Oh Wise Ones!

[txgirl]

We are going to purchase a dvd player for the car (the old VCR dinosaur finally kicked it!) The debate is whether to purchase two single players for each of my girls (10 & 8) or one player with dual screens?

What are the pros and cons of each? You guys are so good at helping me make decisions, so come on!

We have a two year old also, but we are thinking we can rig the laptop for him to watch behind the driver's seat while the girls ride in the back, since they watch different movies.

 

[rt2dz]

If your girls are generally going to want to watch the same movie, or are good about taking turns picking movies to watch, it might be more cost effective to simply buy one with dual screens. Especially if you won't be using it a lot--we only use ours for 3+ hour trips. But if they always watch different things and fight over it a lot, it might save your sanity to buy two individual DVD players. As a bonus, this could also give each one for their room or to watch during other times when they can't agree on what to watch.

 

[Deffenm]

We bought one DVD for player for DS (4) to use on trips. I thought that would be enough. Well we thought that DS broke the DVD player so we bought another one while we were in Florida on vacation in March. Turns out I don't know how to work the thing and DH fixed it. So now we have 2 DVD players and it is the best thing. DS watches his movie with headphones, DH watches his movie with headphones and I get to drive and listen to whatever music I want to. It is the most wonderful thing in the world. We got both of them at Target and they have worked great and did not cost too much.

 

[Deffenm]

We bought one DVD for player for DS (4) to use on trips. I thought that would be enough. Well we thought that DS broke the DVD player so we bought another one while we were in Florida on vacation in March. Turns out I don't know how to work the thing and DH fixed it. So now we have 2 DVD players and it is the best thing. DS watches his movie with headphones, DH watches his movie with headphones and I get to drive and listen to whatever music I want to. It is the most wonderful thing in the world. We got both of them at Target and they have worked great and did not cost too much.

 

[dismom9761]

We bought one player.I have 4 kids They take turns picking the movie.For us it was the only way to go-it was barely in the budget.

 

[disneysteve]

The debate is whether to purchase two single players for each of my girls (10 & 8) or one player with dual screens?

Surely you can't be serious. What ever happened to reading, playing travel games, doing puzzle books, sing-alongs, etc?

We've been driving to Disney from NJ at least once a year since DD was 6 months old and have never had any trouble entertaining her, or having her entertain herself once she was older (she's 9 now). Call us old-fashioned, but such is life. To each his own.

 

[goofyfatherof2]

We bought the DVD player with 2 screens. The are usually good a bout sharing. One thing to watch out for is engine noise. Some cars will have alot of engine noise that comes thru the speakers, and other cars have had none. On our DVD player the main screen has no noise and the 2nd has alot of noise. The kids use headphones and plug both into the main unit and its not a problem.

 

[tiff211]

Surely you can't be serious. What ever happened to reading, playing travel games, doing puzzle books, sing-alongs, etc?

We've been driving to Disney from NJ at least once a year since DD was 6 months old and have never had any trouble entertaining her, or having her entertain herself once she was older (she's 9 now). Call us old-fashioned, but such is life. To each his own.

It's soooo much easier to travel with one than with two. You hear "stop touching me, I had it first etc. etc. etc. For long trips and in order to keep the peace and a parent's sanity, the DVD player is the way to go.

OP - Target has really cute Disney personal DVD players for less than 150. You will probably spend that much for one DVD player with dual screens. They had princess pink and Mickey Red. Might be nice to start the Disney trip off!!!

 

[powellrj]

at christmas time ToysRus had personal DVD players for around $100. They are sturdy and DD has used hers a lot. I think they are called Teen Tech.

 

[disneysteve]

It's soooo much easier to travel with one than with two.

Understood. I was just being ornery when I posted earlier. I just get a little annoyed when I hear people saying they couldn't possibly drive anywhere without a DVD player. Folks have been doing it for a long, long time. I guess we just didn't know any better back then as we had no other choice but to entertain ourselves some other way.

 

[MySonAdoresPoohBear]

I was floored when I sent an e-mail message to a national mothers group I belong to asking for ideas for long trips and the only response I received was buy a DVD player.

We drove 16 hours (32 R/T) to South Dakota last summer without a DVD Player. My kids were 7 & 8 then. We played car games, made frequents stops to see the area and just chatted. I will say that we all had had enough when we got home, but I don't regret not buying a DVD player for that trip. It was fun to see them find ways to entertain themself. Although, the 100th verse of Abide With Me in cat/dog/quinea pig did get to me and I do admit asking them to stop...

 

[disneysteve]

I was floored when I sent an e-mail message to a national mothers group I belong to asking for ideas for long trips and the only response I received was buy a DVD player.

Kind of sad, isn't it. Yes we only have 1 kid, but we've driven 1100 miles each way to Disney about 8 or 9 times with her. When she was an infant and toddler, DW and I took turns sitting with her, reading to her, singing, playing, etc. As she got older, we continued reading, she started reading, we play travel games, magnetic checkers, etc. She does have a Game Boy and will play that but we try and limit her to about an hour at a time and then make her do something else for an hour or two. We just feel that is more interactive and thought-requiring than watching a movie. Some of those electronic games are pretty involved. She usually goes back and forth between playing the game and reading the strategy guidebook. Last trip, we were doing logic puzzles which she got into through the gifted program at school. Trust me, it was quite a challenge for me to be helping her with them while I was driving, trying to keep track of everything in my head.

 

[DW2006]

and if finances are no issue, I think I'd go with the two separate ones. That way they can have wireless headphones and watch individual movies and then use them when the trip is over too. We have the dual screen in our van...but our boys are 6, 4 and 2 and so they are pretty cooperative about what to watch together and aren't ready for being responsible for setting it up and changing movies etc. But at your girls ages, I think two separate ones would be a good investment for the trip and beyond.

 

[DW2006]

Understood. I was just being ornery when I posted earlier. I just get a little annoyed when I hear people saying they couldn't possibly drive anywhere without a DVD player. Folks have been doing it for a long, long time. I guess we just didn't know any better back then as we had no other choice but to entertain ourselves some other way.

Oh it totally can be done. Absolutely. We've traveled 14 hrs to Houston from Atlanta with one, two and even three children (they are two yrs apart) We have traveled 12 hrs to IL from Atlanta with the same. We now travel 20 hrs from South Texas to Atlanta and we've yet to make the trip with the DVD (because we just purchased it) But for me, I homeschool, we are always reading, learning, exploring and expanding our minds. Sometimes I count the drive as part of the vacation. So yeah, DVD player it is, for our next trip.

 

[princess lovers mom]

does anyone have a link or info on a "dual screen" DVD...I cannot picture it...we just bought a new van yesterday and we have had the vehicles in the past where the screen pops down from the ceiling this does not have hat so we are looking this weekend into getting either 2 individual ones that we can put in cases that mount on the back of the front seats, but what is this dual screen thing?

thanks

 

[DW2006]

does anyone have a link or info on a "dual screen" DVD...I cannot picture it...we just bought a new van yesterday and we have had the vehicles in the past where the screen pops down from the ceiling this does not have hat so we are looking this weekend into getting either 2 individual ones that we can put in cases that mount on the back of the front seats, but what is this dual screen thing?

thanks

We got ours at Sam's Club. It is the portable type, with one screen attached to the player and then an additional screen that is hooked into the main unit but can be put on another headrest. It has a carrying case and is very very easy to set up.

 

[rt2dz]

We got ours at Sam's Club. It is the portable type, with one screen attached to the player and then an additional screen that is hooked into the main unit but can be put on another headrest. It has a carrying case and is very very easy to set up.

Just wanted to clarify for someone who might not know, it is the same movie that shows up on both screens.

 

[DisneyCrazyX5]

We are thinking of one of these too. We need something all three boys can see, and since the oldest will be in the back it would work. (we took out a seat last time and had a small TV/DVD, so all the boys could see it) I have looked at them on the Walmart web site. But how about head phones? How can I hook up three sets? Dad and I enjoy talking or listening to the radio with out a Disney movie in the background.
Last time we limited the boys to 2-3 movies each way of our 15 hour trips. We still had lots of time (11 hours of so) to talk, sing along to kid songs, or Kenny Chesney's "When the Sun Goes Down" (even the 3 year old twins liked singing along) . Reading seemed to cause car sickness and was not a good option for us.

 

[DW2006]

We will be investing in some wireless sets for our boys.

 

[goofyfatherof2]

The Durabrand DVD player with 2 screens has 2 headphone plugs on each screen, so you could use 4 headphones.