I’m debating driving from NY to Disney with a 4 yo and a 6 month old. Am I nuts?

[Fido Chuckwagon]

I’m curious if anyone one this board has ever made this trip with kids so young before. Am I nuts? It will be me, wife, and two daughters aged 4 and 6 months. Four year old has taken many 4-7 hour car trips with us before but nothing like this. The plan is to drive 9 hours one day and stop in Fayetteville NC the drive the following 8 hours the next day to Orlando. 4 year old has a kindle fire kids edition and we have a iPad to play Sesame Street episodes for the 6 month old. Any tips advice or thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks In advance.

 

[sponica]

My parents drove from AZ to CT with 3 kids under 5 and lived to tell the tale! I think it's key to stop every few hours to stretch/fresh air/diaper changes. If you treat the ride as PART of the adventure, it can be fun.

So I say go for it.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

I’m curious if anyone one this board has ever made this trip with kids so young before. Am I nuts? It will be me, wife, and two daughters aged 4 and 6 months. Four year old has taken many 4-7 hour car trips with us before but nothing like this. The plan is to drive 9 hours one day and stop in Fayetteville NC the drive the following 8 hours the next day to Orlando. 4 year old has a kindle fire kids edition and we have a iPad to play Sesame Street episodes for the 6 month old. Any tips advice or thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks In advance.

2 plus years ago we drove with 14 people and 4 cars from Pa to WDW. Ages were 4 months to 73 years old plus 2 dogs we were at Fort Wilderness in rental TTs, we stopped in lower SC and drove the next day into WDW. hardest part was getting 4 year old back into car the second day. one thing I would plan on is the trip taking a lot longer than planned as it seems to take a lot more time with bathroom breaks than without kids. plus if baby needs to be out of carseat to eat you will have to be stopped. also make sure at any stops the older one gets out and moves around to more her legs. one of boys not sure which one had trouble sleeping that night as he slept a lot in the car and was not sleepy when everyone wanted to go to bed. one question for you has 4 year old done any of the trips back to back? like driving there one day and driving home the next day where she has been I car 2 long days in a row

 

[Rach3975]

I think it depends on the baby. Two of mine were early crawlers, 5 months and 6 months. They would have been absolutely miserable stuck inside a car unable to move around for that many hours at that age. A few times a year we make a 7 hour drive to visit family, and the trips were not fun at all when the kids were that age. It was a catch 22--we'd try to schedule the trip at a time that would allow them to sleep through as much as possible of it, but then I'd be stuck up with them all night since they'd slept too much. There were also lots of tears when they wanted to be out of the car and couldn't be.

If your 4 year old is a seasoned long-trip taker, which it sounds like she is, she'll probably be fine. She's used to how long trips work, and it makes a big difference that she's old enough to understand what's coming at the end of the trip and be entertained by toys and devices in the car.

 

[Andrewssix]

We've done it from NH with a 2 1/2 yr old and 18 month old. Did it again a few years later (on a train), and then added twins and have driven down with all four (twins were 3 or 4). We have never had any problems, but my kids were always accommodating and never complained! My one piece of advice is that on our first day of driving, we'd go as far as we could, usually all the way to SC (about 18 hrs). Once you get to a certain point the kids were starting to sleep anyways, so we'd keep driving. The next day, it would be easy because we'd be in Orlando by noon. So it was one very long day in the car, followed by a short one. It just seemed less painful that way. I don't know if that helps, but thought I'd share. A lot of it comes down to the personalities of your kids, I was lucky!

 

[maxiesmom]

I would make sure to add in plenty of stops to your drive time. Little rears in car seats cant shift around as easily as adults, and would need time to get out and stretch and move.

 

[ramee]

We drove from northern MD with a 4 yr old and 14 mo. Left around 3am so they could sleep a good chunk of it. Stopped to stretch and bathroom/diaper change about every 2 hours depending on if they were napping. We arrived in st Augustine around 6pm to visit family and stay the night. Only 2-3 hrs drive the next day and in blizzard beach by noon.

We brought snacks, a couple favorite toys, and a leap pad that had games and shows.

Edit: maybe it was 4am we left. About 14hrs drive

 

[Timothy02359]

Yes, you are nuts.

 

[holden]

Yes, you are nuts.

Agree

 

[maxiesmom]

Oh, and before you decide on the drive I would try a few shorter drives, maybe 2 hours or so, with the little one. See how she does.

 

[LBHouse]

I would do it..in fact we have done it many times.

Our Oldest is 8 and has been going 4 times a ear since she was born. #3 went at 2 months old. That trip was a 2 year old, two 1 year olds, a 2 month old and my wife and i.

We are at Disney now, drove down with all five kids...youngest turned 5 months today and this is trip 3.

Drving down from Michigan

 

[a742246]

This would be my nightmare!

 

[piglet1979]

We drove from Northeast Ohio to WDW when the kids were 4 and 5. This was their first car trip longer than an hour or 2. The kids both had a hand held game system (I can't remember the name but it was from Vtech), coloring pages with I think colored pencils and we had a laptop that we put in the middle of our seats so they both could see it to watch movies. We drove straight through. It took about 24 hours. We now stop in Kingsland, GA for the night. This gets us to the exit right before Florida so only a few hours the next morning. I would suggest leaving super early. When we drove straight through we would leave at like 2 am and keep the kids up as late as possible so they slept for a good portion. Now we leave at about 4 or 5am. Early enough to beat the rush hour traffic in Cleveland and Akron.

 

[Disney_Ummi]

Wow! I grew up in Kingsland,Ga. (Military Brat ) How random! Now I live in Philadelphia and I'm still debating driving vs flying. My kids are 7,6, and 2. These are the times I wished i still lived in Kingsland. 3 Hour drive!

 

[NotUrsula]

When you book your overnight stop, make it a hotel with an indoor pool, and plan to swim. Swimming after a long drive is a good way for adults to relax and get the kinks out, but conversely, it wears kids out, which you will REALLY need to do if they have been sleeping in a carseat for much of the day.

You'll want to plan a brief stop about every 90 minutes when the kids are awake; otherwise they are likely to be screaming to get out. Put the baby in overnight diapers when she will be sleeping; regular ones leak when they sit in that position for a long time.

 

[Sjm9911]

Nuts , but in a good way! Lol, get nighttime diapers for the kid, and pull ups for the 4yo if needed. I would start out early, 4 am. That way they might sleep a bit . Then stop as sugested. Maybe even a bit further. Cooler with snacks and a portable dvd player. Good luck!

 

[North of Mouse]

.

 

[Minnie1222]

How long are you planning to stay at WDW? How healthy & alert are you? How reliable is your car?
Do it if both you and your wife love long car rides, love WDW, and terrified of flying.
Don't go to Disney just for the kids. At that age, they would be equally happy playing in a cardboard box.

 

[Dis703]

Yes, but we did it once. With a 4 year old and twin 1 year olds. But we had 3 adults in the car and from North Jersey stopping half way over night. First of all, the kids were always amazing about sleeping in the car so we thought we'd get away with driving much of the night. Not so much. Hit construction and all the stopping and starting woke one of the twins who kept crying hysterically. We had to rearrange our plans and stop earlier but we move our hotel reservation and managed. All in all they were pretty calm during the day but the trip was exhausting. More so on the way back.

Since then we've flown every single time. And since we find such amazing rates from here in NJ (usually pay between $50 and 100 Round Trip it's just not worth it to take all that extra time and drive over 2 days.

 

[Tink_83]

My family does trips like this often. We drive from northern VA (and my parents start in PA) to Florida every year. We also have a summer house in Nova Scotia, and typically we take the long way around, so from VA that’s upwards of a 3 day trip.

My suggestion, start as early as you can. Getting a good 5 hours or so on the road before the kids wake up is definitely worth it. I would also plan a rest day for the day you arrive (if you arrive late maybe the next day) so you can get settled before hitting the parks.