Non Disney transportation question

[maxiesmom]

I'm looking to you who travel by car as part of a large group for advice. We are in the discussion phase of planning a trip to Pigeon Forge, TN. For us this is about a 12 hour drive. We have done it before, and while it is not my favorite thing to be stuck in a car for 12 hours, it beats the $429 per person airfare.

However, my sis was thinking this may be a good time to bring my niece's boyfriend along on vacation. They have been dating over 2 years, so the thought is to see if he likes taking trips as part of a mob. His dad doesn't take vacations at all, so he hasn't been really anywhere.

However, with 7 people along we would need to drive 2 cars, which seems to be a bit of a pain in the rear. The 3 guys are all over 6 foot tall, and I'm not short myself at 5 foot 8. We could fit into one SUV, but we would be squished. With 2 cars it would probably end up me and my speed demon nephew in one car (man doesn't go under 80, and I'm not kidding) and everyone else in the other. And my sister intensely dislikes the family being split up to begin with.

Any thoughts or suggestions on how we could make this work? Do we just constantly rotate cars? When you road trip with more than one car do you make sure you are in sight of each other at all times, or do you set up meeting spots? Been a long time sense I have done a multi car road trip, and I'm sure it is easier now with cell phones and computers to help. Or would you just suck it up and pack into one SUV?

Sorry, this is really long! But thanks for reading!

 

[merina888]

Have you considered renting a large conversion van? I don't know the rental costs, but probably less than airline tickets. And some of those vans are really comfortable.

 

[sam_gordon]

I'm looking to you who travel by car as part of a large group for advice. We are in the discussion phase of planning a trip to Pigeon Forge, TN. For us this is about a 12 hour drive. We have done it before, and while it is not my favorite thing to be stuck in a car for 12 hours, it beats the $429 per person airfare.

However, my sis was thinking this may be a good time to bring my niece's boyfriend along on vacation. They have been dating over 2 years, so the thought is to see if he likes taking trips as part of a mob. His dad doesn't take vacations at all, so he hasn't been really anywhere.

However, with 7 people along we would need to drive 2 cars, which seems to be a bit of a pain in the rear. The 3 guys are all over 6 foot tall, and I'm not short myself at 5 foot 8. We could fit into one SUV, but we would be squished. With 2 cars it would probably end up me and my speed demon nephew in one car (man doesn't go under 80, and I'm not kidding) and everyone else in the other. And my sister intensely dislikes the family being split up to begin with.

Any thoughts or suggestions on how we could make this work? Do we just constantly rotate cars? When you road trip with more than one car do you make sure you are in sight of each other at all times, or do you set up meeting spots? Been a long time sense I have done a multi car road trip, and I'm sure it is easier now with cell phones and computers to help. Or would you just suck it up and pack into one SUV?

Sorry, this is really long! But thanks for reading!

When I've done multi vehicle road trips (mainly for work), we've 'caravaned'... one lead car and the others follow. However, the lead car needs to be cognizant of the follow cars... stay within 10mph of the speed limit, not race through yellow lights, make sure everyone makes turns, etc.

We don't switch vehicles during the trip, but might switch drivers.

I would not cram 7 people (including 3 over 6') into a 7 passenger van for a 12 hour trip. I don't think you'd have room for luggage for that many. Two cars is the way to go.

 

[tobikaye]

I think it is easier when traveling with multiple cars to set up meeting points. It probably would not be hard to keep two cars together, but it can cause a trip to be a bit more tiresome as you are not only just focused on where you are, but where the other car is. Another plus, depending on what everyone plans to do in Pigeon Forge is that you can use both cars if you need to split up. I know that any trip with more than 3 people to the Pigeon Forge area usually has us wanting to split up to see other things. Granted most of the people I travel to the Smoky Mountains with have been there at least a few dozen times, or even lived there, so we all have places we want to go.

 

[CourtneyL]

If you choose not to stay in sight of each other you can use the "find my friends" app on the iPhone. You have to set it up beforehand, but it lets you see where the other person is. It's very handy when you are trying to meet up with people. It's a free apple app too.