Road tripping to WDW - share your best tips!

[GS67]

Bring/sing songs at rest areas that requrie body movement like Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes. And the best thing we ever did on any of our many road trips, bring a big ball to kick around when you stop. The songs and ball are the best to get those leg muscles stretched, and burns some of that pinned up energy the younger ones have stored up. And don't be embarassed to do either, we often have people join us, which makes it more fun.

so that was your group? we were all laughing and pointing at you. even some of the other drivers & security even! grown up playing ball?
just joking, getting the kids wound up & running around lunch time, they will crash shortly after, i use this idea myself!

 

[Amirah95]

what do you guys recommend fo rthe one that is driving all night? disney world is exhausting, even to the parent! is daddy suppose to hit MK the day of arrival after driving up all night, thus going to bed at the 36 hour mark after the day @ MK? sounds kinda rough

1st night after check in is a chill out day for us after a drive in. No parks and not even DTD no questions asked. The next day is our day 1.

We find there will be traffic in any given place. We will no longer leave at noon for fear of Richmond traffic and we won't leave at night because we run into NC traffic. Early evening...Jacksonville traffic. We run into traffic anyway so we leave our home at 4:30pm and sit in our on traffic on the NJ Turnpike.

 

[dmslush]

what do you guys recommend fo rthe one that is driving all night? disney world is exhausting, even to the parent! is daddy suppose to hit MK the day of arrival after driving up all night, thus going to bed at the 36 hour mark after the day @ MK? sounds kinda rough

When we leave out at night, we arrive at the hotel around noon the next day. We don't go out to the parks or anything that day. We usually have reservations for dinner at the hotel restaurant, and it is a very restful relaxing evening. This time, SO is going to rest in the room, and if I am not too tired, I might to and look at some of the decorations at the Grand Floridian. But, we never go to the park on our first day.

 

[mickeystoontown]

My family of four travel 813 miles, one way. Our first trip was with a one year old and a 9 year old.

The very first thing I do, when getting the car ready for a road trip, is to cover the backseat completely with a small blanket. The blanket can be taken out every time you stop and shaken off.

We leave our home at 5:00 p.m. and travel for approximately 6 hours before stopping for the night. Before we leave our hometown, we purchase the requisite Happy Meals 'cause they come with a "new" toy and we're all excited to hit the road.

The next morning, we hit the road pretty early (about 6:30 a.m. or so). This avoids the heavy morning traffic. Every 150 miles or so, we stop at the nearest rest stop, whether or not anyone needs to take a bathroom break. The 9 year old got to burn off a little energy and the littlest enjoyed being out of his car seat. We didn't waste too much time, most times just 10 minutes or so.

I plan all of our road trips months in advance. I always pack snack items such as crackers, M&M's (they melt in your mouth, not in your hands), fruit snacks, etc. Given the fact that we stop quit often at the rest areas, we normally just purchase fast food on the road. Again, get the kids meals for the littles ones 'cause the toy comes with them. This will keep them interested for a little while.

I purchased one of the organizers that hung on the back of the front seats. There were pockets for tissues, games, drinks, etc. Hand held games were great for the 9 year old. Believe it or not, my one year old absolutely loved a portable CD player. (Make sure it is a skip proof one). He loved listening to the Disney CD's I brought along.

If you are traveling at night, be sure to purchase some glow sticks. They carry them at the local Wal-Mart or at a dollar store. They come in all sorts of colors. They have the straight sticks, necklaces, rings and bracelets now.
Also, you can purchase the small push button type lights. They also sell them at local Wal-Mart. The run on batteries and come in a wide variety of colors and styles. (Smiley faces, baseballs, basketballs, etc.) They are also very inexpensive. The kids love 'em and it's easier than having to turn the lights on an off for the kids to find their things.

Crayons don't do well for road trips but kids always love to draw and color while on a road trip. Our local Wal-Mart (I love Wal-Mart) has invisible ink coloring books. The markers have absolutely no color to them at all but when you color the pages, they magically turns colors.

If you have a child old enough to read and write, by a "Mad Libs" book. They look like a small puzzle book. There are different stories in the book and within each sentence, are blanks. You take turns filling in the blanks and then you read the story. They stories can be absolutely hilarious!

Of course, there are the obvious things to pack like the spill proof sippy cups, a towel (in case you spill anything), ziplock bags to store all the small toys or items, a portable DVD player (if you have one). I also like to save a few of the plastic bags your groceries come packed in. Put them in your console and use them as garbage bags until your next pit stop.

We have made the over 800 mile (one way) trip to Walt Disney World 11 times now and our children have grown up quite a bit but I still pack a lot of the same items.

Hope this helps you guys. Have a safe and wonderful trip, Lisa

 

[minnierocks]

It's 1000 miles from here to Disney World....and we have both stopped overnight and driven straight through...
Personally, I like the straight through. It's such a pain to unload everything into a hotel room, just to sleep and pack it all up again. We had multiple drivers on that trip though. If you only have one driver, then it's just too much!
My kids are great road travellers...I definitely limit drinks (small juice boxes or water), we take lots of junk food that they wouldn't get to eat at home and I always buy them something new before we go. When they were younger, it was a book (or stories on CD), puzzles, games...something that would engage them in a quiet activity. When they got older, it was a new music CD. They would listen to it over and over and then switch with each other.

My kids each pack their own "bag of stuff" in a small backpack or duffel. It usually includes their game boy (don't forget to pack extra batteries), CD player, books, drawing supplies, and other odds and ends that they want to play with. They take a pillow and a blanket and just chill out.

Have a great trip!!!

 

[slduck]

Avoid rush hour in Orlando!!!!
We were so close, but it took forever to get to Disney. The anticipation and traffic jam were the worst!

 

[ScottNBecky]

My girls (9 and 7) have made the road trip from IL 9 times! The DVD player is the best invention ever for the car. They take turns choosing the movie. We always buy a few new Disney cartoon DVDs to surprise them with. The kids love to watch the classic Mickey, Minnie, or Donald cartoons. You can get them pretty cheap at most stores. They LOVE watching the cartoons in the resort lobbies so this is always a hit.

We both teach so during the school year we have to leave after school. We have the car packed and ready to go so as soon as we pick up the kids we can go. If we leave after school we stay overnight in Dalton, GA. Crossing the border of GA makes us feel like we're almost there. In the summer we leave in the morning and get all the way to Valdosta. Then it seems like only a few hours to the property.

We usually pack snacks, but always stop at a Chick Fillet. Sounds weird but it is a tradition. We don't have one in central IL so this is a treat. Plus they have a playground so the kids can play while we relax for a bit.

Some of our funniest memories are from the road trip!
Try to enjoy it.

 

[costpenn]

We printed out a list of Disney Tips/Secrets that you can get on these boards and DD 12 and DD 15 a copy to each on the way down from Dallas Texas. They each made their own lists of the tips/secrets they wanted to see for themselves - it made the park visits very interesting (and a little competitive)!!

 

[jann1033]

our trip is about 20 hrs but i will never drive through again( i say this every trip btw but this time imean it ) usually we have a few drivers and take turns but on our return trips we stop and are so much more relaxed plus last trip was just hub and i and i can't drive for long so it was terrible driving through..now our limit is 10 hrs or less

in your case i would probably drive till it was about 3-5 hrs away( we are just adults so maybe farther away with baby) then arrive well rested and ready to go but not so late you can't go somewhere fun that day.

i pack a small overnight type bag that we put in last so we can get it easily with just what we need for that night and next morning so we don't need to unpack everything

and i like to time our arrival into fl to stop at the welcome center in the am but i think they stopped giving away the free OJ.( kind of dumb but made me feel like "whoo hoo we are in FL!!!")..or maybe just didn't have it last time we were there

 

[pepe of ohio]

Long ago when the children were little and still with us, we would do the drive, 20 hours, straight through. We always rented a minivan, I did all the driving, we would leave home at 9 am and head south. We would miss all the city traffic, loved the snadwiches, drinks and snacks while driving, only stopped for gas and potty breaks cause everyone wanted to get there and start having fun. This is loooong ago, before portable DVD players, kids were good though, some times we made the destination Cocoa Beach or New Smyrna, kids got to play in the ocean one day, Dad got some rest before heading to WDW.

Then , after some years of ocean first nights and kids got alot older we skipped the ocean and drove right to Disneys door, usually arriving around 3-5 am, did our grocery shopping, had breakfast and checked in to our resort. Never cared that it wasn't ready, too early, but we donned our suits and always jumped in the lake, all stayed deluxe, and that so long ago swimming was allowed, and splashed away till the room was ready and then put all our stuff away and prepared for the fun. Early visits we stayed at the CR, was this or Poly back then and the kids could spend hours in the game room back then, even had a small movie theater in there that showed Disney movies for a buck a head.

Oh, the memories of long ago. We still make the journey down every year, sometimes more, but we have been going by Amtrak, same time frame, nice trip, no stress and about the same cost. Its me and the wife now, plus daughter and SIL sometimes, son and DIL seem to vacation else where but we still act like kids after 38 some visits and sharing the times and memories with some of your children after all the years is still priceless no matter how you get there.

 

[Piffle]

We just made the drive from Central Illinois (Hi, ScottNBecky!! )

All the answers have been great so far. Get up frequently, stretch your legs, combo of fast food and healthy snacks in the car. PSP and stuff are great, but keep a few surprises back (like electronic yatzee or battle ship or tamogachi--just something different)

I have a few suggestions:

Take the detours!! Drive through scenic parkways, go to roadside attractions (your kids will never see the world's largest ball of string otherwise..), and enjoy the drive. During this last trip, I ate at the birthplace of KFC, a place featured on $40 a day, saw some beautiful snow in the great smokey mountains, walked on the beach by the ocean, went to a winery and a bourbon distillery. All non-Disney fun that made the trip as a whole that much better.

Books on CD are GREAT. Harry Potter is just about perfect. I know that DVDs are popular too, but you can always split it between the two.

Take glass cleaning wipes and air freshener. It's amazing how much schmutz accumulates on the interior windows of the car with all those mammals breathing in there. After a while it starts to smell like the monorail (AKA Ape House).

One other thing I would suggest is to pack a bag of plastic grocery bags. I always keep a few in the car and am surprised about how often i need them. Especially with a potty trainer or diaper wearer around.

Look for places you have never eaten before. Chikfila, Bojangles, Popeyes and Picadilly are all treats for us because we don't have them around here. And there are always back up snacks in the car if it's awful.

FINALLY--Watch "National Lampoon's Vacation" while you pack. When things go wrong on your trip, reflect on it and remember it could always be worse.

 

[taximomfor4]

what do you guys recommend fo rthe one that is driving all night? disney world is exhausting, even to the parent! is daddy suppose to hit MK the day of arrival after driving up all night, thus going to bed at the 36 hour mark after the day @ MK? sounds kinda rough

Hee hee, I am the mom and I do all night-driving. But since we figured out that leaving super-super early in the morning (like 3:30am) and driving straight through the daytime works well too, we will probably do that again. I thought it was easiest on the kids, driving overnight, but the other way just seemed safer for me.

I'm glad you worked out a drive-plan. I hope your trip is wonderful!

 

[micksterlee]

I learned one thing the hard way about portable dvd players.My daughter who was 13 took her dvd player and sat in the back seat while watching a movie.Everything was fine for a while but then it went down hill quickly she murmered " I think I am going to be sick" and next thing I knew we were in a gas station lot looking for paper towels to clean her and the car.We then spent about a half an hour looking for a store with some kind of fabric cleaner.She has never had a problem with motion sickness before and we were pretty sure that watching the movie while riding was the problem.So if you get a portable dvd player for the kids you may want to take them on a short ride with a movie first just to be safe.

 

[mom0299]

We have always driven to WDW. We live in Eastern Tennessee and it takes us about 12-13 hours total. We usually do it in two days taking I-26 to I-95. On our first trip we stopped overnight in southern Georgia and were at the parks by 11am the next day. We were going to do that on our last trip, but traffic was so good we drove all the way to Orlando in one day. We stayed at a Holiday Inn that night and checked into our resort the next morning. We were in the parks by 9:30am. This time we can't leave until about 1pm because of school, so we plan to drive as far as we can the first day and get there the next day. We don't have ADRs until 7:10 that night.

What I love about driving is that you can take everything with you. We take our own soft drinks, breakfast food, and snacks; not just for the drive, but for our stay as well. I even found boxes of milk at the grocery store that doesn't have to be refrigerated. We had a fridge in the room to keep milk and drinks cold once we got there.

In the car we have the portable DVD player, gameboy, CD player, LeapPads, books, and coloring/activity pages. We don't like to drive at night because even if the kids sleep and get rested we don't. We've been taking road trips since our youngest was about 2 and they've always done great.