What do you wish you had for the DRIVE down?

[CindyCharming]

We will be driving about 1200 mi and will go straight through overnight, about 16-17 hours. I only expect to stop for gas the first 8 hours (middle of night all will be sleeping) then a bathroom break and sit down breakfast in the morning. Must have dd's nintendo ds (fully charged with a variety of games), and a portable dvd player is a must!

You are brave, I could never drive straight through! Last year we got my son a car charger for his ds that worked out really well.

We used the regular pillows and I am wondering if the travel ones would be better or not?

In our van the seats were too far away from the sides for my kids to use their pillows. We ended up stacking up a bunch of blankets and jackets on the sides to prop them up but then everything would come tumbling out when we'd forget about it and open the doors. Trying to avoid that this year!

I hope to get one of those organizers box things that go between the two front seats in a van, thats my WISH.
We'll be travelling 2879.50 miles round trip.

I've been looking at those too. Have you found any one in particular?

Cracker Barrel map - they have great DVDs that you can rent along the way and a great place to stop for a meal - cheap.

I didn't know they had rental dvds. How does it work?

 

[CindyCharming]

We hated the backseat organizers. They seemed to rub the kids legs when the pockets were open, and they were always in the way. We've had better luck with plastic storage boxes with lids to put all their stuff in.

That's what I was afraid of! I think I will scratch those off my list. We did a tote for each kid last year that doubled as a footrest, but it felt so cramped. I was thinking of a tote sitting on the floor in between their seats with an organizer box on top... I don't know.

 

[CindyCharming]

I can't stand a crowded feeling vehicle so I have more issues with the kids wanting to bring too much stuff in the car than missing something that I wanted us to have.

That's the problem I have, I hate feeling crowded and unorganized. Last year I packed them each a tote full of stuff and they barely looked at anything. They mostly watched dvds, played with the ds and their leapsters and occasionally drew. I wanted to chuck those totes out of the van halfway down!

My daughter did get some Barrel of Monkeys pieces from a Wendy's kids' meal that entertained her for a couple of states. Figures!

We are definitely paring down this year.

 

[CindyCharming]

Also this year instead of backpacks I have cloth bins to put their stuff in. Much better than the backpack that is too overstuffed and then too heavy to carry. Both of my kids and I have small pillows with Mickey Mouse pillowcases on them for the car.

My other job is to be the navigator and change the DVDs for the kids and hand out the snacks and drinks.

What kind of cloth bins did you get? I end up being a stewardess too.

Each of the kids (and me!) have a travel neck pillow and a beach towel to use as a blanket.

So, the kids all do okay with the neck pillows? I wasn't sure how comfortable they would be for them.

A driver

Earplugs and Valium.

 

[mom2aiden]

Great thread!! Can't wait to hear your ideas..we're driving for the first time as well. We flew last year. We'll be driving to Key Largo first (15 hours) to visit the in-laws and then up to Orlando after that.

Does anyone find that the neck pillows for kids work?

 

[bartleby1]

The neck pillows seemed to work better for my 7 and 4 year olds who are still in high back booster seats because they could still kind of rest their heads on the edge of the booster seat. My oldest isn't in a booster anymore and she had a harder time with it. A regular pillow didn't really work for her either though because the seat in my van is too far away from the window/door to rest on it.

It was so much easier when I was a kid! No seatbelts in the backseat so one kid slept across the back seat and the other one across the back floor, LOL! Somehow, I always ended up on the floor with that big hump in my back!


ETA: If you do bring neck pillows, be sure to get the ones that are stuffed or foam. Do NOT get the ones with microbeads inside. We've had those kind spring a leak and those microbeads make quite a mess!

 

[tjbaggott]

I was thinking of getting the inflatable ones for my family. Anyone have those? Do they work good (the adult sized ones).

 

[Chelley00]

We have the inflatable ones, but no one really likes them. I like that they are easier to store, but they don't seem as soft, and if you let out some air to make them softer, they get wrinkled and you are sleeping on wrinkled vinyl under a cover.



We drive straight through usually (17 hours), but we leave VERY early in the morning. I'm not a fan of driving all night, then I'm tired and trying to keep up with kids that have slept all night

 

[PrincessMom4]

Here is my list to "entertain":

We have:

- gameboy advanced (I wanted a 2nd one so the older 2 won't fight!HUbby thinks they should share...I was thinking how long do u know these two to NOT fight??..LOL)

- a trucker's case which we use to put in activities for them like a magazine, colouring pages, etc...age approperiate DD now likes "girly" magazines and DS like word searches.

- we have a Thomas laptop which entertains the toddler and toy trains for the kindergardener.

- bought a few travel games books

- a few handheld games

- DVD player with movies approperiate for all the various ages in a neat hard plastic DVD box. It looks like a milk crate, but is smaller to fit DVDs.

- granola and cereal bars
-tetra packs of juice for the younger kids
- juice boxes for the older.
- bottled iced tea for hubby and I

 

[bartleby1]

One more thing I just thought of that we do on the way down. I print out a map of the United States for each kid to play the license plate game. When they find a license plate, they color in the state on the map. They LOVED doing this last year because instead of just making a list of the states they found, they could actually see where the states are located and how far away they are.

We also made it more interesting by using it for the kids to "earn" their spending money for souvies at disney. The kids earned $1 for each different state they found to spend on souvies. If I recall correctly, each of them ended up with around $36-37 to spend.

 

[luv2go2disney]

Every time we cross into another state my kids get a little treat. Since we travel down I-95, it's easy for my 7 year old to countdown to the next state. These are just small things from the dollar store mostly but a few larger ticket items. And they are all Disney related, of course.

I love this idea...gives them something to look forward to every state!

This last trip we got them all CHEAP MP3 players that can do video & music. They all LOVE them. It lets them listen to what they want to & I am not stuck listening to Jonas Bros or Hannah Montana the whole trip!

DVD players & Nintendo DS's are a must and we are also big fans of the crayola color wonder books, crayons can be a nightmare!!!

Have a great trip!

 

[luv2go2disney]

I didn't know they had rental dvds. How does it work?

You could also do redbox DVD's since you can return them at any Redbox.

 

[Lost in Wonderland]

You could also do redbox DVD's since you can return them at any Redbox.

I never knew that. I always made sure I took the DVD back to the same machine I rented from LOL Thanks!
These tips will come in handy on our road trip to TN then WD next week

 

[dana1003]

i see a couple of northerners here-were from jersey- my hubby has been wanting to do this drive for 5 years and ive vetoed it every time.we have 5 year old twins and cannot see being in the car that long with them!! also dont u think the time u waste driving would be better spent in the parks..if u fly u get all that extra time..someone prove me wrong here..if u had the $ to fly would u still drive?? hubbys all about saving money but id rather not waste the time! whats ur opinions..

 

[Lost in Wonderland]

i see a couple of northerners here-were from jersey- my hubby has been wanting to do this drive for 5 years and ive vetoed it every time.we have 5 year old twins and cannot see being in the car that long with them!! also dont u think the time u waste driving would be better spent in the parks..if u fly u get all that extra time..someone prove me wrong here..if u had the $ to fly would u still drive?? hubbys all about saving money but id rather not waste the time! whats ur opinions..

I would definitely rather fly but my DH like yours rather save money and not have to rent a car when we get there.

 

[CindyCharming]

i see a couple of northerners here-were from jersey- my hubby has been wanting to do this drive for 5 years and ive vetoed it every time.we have 5 year old twins and cannot see being in the car that long with them!! also dont u think the time u waste driving would be better spent in the parks..if u fly u get all that extra time..someone prove me wrong here..if u had the $ to fly would u still drive?? hubbys all about saving money but id rather not waste the time! whats ur opinions..

Call me weird, but I like the drive. I feel like it extends my vacation in a strange way. This past trip we drove, but the prior 4 trips we flew. Growing up, my family drove most trips.

As of late, flying stresses me out. Not the actual flying but the getting there extra early, getting through security, dragging kids through the airport, waiting for the flight, having delays. Then there's the worrying about how much luggage you have, how much it weighs and what you pack on your carry-on. I'm high-strung so that's not a good combo.

We're not super early flight people so it feels like we waste a day flying anyways. For right now, I'd rather use the money we save flying and having our own car to stay at Disney longer.

Who knows, maybe in a few trips I'll be ready to go back to flying though!

 

[mama2ethan04]

i see a couple of northerners here-were from jersey- my hubby has been wanting to do this drive for 5 years and ive vetoed it every time.we have 5 year old twins and cannot see being in the car that long with them!! also dont u think the time u waste driving would be better spent in the parks..if u fly u get all that extra time..someone prove me wrong here..if u had the $ to fly would u still drive?? hubbys all about saving money but id rather not waste the time! whats ur opinions..

Our drive is only 8 hours, so driving makes the most sense for us and costs less. Last year we were leaving Charlotte on the day gas prices spiked into the $4-5 range and we still only spent $160 on gas.

Car tips for us:
-Take an extra day just for the drive and stop somewhere new- we went through St. Augustine and saw the Fort & the Lighthouse- everyone got to stretch their legs and we got some great pics!
-Get a multi-DVD case for all the movies. The plastic cases take up so much room, and the kids can flip through the case and pick.
-Keep a box of wipes at your feet- you never know when you'll need them.
-Keep a "snack bucket". I packed the bucket full of enough snacks to last the drive down and the entire week so we had snacks for the park, too. When we got to Pop, all we had to do was PU the bucket and carry it to the room
-PU new coloring books at the dollar store & save them for the car
-Keep crayons in 2 ziplocks- one for each kid
-We have trays for each kid that fit over their carseats and have an opening on each end to store crayons, toys etc.
-Put as much stuff in the back or in a roof top carrier as possible to avoid the clutter
-Head home after a long day at the park and try to drive overnight. We left Pop at 7:30pm, our kids were asleep by 8 and slept until we got to Charlotte at 3:30 am- then went right to their beds until 9am!!

I got a great packing tip last year- if you're driving pack a storage box and keep your chargers, batteries, ziplocks, wipes, ponchos, hairdryer, etc in it. Anything you're worried about getting crushed in the car. The box will protect it. We also took a mid-sized cooler packed with drinks for the week- just kept icing it down at the hotel.

I'm SOOOO excited to be going again!!

 

[Lost in Wonderland]

Call me weird, but I like the drive. I feel like it extends my vacation in a strange way. This past trip we drove, but the prior 4 trips we flew. Growing up, my family drove most trips.

As of late, flying stresses me out. Not the actual flying but the getting there extra early, getting through security, dragging kids through the airport, waiting for the flight, having delays. Then there's the worrying about how much luggage you have, how much it weighs and what you pack on your carry-on. I'm high-strung so that's not a good combo.

We're not super early flight people so it feels like we waste a day flying anyways. For right now, I'd rather use the money we save flying and having our own car to stay at Disney longer.

Who knows, maybe in a few trips I'll be ready to go back to flying though!

Ok now you have me thinking driving is alot less hassle! LOL I haven't been on a place since I was 5 LOL DH is military so he has always had to fly back and forth places usually at their expense though LOL

 

[Becky2005]

I can't think of much but I did see crayons mentioned -- I would avoid crayons. They melt - we had a rogue orange one found melted later from a vacation before our FL one, crayons are now banned from the car for any long road trip. We also had the brilliant idea markers would be a good idea -- NOT (this was before Color Wonder was on the market). Colored pencils work better for our group.

Travel pillows definitely a good idea.

One thing I did with the older kids is I made the maps of the route we were taking so they could follow it. I also had folders for each state we were in so when we passed state lines, there was a find a word with things like the state capitol, state bird, etc... & just information on it.

That isn't so good for the little ones but my older 2 liked that.

Paper towels are always a good thing to have in the car. I'm trying to think what else we had but we always tend to have to do one last stop at a Wal-Mart for *something* -- you would think by now I would just build it into the plan. I think last time it was sunshades that cling to the windows for the little ones -- we went in 2005 & they are still clinging to the sliding doors.

All depends on the ages. We usually pack a cooler for lunch, so that's in the back. Last time I had little things I was going to hand out to the kids every so often but I overbought. A lot of the times they were sleeping & you don't wake up sleeping children on a long car drive unless absolutely necessary.

 

[bartleby1]

i see a couple of northerners here-were from jersey- my hubby has been wanting to do this drive for 5 years and ive vetoed it every time.we have 5 year old twins and cannot see being in the car that long with them!! also dont u think the time u waste driving would be better spent in the parks..if u fly u get all that extra time..someone prove me wrong here..if u had the $ to fly would u still drive?? hubbys all about saving money but id rather not waste the time! whats ur opinions..

Actually, I prefer to drive. We flew one year and I was a wreck trying to figure out what I could and couldn't bring on the plane, worried about missing the flight, worried about weight limits on suitcases, worried about my little one pooping on the flight (which she did!), getting to the airport early enough, etc. Our flight home was delayed due to weather and we sat on the plane waiting to take off for over 2 hours. My little one was fine when we boarded, fell asleep on the plane, woke up and vomited all over me as we were descending and since we were already descending and the fasten seatbelt light was on, I couldn't get up to try and clean us up. Turns out she had spiked a fever out of nowhere but I couldn't get to the tylenol because it was in our checked baggage.

NEVER again! LOL! I'll drive any day! Plus, it is so much cheaper and we don't have to rent a car when we get down there. We take two days (one night) to get down there, stay 12 nights, and take two days (one night) to get home. Works out perfect.