Who drives with kids??

[chip91]

DH says for next years trip if airline tix don't go down even with price of gas when I want to book (Nov), we will probably drive the trip.. Also, this would save on rental car which DH is bent on not using Disney transportation, he can't stand someone else behind the wheel..

How do you survive when you drive that far with your kids? When they were 4, 2 & 2 mo's we drove 8 hours, with about 1 hour break total for potty stops, we had a portable VCR & that worked wonders, but we are talking 2.5x the amount, although they are older.. What do you all take along in the car; DVD players, CD players, lots of coloring books??

Also how many hours away are you? Do you stop 1/2 way or so & stay in a hotel? From what I figure (Wisconsin) we are apx. 20 hours from WDW, so figuring we could try & do 12 hours 1st day, get a hotel, then the rest of the way 2nd day.. DH suggested leaving around 5 a.m., drive till about 5-6 p.m. (figuring potty breaks/gas breaks) would pack a lunch, fruit, snacks first day so food stops would be minimal on day 1, could we survive 12-13 hours with probably only 45-60 minutes of stopping for potty breaks/stretching??

TIA if anyone has done this & survived!

Have a Disney Day!
Chip

 

[4theloveofdisney]

We have a 3, 6 and 8-year-old. We always drive. Although the trip to Disney for us usually only runs about 7 hours, it has been longer and even took us 12 hours to get home in 2004 during Spring Break. We have also driven up to CT. from Atlanta twice. We stop half way during the trip and spend the night. We bring our portable DVD player, have games, puzzles, books, and an assortment of small toys. Our kids have a Barbie laptop, Gameboy, hand held games like Mr. Potato Head and Tetris. I also suprised them with some new stuff such as color changing drawing paper, maze books, legos and such. It's not as bad as you might think. I dreaded our last CT. trip but it was a piece of cake actually. Good luck.

 

[mamalle]

for our disney trips its only 2.5 hours but when we go up to the mountains its usually 13-14 hours depending on our stops. dh likes to leave very early like 3am and drive all day. the kids sleep till around 7am. ( this mama slept till 11am last trip). we watch movies, play the leapster, Vsmile, play games like Disney DVD bingo and draw. we stop for quick potty trips and will stop for lunch at some point. we got into our place at 4pm on the dot last time and it was perfect.

 

[mickeymousemom]

We drive down from Indiana everytime. I have a 2 1/2 yo, 12yo, and 16yo. We've been 5 times since my youngest was born. Having a DVD player has been a lifesaver for us since the 2yo was old enough to watch it. It keeps her entertained for hours, and we also get out alot to give her(and the rest of us) a nice break. Each stop is about 20 minutes or less. We are about 18 hours from WDW and we stop in GA, about 5 miles from the FL state line, for the night. By this time, the 2yo has had enough and is on the edge of meltdown. For us, the DVD's have been the most important thing to have, besides talking to her older sisters and getting out to get something from the vending machines(this also keeps her extremely happy)...she just loves them for some reason. As far as my two older ones go, they bring books and CD players.

ETA: I'm not sure your 45-60 minute total stop plan would work, but you never know. I'm not sure I could do that, let alone my kids. I'm not so worried about the older ones, but I guess I just feel its unfair to keep my 2yo in her carseat, strapped in, for such a long amount of time with no time to run around and stretch. Its jsut helathier for everyone. If all our kids are doing fine, then we don't stop(unless for gas, of course) but if they really need to get out, or go to the bathroom and its been a little while, then we make sure and stop. With all the trips we've made over the years, we've just learned not to drive like bats out of you know where and end up overly exhausted and grumpy when we get there. It just isn't worth it.

 

[LOLA2]

We live in Milwaukee WI and are going on October. We will be leaving on a Thursday right after kids get out of school (I will have car packed) 3:30 anf drive to 10:30. I like this because kids can fall asleep (ds5, dd10, ddf 10)
after 8:30 and then we have some peace and also roads are dead we you drive at night. We will only stop for gas that first night no food, will get subs to go before we leave and keep in cooler. That gives us 7 hours the first night, I think we stop in Nashville area.

We usually get a Country Inn and suites because of the seperate bedoom area have the 2 girls sleep on sofa sleeper and put son on aerobed that we bring along. We get up around 7:00 leave by 8:00 just husband and I quick shower and then downstairs to quick free breakfast they usually have.
Drive 8:00-8:00 which is 12 hours but minus 1 hour for lunch break. So that is 11 hours then. Puts us by Valdosta Georgia near Florida. Get another Country Inn. Get up at 7:00 and drive rest of way 2.5 -3 hours. We will get in around 10:30 and have entire day to enjoyon Saturday.

We have 2 t.v.s that hang on seats that plays dvds, they come with headsets. We also bring a bag for each of them, books, coloring, gameboys,
homework, snacks ect. t.v. usually occupies them most of time. Yes there is fighting and it is long and if I had my choice I would fly. But DH is not scared of flying as he puts it, he is scared of crashing. He better get out of this mindset soon because next June we will be going to Disneyland and there is no way I am driving.

 

[Princess Glenda]

We have a 12 hour drive. Our biggest tip is to leave at night and drive while the kids are asleep. I started a thread about this a while ago. I'll see if I can find it to post here. There were some great ideas.

 

[LOLA2]

Oh yes I also forgot I usually pack some toys they have never seen before and bring them out during any tense times. I love at the Learning shop they have those sticker books or the little magnetic books with the cut outs.

We drove first time when son was 2.5 and he had an ear infection. That was pretty bad because he cried alot and there was no escape, but he did sleep most of the time. a disney music cd worked grat at that age as well as the dvd player. I thought he was fine being strapped in for that long of a time, I just made sure we stopped at a Mcdonalds for luch so he could run around for an hour.

 

[daisyduck123]

We have a 13 hour drive...we stop after about 9 hours & spend the night (usually in Georgia somewhere)...

Our kids are 8 & 11 now...we've been doing it for a few years...no problems.

We have a Chrysler Town & Country.
DD11 sits in the middle row of seats, DS8 sits in the back row. This helps!!

We don't bring snacks...no eating/drinking allowed in the car.
We just stop for regular meals.

Each kid has their own DVD player & Nintendo DS.

They each do great during the drive!!

 

[babiesX2]

We are 15 hours away. In the past, when oldest DD was younger we would leave in the evening around 5pm and drive all night getting there around noon the next day. She would sleep all night and wake up for potty breaks while we gassed up.

 

[Disneydreaming6]

I have made this drive many many times and I love it. It takes us apx 23 hours to do the drive. We drive straight thru. I have driven with just my ds4 and with all the kids ds4, ds11, dd12,dd16, dss16 and dsd18. The best one during all our drives has been the 4yo. They watch dvds. read, do homework, agrivate each other. (Mom shes touching meeeeee). When we stop for gas, it's potty break. get out stretch your legs then it's right back in the car. I will sleep for a few hours then df sleeps. We do this the whole way there. (we are on a mission, we must complete our mission) Then on the way home, we take our time. We pick something along the way and make a day trip out of it. That way it doesn't seem our vacation is over til we pull in the driveway. Driving is not really that bad. It's long, it can be boring if you don't bring something to even keep you occupied. I read, crotchet etc. I have my own little bag just for traveling. I was going to drive this year again when we go but we are getting married on 9/29 and leave the next day.

 

[katyjeka]

We've done the trip many times leaving from Pa. I guess I'm "crazy " but I've always enjoyed the trips. Yes, I'm sticky, covered in something, and my hair, well lets say it has seen better days, but I love all the hours we get to spend together. We sing, play games, and grow more excited the closer we get to Florida and WDW. We went on a cruise, leaving from NewYork, last vacation, and I really, really, really, missed the long drive. We are planning on flying this year, but I'm still hoping our plans will change, and we can once again drive down. As I said, I must be a little "crazy"! Janice

 

[Princess Glenda]

Couldn't get the search feature to work right now. Soooo....Here are some of the things we do...

We drive the full 12 hours on our way to WDW, but split the trip and stay in a hotel halfway on the way home.

We have a VCR and a DVD player in the car. It comes in handy. I always try to have 1 or 2 new DVDS for the kids to watch.

I pack some new activities/toys that they haven't seen before.

They both love word searches so we copy off some Disney ones.

DD loves stickers so we take plenty of Disney ones and she LOVES that.

DS has a Gameboy and DD has a Leapster. We bring them along. I bought each of them a new game cartridge for our May trip.

We have several Disney Music CDs--they love listening to the music from their favorite rides as we travel along.

We play word games. I'm thinking of something at Disney that starts with the letter T...etc.

We bring along lots of snacks--goldfish crackers, string cheese, etc.

Card Games--We have several Disney versions of Go Fish, Old Maid, etc. DS and DD sit on the same bench in the van so they can use the middle seat between them to play the game.

We stop as needed and have driven 3 times so far. All of our trips down have been extremely pleasant.

 

[tink&cinderella]

We have done both drive and fly.

The drive from Toronto is about 22 hours if we go down the I77 or 24 hours via the I75.

We enjoy driving

We have left at 3:00 a.m. and made it all the way to Charlotte the first time. My youngest dd was 2 1/2 years old and was just toilet training - so we had to stop a lot. She refused to wear pull ups because she was now a big girl

We drove 16 hours the first day - that was great and we did have several stops. However, my dd almost 7 then got car sick about 1 1/2 -2 hours into the drive - my guess is that her stomach was empty as we woke her up out of a sleep and this was the cuprit. On the way back and since then (we've driven 3 more times) she has not had a problem at all - thanks to Gravol

We usually stop for one overnight and get to Disney the next day in the p.m.

On the way home we stop for two nights as we stop in Savannah at Walmart and then again in Pennsylvania at their outlet mall on the way home.

The gas cost us about 400 both ways -we also drove to the parks and went off site a few times.

The car we had was a new Freestyle and was better on gas then our van had been.

The children prefer to drive- they play guessing games, colour, create sticker books, read and watch movies, have their snacks. my older dd does her homework and works on a journal. We try to make the drive a fun learning experience.

They love looking for Palm trees and watch for signs that it is getting warmer outside,

I love going through the mountains and the beautiful scenery. We look for Cracker Barrel signs along the way and count how many there are. I also usually read at least one novel on both up and down - which I never get to do unless I am on vacation. My dh does all the driving.

Have fun and enjoy.

Tink&Cinderella

 

[Princess Glenda]

Just found the thread I was thinking about. I forgot that DH actually posted it under his DISBoard name...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=718300

 

[INDISMOM]

We are driving from NE Indiana -- about 19 hour drive. We plan on leaving around 2 or 3 am. DH is coming home from work the day before we leave and going right to bed. I am going to keep DD's (5 & 8) out of the house and busy so the house is quiet -- going to the YMCA to swim and then possibly a late movie. The car will be packed and the kids will "camp out" with me in the family room in our traveling clothes. DH will get me up and will put the (hopefully) still sleeping girls in the car.

We are going to drive until they wake up and then stop for breakfast. The first day we plan on driving to Valdosta, so we will only have about a 3 hour drive the 2nd day --- we will check in and hit the park!

I plan on getting surprises for the kids, taking DVD players, personal CD players, coloring books, etc. I also found a book called "Along I-75" that lists interesting things along the highway and which exits have fast food restaurants with playlands--plan on stopping here so kids can stretch and run! I think they might have this type of book for other major interstates too.

I am not sure how this trip will go -- 8 yo is a GREAT traveler. 5 yo - not so much we can barely drive across town without her asking, "Are we there yet?"

We are going in June, so when we get back I will post how everything went and any tips I picked up along the way.

 

[WAHMto5]

We drive every time from Illinois! We always leave around midnight so we can get in a good 7 hours before breakfast. We always buy new movies for the trip and lots of book, snack, ect..
HTH

 

[Bunchkin]

We drive for most of our vacations and for WDW too. We live outside Chicago.

We have a conversion van with a tv and vcr, and hook ups for Game Boy and a DVD player. There's lots of room to strech out which helps!! No one is stuck in the same seat if they want a new view.

We take along new movies. Books, kid magazines, small games that I save and put away just for road trips. I get these wooden skill games they sell at Toys R' Us, near the puzzles, they are awesome.
We bring personal CD players, hand held electronic games (our new one is that Q 20 game), Leapster, Video Now, coloring books, stickers, doodle pads, crayons, washable markers, small toys. Dry erase boards and markers and eraser.
Favorite blankey, small travel pillows.
Lots of snacks and drinks.
Roll of paper towels for messes. Plastic grocery bags for garbage and emergency barf bags.
Hand wipes and Clorox wipes (for messes).
Clip on reading light for night time driving so DD can read.
We play I Spy, have sing alongs, singing contests like who can sing like an opera singer, a cowboy, a baby, a wrestler to a modern song. We play Who Am I-where you pick a Disney character and give everyone 3 clues as to who you are.

Next drive down we will probably bring our Harry Potter Scene-It game & Disney Scene-It game. Those are so much fun!!

We like to stop for breaks and streching. And I would recommend stopping for the night and not driving straight through.

 

[lovethattink]

We just got back from a unexpected trip up north. The trip was a little over 1000 miles each direction. We were traveling with a 2 year old, a 12 year old, a 14 year old and a 15 year old. The older kids were actually worse travelers than the 2 year old. They were packed into the back seat of the van like sardines. The 2 year old had his car seat. I brought some of his favorite toys in a small container. I brought "non-messy" finger foods for him to snack on. We had a DVD player, and his favorite movies. We stopped at rest stops along 95 for him to run, play ring-around-the-rosie, and tag. I brought a small tablet and pencil for him to draw. I brought a few of his favorite books. I sat beside him and entertained him, picked up toys he dropped, read stories, showed him animals and things along the way.

 

[Bibbidi]

I love this thread--I have always felt like I was on the only person out there who wanted to drive to Disney. We have done it twice, once from NH where we used to live and once from Ohio. From NH, we stopped twice on the way down--visited a sister in NJ and another the next day in NC, then on to Disney on day 3. That was when my DDs were 3 and 10 months. The DVD in the car was and is a lifesaver. Our second drive down was last September from Ohio. It was only 14 hours and we drove from 4 to about 9 pm on a Friday night, stopping over in Knoxville, then the rest of the way the next day.

Our kids are good travelers so that is never a problem. We try to stop every 3 hours for a good leg stretch and a snack break. I bring Stretch-Island fruit leather, along with sunflower seeds, fresh fruit, like bananas and apples, and then of course some not so healthy stuff like mini-muffins or brownies.

We are not getting back to Disney until next year, but we are driving out to CO next month. I got them each a set of the Aquadoodle Disney princess mini-mats and then got them each a clipboard to lean on they can do that while driving--should also work for coloring individual pages of a coloring book. I also got a couple books on cd and we have a new Veggie Tales CD, along with a new DVD. That should keep them occupied. Usually they will each take a nap along the way as well.

Have a great time. If the weather is good, and the traffic isn't bad, driving is lots of fun IMO.

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

I have a question - We are also driving (17 hrs) for the first time this year with our girls. I have heard a lot of people suggesting books on cd which I know my girls 10 and 6 would love. Anyone have any suggestions for some good ones? I'd like to reserve some at the library. (By the way, we are not into Harry Potter.) TIA!!