Minniemouse07
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 4, 2007
Probably because you are going on a holiday weekend.
Tips for driving from NJ to FL with 2 kids!
- Thread starter deedeew80
- Start date
Probably because you are going on a holiday weekend.
mi*vida*loca
Collect memories, not things
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2008
I also live in NJ right outside of Philadelphia. I've driven it a few times.
Once we left around 6 pm, drove through the night and arrived in Orlando in the morning around 10 am. I hated this way.
Another time we left around 4-5 pm, stopped in NC around midnight, slept in a hotel and then started again around 8 am. Got to Orlando by 4 pm.
My "favorite" way to do it is leave at 4 am and get to Orlando by 9 pm. The kids would sleep until about 10 am, we would stop for breakfast and keep moving.
I honestly don't hate the drive TO Orlando but the drive home is horrific. We only fly now. I don't know if I could do the drive again.
When my kids were young we would buy things that we wouldn't give them until the drive. It would keep them occupied longer.
Once we left around 6 pm, drove through the night and arrived in Orlando in the morning around 10 am. I hated this way.
Another time we left around 4-5 pm, stopped in NC around midnight, slept in a hotel and then started again around 8 am. Got to Orlando by 4 pm.
My "favorite" way to do it is leave at 4 am and get to Orlando by 9 pm. The kids would sleep until about 10 am, we would stop for breakfast and keep moving.
I honestly don't hate the drive TO Orlando but the drive home is horrific. We only fly now. I don't know if I could do the drive again.
When my kids were young we would buy things that we wouldn't give them until the drive. It would keep them occupied longer.
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Cajun23
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2016
We just did it for a 13 hour drive with 2 4 year olds. Plenty of snacks, Water coloring books, DVD player with movies, and stopping occasionally. I was one who said i was never going to drive and dreaded it this year. Movies and snacks kept the kids occupied better than i thought. So much so we are driving again next year.
Note: My son is also one that ask are we there yet ever 5 seconds in the city and he did well. We told him that we would get there until tomorrow and luckily he understood and was an acceptable answer.
Note: My son is also one that ask are we there yet ever 5 seconds in the city and he did well. We told him that we would get there until tomorrow and luckily he understood and was an acceptable answer.
hertamaniac
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2017
Get through the Washington/Baltimore beltways (assuming your going that route) on slower hours (if you're leaving ~3 AM?, then you should be fine unless I'm missing something).
Make South of the Border a target for the kids and plan some time there to take it in. It's a little touristy, but it will give them an intermediate focal point.
Make South of the Border a target for the kids and plan some time there to take it in. It's a little touristy, but it will give them an intermediate focal point.
Figmentmommy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2013
We've driven several times from NYC. DH & I prefer daytime driving so we leave very early and drive to Florence, SC to eat dinner and sleep for the night. Then it's up early and back on the road. We usually arrive at Disney late afternoon in time for dinner & hitting a late park. Our kids are teenagers now but our first trip was at ages 9 & 7. The drive down
is long but not bad....but the drive home is less so. We're all tired and the anticipation for the Disney trip is no longer there. We used DVD players for movies & music and books.
is long but not bad....but the drive home is less so. We're all tired and the anticipation for the Disney trip is no longer there. We used DVD players for movies & music and books.
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i luv the duck
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2017
We drive from Louisiana, so it's about a 11-12 hour trip for us. I let the kids stay up late (DS 8, DD 15), after they take a bath they put on something comfortable to sleep and travel in. We usually leave between 1-2 a.m. DH usually goes to bed earlier than the kids so he can drive the first leg of the trip then once he's had enough I take over. The kids usually sleep until our first gas/bathroom stop which is 4-5 hours into our journey. Sometimes they'll go back to sleep but if not we have a dvd player in our car so they either opt to watch a movie or play on their iPads. Once the movie is over they always go back to sleep. I always have snacks and drinks packed so we only stop for meals and gas.
We usually arrive an hour or two before 3:00 check in and our room, thus far, has always been ready.
IMPORTANT: We have one rule, NO ONE is allowed to ask, "are we there yet or how much longer". Hope you have a safe and wonderful trip.
We usually arrive an hour or two before 3:00 check in and our room, thus far, has always been ready.
IMPORTANT: We have one rule, NO ONE is allowed to ask, "are we there yet or how much longer". Hope you have a safe and wonderful trip.
mrsap
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2012
We drive every year from North NJ and my kids have been doing this since DD was 23 months and DD was 16 months! It really seems like a scary situation for the parents, but honestly, my kids have been wonderful every year!!!! It’s a long ride, but they’re just SO excited!!
What we do:
-We buy surprises for them and give them one with each new state we enter!! So they really look forward to entering a new state! We buy things like games, coloring books, toys, etc.
-Bring snacks - LOTS of snacks! We try to bring some healthy, some junky.
-Bring portable DVD players with a bunch of movies! Definitely helps pass the time!
-Stop a couple times to let them get out and walk and sit down to eat.
Just a word of advice - and hopefully your kids will be fine, but my kids get motion sickness time to time from the car ride. We bought them the motion sickness bands (Sea Bands) and their doctor recommended us to give a Tsp. of Benadryl before we leave to combat it!! (I thought she was crazy, but really works!!!)
Good luck and enjoy it!!! Try to make it as fun as possible!! We will be there the same dates as you!!! See you in Disney!
What we do:
-We buy surprises for them and give them one with each new state we enter!! So they really look forward to entering a new state! We buy things like games, coloring books, toys, etc.
-Bring snacks - LOTS of snacks! We try to bring some healthy, some junky.
-Bring portable DVD players with a bunch of movies! Definitely helps pass the time!
-Stop a couple times to let them get out and walk and sit down to eat.
Just a word of advice - and hopefully your kids will be fine, but my kids get motion sickness time to time from the car ride. We bought them the motion sickness bands (Sea Bands) and their doctor recommended us to give a Tsp. of Benadryl before we leave to combat it!! (I thought she was crazy, but really works!!!)
Good luck and enjoy it!!! Try to make it as fun as possible!! We will be there the same dates as you!!! See you in Disney!
We always had a double screen DVD player in our car, got it for around $100, worth it's weight in gold. Rented DVD's from the library, movies and tv shows. We also had many lollipops, snacks and bought balloons to blow up when they got bored. Drove numerous times with children of all ages from Northern NJ. REally not that bad at all. Stop at rest areas on I-95 and let children run around and get fresh air.
Maggie at the Fort
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2008
I found some back of the seat organizers with lots of pocketspock installed them in my car. I had the kids clean out all their normal junk the week before the trip and pack the organizers with fresh things (some they already owned, some new they picked from the dollar store ) the day of the trip I have extra distractions to give out during the drive and snacks. I keep the snacks kinda bland as my oldest has some car sickness trouble. We leave early in the morning and have quiet "rest" time for the first few hours. They sometimes sleep. We let them use tablets for some of the trip. My pediatrician recommends it for car sicknesss
We left at night and drive through once. My baby fell when we got to the campsite and bit through her lip. It wasn't because we drove through the night but it was harder to deal with the er trip and stitches while exhausted. I realized I never wanted to start another big vacation (where things can just go wrong sometimes) that tired.
Take care of yourselves! The trip will be tiring enough!!
We left at night and drive through once. My baby fell when we got to the campsite and bit through her lip. It wasn't because we drove through the night but it was harder to deal with the er trip and stitches while exhausted. I realized I never wanted to start another big vacation (where things can just go wrong sometimes) that tired.
Take care of yourselves! The trip will be tiring enough!!
DisneyOma
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2015
We've done tons of road trips with our two kids (ages 6 and 9 on one month long cross country trip) and now that they are grown they do them with friends. Lots of little toys to hand out, coloring books, etc. I used to shop the dollar stores and collect bags of stuff to hand out to them, and they each would pack a small bin of toys to play with. The bin would fit under the seat of our conversion van. That was a great van! It had a little TV built in and a VCR - back in 90's that was a luxury! Our first trip to WDW was by van, and the youngest was 2 1/2. Took us two days driving down from MA. Made sure we took or time, made lots of stops to get out and run and play.
Dis703
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2010
That was my first thought as well, lol. I did the drive with our 3 kids for our first family trip in 2013 and have been flying ever since. Mostly because the costs of driving weren't much less (and sometimes actually more) than the cheap flights I have found out of PHL or TTN with Frontier.
Just plan for what to do if the kids can't sleep in the car. I thought for sure it wouldn't be an issue since they easily slept in the car for shorter trips but one of mine just couldn't do it so we stopped earlier than planned for a hotel. Aside from that we stopped about every 2 hours during the day for bathroom and to just let them stretch for about 10 minutes.
Also look for construction along your route. I was not expecting all the overnight work on 95 when we went.
jliucci
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2009
We live in CT and drove to Myrtle Beach last summer with our DD who was 14 months at the time, it took about 15 hours with traffic. (AGH) I would strongly recommend a portable DVD player so they can watch movies. We also left in the middle of the night thinking she would sleep..she was up @ 6 am! Good Luck!
(I to am from South Jersey...originally!)
We've driven from The Eastern Shore - about an hour below Philly. Three things I would offer:
1. Avoid DC area on 95. Avoid 95 altogether. Take 95 South, the the Delaware Memorial Bridge, to Rt. 1 south as if you were going down towards Dover or the Shore. Just above the Middletown, DE area take 301 South, down into MD. Take 301/50 South over the Bay Bridge and then continue on 301 South into Virginia and then get back onto 95 just above Richmond - just above Kings Dominion I believe. Anyway, I'm sure others have had different experiences but anytime we take 95 around DC it's a huge PITA, no matter the day of the week or the time of the day. Add in Thanksgiving weekend - whew!
2. Audio books - find something that may interest everyone.
3. Avoid South of the Border. Avoid it like the plague.....like you could catch the plague there. Nasty.
We've driven from The Eastern Shore - about an hour below Philly. Three things I would offer:
1. Avoid DC area on 95. Avoid 95 altogether. Take 95 South, the the Delaware Memorial Bridge, to Rt. 1 south as if you were going down towards Dover or the Shore. Just above the Middletown, DE area take 301 South, down into MD. Take 301/50 South over the Bay Bridge and then continue on 301 South into Virginia and then get back onto 95 just above Richmond - just above Kings Dominion I believe. Anyway, I'm sure others have had different experiences but anytime we take 95 around DC it's a huge PITA, no matter the day of the week or the time of the day. Add in Thanksgiving weekend - whew!
2. Audio books - find something that may interest everyone.
3. Avoid South of the Border. Avoid it like the plague.....like you could catch the plague there. Nasty.
I wonder how much cheaper it is to fly from Philly to MCO than from LGA to MCO.
For a family of 5 (us) to fly from LaGuardia to MCO, it's over $2000 round trip. It takes only about 3 tanks of gas each way (call it $300), about $150 for a hotel room to stay overnight on the way down (last year we stopped in Savannah, GA; coming home we usually do it all in one shot) and meals/snacks are incidental. It's a lot cheaper than airfare.
I also looked into autotrain and it's not that much cheaper than flying if you get roommettes. I don't know that I'd want to spend that amount of time in essentially a coach seat, let alone try to sleep in one.
We have a minivan - there's two adults and our 3 kids. They've been 6, 7 and 8 on our trips (triplets). We made activity binders for them which kept them occupied. They slept and read. Last year I bought a tMobile sync up drive so we had a hotspot in the car that they could use their tablets with to watch videos and netflix as well.
We usually leave at 4am on Saturday so we can get out of NYC and past DC before traffic hits. We stopped in Santee, SC the first two years to eat and sleep, and last year Savannah, GA. We stay at Hampton Inn which is my favorite moderately priced national chain. You get a continental breakfast and the rooms are clean and comfortable. On day 2, we wake up and have breakfast pretty early so that we can get to the WDW area around noon. We check in and see if our room is available, and we have "go bags" packed that we bring to the pool so that we can change and swim and eat QS lunch while we wait for our room to be ready.
Coming home we do it all in one shot, which is exhausting, but I like getting home that same day instead of the following.
The drive is very boring. I-95 is pretty devoid of anything to look at.
For a family of 5 (us) to fly from LaGuardia to MCO, it's over $2000 round trip. It takes only about 3 tanks of gas each way (call it $300), about $150 for a hotel room to stay overnight on the way down (last year we stopped in Savannah, GA; coming home we usually do it all in one shot) and meals/snacks are incidental. It's a lot cheaper than airfare.
I also looked into autotrain and it's not that much cheaper than flying if you get roommettes. I don't know that I'd want to spend that amount of time in essentially a coach seat, let alone try to sleep in one.
We have a minivan - there's two adults and our 3 kids. They've been 6, 7 and 8 on our trips (triplets). We made activity binders for them which kept them occupied. They slept and read. Last year I bought a tMobile sync up drive so we had a hotspot in the car that they could use their tablets with to watch videos and netflix as well.
We usually leave at 4am on Saturday so we can get out of NYC and past DC before traffic hits. We stopped in Santee, SC the first two years to eat and sleep, and last year Savannah, GA. We stay at Hampton Inn which is my favorite moderately priced national chain. You get a continental breakfast and the rooms are clean and comfortable. On day 2, we wake up and have breakfast pretty early so that we can get to the WDW area around noon. We check in and see if our room is available, and we have "go bags" packed that we bring to the pool so that we can change and swim and eat QS lunch while we wait for our room to be ready.
Coming home we do it all in one shot, which is exhausting, but I like getting home that same day instead of the following.
The drive is very boring. I-95 is pretty devoid of anything to look at.
Minniemouse07
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 4, 2007
The coach seats are equivalent to a first class seat on an airplane. They are wide with expandable foot rests and a lot of leg room. Each pair of seats also has outlets to keep your electronics charged. There is also a Lounge car w/ snacks and a movie as well as the Dining car that serves dinner and breakfast, all included in the price.
We will be making our third trip on the AT this summer and it is significantly cheaper than flying, even w/o considering that we will have our vehicle.
I just priced out flights for our July trip on American (the least expensive option w/o choosing Frontier, etc. It is too close to departure for an affordable Southwest flight.). We have 1 adult and 1 child (last year at 12yo) going down and two adults, 1 child returning.
Flights on American PHL-MCO: $884
If we flew we probably would not rent a car, but would park at the airport so add another $75 to the flights. We also would have to pay for luggage which would minimally add $50 each way, possibly $75.
Flight $884
Parking $75
Check Luggage $100
Total cost to fly: $1059
AutoTrain (coach, no roomette): $740 round trip
RockinDisney
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2007
You could have a few build your own projects, like build your own autograph book or color each day of our itinerary. Also if you have Dollar Tree pick up some Disney activity books...items that get them in the mood. Cracker Barrel always seems to have road games and things to do in the car, if you have one near you to stock up.
RockinDisney
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2007
Thought of you today while I was at Michael's they have a bunch of Disney projects that were buy 1 get the 2nd half off
deedeew80
Dreaming of My Prince
- Joined
- May 28, 2004
I will have to go check it out! Thanks so much for thinking of me!!!
Disneylovingmomof2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2017
We’re neighbors! I live in SJ too. DH suggested driving down the next time we go. I don’t think I would. I have a DVD player in my car and I know they’d watch movies but I just don’t think it would be a fun experience. I’ve driven to FL many times in my life, to Maine and to Tennessee and I just can’t imagine driving to Disney with littles, but that’s just me. Have you checked flights to just see how much they are?
deedeew80
Dreaming of My Prince
- Joined
- May 28, 2004
Hey neighbor! I am definitely not looking forward to the drive, especially with kids! Lol! Keeping checking flights and right now they are over $300 a person. But I also need to convince hubby to fly! Lol!
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