Need Advice

[disney54321]

From all those who have driven 12 hours plus with small children..What time in your opinion is the best time to leave? We have a 13 hour drive and we have four children in which 2 are under the age of 3. At first we were thinking maybe leaving the night before hoping that they would sleep the whole way through (keyword hoping..lol) Or should we leave early early morning like 2 am that way they have had six hours or so of sleep and maybe will fall back asleep during the drive?? lol

 

[LAH LAH]

We did the "leave at midnight" plan and it worked well...just be prepared to be wiped out when you arive and having your kids relatively refreshed from sleeping.

And make sure both adults agree to stay awake to help each other stay awake...no use in crashing on your way to Disney...too hard to enjoy it that way.

Good luck with whatever you choose...and have a great time!

 

[bellazachmom]

We drove from Northern Virginia to WDW twice and have now moved to Omaha, Nebraska and have driven from there to San Antonio, TX a few times. Our kids are 4 and 2 and 4 months old but we started doing this when the oldest was 14 months. What seemed to work best for us was having dinner at home, putting on PJ's and getting in the car. Put on a movie (we invested in a portable DVD for our 2nd road trip!) and by the time the movie was over the little ones where asleep. It has always worked well for us. The only time I had a bit of a problem was 2 years ago heading to Texas for Christmas. Hubby was over in the desert and I was driving alone. I hated having to wake the kids up and take them inside when I needed a potty break! Since they had to wake-up anyway, I went ahead and stayed at the rest stop a bit longer and let them get some wiggles out. Then we loaded back up, started another movie, and they were back asleep within the hour.

Plan on a light day of activities for your arrival day, or at least some down time until early afternoon.

Have a great trip! -Jennie

 

[Ariel8676]

WE have driven from NJ to Wdw a few times and leaving later at night always worked out great. We usually have a nice dinner, then DH will sleep for a few hours while i finish packing and getting kids in their P'J's or sweats..then we like to leave around 10-11 pm.
It has always worked out great and not having to deal with traffic is awesome!