Driving from CT with two small kids...any tips?

[AliPop]

We are driving to WDW in November with our 4yo DD and 2yo DS. This is our first time driving, and the first trip to Disney for both kids. We plan on leaving around 4am on Friday (check-in isn't until Saturday at 4pm). We are hoping to stop for the night in Savannah, but if the kids are good (or better yet, sleeping!!) we may try to just make the final push and do it all in one day. We are going to pack a bag for each of them with snacks, games, toys etc. and are going to get a portable DVD player and let them pick out movies. Any other tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks

(On a side note, our 4yo DD has Type 1 diabetes...any tips regarding the parks/drive with relation to T1D would be awesome too!!)

 

[Schneewittchen]

The portable DVD player is key to a successful road trip. We started using them for my kids when they were 2 and 4. The only suggestion I can make is perhaps you should buy two of them. And bring all of your Disney DVDs or about 20 of them.....

 

[zurgandfriend]

Stop once in awhile to break the long ride up BUT as I tell everyone do not stop at "South of the Border." Enjoy.

 

[SAV]

I would also suggest that you make some stops to break up the drive. We found by taking a little longer break, that we were able to drive longer distances without anyone getting restless. Let them run around in the grass at the rest area for a while to burn off some energy. It can't be a stop, bathroom, get back in and go every time. The more they play, the more of a chance of them falling asleep.

Take an actual lunch/dinner break where you sit down somewhere outside of the vehicle. This is more for the driver than anyone. They will need the mental break from the drive and somewhere else to sit than the drivers seat.

Another vote for 2 Portable DVD players. It's a long drive to expect them both to want to watch the same thing the entire time.

 

[Superpocky]

Limit the drinks or you will make frequent stops! each stop will add about 15 mins to your trip

 

[Figgy1]

The portable DVD player is key to a successful road trip. We started using them for my kids when they were 2 and 4. The only suggestion I can make is perhaps you should buy two of them. And bring all of your Disney DVDs or about 20 of them.....

Stop once in awhile to break the long ride up BUT as I tell everyone do not stop at "South of the Border." Enjoy.

^^^^^^These!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Figgy1]

Pack snacks your dd can eat, in fact you may want to pack meals for her as road food can be iffy at best unless it's a chain you know is safe. Do not and I repeat do not try and do it all in one shot even if you feel up to it. Unless you are used to long distance driving. I suggest getting a good night's sleep on Friday and being well rested for Saturday. Load up on lots of music for the adults to listen to on the ride down finding radio stations can be interesting. Stop at the Florida welcome center and get a pic of your children at the Welcome to Florida sign, we have several of those and it's nice to look back and see how they've grown over the years.

 

[Lexie]

We did the drive two years ago with a 1 and 3 year old and will be doing it again this August with a 1, 3 and 5 year old (our family grew!). Anyways what worked great for us was to leave right after dinner in order to avoid rush hour traffic. The kids slept and we drove though the night to Savannah (arrived around 11). We spent the day and night there and then woke up early and got to Disney around lunchtime. We did drive straight home but will probably not do it again. After a fun but exhausting Disney trip I don't think we were really rested enough for a drive through the night! We love stopping at Cracker Barrel to eat! They are everywhere off highway, good food for the kids and they love to walk around the store and sit in the rockers good luck! We found it to be a fun road trip!

 

[Darling one]

You may want to think about getting on the road before 4am. We get to bed early the night before get a few hours of rest and head out around 1 from NJ. For us the focus is getting past DC traffic which can mess with your travel plans(especially with current Metro problems). Also considering the time of year you are going an early snow fall can hinder your plans. The DVD is a must but make it easy on yourself if you have the kind that hangs on the back of your seat. The reach around from the front seat to change out the movie, start it and skip the 20 minutes of previews tends to lead to a wicked muscle cramp. We love stopping at the state rest stops for the kids to stretch their legs and explore the welcome centers. They enjoy speaking with the people that work there and picking up the maps from each state to keep as memories of the trip. I pack a snack bag for each kid. They love having their own bag to snack as they please throughout the trip. Things like the Mott's Applesauce pouches work well. The carbs/sugars aren't too bad and they are pretty mess free. Savannah is a good point to stop if you can't go a the way. Sam Sneads Tavern is nice stop for Dinner if you have been filling up on fast food all day, plus several hotels next to it right off of 95. Whatever you do enjoy yourself!

 

[Weather_Lady]

As others suggested, and regardless of the extra time it adds, I'd schedule fairly frequent stops, at least one every 2-3 hours -- to monitor your daughter's blood sugar, give everyone a chance to stretch their legs, etc. (My mother was also a Type 1 diabetic, so my entire childhood was built around frequent potty breaks!)

As for keeping the kids amused in the car, we recently spent a solid week on a family road trip in which we traveled 2-8 hours every day. In addition to a portable DVD player, we had good success with surprise "care packages" for each child -- each with a kid-sized neck pillow and lap blanket, an inexpensive lap desk, a binder of coloring pages and games (no need to buy them - there are TONS of free printables online with coloring pages, games like the "license plate" spotting game and road trip bingo, etc.), which also contained fresh scratch paper, a map of our road trip (so the kids could mark off various milestones as we passed), and a binder pouch of stickers, washable markers and erasable colored pencils, which gave the kids a place to "put things away". (We didn't take crayons, as we were traveling in the South in summer, and didn't want them to melt.) We also passed out healthy snacks periodically -- in keeping with your daughter's condition, I assume you'll want low-carb options (e.g., mozzarella sticks, celery sticks with ranch dressing, sugar-free fruit gummies, nuts, hard-boiled eggs, etc.).

When it comes to the parks -- the advice is the same. Plan your day to incorporate plenty of breaks. Growing up, our practice was to stop and use the restroom every time we passed one (even if we didn't think we had to go) -- that way, none of us ever "suddenly" had to use the bathroom in the middle of an attraction queue, and my Mom got to test her blood frequently. Although my Mom is no longer with us, we still tour the parks that way.

 

[Huglife]

I grew up in Connecticut and I've done that drive several times as a child and adult. Like others have said plan getting through NY, NJ, and DC very carefully. I would suggest going around DC, I forget the exact route but I think it saves time. As a kid I remember the drive home being much harder- leaving Disney and going back to school. My dad used to try do the drive home in one day- definitely don't do that.

 

[AliPop]

You may want to think about getting on the road before 4am. We get to bed early the night before get a few hours of rest and head out around 1 from NJ. For us the focus is getting past DC traffic which can mess with your travel plans(especially with current Metro problems). Also considering the time of year you are going an early snow fall can hinder your plans. The DVD is a must but make it easy on yourself if you have the kind that hangs on the back of your seat. The reach around from the front seat to change out the movie, start it and skip the 20 minutes of previews tends to lead to a wicked muscle cramp. We love stopping at the state rest stops for the kids to stretch their legs and explore the welcome centers. They enjoy speaking with the people that work there and picking up the maps from each state to keep as memories of the trip. I pack a snack bag for each kid. They love having their own bag to snack as they please throughout the trip. Things like the Mott's Applesauce pouches work well. The carbs/sugars aren't too bad and they are pretty mess free. Savannah is a good point to stop if you can't go a the way. Sam Sneads Tavern is nice stop for Dinner if you have been filling up on fast food all day, plus several hotels next to it right off of 95. Whatever you do enjoy yourself!

DC traffic is one of my biggest concerns! We are in the New Haven area and Google Maps says it is about 5 1/2-6 1/2 hrs to DC. I was thinking of leaving at 2am, but that would put us in DC between 7:30a-9:00a (if we have at least one 15-30 min stop). How late does morning rush hour go? I was thinking leaving at 4am would put us there between 9:30-11:00am, so maybe after, or at the tail end, of rush hour?

We actually use the applesauce pouches sometimes when my daughter has low blood sugar! I will definitely have those on hand Thanks for all of the tips!!

 

[BigHero4]

Pray often.

 

[AliPop]

As others suggested, and regardless of the extra time it adds, I'd schedule fairly frequent stops, at least one every 2-3 hours -- to monitor your daughter's blood sugar, give everyone a chance to stretch their legs, etc. (My mother was also a Type 1 diabetic, so my entire childhood was built around frequent potty breaks!)

As for keeping the kids amused in the car, we recently spent a solid week on a family road trip in which we traveled 2-8 hours every day. In addition to a portable DVD player, we had good success with surprise "care packages" for each child -- each with a kid-sized neck pillow and lap blanket, an inexpensive lap desk, a binder of coloring pages and games (no need to buy them - there are TONS of free printables online with coloring pages, games like the "license plate" spotting game and road trip bingo, etc.), which also contained fresh scratch paper, a map of our road trip (so the kids could mark off various milestones as we passed), and a binder pouch of washable markers and erasable colored pencils. (We didn't take crayons, as we were traveling in the South in summer, and didn't want them to melt.) We also passed out healthy snacks periodically -- in keeping with your daughter's condition, I assume you'll want low-carb options (e.g., mozzarella sticks, celery sticks with ranch dressing, sugar-free fruit gummies, nuts, hard-boiled eggs, etc.).

When it comes to the parks -- the advice is the same. Plan your day to incorporate plenty of breaks. Growing up, our practice was to stop and use the restroom every time we passed one (even if we didn't think we had to go) -- that way, none of us every "suddenly" had to use the bathroom in the middle of an attraction queue, and my Mom got to test her blood frequently. Although my Mom is no longer with us, we still tour the parks that way.

Thank you so much for the T1D insight!! I was thinking of 15-30 min stops every 2-3 hours (unless the kids are sleeping and they we will just keep going!!). My DD wears a continuous glucose monitor that has been modified so we can see her blood sugar on our smart watches. It is life-changing to have constant access to what her blood sugar is and which way it is going!! She also wears a tubeless insulin pump so snacking on the go shouldn't be a problem.

LOVE the idea of stopping at every restroom you pass at the parks! We will definitely be doing that!!

 

[ScottKC]

Fly.....just kidding! We have an 11 yr old & a 9 mos. old. I try to do the drive at night...but to be fair we are only coming from North Carolina. We have the DVD, tablet for entertainment. And we end up stopping at least every 2 hours if the baby is awake. Our oldest son when he was a baby could handle road trips...didnt mind the carseat....but the baby hates the carseat and so when he is awake it is torture, because he doesnt like being in there very long and the DVD only distracts him for so much. So we end up stopping alot if he is awake and driving through as much as we can when he is asleep. I am seriously considering AMTRAK for our next trip because although it wont save time it will allow us to travel with the baby out of his car seat, and I think on a lap or with the occasional walk around the car he will be fine with the trip. And it might save time now that I think about it since we wont have to stop for breaks. Consider Autotrain- drive to DC and then take your car with you to Orlando.

 

[Huglife]

DC traffic is one of my biggest concerns! We are in the New Haven area and Google Maps says it is about 5 1/2-6 1/2 hrs to DC. I was thinking of leaving at 2am, but that would put us in DC between 7:30a-9:00a (if we have at least one 15-30 min stop). How late does morning rush hour go? I was thinking leaving at 4am would put us there between 9:30-11:00am, so maybe after, or at the tail end, of rush hour?

We actually use the applesauce pouches sometimes when my daughter has low blood sugar! I will definitely have those on hand Thanks for all of the tips!!

I grew up twenty minutes outside New Haven and lived in New Haven for 10 years. I looked it up. The detour I took around DC is I-895 to I-295 then you get back on 95 around Virginia. My GPS automatically rerouted me this way due to traffic and it was awesome.

 

[RKSteel]

DC traffic is one of my biggest concerns! We are in the New Haven area and Google Maps says it is about 5 1/2-6 1/2 hrs to DC. I was thinking of leaving at 2am, but that would put us in DC between 7:30a-9:00a (if we have at least one 15-30 min stop). How late does morning rush hour go? I was thinking leaving at 4am would put us there between 9:30-11:00am, so maybe after, or at the tail end, of rush hour?

We actually use the applesauce pouches sometimes when my daughter has low blood sugar! I will definitely have those on hand Thanks for all of the tips!!

Couple of years ago, we left Long Island at 2am on a Friday morning to avoid the DC traffic, should have arrived around 6:30. An accident in MD on 95 delayed us for about 2hrs . But by the time we got to the Capital Beltway (I495) after 8:30am, there was no traffic.
I would monitor the traffic patterns on Google maps for the times you maybe heading into DC to get an estimate of the conditions.
There are a few HOV express lanes, one in MD before Baltimore, and the southern portions of the Beltway, definitely take them. Also, if the SB HOV lane is open after the Beltway onto 95 in Northern VA, take the HOV lane. The non-hov SB lanes will have traffic sooner due to the bottleneck when the roads merge.
Others have recommended that for small children, put their suitcase on the floor in front of them so they can keep their feet up on it.
+1 for the DVDs and 2-3 hr breaks. Take it easy and don't worry about any unexpected delays. Its a long drive and Disney will still be there whether you make good time or not.

 

[UberPlannerMom]

I've never driven from CT to FL but are you going to hit atlanta? Their traffic can be rough as well. I try very hard to avoid their rush hour. When I have long trips with the kids (I have 4 little boys that go most everywhere with me) I like to make at least one meal for the trip that travels well in a cooler so that we can stop at a rest area and eat. Usually that means that I eat and they run like mad men all over the picnic area and then eat when they are back in the car. It definitely helps me to know that they can be madmen without really bothering anyone the way they might at a restaurant.

Another little thing I do is put together "stop bags". These consist of little things from the dollar spot or dollar tree or big lots or wherever that cost me very little but add something new for them to do on the trip. Whenever we stop (when they are awake) they each get to pick a bag and they can trade or not as they see fit. That usually buys us an hour before we hear that they need to eat again or pee again or whatever. Best of luck!