For those that have made the long drive w/kids...

[mommy2paris]

What type of vehicle did you travel in? Big, small, car, truck...

We are pretty sure we will be driving to the world in December, with our 2 dd's who will be almost 2 & 4.

We have 3 vehicles to choose from, and about a 2000 mile trip, roundtrip.

1.Excursion... Huge, favorite, lots of room... OBviously worst on gas... About $800 in gas

2.Nissan Frontier... 4 door, but not much room, open bed... About $445 in ags

3.Chevy Malibu 4 door... nice sized trunk, and decent amount of room, but my least favorite of all the vehicles, which of course, just happens to be best on gas, about $340.

We are trying to decide which vehicle to take... Money wise, the car is the winner... But I would so love to take our big truck, which we are most used to traveling in (before gas got so ridiculous...)
However, I'm having a hard time convincing myself that the extra room is worth the extra almost $500... The kids will be in their car seats, regardless, so the extra room, will be more of a convenience to dh & I. Easier to store things near us, so we don't have to stop and get into the bed / trunk, to get food, drinks, etc... It will be easier to have lots of toys / junk handy for the kids to keep entertained.

So, I was looking for stories of those who have driven, and whether or not the vehicle size made a difference in your travels.

Hope you don't think this is silly!! (I posted this on transportation board as well, hope it is okay to ask both places... thought I might get a little more feedback between both boards!)


TIA!

 

[cerberus]

We have a mini van and I love to take on trips because of the size plus I can get back to the girls if they need anything. With that said we are not atking it to Disney this weekend just because gas is so expensive. We are taking the Honda CR-7, it gets much better gas milage. I am just hoping it will all be okay

If I were you I would opt not to take the Excursion. I love my big vehicles, but with the price of gas my Dodge quad cab Ram with cap often sits sadly i the driveway

 

[homeschooler]

we have three kids and there are 4 years between. The first time I drove, they were 2,6, and 10. We drive 1,200 miles, if I remember correctly. We always used a mini van until a couple of years ago but by then we were adding in-laws and the kids were basically adult. I usually drove by myself because DH couldn't always get that much time off. So, all that said, I liked the mini van with the back seat out which I think would be a lot like your Frontier. The kids were close enough to deal with cups falling, etc. The back allowed for toys that could be changed out every four hours or so. (nothing major, just different tapes or go from GI Joes to matchbox, etc.) I would keep the toys in different sacks so if they got bored, put that sack away and grab another. I also liked the slightly large vehicle when driving with all those semis.

 

[happymommy]

The time we drove, from Maryland so about the same distance as you, we had just gotten a minivan - it was great! The kids watched movies and we loved the space. We were gone for about 2 weeks total, also in December, so I had packed a LOT. We took our double stroller, which was big but I was so glad to have it. We packed large plastic bins with pantry items (we were 10 nights in a BWV with the full kitchen). The gas was much less back then. My kids were also 2 and 4. We didn't leave until lunchtime (they were in school in the morning) and we drove straight through (this wasn't planned, but they fell asleep by 8 and we just kept on driving).

Okay, enough about me. Maybe you could rent a minivan? I don't know if that helps, but I think the Excursion may take a lot of gas. It would almost be better to fly if it's that much.

I don't think I'd want to spend that much on gas. Have you checked flights? I do think I liked the driving since we brought so much stuff. That was really nice at their ages. Funny - once we parked the van, we didn't see it until we checked out! I had thought we'd like having it at WDW, but we never drove anywhere (one thing I love about WDW).

I wouldn't do the drive in a small car. It would be too cramped for a long drive. I also liked our minivan, as it was one that the middle seats could really recline. The kids slept so well! I had the back seat removed, so we had tons of storage for all our stuff.

Good luck deciding!

 

[JimR24]

We drove our minivan to the Outer Banks, about 15 hours, 2 years ago. My son was 10 months and my daughter was 5. By the time I hit the Florida/Georgia line, I wanted to jam a butter knife in my eye. I will never drive that far again. Thank GOD I only live 90 minutes away from the only place I want to vacation at again.

Got some advice for ya - catch a flight and take the Magical Express. But if not, I would take the Excursion.

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

At the moment, we're another minivan family here as we have three boys, ages 4, 2 and 1 and we need the 3rd row to fit all the carseats.

We drive to FL from NJ every year and for the past few years we've taken our SUV, an Infiniti QX4. We tend to overpack and bring lots of gear, including our bicycles and bike trailer for the kids, so the bigger car (our other car was a sedan - Nissan Maxima) was always necessary. I also love having room to spread out and room to set up our little toddler potty in the event of an emergency roadside potty break ("Mommy, I'm gonna poop in my pants!").

If the cost of gas is a budget breaker, then go with the car. If it's within your budget, go with the vehicle that will be most comfortable and has the most amenities. I tend to get claustrophobic in small cars on long rides, so for my own personal comfort I'd like the space of a larger car.

There's also the safety factor - basic physics will tell you that the bigger, heavier car is safer in an accident and with kids, that may push you one way or the other.

 

[leagirl12]

I live in Alabama but my dad lives in Iowa....we have gone there once a year since my kids were babies and we drive everytime. It is about a 14 hr drive and we drive it all at once. We have done everything from a small car to a midsize car to a minivan. The minivan of course was our favorite but both of them were out of carseats at that point.

Traveling in the small car isn't that bad when they are in car seats. If it were going to save me about $500 it would be no question for me....I would take the car.

I guess it all depends on your financial situation. I can just tell you from my experience the car trip isn't that bad!!!!

 

[bunny]

Another thing to consider is the weather. I don't know where you are driving from but you need to think about the weather in December? Is you car good on snow or ice?

 

[mncherokee]

We drove from MN to Orlando in a caravan of three vehicles last summer (because we had so many people). We had a Dodge Caravan (4 cyl), Olds Sedan and another sedan (the caravan was ours).

We drove 3594 miles in June... price per gallon was between $3.899 and $4.179 the Caravan averaged 21 MPG ($646.74), the Olds averaged 29 MPG ($470.13) and the other sedan averaged 25 MPG ($540.61).

In some ways the Caravan was nice for the extra room in the vehicle... however there wasn't much trunk space... so we wound up taking passenger space with storage. If you have baby gear, it might be better to put it away in the trunk and not have it everywhere in the vehicle.

We stopped every couple of hours and had food in the cooler in the back of one of the sedans. It was natural to stop and the cooler didn't take up floor space like in the minivan.

 

[mommy2paris]

Thanks everyone!! I appreciate all the input.

I do feel more comfortable, safe, happier in the excursion... but my wallet loves that $$ too.

I am praying that I'm not ready for the butter knife, but I have a feeling I will be!!

I'm still holding out a little hope that will can get a good ding, but... I'm preparing myself for the worst.

Honestly though, we flew last year with both kids... 2 1/2 hrs to airport... luggage, security with 2 kids under 2, 2 car seats, 2 strollers, carryons... 2 hr flight, then baggage claim rental & rental car... It was still a long day! I'm exhausted thinking about it, either way!

 

[hbehrman]

What type of vehicle did you travel in? Big, small, car, truck...

We are pretty sure we will be driving to the world in December, with our 2 dd's who will be almost 2 & 4.

We have 3 vehicles to choose from, and about a 2000 mile trip, roundtrip.

1.Excursion... Huge, favorite, lots of room... OBviously worst on gas... About $800 in gas

2.Nissan Frontier... 4 door, but not much room, open bed... About $445 in ags

3.Chevy Malibu 4 door... nice sized trunk, and decent amount of room, but my least favorite of all the vehicles, which of course, just happens to be best on gas, about $340.

We are trying to decide which vehicle to take... Money wise, the car is the winner... But I would so love to take our big truck, which we are most used to traveling in (before gas got so ridiculous...)
However, I'm having a hard time convincing myself that the extra room is worth the extra almost $500... The kids will be in their car seats, regardless, so the extra room, will be more of a convenience to dh & I. Easier to store things near us, so we don't have to stop and get into the bed / trunk, to get food, drinks, etc... It will be easier to have lots of toys / junk handy for the kids to keep entertained.

So, I was looking for stories of those who have driven, and whether or not the vehicle size made a difference in your travels.

Hope you don't think this is silly!! (I posted this on transportation board as well, hope it is okay to ask both places... thought I might get a little more feedback between both boards!)


TIA!

If you are coming from the North or through DC/Northern VA you might want to check out Amtrak's Auto train which goes from Lorton, VA to Sanford,FL. Or even check out a Family bedroom on Amtrak (meals would be included) if you are near a North/South rail service.

 

[homeschooler]

I agree. The flight was harder than the driving. And then there was a problem with the plane and we ended up in Atlanta for 5 hours and to top it off, my son's eardrum ruptured (we didn't even know he had an infection) and my 13 year old had another problem. We have since learned that she has that problem every time she flies, including 8 days later on the return trip. No thanks. Driving is better

 

[happymommy]

I hear that about flying with little ones - I used to hate all the gear you needed - much easier to drive!

I checked out the Autotrain once - we are not too far from there. Well, for a family car it was very VERY expensive! And it is often delayed. I'd rather fly than do that - it really sounded fun initially.

Good luck finding a Ding - otherwise, consider that time is money when you travel. It's a tough call, the reason we drove that year was that it was right after 9/11. We were supposed to go to Hawaii without the kids, but that got canceled, and I decided that I wanted to drive somewhere with them. We have since driven to St. Louis (same distance about 13 hours or so) and it's no big deal - did it on a whim for just a weekend last summer.

 

[JWollman]

We have driven the past 4 times, and this past year with our toddler. It was great because we brought all of our grear plus cold weather stuff.. since we went in January and we actually needed our Hats at Epcot one morning because it was So cold!!!

THis time I am flying.. and I am nervous to fly with a 3yr old.. but hope all goes well

 

[DisneyWalle]

We use our Chevy Silverado. The truck is extremely comfortable and affords us more room than our previous SUV and our other car. My son still rides in a booster seat which obviously takes up a bit of room, but due to the size of the cab everything still is in easy reach. That said, the truck is the most expensive vehicle for us to drive to Disney on, even though we only drive a total of 12 hours. Still, its the only thing that we want to use to take our trips on. For us, comfort is key to starting and ending the vacation!

 

[nilseks]

We drove 2,400 miles round trip last year in a Honda CR-V. Both kids were in car seats so it was totally fine. We didn't have a ton of storage room in the back for luggage, but that was okay, because it forced me to pack carefully and not take a ton of junk that we didn't need. It was nice having a smaller vehicle because I could easily reach back and hand things to the kids if they needed something.

My youngest does better driving than flying, so I'm kind of dreading the fact that we're flying this year. I think next time around we'll probably drive.

If it were me, I'd save the $500 on gas and put it toward the Dining Plan. For that amount you can feed a family of 4 on the dining plan for 5 days, and that seems a much better use of $$$ than blowing it on gas.

Good luck!

 

[mpls_mm]

I am almost decided on driving too. I have made it many times, but only once with kids. My flights kept getting changed and moved and I was ending up with layovers. On one flight with kids my daughter threw up on the sweet little old lady sitting next to us. Add the security and baggage claim and on and on and driving looks better. Plus I have all the time in the world. I have an Escape, so similar to a CRV sizewise. I think it will be fine.

 

[bradisgoofy]

We've been going to Florida from Michigan for over 20 year, 99% driving. We have done it in everything from a Z-28 Camaro ( no real back seat ) to an S-10 Blazer and now a Chrysler van. We much prefer the van but we have managed in any vehicle we have taken because...we are on vacation !

 

[tina_la]

ok this is funny to me because we traveled last year 12 hours with 3 kids in a Volkswagon hatchback... yep tiny and cramped. Last minate option but it worked and less than $300 in gas. Unfortunatly we have to take it again this year. Happens to be the most reliable car we have so it can be done. I would kill at this point to take a Chevy Malibu. I really don't think it would be that bad in your car with 2 kids but only you know what you would be comfortable in. IMHO I would take the car, save the money, and skimp a bit on the comfort for the drive down.

 

[mommy2paris]

Thanks everyone!! I really appreciate all of the input! It fun to hear all the different stories.