Tips for driving with kids

[Dmaxphoto]

We will be going to WDW next year and driving. After reading another thread about wether to drive or fly, I thought it would be good to have a thread that had your favorite tips for driving with the family.

We drove from IL in 2005 & 2006 with 2 kids. Next year we will be driving with 3, DS10, DD4, DS2

Here are my favorite tips:
Have small travel "gifts". We found small items that they could use in the car, like note pads & colored pencils, new DVDs, travel bingo, the travel sheets that are a link on this site, new books, etc. I had everything wrapped up and whenever we made a stop, they got to open a new "gift".

Whenever we stopped to eat, we tried to find a McDonald's with a play place. We let the kids run around and burn off energy while we ate. Then got their meals to go.


What are some of your best tips?

 

[madisonsmommy7704]

Don't know if this is really a tip- but try to do your drive overnight if you can- no traffic & dc sleep most of the way

 

[Thats_for_Shore]

Thats what we do too. Drive over night. It's much easier on the kids. They're already pumped up with boundless excitement because of where they're heading. Driving while they're sleeping is nice, it's quiet, and there's not as many bathroom stops!!

 

[ChristaDeVil]

Driving at night is a great idea. We do this a lot and it works out perfectly.

Another thing that we do is play a song game that we made up. You pick a word or sound, and incorporate it into songs that you hear on the radio. It's just as silly as it sounds, but we have a ball doing it. (You haven't lived until you've heard two adults and a child performing U2's "One" by meowing like a cat.)

 

[Sheaboys]

WE drive straight through from Massachusetts to Florida 2x. Once with a 7, 5 and 3 yr old and again with a 9, 7, almost 4 and a 10month old. Both times we left around dinnertime. After we ate, like around 6pm. We drove, stopped to change everyone into jammies. And they were all asleep by regular bedtime, or at least very close to it, slept all night. They were up about 6:30am. So it worked out well for us.

Now, both times we were going to my parents. So when we went to Disney in 2005, we were there for 2 nights. We got to their home about 3pm, everyone was in bed 8pm, and the next day dh and I were able to sleep in as they were up with the boys. So I suggest you do stay over at some point very close to disney before your trip.

Lots of toys for the boys as well.

 

[sconnell]

Well, we only have 5 hours (or less) and we get up really early and put the kids in the car in their pj's (they usually don't even wake up at all) and change them when we stop for breakfast. Then after that we usually only have enough time for one movie and then a little bit of play time.
It's nice because DH & I can't sleep anyway! We're too excited! lol. Last time we said we'll leave at 6 or so. About 5:10 we were on the road!
SO, I said all of that to say. Go to bed early with the kids and drive while the kids are sleeping!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I always say if your kids are old enough, Gameboy, Nintendo DS Lite and a portable DVD player with screens for 2 are what you need. We play Disney movies on the way to Disney.

Plus I recommend ear plugs for the parents so when the kids start doing the "are we there yet" whining or the "he's in my space" whine, you can just put the earplugs in and enjoy the ride in peace and quiet.

We also have coloring books and crayons and usually play a game to make a list of all the different license plates you see.

One of our kids gets carsick so we also carry a big supply of plastic bags next to him that are already prepared to grab if he gets sick.

I keep a roll of paper towels next to me too. We allow drinking water and soft drinks in the car and something always ends up spilled.

It's good to be prepared.

 

[jacobsmom]

We drive from Wisconsin to WDW in Florida. DS8 is a fantastic traveler! We LOVE our dvd player and pack tons of dvds, add lots of little Disney cars, a travel desk loaded with crayons, silly putty, paper, and all sorts of little toys. We drive as long as we can through the night (last year DH drove all night!!!).
Great snacks also make the trip easier. On the way home we try to do something as a pick me up... visit friends out of state, tour someplace amazing... whatever!!!

 

[DVCJones]

May I suggest a potty. We bring a little potty with us. It works great for the "I gotta go now" moments. I also have a issue with bringing my DDs into some of the rest area restrooms. NASTY!!!! However, with boys, it may be a little different.

 

[gottalluvmickey]

We have a 23 hour drive from Michigan, so I place 23 Mickey head stickers on the ceiling of the mini-van. (I made the stickers from the circle garage sale stickers). Each hour, my DD got to pull a sticker down. She never asked, "Are we there yet?" We also used it as a math tool...if we've driven 5 hours, how many hours do we have left...etc. Hope this helps

 

[TinaLala]

We travel all around in our trailer and took it to Disney a few years ago dds were 6 and 3. This year we're driving down again dds are 8 and 5 and I'm ready.

We have the DVD player. I'm getting lap desks for coloring and reading and because dd8 has just gotten into a mean game of go fish as well as chess. I picked up a magnetic 6-in-1 board game at Shaws - it's got chess, checkers, snakes and ladders, chinese checkers and parchese.

I usually bring a map with us and put a picture of us at MA and then put a picture of Mickey at FLA. Then as we cross into a new state I show them where we started, where we are and how many states we have left to go to get to Mickey. I usually throw in some information about the state. That usually stops the 'are we there yet?' questions.

We play the old car games- A my name is Allyn my husband's name is Alfred we live in Allentown and we sell apples. This works better on the older kids - we're looking forward to it this year.

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

im not a kid, teenager, but I enjoy just listening to music on the radio.

well, iPod for me.

 

[BigMike10]

We drove through the night with our three boys and the bright lights from the gas stations can cause sleeping children to get restless or wake up.Place a baseball cap with a brim on the children before you pull into the stop to block the light. I personally use an eyemask and earplugs so that I can rest if someone is listening to the radio or a movie. We took turns driving straight through fron NJ, also leaving in the early evening.

Another suggestion is bring beach towels. We brought our Disney beach towels to use as blankets in the car when we were resting. Used them at our condo pool , washed them and used them as blankets for the ride home.

With little boys, a wide mouth plastic jar is a life saver when you can't make it to a restroom fast enough. It is easy to seal afterwards so there is no spilling in the car. We found this out when stuck in "stand still" traffic one year.

 

[Chelley00]

We drove 18 hours to Texas from Indiana, then 4 months later drove 17 hours to Florida with 4 kids (yes, we're insane) and we'll drive the Florida trip again in Sept. What saved our sanity:

Each kid had a small plastic storage tote packed with things just for them. This way if they got bored with the movie on the DVD player, they could just unpack something for themself.

For the little ones (almost 5 and 2 at the time) we packed the Crayola markers and books that only work together (no writing on the van!) hot wheels, Wiki Sticks (the best invention ever!) activity pads and crayons for the older DD, Travel Memory, magnetic "paper" dolls, and a few new books. Most of these I got from the Dollar Tree.

The bigger ones we bought each of them a new game for their gaming systems (one DS, one PSP) all the handheld games we already own, batteries and I found a bunch of travel games at Target like license plate state bingo, I Spy bingo (has construction vehicles, road signs etc) with dry erase markers, plus travel connect 4 and Battleship.

Up front near the parents we packed one small cooler with snacks, juice boxes, water bottles etc and packed refreezable ice packs instead of ice so it wouldn't leak, along with wipes, paper towels and napkins. I believe in bribery so we took along some suckers and cookies as last resorts

We also took a small trashcan which came in SOOO handy, even with the collapsible ones we already have in there. We also take a couple of soccer balls so the kids can run around and play at a rest stop or in a grassy area beside a fast food restaurant.

I really don't like driving through the night because I think it makes me so tired, especially since I don't sleep well in the car, so we leave really early (around 3-4am) Then we at least get a little sleep. We throw the little ones in the carseats in the pjs, they sleep the first 3-4 hours of the trip, then we change them into clothes in the van before stopping for breakfast.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I second the OPs ideas of a "gift" to open at each stop and having the kids PLAY at food breaks and then getting their food to go.

Additioanl things we did whne we used to drive from Michigan were:

Everyone got out and CLEANED at every gas stop (doesn't take long, but the space in the car is so much more comfortable for everyone if the mess does not pile up.

We always tried to stop at rest stops that had some grass and picnic tables, etc. I kept a soccer ball and frisbee and we would play a quick game (5, maybe 10 minutes max.) at each stop to get soem exercise.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We have around a 15 hour trip to WDW, so we just try to get there as quickly as possibly, traveling mostly at night to hopefully avoid all the child-requested stops we get during the day. Typically, we grab sandwiches from Panera Bread as we're heading out of town. Eating these keeps the kids quiet for 30 minutes or so. Then, the kids (now aged 15, 7, and 5) watch Disney videos, listen to their MP3 players, a play video/computer games until everyone falls asleep (usually pretty late). My kids our night owls and love to sleep late, so we usually have to wake them when we get close to WDW.

 

[mrsmagic]

I bought plastic shoe bags from the Dollar Store for each of my kids. They hung on the back of the seats in front of them, and I put a special snack in each pocket. Every hour, they could choose a snack from a pocket. It kept me from constantly getting things for people, too!

In addition to portable DVD players, we like listening to family books on tape/CD/MP3. We actually like it better than watching movies (plus it is less boring for the driver). It is fun to listen to books we liked as kids!

 

[DISNEYJAZZ]

I Love the idea of the Mickey head stickers onthe cieling!!! will put a new twist ont hat and make each dgc a tiem line out of cardboard and then let them add a sticker to it after each hour on the road....fun! and i love the math part of it! I have gotten the dg's each a paper gift bag and added the words ' disney or bust ' on the front and thier names on the back w/ foam sticky letters form the dollar tree....i got them crayons,coloring books,stickers,juice bottles w/disney topper/spout! { also dollar tree,tigger & captain jack!} will add snacks and a dvd to use with their dvd players they got formt heir other g'ma....{ thank god dsil found them headfones for them since the earbuds they came with were too big!} the disney or bust bags will coem out a few hours into the trip when they get restless...also we are bringing their pillows so they can snooze ont he way down form north ga,about 8 or so hours we assume. i got lucky and found them mickey and cinderella pillowcases at the thrfit shop the other day for 50 cents! they were tickled and couldn't wiat to wash them up and put on their pillows....
love all the cool ideas and happy travels to all

 

[grlpwrd]

We do not drive at night. There are other drivers who are sleep deprived and we do not feel it is safe. Read this: http://www.weather.com/activities/driving/drivingsafetytips/night.html An excerpt:

Traffic death rates are three times greater at night than during the day, according to the National Safety Council. Yet many of us are unaware of night driving's special hazards or don't know effective ways to deal with them.

I like this site: www.momsminivan.com . Lots of great ideas there.

I always pack food, but I also pack grocery bags. Every time we stop, like for gas or a bathroom break, we do a "car tidy" and clean up the car a little. (I try to be earth-friendly on a daily basis, but this is a rare exception.) I also bring paper towels and some wet with soap and water in a ziplocked bag just in case.

I always travel with a first aid kit.

I also bought a Coleman PowerChill cooler from WM for around $79.XX. I can use it in the car or in a hotel room with its adapter.

 

[Desnik]

There are some really great tips here but I have to disagree with the driving through the night. Our kids may get to sleep and be ready for the next day, but we're not! We need sleep too and it's not a good thing when they are wanting to go go go as soon as you get there and all we want to do is sleep! Also, I hate going into those rest stops at night. What has worked for us is leaving around 4am, taking turns driving and giving each kid their hand held games like leapster or pixter for DS(4) and Nintendo DS for DD(10). They also have Ipod Nano's now and that has all their shows, movies, and music and that keeps them busy. We bring food and drinks with us and try to only stop for gas and potty breaks and we make sure everytime we stop for gas, the kids go potty. We then get there by 9-10pm and we get a good nights sleep and are ready to go the next day.
Now the drive home is another story! We dread it and we actually haven't driven to WDW in a few years. We will be driving to HHI in April and I'm trying to prepare myself for that!

So, I have a question. What does everyone do on that dreaded drive home? What time do you leave WDW? Do you drive straight though, stop at a hotel? How do you keep the kids happy?