Should I drive 900 mile to WDW me & 2 kids?

[lpandorf]

I have been offered a place to stay offsite for only $300 for the week. A friend's Dad owns the house and offered a nice deal. I don't think I could afford the trip if I had to fly. 3 plane tickets plus the rental car would be too much. Plus, I figure by driving I can bring food and save that way, too. And I'm not sure how the car seat thing works when renting. Would I have to bring those along, too, if flying? DS needs a regular seat still and DD is in a booster. That would be too much to haul along.

It would be me, DD 7 and DS 3 making the trip. DH won't go. He has a disability, walks with a cane and at this time won't venture out far away from home on vacations. (I hope this changes in the future as he gets used to it -new condition but for now he just won't do it.) We live in Cincinnati, OH. I did a mapquest and it's 900 miles. I am so unsure about driving myself with the kids. We've gone to WDW before but a direct flight with me and the two of them - no problem. Not sure if we could drive it in one day or would have to take 2. I can take 10 days for the trip. Two weekends and the week. I am thinking I am a bit crazy to even consider driving them by myself, but once we got there would be great fun, I am sure.

The longest road trip they have been on is only 3 hours so they are not used to being in a car all day. We do have a dvd player in the minivan. And AAA.

Anyone ever done this by themselves? Worth a shot? Or save up until we can fly?

Thanks!
Lisa

 

[Hannathy]

I have driven 900 miles with kids. First you will need 2 days that is too long for a single driver. It is a long time in the car. If you have non-early risers I would suggest getting a super early start in the morning and hopefully they will sleep for a couple of the hours. Have a DVD player and lots of movies, gameboys or something like it, lots of activities, books, colors etc. Stop at a McD's or such with a play place for meals- let them play while you eat and relax then get their food to go and let them eat in the car. Be prepared to be beat the first day after you get there. At least you don't have babies so no diapers, special food etc. Be prepared to stop a few extra times and insist everyone try to "go" whenever you stop for one of them. It is doable.

 

[MushyMushy]

I'm going to do it with my 11 year old DD, and we're about the same distance you are. We're definitely making a stopover -- I'm just not comfortable driving after dark (bad eyesight).

That is such a great price! Go and have a blast!

 

[NeedaVacation03]

You will have to post how it goes. I am trying it in July with my four kids. I am hoping for the best, but know that part of it could be a challenge. I have gone on short trips with them but never this long of a distance. I am just going to make sure and travel during the daylight hours so that if anything happens it will atleast be in the light. It will be an experience for you. Enjoy yourself.

 

[Barbi]

Of course you can do it, adventures are fun!!! My children were a bit older than yours (9 & 6)when I drove to the pan-handle of Florida from Massachusetts just the 3 of us. That was before I had a cell phone.
Definitely do it in 2 days, it's a long ride with one driver and young children. I stopped driving after 7 PM just to be safe and give the kids a break from the car. Find a hotel with a pool so they can play and unwind, be in bed somewhat early for an early start in the AM.
You will have lots of fun, we stopped at each new state we drove thru and took pictures at the Welcome Centers in front of the state signs. I was very surprised at how quickly a 6 year old learns to read a map. My son helped to find a detour around an accident in Virginia that saved us a few hours travel time!

 

[Mari annie]

We have been going from MA-MCO for 17 years, next month it'll be our 18th year!

We love it vs. flying.
We have planned out trips and we stop in VA over night, the next day in Savannah, GA for lunch and walking around the waterfront for a couple hours, then on to St Augustine, FL for 3 days and then on to MCO for another week and 1/2.
We did this even before cell phones (Imagine that one) we do have AAA plus and always rent a van/this year a bigger car.

We did do it straight through a few years in a row when the kids were very small. Now they are 13 and 17!

We look forward to the family time and the adventures along the way!
We do this 3 times a year to get to MCO and with the oldest child, he'll be going to college outside MCO so maybe we will be going down more (hopefully) I would maybe consider flying, not my thing, but I would.
Driving is family time for us.

Good luck, you'll have fun, with AAA get a trip tick, they map it all all out for you and tells you what roads are under construction, I just got dh a gps for xmas so that's going to be a great help as well!

Good luck on all your trips!!!
28 days and counting!!!!!

 

[MOQu]

We are north of Detroit and I've done it a few times with my kids at varying ages. We are driving down (just me and DS2, DD15, DS16) in February. A DVD player is essential. (Before the DVD player, we rigged up a VCR player.)

I remember when the two oldest were smaller and my biggest fear was having to stop to use the bathroom when they were both sleeping!

This past summer when DS was only 1 we drove out to Oklahoma City and Nashville and had a blast along the way. I planned that trip so that our longest legs were 5-6 hours.

 

[momoftriplets]

I'm thinking of doing this out of Minneapolis. I checked this morning. It's 1500 miles. Is that totally insane?? DH would be with us, so we would take turns driving. The kids are 10, so a bit easier to travel with. Would we be just shot the first day at WDW? Unsure about this. Love to fly, but it could be a cost-thing this year. Thanks for your input.
Barb

 

[CherylA]

It depend what kind of a person you are. For me 2 kids for 10 days by myself. No thanks. I'd be a nutcase! But if you think it will be fun once you get there I don't think driving should be that much of a problem. I don't think driving vs. flying is going to make that much difference in the headache factor. Definately though stop overnight!

 

[lpandorf]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I am considering it even more after hearing about some of your positive experiences.

 

[Traveliz]

I have done it twice and would do it again - same amount of miles.

You definitely need to stop over and the first night you arrive go to bed...wake up when you want the next day and you will be ready to go.

I did find the drive home harder because I was tired from the week but still very doable.

I am all for calling it an adventure!

Liz

 

[becca011906]

I would do it! I often do 4 hour trips by myself with all three kids to my grandparents home. It usally more like a 5 hour drive with all the potty breaks we do, also please when you need to stop to change a movie, ect do it, don't let the 7 year old do it while car's in motion! Dh tried to tell my child to do that once, i'm like NO pull over!!! I won't even climb in the back with the car's moving it's just dangerous!
But i think you should definatly go and enjoy yourselfs! that's a great rate that i couldn't/wouldn't pass up either. even if it ment going down and only doing disney 1-2 days just to get away me and the kids!

 

[MushyMushy]

Here's a fuel cost calculator in case you didn't know about it:

http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/TripGasprice.aspx

 

[Daydreamer64]

This trick may be a life saver for "you" if the kids are getting antsy-

In order for this to work you must hide the "surprises" and not set a amount per day to the kids- because they will outsmart you and find a way to get all of the surprises by nagging- if they see them they will want them all at once- at least mine always did ! A big duffle bag workes great.

I watched for weeks before our trips for good deals-for any toys ( little ) that were clearenced - cheap -a few dollars and under.

I drove North lots of times to NW Pennsylvania/New York/ Ohio tri state area and back home here in Atl. by myself ( around 800 to 1200 miles one way depending where I roamed and how many relatives I visited and stayed with ) with my older boys from toddlerhood up to now ( pre - newest baby ).

I wrapped the surprises in left over gift paper. Things like the little magnetic boards with the pens attatched to them, if you can trust your littlest one to keep things out of their mouth, then the dollar store has loads of bags of farm animals, critters, snakes, ... the boys loved getting these. Some times they got a snack like mickey candy, bubbles- get the little self contained kind that don't spill, washable markers and coloring/puzzle books, the small aquadoodles are great- they only use water in a pen so if they get left on the seat or clothes, they don't hurt anything.

I also shop yard sales, clearence and discount stores for movies that are on sale- it works great to say - "you watch this /dvd and by the time it is over we will be here" ( hotel, lunch... ) stops the "are we there yet?" syndrome. Don't pass up cd's with kids songs- some of our favorite times were learning and singing silly songs- think chicken dance, hokey pokey- change the song to adapt it to the confines of the car, like put your right ear in/out- the kids will laugh because Mom has flipped and you remain serious- mine couldn't get enough of Mom being silly instead of serious ! Singing songs on long trips can be fun- when you get tired or they do, pop one in the radio- crank up the volume and sing your hearts out!

You will have a much better time if you plan on which hotel you want to stop for the night at- find one with indoor pools, look on the net before your trip some have kids areas with slides into the 3 foot deep areas- those are a life saver ( I always used water wings on mine - along with the swimsuits with self contained floation devices- I never trusted the wings only when I was alone and tired ) even though they could swim like fishes- the wings can come off - keep the kids in the shallow end, the wings will give you a bit of help- it's easy to spot the floating neon green/orange arms! and if another child jumps in the pool on the kids- they have a little extra help floating- if the kids need to work off some steam/energy and it's dark or rainy outside- beats having to use sunblock and fighting biting bugs.

At the age of your kids, also ask for a ground floor room- let them run/jump all around the room and they can't disturb any guest under you! A good "toy" for the hotel room is a nurf type of foam ball to throw around.

Last, make a goodie bag for yourself- put anything that you like to munch on/drink- sometimes you can't stop the car ( traffic) and a bit of a distraction can be a real "pick me up" and give you a second wind. I made sure to buy dinner just as we exited for the hotel- took it with us to eat in the room, then ,once you stop, you are in for the night and don't "have" to go back out to get dinner.

Sleep in if you need it or get a really early start- you'd be surprised how many miles/ how fast the miles pass when there is no traffic and the babes are asleep quietly in the back seat! I always traveled from around 3a.m. till 3 or 4 in the afternoon around hotel check-in time so they slept a good bit of the way and then had time to run off some energy at the hotel.

We still love to travel by car- it can be a challenge- one trip we were almost hit by flying rods when a load shifted from a truck- it was tornado weather, in the Blue ridge Mtns., pouring rain and high winds added to the fact that I didn't know exactly where we were in relation to the tornados- big stresses for Mom!- I saw a sign for Mayfield dairies tours- we pulled off and had a blast - rain and all. We toured the factory ( free ) had a free icecream cone and were on our way about 2 hours later- I felt much better to be in a building during the storms and they kids were fastinated with the big machines making milk and icecream. By the time that we left, the storms had passed and we were all feeling much happier and relaxed.

HTH- Have a great trip!

 

[CherylA]

Daydreamer those are all really great ideas. I'll be using them! Thanks

 

[tinkerbell615]

Hello fellow Cincinnatian!!

DH, myself, DS & DD have always driven straight through to Disney. DH always does all of the driving and I keep him awake. We leave at around 11:00 pm and drive through the night so the kids sleep.

With that being said... I certainly do not recommend you driving straight through by yourself, especially through the night. I would probably do it in two days leaving early in the morning and driving until night, stopping and sleeping and then continuing the next morning.

The drive is actually really nice. It is not bad at all. Nice scenery and all highway driving straight through. Non of us have ever flown before (although I am flying for the first time in February to Disney to see DD march with colorguard in the MK), and we are waiting to see if SW comes out with cheap flights we can afford. As you know, it is so much cheaper to drive. We can actually pay for 2 7 day hoppers with the $ we save by driving.

Good luck to you and please let us know how it goes.

 

[Moomduck1]

Absolutely, give it a go! I did it with my 2 kids, who were a tad older, but it was well worth it. We had a great time. We left in the late afternoon and drove halfway down (from PA), slept over night, and then drove again the next day. You'll have a great time and be so glad that you did it!

 

[jtopp]

Go for it! At that price you can't pass it up. We drive the 1000+ miles over two days-one long one and a short one- depending on our schedule. It is entirely doable and a great time o talk to and spend time with your children. And if all else fails- take lotsof DVD's to have the children watch

 

[daisax]

I think you can definitely do it. I also agree that starting as early as possible is the way to go -- if you can put the kids to bed the night before in some kind of outfit that is comfortable enough to sleep in but presentable in public the next day, you just have to pick them out of bed and load them in the car in the dark, and you can get 3 hours out of the way before stopping for breakfast (even if breakfast is granola bars and fruit on picnic benches at a rest area!). To me, there's something very soothing about starting a long trip before dawn -- you get some miles under your belt, then the rising sun refrashes you and gives you a second wind. Obviously if you're really groggy in the morning, trust your instincts. Be safe above all.

Silly song cds are good, but so are books on tape -- for you if the kids are sleeping, but for the whole family if you can find something that's age appropriate. Let the kids look out the window and see both the scenery around them and the story unfold in their own imagination. Libraries often have books on tape (or CD) for rental. For myself, I like a good mix back and forth between music and talk (and don't forget to find live radio as you move along -- you never know what fun station you might find!)

For me the ultimate driving snack is Twizzlers. If you can stand them, the chewing motion helps keep you alert -- and they're not very filling. I just nibble nibble to pass the time.