Family first road trip to Disney

[Jbiker]

Hi guys, I will be going with my family on our first road trip to disney August 15 to the 22, we currently live in dallas, can somebody give me some ideas of where should we stop before arriving to Orlando?, I know is like 17hrs drive so we are planning on leaving the 13 so we have 2 days to get there. I really want to make this really special for my girls since is going to be our first road trip and visit to disney (is also a surprise). Thanks in advance

 

[12_Ears_Dad]

New Orleans would be a good stop. There is plenty to do and see there and it's on the way..

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

August 15 to the 22

See you there

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

I can't speak much on where to stop as we are from Connectiut, but when I was a kid we drove many times from CT to Florida and had a blast. We loved listening to Disney music, talking about what we would do on our trip, and seeing the sights and different license plate. When/how will you reveal the secret?

 

[DizneyPryncess]

I drive from PA, so I'm not going to be much help on the location. Just wanted to throw out my favorite tips! We like to wrap up some little gifts for DD for her to unwrap each hour or two. Little things like a coloring book, or something to entertain her for a little while. She looks forward to it, and it makes the trip go faster. We also have different Disney music for each hour, and that seems to make the time fly too. I've come to really look forward to the long drive!

 

[Cosmic Commando]

I will be the token guy to say that you should at least consider driving straight through. For our last WDW trip in 2011, we drove straight through from Buffalo to WDW (about 1,200 miles) and loved it. We left around 6 PM; this gives the kids a couple of awake hours in the car in the evening, then a huge chunk of the trip where they are sleeping, and then we were at Pop Century by around 2:30 the next afternoon. Wife and I traded off sleeping in the passenger seat while the other one drove. The only thing we're going to do differently on our next trip this fall is to stop on the way back. When you're going to WDW, you're super excited and it's easy to stare down the 17 hour drive in front of you; when you have end-of-trip blues... not so much. If you do drive straight through on the way down, maybe you could spend a couple of days in one place on the return, or break up the trip back over three days to use that time that you would save. Or more WDW time.

 

[bigorangeandy]

I would try to find someplace that is more than halfway. I would to try to get to a point where the second day's drive would be about 6 hours or so, making the second day more exciting. This will also give you a chance to get the lay of the resort, or make it to the park for the evening.

 

[Stpdfw]

That is a brutal drive. I've never done it personally but my dear friend did two years ago. He's extremely used to driving long distances. He had a difficult time. I hope you can break up the trip both ways. Even somewhere with a picnic area and playground nearby would be a huge help I think.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We're in Houston and have made the drive a few times. We usually aim for some point between Mobile, AL and Pensacola, FL if we want to relax a bit after day 1 of driving and grab a sit down dinner. But if we're making really good time...we'll push for Tallahassee. You're obviously a few hours north of us, but I think the Mobile/Pensacola stop zone is a decent spot to aim for. I see someone suggested New Orleans, but if you drive 10 to make the best time, you won't take the jog down to NOLA and will go straight when you get to Baton Rouge (I think that's 12 that you pick up at that point to avoid NOLA). The farthest west I'd stop for the night...and only if you're really beat...is the Biloxi area.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Road trips to Disney can be magical all by themselves!

I can't offer specific advice about your route, but I have a tangential suggestion about the road trip itself: in planning entertainment for the girls along the way, don't overlook the "old-fashioned" kinds of in-car entertainment. A lap desk and a fun binder for each girl with copies of coloring pages, word search games, license plate game sheets, mazes, stickers, Mad Libs, "Question book"-style interview questions for family discussion, a map of your driving route, etc. can provide many hours of fun. Also, since they haven't been to Disney before, you can add some Disney park maps, and copies of Birnbaum's for Kids (or Guide to the Magic for Kids, which is especially great for younger children - http://www.guidetothemagic.com/shopping.htm) to give them a better idea of what they're "in for" and help build their excitement. To keep things interesting, you could also distribute care packages with small Disney-related gifts (e.g., new sunglasses or hats, Disney music CDs for the car such as the "Frozen" soundtrack or the Walt Disney World official album, autograph books and pens, card games, favorite snacks), to be opened at various milestones along your route.

I think your decision to split the trip up into 2 days is wise, and I respectfully disagree with anyone who suggests trying to drive straight through. I don't mean to be a downer, and I know many, many people do it successfully (my Dad included, who used to do that when we made the 20-hour trip to WDW from upstate NY when I was growing up), but I personally know two different families who had catastrophic motor vehicle accidents during long car trips -- in both cases, husbands and wives were switching off driving/sleeping overnight, and the driver simply nodded off and went off the road. In one case, their spouse was killed, and in the other, was paralyzed from the neck down. Even if you "lose" a night's worth of driving time, it's worth it to be well-rested and to have two pairs of eyes on the road at all times.