We must be crazy! Going to OKW in May!

[kgforce]

My wife and I temporarily lost our sanity and booked a last minute trip to OKW May 18-22 in a 1BR.

We'll be driving from Houston to Orlando with a 2 1/2 year old DD and a 15 month old DS. We have a minivan, but it looks to be a long trip! We will probably stop and spend the night in Mobile or Pensacola each way. Maybe even hit the beach for a short time on the way back to Texas.

This will be our first trip "home" (bought a resale at OKW a few months ago). We have a bigger trip planned Dec. 13-19 -- a 2BR and some friends and their 3 yr old son.

We have a few days left on some Park Hopper passes, so we'll be going to WDW a day or two. We're also going to USF/IOA.

Any suggestions for the drive from Houston to Orlando with little ones will be appreciated. This will be the longest car trip they've ever taken!

 

[Geebs]

one tip that I learned when my parents drove us down from CT when my sister and I were little, was to leave at night. Feed them a really good dinner before you go and leave when they would probably start falling asleep anyhow.. make sure the driver sleeps until you leave. For us, the drive was normally about 24-26 hours straight through. When we left at night, we would sleep for at least 6 or eight hours...maybe even more. be the time we woke up...we were past Washington DC. Then, when they wake up, it's almost time for breakfast!

 

[cheyita]

We've driven on many long trips with our two daughters - now ages 7 and 4. We live in northern Illinois and have driven to Orlando, to Virginia Beach, to NYC, and on many 7-hour trips to Nebraska. One thing I can offer is that if you get them used to it now, it'll with help with future trips. I don't know if your van has a TV, but some people swear by that. Ours doesn't and we do try to use night to our advantage so that they'll sleep.

Bring plenty for them to do and expect the car to get trashed. At those ages, that would mean lots of snacks, books, kiddie music, etc. And also expect to stop every few hours during awake time. Stop somewhere that they can burn off energy, so maybe they'll nap during the next leg of the trip!

Good luck, and have lots of fun!!!

 

[colleen costello]

The best money we ever spent was on a tv/vcr for our van. The kids watch movies all the way down. Our trip is 16 hours and we always do it in two days. We buy some new tapes and they veg out the whole way. We just upgraded and bought a new tv that plays dvd's. These are tinier and a lot easier to pack on long trips. The kids love the thing and on the way home we bought 2 new dvd's at a Kmart in Gerogia. They watched Pokemon and Spongebob the whoe way back! There are tons of tapes and dvd's available for little ones. We also make lots of "potty stops" and I pack lots of drinks and snacks. We stop at places with a playland when possible -- even 15 minutes helps the kids work off some energy.

NEVER let it be said that an extra trip to OKW is crazy! I'd think you crazy if you thought about NOT going!

 

[joepoe]

We drive from Gurnee near the Wisconsin border all the way down to the Carbondale/Murphysboro are to visit DW's grandmother. Three little ones in a mini-van can be trying at times. Bring their favorite snacks- all the junk they want. We also swear by the TV/vcr combo. We rigged it with bungee cords to sit up on a milk crate. We also have a cooler with yogurt and milk and soda for the driver and "flight attendant". I usually get to be flight attendant because I am tall and can reach back farther to help the little ones. Don't forget paper towels, extrra baby wipes and a plastic bag for garbage. Take your time, make frequent stops. Enjoy the ride!

 

[dbond]

We've driven from Dallas. You have practically a straight shot from Houston. It should be a nice relaxing drive for you. Just take it easy, stop at all of the state welcome centers to stretch your legs and allow the kids to run around for awhile. In FL, you can stop at the Disney welcome center in Ocala as your last restroom, let the kids out of the car for awhile break. Be sure and take a TV/VCR or laptop with a DVD for the kids to watch their favorite videos. My kids are older and we also enjoy books on tape that we can borrow from our library. Yours may not have the attention span for that yet. The Interstate from Houston is a very easy drive. I think the worst part is the long stretch through the FL panhandle. I think Pensacola is a good overnight stop for you and then you'll have the panhandle stretch when you're rested. I wouldn't drive straight through with little ones, you really need the extra time to let them get out of the car and run around. I don't think you're crazy for going often. If we had bought DVC before our kids were restricted by the confines of school, we would have loved to just drop everything and go on a whim.

 

[kgforce]

Thanks for all the good ideas and thoughts. Some that I think are especially useful are:

Expect the car to get trashed! I am sure it will!

Get a TV/VCR combo or TV/DVD combo. Absolutely! We have a TV/VCR that is invaluable! When prices go down, we'll get a TV/DVD player!

Get new videos and toys for the trip We've already started shopping!

Stop at places (restaurants) with playgrounds Great idea for burning energy!

Stop at State Welcome Centers Wow! I never thought of that. Excellent!

Stop at the Disney Welcome Center in Ocala I didn't even know this existed. Another winner!

Drive through the night when the kids are sleeping We're definitely contemplating this one. I'm thinking if we have the van all packed up, we can leave around 2am (provided we all get to be very early that night!). When the kids wake up around 6 or 7 am, we can stop somewhere for breakfast. Then we will continue on to Pensacola. It turns out my in-laws will be there that weekend for a softball tournament. We can spend the day with them, go to the beach, etc. Then spend the night somewhere in town.
The next morning, we'll leave bright and early for Orlando. That should put is there somewhere close to check-in time.

 

[mbw12]

It is never crazy to plan aonther Disney trip!!!!
We drive all the time from NJ down to Orlando. We leave at dinner time, and drive through the night (however.....my husband is used to doing this, since he is a police officer. I don't think I would advise it to someone that isnt used to being up at night and driving) The kids watch a few movies on the tv/vcr combo, than fall asleep for a peaceful nights drive. We are usually close to hitting the Florida border when they are waking up...we stop for breakfast and than on we go to Orlando.

Have a great trip and be safe!

 

[Mouse Ears]

To each his own, I guess...

Seriously, I can't bring myself to even consider driving to WDW with kids that young. We have 3 kids ranging 1 to 6 and it would be such a long time in the van (over 20 hours drive, I think, from Dallas area). We drive regularly for 5-6 hour trips, but 20 hours is a whole different game.

But, if you insist on tying, make sure you get the entertainment covered. The TV/VCR is great. Two other things my kids love on trips are the Magnadoodle (magnetic drawing pad) and sticker books. Those keep them quiet for a while when the VCR tapes are rewinding. Crayola makes markers that only mark on special paper that are also great for the car.

I remember some long road trips when I was young, but that was before kids were locked into very tight confining car seats. I'm using airline miles for our first trip 'home', but after that we might get sticker shock when we have 5 tickets to buy. So, I *may* reconsider the driving thing in a year or so.

Best of luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[kgforce]

Originally posted by Mouse Ears
Seriously, I can't bring myself to even consider driving to WDW with kids that young. We have 3 kids ranging 1 to 6 and it would be such a long time in the van (over 20 hours drive, I think, from Dallas area). We drive regularly for 5-6 hour trips, but 20 hours is a whole different game.

Yeah, we never imagined doing this, either. We intended to wait a couple of years before attempting a drive this long. Both kids have flown to Orlando before, and we'll be flying there in December. But a few weeks ago, we took a trip to Oklahoma -- and that drive was over 8 hours. The kids were really good. So we figure if we break the driving up over two days, it should be manageable. And we have some friends that drive from San Antonio to Orlando a couple of times a year with their kids -- if they can do it, so can we!!

We'll see!

 

[geffric]

We drive every year. We leave very early in the morning. I have my kids sleep in their clothes and then carry them sleeping into the van for the first leg of the trip. ( The van is all set to go the night before). We bring their pillows and blankets too. We are leaving from near the WI border in ILL. Our target is to get to Indiana before they wake up. We stop for breakfast once they wake. Then drive for 1 1/2 hours, change drivers. We stop at a fast food with playland or a rest stop. I make the kids run relay races for 20 minute. before we get back into the van. They get snacks and away we go for another 1 1/2 hours.

We have the TV/VCR combo too and the kids watch that for many hours. I purchase a new vcr tape or 2 before we go as a surprise and don't bring it out until they start getting restless.

Getting out and stretching really helps them. We have never driven through the night but usually go late into the night on the first day because once they are asleep, we can just drive.
We have stopped at the various National Parks/Historical Sites/Battlefields, places of interst all the way to Orlando.

One year we collected the store number of every McD's that we stopped at all the way to Florida and then located the stores on a map. On the return trip, the kids checked the map and made sure that we didn't stop at the same McD for the way back. Was a fun game to get them involved and work on pre -reading skills.
We also, do sign recognition games, 1st to see a sign for Mcd or Goofy etc.

Once they are out of diapers have a pee pee cup available in the car for those who have to "go now."

geffric

 

[Dizzy4Dizney]

Another good tip is to not let them watch their favorite videos for a few weeks. THen, they should really be into the videos if they hadn't seen them for a while.

 

[dznymom1]

We're done the drive from NH to Florida many times, and it's usually a great bonding time for us. One thing we do is bring tapes or cd's that they like, and all sing really loud and act silly. I make them listen to my OLDIES and for awhile they were both big Monkees fans. We do goofy things like roll down the windows and MOO everytime we see cows no matter where we are - yes we get some weird looks When the grownups are acting silly, we find that we relax and have a great time ourselves.

I always pack a bag for each of them with new (inexpensive) toys & books & snacks. Definitely bring favorite stuffed animals, blankets, pillows, whatever. I pack a cooler with water bottles, snacks and sometimes even sandwich fixings. And we do have a tv/vcr in our van which makes it much easier. Pee-cups are a good thing too!

One word of caution - make sure they eat close to their regular diet on the trip. Somehow, when my youngest was 2 and a big apple juice drinker, we realized he had had 6 juice boxes in a few hours. Needless to say we stopped driving early that day, to be near a potty for a few hours! Just be prepared to laugh off all the little goof ups, and make it fun for the kids and you'll be at WDW before you know it!

Chris in NH
DVC 1992
OKW, HH, BWV