12 hour trip to WDW

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DisneyDreams09

Member
I'm getting excited about our upcoming trip. I was really hoping to fly this time, but just can't justify the extra expense. Anyhoo, it will take us about 12 hours to get to WDW, but I don't want it to seem like a 12 hour trip. What are some things I can plan for my kids that will make the drive seem like it flew by. We are leaving very early in the a.m. so I'm hoping they will sleep a couple of hours. Of course the DVD player, but that gets old after awhile. I thought I'd buy a travel bingo game and give out little treats when they win. And we will bring the Nintendo DS. What kinds of things do you plan to entertain the kids while on a long trip? Thanks!!!
 
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Chape19714

Chape19714

Well-Known Member
50 States....see if you can spot a license plate from all 50 states. (well, Hawaii might be tricky)

Or blast out the annoying 99 bottles of beer on the wall.....
 
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Jessie&Buzz

Jessie&Buzz

Active Member
We do the ABC game. You have to find the abc's in order off of signs, etc. The first one to Z (which is sometimes hard to find) wins. I got a travel version of Disney Scene It at Kohl's. We can't wait to try it out. My husband likes to ask trivia ?'s too. We cover all kinds of topics from Disney to school related things. The kids love it. I get tired of it quick but it keeps them entertained. My kids each have their own mp3 players. They also bring books, coloring books, and crayons. My kids like to look at maps and follow the route. If you belong to AAA you can get a trip tik. Of course they fight over it so I may order 2 this year.

I suggest taking lots of breaks just to stretch their legs. We like to look at the maps at the rest stops to see where we are.

Have fun! The car ride won't be that bad. We travel over 18 hours to get there and have survived every time. Even when they were infants.
 
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tigsmom

tigsmom

Well-Known Member
DisneyDreams09 said:
I'm getting excited about our upcoming trip. I was really hoping to fly this time, but just can't justify the extra expense. Anyhoo, it will take us about 12 hours to get to WDW, but I don't want it to seem like a 12 hour trip. What are some things I can plan for my kids that will make the drive seem like it flew by. We are leaving very early in the a.m. so I'm hoping they will sleep a couple of hours. Of course the DVD player, but that gets old after awhile. I thought I'd buy a travel bingo game and give out little treats when they win. And we will bring the Nintendo DS. What kinds of things do you plan to entertain the kids while on a long trip? Thanks!!!
Click to expand...

Don't worry, it won't... it will seem much longer. :lookaroun

You don't say how old your kids are, but we have been driving to WDW for years now. We have graduated from coloring books to ipods & dvd players to laptops (the girls each bring their own) so they have games, movies and the like. We have listened to every Harry Potter book on CD so maybe a book or two on CD might be interesting for the entire family?

We always played the old see how many different license plates you can find and we still do even though they are 20 & 14 :lol: A ride in the car always put them both to sleep and they still sleep most of the way (we live in NY so it's a very long trip). Don't forget to stop every few hours for a quick stretch of the legs and keep some snacks handy as well.
 
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smk

smk

Well-Known Member
If your kids are old enough map reading is a good thing. They may like the fact that they are helping navigate, even if you know excatly where you are. We have also had our older kids figure miles and mpg, good for their math skills. You can also have them write down exit numbers for interesting places to stop on the way home or good places to eat on your way home.
 
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bigorangeandy

bigorangeandy

Well-Known Member
We travel about 8 hours and between movies and sleeping that seems to take a lot of the time. When we hit the Florida welcome center its a great time to pick up all the Disney stuff they have, that will usually get us another two hours. I like to take a Frisbee and toss around at rest areas, that helps get every ones blood moving. I try to get a new movie that the kids have not seen, that also helps. I always mean to go by the library and pick up some books on CD, but always run out of time before we leave.
 
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WDW_Emily

WDW_Emily

Well-Known Member
timeman said:
If you are driving down I95 you will want to stop by South of the Border. You will not be able to miss it.
Click to expand...
YES!!! thats a must. we travel an 18 hour trip down( split it into two days) and leave really early in the morning by the time everyone is up, were already in new york and new york in a cool state to watch out your window(as long as traffic isn't bad)
Another cool thing is if your going over the washington bridge or going in deleware, you go underground on the highway.
Try eating at places you wouldn't eat at home. also try to aim for sit down places so you can get out of the car.
South of the boarder is a big must you will see Pedro signs up to an hour and a half before you get there.
The hardest part of the drive? when you hit Florida. Cause you think YES were here! when really you have another 3 hours of driving before you get to disney. :brick:stop at the welcome center and get some free oj and pick up disney mags. also, tell your kids to be on the look out for the first couple disney signs/ universal if your going.

the key is trying to make the driving down the begining of the vacation not the wait to the vacation.:king:
 
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10East75South

New Member
I'm hearing a lot of "leaving early in the morning". I'll offer this family's perspective.

Our jaunt is from Dallas to Orlando, roughly 1200 miles, or about 19-20 hours. We find that its best to leave after an early lunch (about noon), and we amuse our children (ages 7, 5, and 2) just enough time to get to dinner, in Lafayette LA - usually takes about 6 1/2-7 hours. After dinner, the kids watch a DVD or 2, soon they are asleep, and I will drive through the night. Having done this several times, you can make good time driving an empty Florida highway at after midnight. By the time everyone gets up, we are within 2-3 hours of WDW. We stop at McD's for breakfast, and can be on property by 9-10am. In fact, we quickly stop at the hotel to get our cards, and head straight to a park.

I find this works best for the kids because its a LONG drive. The drive isn't so long for the kids if you drive while they are asleep.
 
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Rayhawk

Rayhawk

New Member
I think it might help if you give them Disney guide maps to look at. They can point out what they are going to ride and talk about all the things on the map.
 
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tigsmom

tigsmom

Well-Known Member
timeman said:
If you are driving down I95 you will want to stop by South of the Border. You will not be able to miss it.
Click to expand...


You have to stop & see Pedro!!
 

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jim1051

Active Member
I live in PA. It's a 16 hr drive. We leave at 3 AM everyone sleeps for the first 3 to 4 hours except driver, then we stop for breakfast. Thus, the first 4 hours pass without anyone knowing or experiencing time.
 
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Addicted2Disney

Addicted2Disney

Well-Known Member
I live in north east Ohio, so we always have a long drive as well. When I was younger I slept the whole way down my mom loved it! Now I keep myself entertained by watching movies, listening to cds, reading, watching the scenery go by. The last time we went down my mom and sister came up with the 'numbers game'. You start at 1 and then see how high you get to by the time you reach the hotel (I think we were at 211). You can get the numbers off of license plates, signs (phone numbers work REALLY great!!), road markers, the clock in the car, the spedometer, etc. The only rule is the number has to be matching and you can't have them backwards (e.g. if your at #21 and you see an exit sign #201 or #12 it's a no can do. But if you see a #5213 you can do it, just drop the 5 & 3). It's really fun and it kept Dad awake too! :D
 
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VT GAL

VT GAL

Member
Our strategy was to maximize sleeping time since wth DH was 2 the last time we drove. After a late dinner we put her in her pjs and started down the road, and we drove through the night taking turns so we could all get some sleep. When we got closer we called ahead to the resort and they luckily had a room ready for us, so when DH woke up we (who had slept) dressed her and took her to breakfast and a quick run around the resort (tank goodness for the POFQ playground near the food court) while the last driver got in a nap. It worked really well for us!

Good luck!!!
 
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Harptattoo

Harptattoo

New Member
We just got back from driving from Hatboro PA (Philly area) and we were amazed at how quickly it felt like it went. We have a 9,6,and 5 and they each had a large soft blanket. They would go into what they called "their room" by covering their heads and popping on their MP3 Players. We picked up cheap ($15) MP3 players for them. Jackets and shoes off helped with keeping them comfortable and comfortable with kids = more peace and quiet for the parents. We gave then jobs passing out games, passing out snacks, passing out art stuff and collecting trash to name a few The jobs were based on where your were sitting in the van at the time and made it seem more like a family trip. We also switched their seats at each gas / food stop which gives them a different vantage point and breaks up the monotiny for them. We printed out auto bingo games from this website http://www.momsminivan.com/ which killed some time and more importantly created scrap paper for drawing on. Bring a bag of art stuff that also occupies them. Finally find targets on the map that will break up the trip into smaller segments and that way you get a bunch small wins to celebrate along the way instead of continuously wating for the Big win at Disney. I would drive again in a heartbeat! Hope it all goes well and you have a balst of a vacation!
 
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hokielutz

hokielutz

Well-Known Member
We got back from our 12.5 hour road trip from NoVA a month ago. Granted we don't have kids, but as you and your spouse are the likely drivers.... you need to have something for yourselves so you get in a groove for your trip.

For us, we each have a specific iPod playlist of favorite tunes that are good for road travel for each of us..... be sure to keep adult contemporary to a minimum, and of course nothing harsh that the kids would hear. Make sure that whatever you do, your playlist is long enough that it can run the entire trip without repeating.... about 220 songs, and it plays back in shuffle mode. Therefore you have little repeating and you never know who is up next.


For your kids, have them pickout their DVD playlist ahead of the trip, and bring their comfy pillows....
 
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