it is up for consideration to make our next trip a road trip from connecticut. When we go it will be me, my wife, my 4 year old son and my 2 year old daughter. can i get some pros and cons on why we should just fly, or is driving not that bad?
we are willing to stop halfway and spend the night to spread out the trip. straight through to orlando is about 19 hours, so with kids i would almost expect to double that.
what say you fine disney freaks like myself?
My wife and I are Baptist Missionaries, and part of what we do is travel across the country with our three kids (all under 4) to present our work to churches. We travel (on average) about 3,000 miles per month. Here is my input:
1) If you are a late night person, leave two hours before your usual dinner time. This allows for you to get on the road while the kids are awake and usually the first couple of hours are not that bad, as people aren't that bored and restless yet. Also, your patience is high. For us, this is around 3pm. We drive until 5ish and eat dinner in the restaurant. the priority for the kids is not them eating, it is them wiggling and playing in the play place get back in the car within 45 minutes though and get back to it. Fill up your tank since you are already stopped and get ready for a long driving session. If all goes well, you can just drive until you need gas because the kids can entertain themselves until they fall asleep. For us that is about four hours more, which totals six hours of driving and it is only about 10pm. Fill up and drive until you cant take it or until you reach a good stopping point. For us, that is usually 1am to 2am. Ideally, that means 8-10 hours done with the kids not getting too worn out or bored. You have also maximized drive time during the least busy times of the day.
The next day is harder, because everyone is already road-weary to some degree, but the best method is to leave after your normal breakfast time, NOT at stupid-early o'clock. Remember, the vacation starts after you get there, but is predicated on how you spend the travel day. (I try to remember how much i hated family vacations as a kid because dad was always angry, tired, and in a hurry trying to push kids more than they were able.) If we have to travel during the day, we count on being flexible, yet focused on the goal. We allow 1 hour of stopping for every 3 hours of driving. At first it seems agonizing, stupid even, however after 180,000 miles with young kids, trust me, it is worth the extra hour or two per trip for everyone to still like each other when you arrive!
2) Pack a bag for the travel hotel night(s). Nothing is worse than being at a hotel and having to unload your entire car just to stay one night (well, part of a night, because we got in somewhere between 1 and 2am). Nothing, or course, except having to reload the car 8 hours later. have a hotel bag ready with any child care needs nearby to expedite the hotel process.
3) Don't rely too heavily on entertaining the kids. You are setting yourself up for a couple of things when you do this. The first is that they will gladly accept your attention if you give it, but when you want to talk to an adult for a bit, good luck. The second, is that eventually they will grow bored with you. Face it, wouldn't you? Imagine being an adult, sitting in a seat, buckled in, with nobody to talk to but your dad. Now, up your energy by a factor of precisely "four-year-old-going-to-disney" and strap yourself into a five-point harness with side impact head-guards. They are easily going to get annoyed with you and their straight-jacket-esque seating arrangement.
So what do you do? Easy, ignore them for long portions of time. Don't confuse the intent, I am not saying do not take care of needs or listen when they speak to you. I am saying they are kids, and you are adults, you're not their playpals. Bring some toys, a few snacks, and if you feel the need, portable dvd. Use these items sparingly, and if at all possible, don't use the DVD system until you have to. it is your "get-out-of-jail-free" card, your "Ace-in-the-whole, your "nuclear bomb", your coups-de-gras to the child that simply won't nap. Use it sparingly, because once you break it out, it loses power. Kids, especially the young ones, aren't going to watch tv from CT to FL. by the time you hit the NY line, expect them to be ready for a new trick. If you hold out though, when you finally send in reinforcements(i.e. disney movie) they will have lowered defenses and they won't be able to resist simply vegetating to the melodic appeal of Snow White.
4) Just stop. No, not one more hour. When wifey says stop, Stop. When kids say "my stomach hurts," Stop. When you have to use the bathroom, Stop. You don't have to stop long, but would you want to risk upsetting the delicate travel ecosystem you are constructing? No, you don't.
Here is why:
Don't stop for wife= grumpy wife. Grumpy wife= MISERABLE CAR.
Don't stop for kid= Puke. Puke=smells awful + enclosed space+ dirty/wet kid+ time to cleanup+ additional stop anyway= MISERABLE CAR.
Don't stop for you= feel like you are getting cheated. Cheated= grumpy Grumpy=ungrateful Ungrateful=why did we bother to spend the money, vacation hours, and effort to do this? = MISERABLE TRIP
So, do yourself a favor. Just Stop.
5) Ask your wife if you need to hit the rest area EVERY TIME YOU SEE ONE COMING UP. Rest areas are an oasis in the desert. Bathrooms. Water. Cheapish-crappy-snacks. Coffee. They are fast in and out and you can count on not getting mugged in the scary gas station stop that would inevitably had to have been made two exits later. Your wife will most likely not bother to think if she needs to pee until after you passed it already. So ask when you see the blue "Rest area 2 Miles" sign. You will be glad you did. Also, think about fast food through the drive through on a stop and eat at the rest area. you can still get a break and rest but the kids can run and play for a few. Win-Win.
6)*Night travel warning*- After 10pm Fill your gas tank at a 1/4 tank unless you know the area very well. You don't want to run out of gas because South Carolina doesn't have an open gas station within the next 50 miles. Trust me, this happens. I have never run out, but one time I filled my tank a full gallon beyond what the manufacturer says my tank will hold because every station I found for three exits was closed. Very Scary.
7) Five Over Always. I have yet to receive a speeding ticket in my almost 200,000 miles of driving because I always go no more than five over speed limit. With that being said, NEVER GO SPEED LIMIT. "Why," you ask?
1000 miles at 70MPH =14.28 hours
1000 miles at 75MPH= 13.33 hours
One bad accident somewhere on the road? BAM! 45 minutes-an hour.
Driving 75 is my way of balancing the average speed of my trip. It makes up for all the time i wasn't going speed limit. It also helps me not feel like i am driving to slow or like I am "falling behind."
*I accept no liability for any tickets or accidents that may be incurred by your infraction upon the law, as always, drive safely.
8) Jack Bauer is your friend. Ever listened to a book on tape (er, CD)? I love them, but they are pricey and it is hard to find ones that you know you will like before you listen to it. I personally like the show "24." I have already seen it, and once you have seen it, you know who everybody is and you don't actually have to "watch" it to understand and enjoy it. Put in some headphones, pull up netflix on your phone or tablet and turn the screen upside down on your lap. You just got 24 42-minute episodes per season. Drive Happy. It probably works with other shows, but why mess with a good thing? Some places drop service here and there (I'm looking at you Kentucky and the Carolinas) but overall it helps me stay alive, alert, awake, and enthusiastic. Caution: Don't actually watch the show while driving...That's dangerous, and possibly illegal (and definitely stupid). Have your wife set it up or something, they autoplay now so it will just keep right on going, while everyone else in the car sleeps soundly as Jack Bauer personally saves your trip from disaster.
*I accept no liability for any tickets or accidents that may be incurred by your desire to watch "24," nor do I accept stupidity on your part as my fault in any way, as always, drive safely.
9) "PPPPPP." Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Make sure you figure out when you want to arrive at the hotel or play of stay. Plan what time on which day you ideally want to arrive. You have to figure out if you are settling in the hotel first or going straight to the fun stuff. How tired are you all going to be? The kids? When is nap time? When is check-in (often can be as late as 3pm or 4pm for rental homes, sometimes they will let you in early, but you need to get it figured out)? Will you need to eat? Plan ahead on the details of day one so that you can at least have a rough idea of what's going on. You may not get it perfect, but it helps to know what's going on.
10) Play nice. A family of five in a car for hundreds or thousands of miles can get old quick. Pretend to be patient if you aren't. You will defragment better later if you do that during the trip. I speak not of self-righteousness on this, but from experience with doing it wrong. If you lose your patience and get angry, upset, or annoyed, it takes much longer to get into the vacation mood, even after you arrive.
11) Make Day 1 of Disney easy. When you travel you get tired. So do the kids. What works for us is making the first day of fun a light day. We arrive late, we pace ourselves, we don't bother trying to do it all in one day, and most importantly, we skip the night shows on day one. The night shows are great, and no trip is complete without them, however they add SO MUCH time and effort to the family of small children. Not only do you have to stay later, but then after the show, you have to wait for the boat/monorail/bus in huge lines. Then after that, you have to wait in otherworldly lines for the tram (although we ALWAYS walk to our car on the way out unless we got parked WAY in the back as the walk isn't so bad from most anywhere). Then after that you have to navigate through tens of thousands of other visitors leaving at the same exact time as you. It's long, it's tiring, and it's simply too much to enjoy after 1100 from CT with two small ones, especially when you consider you are probably coming back tomorrow. Then you also have to deal with the fact that they are going to be even more over-tired the next day, and you are setting them up for bad-behavior. Make day one easy, enjoy the great night shows another night and you will find that it helps your whole week.
Just my thoughts, adapted from my great personal experience with travel and toddlers. Sorry it is so long, but I wanted to help as much as I can. We are annual pass holders and just spent 7 days at WDW last month and had a fantastic, seamless, relaxing, magical vacation with our happy, energetic, and well-behaved kids.
P.S.- Always have a roll of dollar coins in the car for cheaper southern tolls and Rest Area snacks. Quarters don't cut it anymore.
