car in case we want to check other things out. We still are deciding when to leave our resv are sun April 23 so we will probably drive down on sat.

 

[lorli]

We have done bothe and much prefer to fly. We have already been looking into flying for August but the prices are still quite high.

 

[Alexsma]

We are flying its me and my son we are meeting up with my parents who are driving. Also joining us is my sisters family and her two baby sitters to share with all of us.
We generally drive for vactions but my dear boyfriend says it is not the happiest place on earth for him. So it's just me and my son, that's okay I won't be needing a pet sitter this time. When he drives we leave way early like 3 or 4 am, I stay up and pack the truck up. Then start coffee and the shower wake him up. Shove him into the shower get son up potty break and into the truck. This is when I recline the seat and fall asleep, drive until about 7 or 8 am. Find a Bob Evans, this is very important!! Feed the man coffee and sausage gravy and biscuits and he will drive forever!!!!