Road trip with young kids?

[Leajess99]

Good to hear this is not impossible! We plan on driving from NY to WDW with our 2 year old.

I actually drove with my son at 20 months old from Washingto State to Michigan. We did not have the DVD player back then but we made stops and sang and just made it a fun trip. We made sie stops to Mt Rushmore as well.

 

[DISNEYFOS]

We are also doing the drive from MA during Spring Break week. This will be our kids second longest drive. We did Armish country and Hershey, PA in 2007. We are stopping in NC for a couple of day to visit some friends. Then on our way to the Happiest Place on Earth. I will work half day and they will pick me up and were on our way.

DISNEYFOS where are you staying? We have yet to plan on a Hotel on our way back. Just wondering is you have any good suggestion?

We are going to try to do the majority of driving the first day..(mostly at night while kids are sleeping...First nights stay will probably be just off the highway..We did AAA Trip tiks and mapped out areas with clusters of chain hotels that could be potential stops depending on how far we get.
2nd night we made a resv. in Savannah, GA because its Valentines day and I was worried about vacancies. Its at the Marriott on the Riverwalk.. It looked like a nice location and it had an indoor pool. Not sure If I can suggest anyplace yet..though Having not experienced it yet. I'm sure I will when I come back!

I do recommend the AAA trip tiks application on their website...and the Drive I-95 book..It helps with the planning. GPS and maps will help with the doing...

 

[verlee]

I like the idea of driving all night. My parents used to do that (not sure how old we were when they started) and I did that before kids. I just get worried about dh and I being exausted and the boys being wound up and ready to go.

Pre-kids I also did trip tiks from AAA. I thought they were great. I used them on a three day trek to Portland OR. I really like the "idea" of driving with the family.

 

[alice99]

I remember using the trip tix - I'm so happy I have a GPS now.

 

[SCHBR'smom]

Last June we drove 18 hrs to Disney with 6 small children and I was in my 1st trimester with another. The kids were ages 8, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. They all did fine watching dvds, nintendo, leapster, and coloring, except the 1 yr old. She caught a virus before we left and didn't want to be stuck in a car seat. We'll definitely drive next time, and there will be 8 small children then.

 

[WDWjen]

does anyone know which rest stops have a McDonalds playground in GA or FL? We're driving straight thru the night from NY on friday, hopefully arriving at the GA/FL border first thing in the morning. Last time we stopped for pancakes at a McDonalds... I'd love to find one that has a playground inside so the kids can get some playtime in... THanks!

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

does anyone know which rest stops have a McDonalds playground in GA or FL? We're driving straight thru the night from NY on friday, hopefully arriving at the GA/FL border first thing in the morning. Last time we stopped for pancakes at a McDonalds... I'd love to find one that has a playground inside so the kids can get some playtime in... THanks!

Well, let's pull out the handy dandy Drive I-95 Exit by Exit book and take a look... remember that exits are essentially mile markers on I-95 (so it's 33 miles from Exit 36 to Exit 3, heading south).

As you get close to the GA-FL border:
- Exit 36 in GA (Brunswick / Jesup) has both a Burger King and McDonalds with Play Places and a 24 hour Waffle House
After that, no fast food play areas until you get right down to the border:
- Exit 3 in GA (Kingsland / St Mary's) has the same as exit 36 - McDonalds and Burger King both with Play places and a 24 hour Waffle House
- Exit 373 in FL has the same (McD and BK with playareas and 24 hr WH)
- Exit 360 has a BK with a play area
- Next available fast food play area is down at Exit 339 at Burger King

LOVE LOVE this book!

 

[C&G'sMama]

Love to drive. Our kids are 5 & 8 and we have a 1300 mile drive to Disney and we've been driving since they were both under 3. Our next trip is in April. We like the Welcome Centers. When we take a bathroom break we have the kids run around. If the weather's nice we'll break out the soccer ball. We aren't night drivers so we do hotels on the way down. DD finally figured out the blue duffel bag contains the trip toys (we've been using it since she was 2, she'll be 9 in May). I call it "Mama's Magic Bag". We collect little toys and books throughout the year (on sale, on clearance etc.) Like others we pack special foods we usually don't have at home. They each have a lunch box and I MUST pack their boxes with special treats in the mornings for a surprise (it's tradition, and heaven forbid I break tradition).

AAA triptiks. Get maps for the boys too, you said they're 4 and 7? My son especially loves looking at the maps. I'm a map freak. I'll look at the map 100times, just because.

We try to find a hotel with an indoor pool on the way down. The kids love it. We have a favorite Hampton Inn in Hagerstown, MD that has this Italian Restaurant we love.

I just feel like our road trips are packed with so many memories. We have so many stories and I'm sure everyone does. This past December I had a seminar in Miami and the family came and we drove. The conference was at a very nice hotel. We drove up about 8:00 at night and the valet greeted us and DP just about died. Let's face it, when you're on a road trip, you are living in your car. At this point we'd been on the road 5 days as we had made a few stops along the way. DS had spilled crackers, pretzels and water in the car, we all had ice cream stained shirts, DP wasn't wearing shoes because her feet hurt. We felt like the "Klampetts came to Miami". But we laugh about it.

Anyway, enjoy. Have a great trip.