How long have you driven at one time with kids?

[Minnie824]

Well, next month we're finally driving to Disney....with DDs aged 4 and 1.5. We're still trying to figure out how much to drive at once. Total trip, according to mapquest and others is around 18.25 hrs (plus stops). Both DDs do very well in the car...we have a dvd player and I've bought lots of little toys for them. We're debating how long to drive, or to drive straight thru. I know some people probably think we're nuts! But if we do *attempt* to drive straight thru, we're leaving the option over to stop somewhere if they're not doing well in the car. The plan is to leave 3am, that way DH & I get some sleep each night. So, can you tell me your experience with driving on trips with kids? How long did you drive, how did they do? Thanks!

 

[SC Minnie]

We drove 15 hours from Chicago when DD was 5. We were planning to stop half way for the night but she fell asleep for a couple of hours and we just kept going.

 

[NMAmy]

I've driven back and forth from Michigan to New Mexico with dd since she was tiny and that kid can outlast ME in the car any day. She can go for days without going to the bathroom and hates to stop. I, on the other hand, need to stop about every hour. She monitors my fluid intake and won't let me have more than a sip of water at a time.

With your normal children, though, (as opposed to my freakish one ), if I was leaving at 3 a.m., I'd plan on doing the trip over 2 days. How late will your kids sleep in the morning? I'd stop for breakfast, stop for lunch, then drive for as long as I could stand it that first day.

I hope you have a great time!

 

[Frantasmic]

I would split the trip.

My in-laws live 17 hours away and when my kids were younger (nearer to your kids' ages) we'd stop every 2 hours for some stretching. This makes for a long day as it really curtails the distance you can travel.

I'd say that it will depend on your 1.5 year old the most. I assume they are still in diapers, so you have to stop anyway.

If you could get up early in the morning and they would actually sleep, you could get 5-6 hours down the road without stopping, but you would need a breakfast and stretch break when they wake up anyway.

That leaves 13 hour trip ahead of you. I think even the best child will get tired of DVDs and need to run around some.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[remyandhollandsmommy]

We drive from here to FL every summer which is 24hrs straight or 2 days if you stop. We have done it both ways. I recommend the 2 day option myself. With the 2 day option we stop every few hours so the girls can run around outside and we can get out of that car LOL. We also take a small bag of toys and the all powerful dvd player. We also take small snacks/water so we don't have to stop too often. Good Luck.

 

[ChristmasElf]

If you were to leave at 4 am, drive a couple hours, stop at a McDonalds for breakfast and then get on the road again til 2 ish, stop for a late lunch and a little break to stretch and run around, back in the car for a few more hours, stop again eat and stretch, you could do the trip in 1 very long day arriving at about midnight to 1 am.
Sleep in a little the next morning to recover, and hit the parks by 10 am

If you take a cooler with a few juice boxes and sodas, waters, cut up subs and a bag of chips, you could even just eat in the car and save more time.

 

[binny]

ILs live 16 hours away, weve done straight through when it was just the two of us. But prefer to stop for the night when we have the kids. My mom lives exactly half way between us so it works out really well.

My kids wouldnt mind going straight through though if it werent for Nana being in the way LOL.

 

[jrydberg]

18 hours. Kids were fine so we just kept going. You always have the option of stopping over somewhere if things get a bit too much.

 

[skiwee1]

We drive from MD to Fla quite a bit. We are exactly 944 miles from my door to the Polynesian! We started drving when DD Was 2 y/o and have driven probably 6 times so far. We divide it up into 3 days of driving. Yes, 3 days! The first two days we are on the road about 6 hours each. The last day we only have about 4 hours to drive. Driving more then 6 hours a day is just too much for all of us, not just DD. She handles it better then I do. I drive with my mom also so we take frequent stops to shop, eat, and look around. We like to stay overnight in nice hotels on the way down and back. We did the drive in two days once and never will again. It was just too much driving to do. I know you won't go for the 3 days driving but you really should divide it up into two days with an overnight stop. Anything less is just too exhausting for all of you.

 

[4greatboys]

I have "driven" about 22 hour with them. I say "driven" because it was during our wonderful hurricane Rita Evac and we werent really driving just stuck sitting on the freeway barely moving.

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

We usually do a 2-day trip. We have 4 kids, so with 6 people in the car, and all the potty breaks, food stops, etc. it would be really hard to do a very long trip. We did from here to Panama City Beach straight thru, but that took us about 14 hours with all the stopping, arguing, etc.

By the time we got there, I was exhausted!!

 

[momof3disneyholics]

When my son was 2, my hubby was doing some army training in Virginia and we lived in Augusta, Georgia. I used to drive 7 1/2 hours each way everyway to see him. It was a good drive, but I would start out at around 4:00 in the morning and my son would sleep a good 6 hours of the drive.
When I lived in Savannah we used to drive to Orlando once a month and left really early in the morning too, and they would sleep most of the way. We would stop around Daytona and let them get out to stretch their legs.

 

[snoopy]

We drove to Pigeon Forge, TN two Thansgivings ago...8 hours each way. We had a great time and really want to go back but we dread that long drive! We aren't car people....we live in the city and do a lot of walking, so my kids aren't used to sitting in the car for long stretches at a time. Maybe when we get our new minivan it will make those trips a little more bearable.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

21 hours from Missouri to NYC, straight thru there and back. DH and I did it in 2 hour shifts each. DD's were 12 & 7.

 

[snoopy]

We drive from MD to Fla quite a bit. We are exactly 944 miles from my door to the Polynesian! We started drving when DD Was 2 y/o and have driven probably 6 times so far. We divide it up into 3 days of driving. Yes, 3 days! The first two days we are on the road about 6 hours each. The last day we only have about 4 hours to drive. Driving more then 6 hours a day is just too much for all of us, not just DD. She handles it better then I do. I drive with my mom also so we take frequent stops to shop, eat, and look around. We like to stay overnight in nice hotels on the way down and back. We did the drive in two days once and never will again. It was just too much driving to do. I know you won't go for the 3 days driving but you really should divide it up into two days with an overnight stop. Anything less is just too exhausting for all of you.

This is exactly how I will do it should I ever get the nerve to drive down there.

 

[pixiepower1971]

12 hours with stops every 3 hours...short breaks. After about 12 hours I am going nuts but can push to 18 if I have another driver with me. The kids are ok. They read, watch dvds, listen to cds, do mad libs, etc. They are really very good about it BUT we have been doing a lot of long distance driving since they were babies. DD#1 spent her 1st bday on the road on a 4 day drive from the coast of CA to the coast of NJ. She was great, the dog was great- DH says I was a royal pain though! I was so bored!

 

[pattyT]

We drove from MA to Fl in April with kids
11, 4 and 8 months!
We intended to stay overnight somewhere in the middle
we left at 6pm - drive thru dinner in the cara and then they were alsepp before we hit NY
Next thing we knew it was 7 am and we stopped for breakfast...
then munched on snacks in the car for lunch then realized we were in FL already - might as well go straight thru
called dis got a room a night early
then got caught in HORRID traffic in Orlando
Got to Disney 24 hours later...
We had the laptop for movies, games, snacks, etc,
we took a few unmentioned quick potty - stretch pl;ay ball 15 minute breaks at rest areas and switch drivers!
The way home took longer (as we came from Fort Myers) and it was raining half the way - and we should have stayed somewhere!

 

[ZachnElli]

We've driven 20+hours a few times. We break it down into 2 days with an overnight stop though. Can't imagine doing it straight through!

 

[Jenn Lynn]

6 hours with DD. We haven't made any trips with DS yet.

 

[WAHMto5]

We always drive (I am not a plane fan), from Northern Illinois to WDW. We always leave around 12:00~1:00am to give us all night to drive and when they wake in the morning, we are ready to stop for breakfast. If they are all content, we try to drive through stopping a few times at rest stops to play, lunch, ect.. if not, we leave room to spend one~night in a hotel on the way and on the way back.
We also buy new movies for the trip to keep them entertained.
Have fun!!