Road tripping to WDW - share your best tips!

[Momof4girls]

Share your best tips - food, entertainment, you name it!

15 hours - which will translate to about 20 with stops for the baby.

Should we pack food, drive-through?

Already know nothing but small bottles of water to prevent repeat bathroom stops, and nothing too messy/sticky in the car.

Thanks!

 

[sandybobandy]

(FYI-This thread will probably be moved but I'll answer anyway )

DH and I drive to Disney since I don't fly well. We split our drive so we drive about 18 hours to Nashville and then 10 hours to Disney. We bring lots of music (disney cd's are always fun as well as karaoke cd's). Trivia questions are fun, and magazines are generally useful.

Never traveled with a baby so I can't help with that. The first year we drove down, we ate fast food the whole way. Blech-never again! This past year we stopped at "higher end" fast foods (if there is such a thing-lol) but otherwise brought sandwiches and goodies like that.

Good luck and have fun!
(and safe travel!)

Sandy

 

[kydisneyfans]

It really depends on where you are driving from. You may want to post on the Transportation board also.

Our tips:
We drive 850 miles each way via I75 from KY.
We drive early morning and usually on weekends to avoid rush hour traffic in the major cities.
We have a 7 year old boy, the mini TV/DVD Player is a life saver. Gameboy is good also.
Plan your stops as much as possible-I search the web for the lowest gas prices before we leave and plan stops around our fill ups. Flying J and Pilot truck stops are typically clean, I have never seen a dirty restroom at a Cracker Barrel. Get 30-40 miles out of Atlanta before stopping.
Pack snacks and munchies, although keep your eyes open for a 24 hour SuperWalmart or Kroger for fresh items like fruits.
We were more tired when we split the drive in half than when we drive straight through.

Most of all-enjoy yourself. The drive is part of the trip, not just a boring day to get there and back.

 

[denecarter]

We take the IPOD (which of course includes all our park music) and play it through the car radio. Used to take videos when DD19 was younger. She now survives on talking to me, driving, or playing Nintendo DS or my PocketPC.

The only thing we buy before we go is bottled water (Costco) and Dr. Pepper (because WDW doesn't have it). We also stop at one particular place everytime to buy beef jerky (family road trip tradition). Otherwise, we combine bathroom breaks with a fastfood stop whenever we get hungry. Gotta love those Interstate signs that list some of the gas stations, hotels, and restaurants at the next exit. This actually gives us a chance to stretch and sit on a different seat a while... plus, it is pretty hard for me to eat and drive safely at the same time.

 

[Tinkerbell424]

Okay,well I traveled with a baby one time and I remember that he like to eat snacks,lol..So,I would bring snacks and a few toys to keep him/her company.Also I would bring cd's or casette'sand a wordsearch(those are always fun)

I would bring some snakcs,like pretzals and chips,but I would stiop of at fast food restuarnts to have meals or whatever.

Have a fun and safe trip!

 

[dmslush]

We drive from Middle TN, and it is about 12 hours counting our stops. We stop every four hours to get out and stretch our legs. I drive the first half of the trip, and SO drives the second half of the trip.

My absolute best advice, if at all possible, drive at night. You will miss the bad traffic and the kids will sleep most of the way. We do this when we are going to wdw or Outerbanks, NC. We will leave here about midnight, then by noon we are at the resort. DD15 sleeps for the majority of the trip.

Things that we pack for the car, books on CD that we have been wanting to read and haven't gotten around to it. On our last trip back, the newest Harry Potter came out on CD, so that made the trip home really fun. We pack lots of snacks, keeps us from having to stop just for a case of the munchies. Baby Wipes is a have to have! Also, small pillows and blankets to make the car comfortable for those not driving.

 

[CheshireVal]

Stopping often makes the trip go by faster. I guess that's easier for me since I only have a 7 hour drive. But if I stop every hour or hour and a half, the trip seems more fun and I'm less tired. I always have to be drinking something in the car (water, Diet Coke, coffee, Red Bull) so I usually have to have a bathroom break pretty often.

My favorite stop is at the Florida line (Welcome Center) because I love picking up tons of brochures, even if they're for places I'll probably never visit. It's a tradition!

We also have special "trip food" for the car that we don't usually eat at home, so that makes it something to look forward to as well. For example, in my family, even when I was a little girl, Slim Jims and spray cheese with crackers were road trip staples. I'm carrying on that tradition as an adult, even if I would NEVER eat those things at any other time. Same goes for fast food like McDonalds. I don't allow myself to eat that junk when I'm not on vacation, so it's just an added bonus of being on the road.

 

[sunking]

We make the drive from just north of Philadelphia to Orlando in about 15 hours (yes, I have a lead foot). My family consists of myself, wife, son (17) and daughter (15). We normally pack up the IPOD, PSP and the DS for my son and my daughter takes her IPOD and some books and magazines. We also pack some snacks, drinks and sandwichs (love the hoagies from Wawa!).

We usually set out during the late night to avoid the traffic between Philadelphia and Richmond and make it to the South Carolina border as the sun is coming up. We make it to the "World" by about 3:00 or 4:00pm in time for a late dinner.

I hate to stop and luckly most of us have bladders of steel and I own a Toyota Prius so we can go on for hours without having to stop.

With a little one, make frequent stops and consider traveling overnight so the baby sleeps for much of it.

Where are you driving from?

Have a great trip. Can't wait for our drive in April!

Sunking

 

[bctripp]

I remember my DD8's first road trip when she was a baby. Pack snacks, and fast foods for meals. I'm not a fan of bag lunches myself. Goldfish crackers, Teddy Grahams, Pretzels, water, stuff like that. Those are things I can handle my kids eating in the car. We've done so many trips with our 2 girls. They have a TV / DVD player in the car, and it has been a lifesaver. They like Nintendo, and Magna Doodle. Small quiet toys, mainly.

 

[Bunch24]

Last Christmas, we drove 13 hours to WDW. My best advice would be to drive most of the trip at night.

We left right after my wife got off work (around 5 p.m.) and stopped about an hour later to eat supper. After that, we drove all the way to Orlando with probably only four stops. The baby fell asleep shortly after 9 p.m. and soon after, his grammy was sleeping too. Those two slept for the entire trip, except for a short 15-minute break to use the restroom.

The plan was to let the other three adults (my wife, brother and myself) drive in four-hour shifts while the other two were sleeping/resting. Well, I'm stubborn, and I drove probably 10 of the 13 hours.

It wasn't all that bad. Like I said, having the 2-year old sleeping the entire trip was the perfect thing. To keep myself awake, I just listened to a lot of music and usually talked with whoever was in the front seat with me.

Driving at night is so much nicer because you miss all of the traffic. The bad thing is you don't get to enjoy the scenery, but I find you make better time.

The only thing I would do differently would be to take advantage of the other drivers. Since I drove 80% of the trip, when we went to Animal Kingdom later that morning when we arrived, I was pretty tired and sluggish. It also ended up catching up with me on our fourth or fifth day.

 

[MidgeD79]

Air Fre shner

 

[taximomfor4]

We have driven to WDW from NE Ohio a few times now...always with little kids. Takes about 18 hrs. We always pack a few new travel-toys (cheapy ones), and pull one out whenever the kids get a bit restless. Also, we always plan to stop at rest areas here and there, to run around, throw a frisbee, whatever ... but we never seem to need to actually do it more than once or twice.

We do drive at night, but DH will fall asleep driving so I drive all night long. If my eyes get too tired, I pull into a rest area, park near a security car, and snooze for a little while. On some trips, I have pulled off for a half-hour snooze at EVERY rest area...that was when we drove all day, and planned to arrive in the morning. By 4am, my eyes were DRY!

So this past trip, we left home at 3am or so...and drove through the wee hours, and all day long...stayed at a cheapy Days Inn, arriving around 10pm there. Next time, we will do that again -- leave around 3am again BUT will go to our WDW hotel, even though our arrival will be late because I didn't like having to get up in the morning and drive to the hotel.

Sorry, got wordy. Just wanted to give our scenarios, so you can balance pros and cons. We have never split the drive in half, because I wouldn't want to sit in a car the better part of TWO days in a row!!

How old is your baby? Crawling yet? Walking? Teeny? That will make a difference for you too-- a mobile baby will want to get down and move around once in a while. A Teeny baby will probably do better spending more time in a carseat and sleeping more.

 

[Local_Girl]

Wow, many night drivers--interesting! We actually prefer to get a good night's rest and leave first thing in the morning. Keeps us on a normal sleep routine during the trip. DH and I enjoy the scenery...the kids are more involved in the usual...DVDs, books, etc. We drive from west Michigan and it's 2 full days of driving, including stops. DH drives the whole way...we eat picnic (sandwiches) lunches at rest areas so the kids can burn off some energy and have a sit-down dinner, usually at a Cracker Barrel, because we know what to expect there. We drive longer the first day and stop sometime between 9pm and 1am...depending on how late we were getting out the door...but that's for another thread. We always make hotel ressies beforehand so we don't get stuck without a room for the night...

I know 4 full days of traveling seems like a lot, but we also go to WDW for 2 weeks at a time, so it's not too bad.

 

[Amirah95]

Our way...

FOOD: We pack up the car with sandwich meat, bread and fixings (fixings = www.minimus.biz) for snacks. We get the small fruit and apple sauce fruit cups, we also take fresh fruits like apples/grapes, small bottles of water, crackers and red bull and smack it all in our medium sized cooler which sits on the back seat with our DD. We always buy snacks on the road when we stop (this is hard to prevent).

CLEANUP: We take a few small plastic grocery bags to keep things neat.

SMALL CHILD: We will stop and sleep in a hotel half way through. Somewhere towards the end of VA or mid VA depending on what time we leave. If we leave home around 4:30pm then we're staying in Fayettesville, NC.

BIG CHILD: We take it straight on down to Orlando with only bathroom and snacky breaks.

ENTERTAINMENT: Well, we got the radio and we all talk. My DD is 11 now so she has her own entertaiment (MP3 player, magazines, books, etc.). I think with a small child I would bring some of his/her toys and baby CDs to keep baby happy.

Don't push it meaning make stops to stretch your legs.

 

[Momof4girls]

You guys are awesome!!!

Kids are 4 months, 2.5 (pretty much using potty exclusively, but in a pull-up), 4, 6, and 9.

Baby will need to stop to nurse about every 3 hours. I fell asleep at the wheel when I was 17 and almost killed myself, so I won't drive at night (but I really wish I could!).

We're driving from Illinois and booked a hotel in Atlanta (halfway).
It will take us about 8 hours to get there. Then, on to Savannah for one night at Hilton Head, then down to Orlando. (We check in on a Sunday - I don't do Magic Kingdom on a Saturday if at all possible). So, it will actually be three days of driving on the way down - but the 2nd and 3rd are short trips.

I love that big Florida welcome center, too - "my" starbucks is in there

Oh, and we have a DVD player built into the car, and I have all the disney movies set aside to put in the carrying case!

3 nights to go!

 

[DawnMarie]

I also agree with leaving at night. There is no traffic and the kids sleep through the night. Whenever we do long distance driving we time our trip so a) we are leaving at night and b) we arrive at the hotel in time for check-in. Nothing beats arriving early and having to wait for your room.

Don't forget to enjoy the sights along the way . We always take pictures of the signs when entering a new state.

 

[kohlby]

We don't leave at night since my 3 year old won't nap in the car. I can't sleep in the car either. Leaving at night would mean a very cranky child at the very start of our trip - and a cranky mother! We leave once our son wakes up, which can be rather early but at least that way he gets as much sleep as he's going to. We do have to stop often since I have the world's smallest bladder. DS is newly potty trained so we bought a take 'n go potty for those emergencies. We had a 7 hour trip without kids - it was 9 on the way down last time. We stopped for a full hour at a playland. This really helped DS. The ride back was 15 hours due to our 2.5 month old. (I breastfeed and can't have dairy or soy due to her allergies. I apparently had something with dairy in it the night before we left).

We take a portable DVD player for DS. They've well worth the money! We're going to join netflix for their free two week trial right before we leave so we have new DVD's that we don't have to rush to return.

We rented a minivan for the first trip down - DS was barely 3 and DD was 2.5 years old. It really helped since I could sit next to whomever needed it. We now own a minivan with a seat that I can fit in between the two huge carseats. So that helps a lot. (We're headed down in less than 2 weeks with a 3.5 year old and a 8 month old this time!)

 

[GS67]

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

 

[sanctus]

I don't start a trip at night because I can never sleep during the day, and for me it's just dangerous to drive that tired. I am, however, a morning person. I pack the car the night before - all but the clothes, toothbrushes and stuff we need in the morning. That stuff goes in a "last minute" bag. We leave around 4 am. Traffic is minimal at that time, the kids go back to sleep, and I can get hours under us before we need to stop for breakfast.

Travel with cold drinks and snacks - fresh fruit if possible. Play lots of fun music.

My best advice is to just remember, it takes as long as it takes. There's nothing you can do about it.

Also, lie to your children. Always tell them they'll be in the car an hour or two longer than you really think you will. If there's traffic problems, you're still "on schedule", and if you arrive early then everyone is happily surprised.

 

[MammaNicholas]

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.