Talk to me all about Driving to the world!!!

[becca011906]

Ok I need some tips, ideas, suggestions... all of it! LOL we have drove before but only once and needless to say it wasn't to great but not awful either... we left at 4pm and the kids didn't sleep me and dh didn't sleep, we drove with another family and they slept fine kids were older then ours... so they wanted to stop and sleep at a rest park for 2-3 hours... so we went along with it, of course our kids woke up and it wasn't a nice trip at all, we couldn't check into till 4pm so when we got to orlando at 1:30 pm they wanted to go ahead and go to walmart and buy our stuff then... ok the vans were full enought and the kids were tired and so was i it was HELL!!! ok moving on we stoped on the way home and it was a little better, but we took way to much stuff for the kids in the car and i don't think they used/played with 1/2 of it... so... here's what i want to know

what are the insentals you need for the road trip for the kids to do?

what time would you suggest leaving/stoping/ ect (16hour drive)?

How do you do meals??

I'm sure i'll think of more as this thread goes along!!! Thanks...


Oh the resort we are staying at again the check in time is 4pm but we could swim if we get there a little early... or so the walmart thing again, since we do plan to stay all night somewhere...

 

[TJ's Mom]

We (me, DH, DD8, DS5) drove last year for an 18-hour drive. I thought my husband was crazy - I fly, I don't drive! However, airfares were so outrageous that I agreed. Guess what - we are driving again this year!

We left around 4 pm. I drove until 10. My husband took over until 3 am while I slept. Then we switched again around 8 and got to WDW around 10:30. When we got to the parks, our room was ready! We dropped off our stuff and went to MK and went back to the hotel around 7 and slept like rocks.

Each kid had their own laptop with headphones so they could watch a movie of their choice and play games on the computer. We also brought a gameboy. They were not allowed to watch a movie until it was dark. Until that point they had to read or color or play with whatever. At a certain point it was movie off and go to sleep. While it was not the best night sleep, they did sleep.

For food, we did fast food/potty trips. We also brought a variety of snacks and some drinks with us.

While I would still prefer to fly, for the money it saved us, it was worth it. This year grandma is driving with us so we have one extra driver!

 

[java]

We do the opposite. We have a 16 hour drive- we leave at 4AM on drive day- the kids generally fall right back to sleep once they are in the car*they go to bed in comfy clothes so we just pick them up and into the car- at 8AM we stop for breakfast and bathroom break. switch drivers...4 more hours...lunch time switch drivers....4 more hours stop for the night(generally this is around 6PM) We relax and hit the bed early. Get up and out by 6 the next am- grab breakfast from the hotel to go in the car- drive the 4 hours and we are at DISNEY!!! Works great for us. We do waste the one day driving.. but we all arrive rested and ready for FUN! Oh and we have 4 children (12,9,4,soon to be 2) We have done the drive the past 5 years... and are doing it again in April! There is a transportation board on the DIS and they have a sticky thread at the top for those folks driving.. you can get great tips there on places to stop.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

We drove for the first time this October. It was actually so much easier than flying!!! We have four kids, and the thought of getting everything crammed into just a few suitcases that two adults could get into and out of the airport was scary. Plus....flying with two toddlers was not a pleasant thought.

We left around 3 and drove until around 10. The next morning, we were out by 10 and arrived by 6. We have a DVD player in the car, so we brought along some different Disney movies to keep the kids intertained. I stocked up on cheap Disney goodies throughout the year, and after each hour, the kids got some sort of little toy/book/treat (all Disney related) to have in the car. I found tons of Disney coloring books/pads/markers at the dollar store and at Walmart. That really kept their interest, and it was something they looked forward to.

We only stopped for using the bathroom and meals, which was only about one stop for each along each leg of our trip.

I expected to have to make more stops, even just to let the kids run around. I was so thrilled at how well they traveled. How did we end up with four excellent car travelers??? I honestly didn't hear a complaint out of any of them. Well..the baby did cry for the last half hour before we arrived home, but that was it. I had prepared for the worst, and was so happy with how it turned out.

I loved having the car with us. We took only did the bus thing going to MK. It was so nice just hopping in our car after a day in the parks. Just not having to deal with the stress of a crowded bus with four tired kids and a huge double stroller at the end of the day was worth the drive!!

We'd do it again in a heartbeat! We are even contemplating doing an all nighter next time, although I'm not sure we'd get my 9 year old, autistic, son to sleep in the car...so that may backfire. Unfortunately, we have quite some time to ponder the idea, since it's not anywhere in the near future.

Good luck deciding!

 

[JamesMom]

I'm interested in how others do this as well. We, too, are thinking about driving from DFW to WDW - an 18 hour trip. Can't decide if I like the drive through the night (no hotel, quicker) vs. daytime (more rested). I have a 2 and 5 year old to consider as well. hmmm. Keep the ideas coming!

 

[dopeygirl156]

We have always driven for our trips. Generally we leave in the wee hours of the morning anywhere between 3-4am. We usually stop for breakfast around 9am and for whatever bathroom breaks are needed. We stop for lunch sometime around 1pm and then drive again until around 6pm where we stop for the night. We drive from MA usually until we get to Fayetteville NC and thats where we stop. then the next day we leave around 7am and drive the rest of the way. You have two options if you are breaking it up into two days. Do a good amount of driving on the first day and only have a little bit on the second or break it up evenly. Either way you should not have trouble. As far as what to bring, a dvd player is a godsend, travel games, books, coloring books and crayons, and if any of your kids have hand held game boys or leapsters, those are good too. The other thing is if they have headphones or mp3 players those are good. I find that all those things are usually enough to satisfy my crew because they also take naps off and on as well. We also bring a cooler in the car with drinks and some light snacks if the kids get the munchies in between meals. One thing we do is put a sheet over the seats in the back so the kids have snacks it is an easier clean up later. That is all I can think of now, but if i think of anything else i will let you know.

 

[wdwfamilyinIL]

We are thinking that this year we will probably drive, since airfare for five is just getting to be to much. There will be a total of 4 adults and three kids. Our plan is to leave around 8 or so at night, and drive it straight through. The adults will switch every 4 hours or so, and hopefully the kids will fall alsleep after a few hours on the road. Just in case we can play movies in the van.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

we drove in 05 with our DS3 and DS5 from MI it's 22hours. We left around 9 am, stopped every 3-4hrs and stopped around 8pm. We broke it up into 3 days on the way down and 2 on the way back. MI to Kentucky and then to Lake City FL on the way down and back FL to Indianpolis and then home. The boys used the DVD player continously and also a dry erase board with colored markers. In Kentucky and Tenn. they loved fighting over who had the bigger mnt on their side of the car. when DS3 got a way out of control we gave him half a childrens benedryl and he would sleep for a couple of hours. I know some wouldn't agree with this, but it was a sanity saver. His pediatrian even suggested it so send all flames his way. We flew for our last trip and it's a toss up on which we felt was easier.

 

[WDWorBUST]

We have driven twice before and will be leaving 1/23 for a "different" trip driving. The first time we drove it was 5 adults, a 9 year old, and a 12 year old - NEVER again. It was me, DH, my mom, and two sisters and my nephews had way too many "moms" to make it pleasant. The second time was me, DH, my mom and dad, and DD. That one went much better. The DVD player was our saving grace. I think other activities are GREAT for older children but DD was 2 then and is 3 for this next one and in a carseat I haven't figured out how she can color, etc. This next trip it's me and a friend and our 3 year olds. We're leaving at 3pm - driving until as late as midnight then getting up the next morning and getting to Orlando around 9pm or so. Hopefully I can report it's a good trip. I will say there are some huge advantages to driving for me 1.) Our last trip in September we flew and got around late the morning we were leaving and almost missed our flight and ended up spending $50 for the car rental place to have to fill the car up with gas.

 

[willoughbyclan]

We have driven twice and flown twice.

My advice DON"T DRIVE, NO! NO! NO! DON"T DO IT!!!!!!!

But then again, maybe it it just my kids.......

Maybe they will be better at road trips after graduating college...

Our drive is approx 14 hrs (of pure H.......) in a minivan with 7 of us (my mother has always went with us). We made a vow the last time we drove in April of 2006 that if we couldn't afford to fly we would postpone going until we could afford it.


That being said, we drove thru the night once (left at 10PM-I drove til 8am and DH drove the remainder) and the other time we split it up and stayed at a hotel half way (this option however, just drags out the misery).

For me, it takes away so much from the enjoyment with the age our kids are right now. They just don't do well on road trips. We have to drive an hour to the nearest airport and that's about as far as we can stand it.

Anyway, good luck to you and I hope your trip is magical.

 

[Marmstrong]

My kids don't sleep well in the car, never have. They're now 8 (as of this Sat) and 11. We're driving in Feb, drove last year also. But our drive should be about 8-9 hours (we're in NC) if there's no accidents and huge construction on I-95. On previous long roadtrips we've tried the "early morning" thing which is mine and my husband's pref, but the kids wake-up when we move them to the car and WON'T go back to sleep! We've also tried driving late...they don't fall asleep well then either...BRATS!

Going to Disney we plan to leave after school (leave work a little early) and beat rush hour out of Charlotte...then we drive till about 9. Last year this got us to Savannah, this year we're hoping for closer to Jacksonville. That leaves us with short-trip the next day and plenty of time for a park that day. Last year we stopped at St. Augustine on the way down for about an hour...did the tour of the fort and picked up lunch for the car. We arrived about 2 and they were able to check us in early, we did an evening at Epcot, arrived there about 4:30.

This year we have to coordinate arrival with my parents. They're meeting us at Shades of Green and since my dad's the military contact, we need him there to check us in...but we have MYW tickets with no expiration left from last year with about 8 "extras" on them, so if we're a lot earlier than them we'll go to DTD and take the kids to Quest or something...

Home trip is all in one day...try to miss rush hours in major cities along the route...this year it's on a Sunday so no rush hours but yah never know about I-95...

 

[becca011906]

I'm very lucky to have great car riders... they are in the car a lot, and so are me and dh, he's in his car 12 hour shifts at a time LOL, and i travel a lot for my job spaning a 300 mile radius north and south, average 10 hours in a car for work a week, my kids are in the car for 10 min Am, another 10 at noon, and another 10 at 3pm, then on weekend we have to drive atleast 1 hour (one way) to our local target for food, stuff, ect. it's not a big deal at all, we also go to my familys stuff which is 2 hours one way for a day trip about 1-2 times a month, and we go to my grandparents about 4 times a year that's 4 hours trip one way... we have always made these trips with the kids... some times me and dh sometimes me and the 3 kids alone... some time in our 3 row SUV and some times the kids are 3 across in the back of our mid size car... LOL for disney we are really thinking of taking the midsize car, it will save so so so much on gas...

ok with the DVD player i can't find something i'm looking for, we don't want to buy another one for a while our portable w/ two screens broke on the way home last trip, so this trip we though we could use our lap top but i'm looking for something to hold it between the front seats and hooks on the head rest of the front seats... ya know, i've seen dvd players that do this, but i just want the holder for the lap top, all i can find are mounts for the driver, if we wanted that we could just borrow the one out of the police car but that's not what we need... hummm any ideas?

 

[Applemomma]

I wish we had a nice short 18 hour drive. We are looking at a 34 hour drive in September plus rest stops and sleeping!! But with the price of airfare for a family of four out of Nova Scotia it is cheaper for us to take the extra hotel costs and days off then to fly. Even driving to the nearest US airport to fly out would be a 9 hour drive....but we can't wait! I'm doing my best to make the drive as stressfree as possible! Tons of activity pages, dvd player, gps system, etc.

 

[OhioFamily]

We have 16 hours of driving "fun". We actually leave on Friday for our next trip and here's what we have packed:

Gameboy (every parent should have one... mine can play for hours without a peep)

Car Bingo (you can find this on the internet. We have a magnetic version)

Portable dvd WITH headphones... at least 2 more hours of quiet

Coloring books and markers

Their own pillow and blanket...easier for them to sleep

Snacks/drink boxes... (less stops the better)

We leave at about 7pm so the kids sleep for a good portion of the way.
Good luck!

 

[becca011906]

we are still undesided on what to leave, we though that we'd not take the kids out of school on friday and leave after school so 3-4:00, but that would only put us about 1/3 of the way leaving 2/3 to drive the next day??? Is it a bad idea to do more driving on day 2??? Maybe we should go ahead and take them out on friday as well, and leave in the early AM... so much to think about.

as for car stuff, I have started to make a few of the 'favorites' disapear in a book bag i have stuffed in my coat closet... i've put some of ds's favorite game boy games in there, some of the diney coloring pages, i need to start on the small hand held toys next. we also have some bubble for emergancy screeming! LOL and i need to start taking away some of the favorite movies for the trip so they dont' watch them to often now... or maybe i'll find some cheep movies off ebay to take as 'new' movies...

keep the ideas coming!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Okay- I will be the voice of doom. I will NEVER NEVER NEVER drive to WDW!!! We live 24 hours away. I drove one time when I was 4 and since then I have hated car trips. It was a pleasant trip with plenty of stops and food etc, but it took FOREVER!!! My 3 kids (soon to be 4!) would never sit for that long and neither would I. We took a trip to Boston with the kids and hit so much traffic that it took 8 hours. The kids were really good but none of us ever wanted to be in the car again! Also- who wants to drive home form WDW? Personally I would rather not go if I have to drive. If money for flying was the issue, gas is so expensive that I don't see any savings in driving. Also- I hate car trips so much that I would rather collect soda cans and sell pencils on the corner than not be able to fly! Good luck and God Bless if you can do it. I personally cannot sit for that many hours.

 

[jennifer293]

Our drive is only 9-11 hours depending on when we leave and how long we stop for potty breaks and eating..Sometimes we just do fast food and sometimes we do the sit down meal thing. We normally leave TN about 4:30 -5:00 am and then stop once we get past Atlanta for breakfast. We stop again around 11:30 for lunch somewhere in FL and then once we get to Disney we check in we go unload everything and get all unpacked and set out to the pool for about an hour or so and go to the food court for dinner.

My kids don't sleep the whole driving trip, they are just oo excited and so am I to be honest . We do have the portable DVD players, coloring books and crayons and a few other toys for them.

 

[becca011906]

If money for flying was the issue, gas is so expensive that I don't see any savings in driving. Also- I hate car trips so much that I would rather collect soda cans and sell pencils on the corner than not be able to fly! Good luck and God Bless if you can do it. I personally cannot sit for that many hours.

I know some people just really can't do a car trip that long... but it is a HUGE savings for our family...

If we flew cheap rates wouldn't be less then $200 a person... that's 5 of us so $1000 then we need to rent a car down there b/c we stay off site (for free so that's a HUGE savings) so car rental... MAYBE $300 or less depending we need a van or suv or full sized car to fit 3 car seats across, and we need to ship some stuff down ahead b/c we would not be able to bring food items b/c of already having to check 2 car seat as our lugage... maybe $20 there... humm we would need to leave our car at the airport over a week, so about $100 for that. how much can i gure for stress of having 3 kids under 7 on a plane and halling 1-2 car seat a full stroller, and carry on through an air port! LOL Grand total being just under $1500

now when we drive the fuel calculator at AAA says our car round trip is about $160 in gas... we might use a full take while there maybe two since we plan a beach day so $70 for that. Hotel there and back $140. Food down there and back, you have to eat no matter if we are on the road or at disney $100. Getting to show my kids parts of this great country on the way down, "are we there yet?", "he/she's pocking me", and great picutres PRICELESS! LOL Grand total of driving for us is just under $500... for a $1000 saving we can get a 10 day park hoppers non expire for future trips down the road, since we are only going to the world 2 days this year!

 

[tmccullough]

We drive 16 hours straight. We usually leave around 5:00 pm and my husband, who falls asleep easily, drives until about midnight and then I drive until about 6:00am when he takes over. It's not that bad of a drive down I-95 (usually not too much traffic at all). I went for miles and miles without seeing any vehicles. We have 4 kids - 19, 13, 9, and 6. They are good sleepers. In 2004, they slept the entire way and we only had to stop for gas twice. They didn't even need a restroom until 6:00am when we hit a rest area. We once drove it during the day and it seemed like FOREVER!! I usually pick up some cheap toys for the dollar store and surprise the kids when they need it most if they are cranky.

 

[becca011906]

we just can't do the night time driving thing, i can't sleep when it's my turn, dh can't stand for me to drive and can't sleep when i drive, I can't see making the kids sleep in their seats, thoes just aren't made for sleeping in, and i REFUSE for them to be out of the car seat for ANY reason while the car is in motion... so HAVE to stop, it's much safer for us...