Roadtrip Advice.

[chrisw127]

My best friend and I are planning a girls' only weekend trip to WDW in December, but she is having surgery 4 weeks before and may not feel up to going. I bought plane tickets and MVMCP tickets; the airfare can be used at another time, the MVMCP tickets cannot. My children, a six year old and 20 month old boy/girl twins, have been this year (my oldest one, twice), so I don't feel "too" guilty about leaving them for the weekend. Okay, I feel guilty. I'm working on it.

My question is, If she doesn't go, my husband suggested we just drive down from North Carolina with the kids for a 4 day weekend. I like this idea, but I'm worried about driving that far with them. I think getting an airline ticket so close to the actual trip (because we're not making any decisions about whether or not my friend can go until a week or so out) would be very expensive. Anyway, when those of you with small children drive down, how do you usually do it? I'm thinking of leaving at night and switching off with my husband. It's 600 miles, but I love to drive. He, however, does not.

Any advice?

 

[LadyShea]

Although we try to stay on the road 7 hours only and get a hotel, once we had to drive straight through to for my friends wedding, due to schedule conflicts. We chose to do it overnight when DS would sleep through much of it (left around 9pm). Basically it was about a 12 hour drive, and we took two shifts so the other could get a nap.

Also, we have borrowed a mini-van for our last two driving vacations. It was so much more comfortable, even with only 3 of us. We had a cooler and DVD player and it worked out great.

 

[brymolmom]

Depending how far we have to go - I actually like doing the hotel thing...we'll leave the evening before the official 'go' day. So, say we're leaving on a Friday - instead, we'll leave after work on Thursday - leave about 5:00pm or so and drive a couple hours....stop for a dinner and put the kids in their jammies....drive a few hours more, until a good stopping point and just crash for the night. Get up and be on the road by 7:00 - 8:00pm. For the $40 - $50 for the hotel for the night, it's worth it for me - the 6-ish hours we get are kind of like 'free' - it doesn't seem like very long (since we know the next day will be much longer) - but it gives us a nice little chunk out of the way before our really big day. Starting in a different state is just so much more encouraging at 7:00am IMO.

Other advice - lots of snacks, books on tape (depending on their ages), new CD's with music all will enjoy (borrow from the library), a 'toy bag' full of all new things - dollar store, stuff in the closets they have forgotten about, stickers...and, a DVD player.

I would drive down in a heartbeat if we were in NC....

 

[Ellester]

We've made the NC to FL drive many times (we lived in Charlotte for 8 years and my dad lives in S. Florida). We ended up preferring the "leave in the morning and drive straight through" plan. We don't do well with the driving through the night thing, neither of us like it and there is no guarantee our kids will sleep in the car. We also tried the stop half way plan, but again, just didn't work for us. By the time we get the kids unloaded, calmed down and to sleep, we were all wound up and never slept all that great ourselves. I agree with bringing lots of snacks, car toys, and a DVD player. Traffic can be terrible in I-95 depending on the day. The closer to Christmas, the worse it will be. Weekdays are usually better if you can swing it. It can be done though (I'm glad we're closer now, only 7 hours to WDW!).

 

[kadesha]

We've been driving down to FL with our kids since they were a year old. We make the trip during the night so that they will sleep most of the time. It works for us.

 

[MandM-Mom]

We drove down in August from NY with a seven, 4 and 2 year old girls. Lots of snacks were a requirement, and I picked up some new fun stuff for the car and surprised them every once and a while with a new coloring book or puzzle book. We always play the punchbug no punch back game in the car so we started a little contest on this trip......who could see the most first! When we stopped at hotel we make sure theres a pool so the kids can get some energy out and we get a good nights rest and start the adventure again early in the am, I like to have enough healthy snacks to counteract the junk that you gotta have on a real roadtrip Go for it, I would have to if I lived that close

 

[eileenrbl]

Driving is fine and great family time. We used to make the trip twice a year from VA before we moved to FL. When the kids were small we left after work and drove all the way at night, taking turns driving. As they got older we would stop late and get some rest at a hotel before the next day, and pack our lunches to eat at the rest stop.

I made grab bags (little hidden gifts in a bag such as magazines, crayons, music, car games, scholastic read along books, dollar store stuff) and I would set a time when the kids could reach in their bag and pick out an item with their eyes closed. Lots of fun!

After several days at WDW they were usually too tired to do much except sleep on the way back, so we drove during the day back home.

 

[StephMK]

Depending how far we have to go - I actually like doing the hotel thing...we'll leave the evening before the official 'go' day. So, say we're leaving on a Friday - instead, we'll leave after work on Thursday - leave about 5:00pm or so and drive a couple hours....stop for a dinner and put the kids in their jammies....drive a few hours more, until a good stopping point and just crash for the night. Get up and be on the road by 7:00 - 8:00pm. For the $40 - $50 for the hotel for the night, it's worth it for me - the 6-ish hours we get are kind of like 'free' - it doesn't seem like very long (since we know the next day will be much longer) - but it gives us a nice little chunk out of the way before our really big day. Starting in a different state is just so much more encouraging at 7:00am IMO.

Other advice - lots of snacks, books on tape (depending on their ages), new CD's with music all will enjoy (borrow from the library), a 'toy bag' full of all new things - dollar store, stuff in the closets they have forgotten about, stickers...and, a DVD player.

I would drive down in a heartbeat if we were in NC....

That's how we drive too! I love it, the kids are usually calmer in the evening & content to watch movies & hang out. We tried a marathon drive when they were younger & stopping at 1am. Big mistake! The youngest had slept most of the drive but was wild awake & cranky when we stopped. DH & I spent a very sleepy night walking/driving him around while the others tried to sleep in the hotel.

One trick that works for us is to offer a future treat. We can squeeze an hour more out of the evening by saying we'll stop for a snack soon. 30 min later, we get ice cream shake or cup & let them eat it in the car. By the time they are done & getting restless, we've gone about another 30 minutes. Since they won't sleep in the car anymore, breaking up the drives is the best way for us.

Good luck! Hope your friend is feeling better by then, but if not, give the drive a try. Think of it as an adventure and it won't be as bad.

 

[chrisw127]

Hi. Thank you for all of your advice. I'm definitely feeling better about driving down. If my friend isn't feeling better, we will try to drive. I do pretty well at night (I have twins, so I haven't actually slept since they were born anyway), so I think that might be what we do.

I'm so exicted about going, either way!