Driving To Florida?

[worfbb77]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking at going to Walt Disney World in May with wife and little one he will be two years old when we go. I am planing to drive from Boston, Ma area down. Has anyone done this or can give good tips on such a drive? I would greatly appriciated. Have a good one.

 

[tigsmom]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking at going to Walt Disney World in May with wife and little one he will be two years old when we go. I am planing to drive from Boston, Ma area down. Has anyone done this or can give good tips on such a drive? I would greatly appriciated. Have a good one.

Hey there :wave:

We drive from NY all the time. With a little one you will need to build in some extra "leg stretching" time and make sure you take some little things to keep him busy.

There have been a few threads on this recently and a quick search should bring them up, there is a lot of good infor out there.

 

[Lucky]

There is a book you should be able to find at Border's or Barnes and Noble called "Drive I-95." It has info on what's at every exit (hotels, restaurants, gas stations, etc.) all the way to the Georgia-Florida border.

 

[sring]

Hi Everyone,

I am looking at going to Walt Disney World in May with wife and little one he will be two years old when we go. I am planing to drive from Boston, Ma area down. Has anyone done this or can give good tips on such a drive? I would greatly appriciated. Have a good one.

As mentioned before, build in leg stretching time....there are books around that list rest sops on the major interstates, I'd recommend that to do some advance planning. Maybe pick a few sites to visit that aren;t that far off the highway.

Allow extra time in the NY, Philly, Wilmington, Baltimore and DC metro areas if you will be hitting any of them during rush hour.

Steel yourself for alot of kid songs on the CD player and if you have a DVD entertainment system in your car, that may help keep the little one entertained.

Good luck!

 

[jim1051]

Buy or borrow one of the portable dvd players. From MA I might consider a stop halfway. We drive from PA every year but it is only 15 hours. We did it lasy year with 3 yr old grand daughter. DVD worked well.

You must have another 5 or 6 hours, so a stop in N or S carolina would make sense.

 

[luvGoofy]

We do a drive from Maryland to Disney every year and this last time our little ones were 5 and 2. They did very well. We just stopped for some leg stretching every so often and have the portable dvd player with the two screens so that the 5 year old could play her v-smile on one screen while the 2 year old watched movies on the other. Coloring books and snacks were a big help too. We played games and told them to find something and then gave them fruit snacks. We usually stop half way and spend the night so our longest stretch of drive time for the day is about 7 hours. We are doing it again in December and can't wait!!

 

[RustyBridges]

3 letters that will make your drive go smoothly, DVD! We have driven from D.C. to Orlando and back 3 times in the past 2 years. The DVD player is great. The kids watch movies and typically don't make a peep unless they need a bathroom break or are hungry. Load up with movies/snacks and go for it.

We always make time to stop and play some games at rest stops. There are actually some nice rest stops along the way.

 

[PatsRule]

I'm from Boston, too. This is how I go. I have a friend or family member pick me and my family up at my house and we drive 1/2 hour to Logan Airport and hop on a plane and take a 2 1/2 - 3 hour flight to Orlando. I would never make that drive. I have driven as far as SC and will never do it again.

 

[NTI2002]

my family made the drive from NJ once. We drive to Maine every eyar so we're used to long trips.

The Drive to Orlando isn't bad. Once you get past New England's toll booths, it's just straight down I-95 for a while.

It's easy, just Looooooooong. Bring anything you can to keep you occupied and you'll be fine. and remember to pull over to stretch, get your blood moving. Oh and Grapes bring Grapes. Great source of sugar. Try to stay away from alot of Snacky foods (I always fail at taking my own advice when it comes to this). alot of them will just dehydrate you. Bring Water, try not to chug it or you'll be peeing every 5 min. (there's nothing worse than a full bladder and a bump in the road)

if you're not used to long drives plan to stop at a motel over night.

Then make sure you're nice and giddy for when you get to drive through the gates (you're exhaustion will help with your giddiness)

 

[Disneyfanman]

We used to drive with little ones from Wisconsin every year. We found it was best to leave late in the evening and drive all night....rotating drivers. The kids slept through. Not a popular suggestion I am sure, but it sure worked well.

 

[orangewarrior]

I'd break it into a two day trip.

We've gone from South Central PA 14-15 hours each of the last three years, and are going this year in December.

The suggestions here have been good, but may I add another one. Pipe Cleaners. It may sound silly, but your little one will be twisting and turning those things, knotting them together and everything else. All of a sudden a "quiet" hour will have passed.

We read about pipe cleaners before our first trip, I couldn't believe when it actually worked.

 

[Hakunamatata]

DVD player is a must. Also, an Ipod with earphones for you or the driver. Stop every couple of hours if just for a few minutes. If the child is in diapers, a fresh didey every couple of hours reguardless of need will keep your child alot happier. Highway bingo is another good game. It can be themed to any number of objects and is very easy to create on any spreadsheet program.

We have driven straight through from Houston to Orlando. Its about a 16 hour drive with all the stops. It may seem like a long time in a car, but its a good memory maker and older children get to see places they will learn in school or hear in songs (sawannee river for example).

 

[oldshovelhead]

OK lets go...

I'm ready to go now...come on I'll race ya'...:lol:

 

[wdwhoneymooner]

I did the drive from Boston once and my brother has done it thrice. I was in college and don't think I could ever do it with a two year old. There were five of us and made it in about 22 hours (I think) with no overnight layovers. Even with a DVD player for the wee one and many breaks , it's gonna be a tough ride. I'd recommend using the rest areas to the max and bring some outdoor toys like: bubbles to chase, a ball to play catch, or anything that'll get your son to move and REALLY stretch his legs. And try to time his nap time(s) with a very active break to tire him out and extend his zzzzz's. We do this on our drive from Atlanta, which is about 7 to 8 hours.

Even if he's potty trained, I'd still put him in pull-ups with diaper rash cream, just to be sure. We also keep a big bag of toys/activities on the passenger's side to hand over when our kids tire of watching videos.

Good luck!

 

[Hakunamatata]

I'm ready to go now...come on I'll race ya'...:lol:

Im here. I won. :sohappy: :lookaroun

 

[NadieMasK2]

We always drive with the kids, about 16-17 hours. The others have good advice, I would add to throw in a ball or some outside toys in the car to use at the rest stops. Getting out and moving/running around is great for getting rid of that pent-up energy! We usually have baseball gloves and frisbees in the car for that, but obviously something age appropriate for the little guy. Some rest stops have nice walking tracks now, too.

 

[tevange365]

always drive

I am also from North Shore and make the drive every year to wdw , what we found was the most effective is we leave at night (after Bostons rush hour 7pm) to make it through New York, Penn ,and Washington before the am commute . Like every one else I always have things form my DS and DW to keep them occupied during the ride we always take turns driving after Richmond my wife drives so I can take a nap . If you think about it the way we do ,we usually stay at Disney and have a car which is very economical for meals , and are not limited or stuck with buses .
We flew last year as a surprise Bday present and the whole wait in line thing be there early for a three hour flight was not worth it .plus logan is just awful
If you have any questions get back to me like I say I drive it every year and don't think it is all that bad ..
plenty of decent places to stop have done the also , but we find ds is so keyed up that he doesn't sleep at hotel , if you are going to stop try and get to at least the bottom half of North Carolina
good luck

 

[Agent1964fem]

We drove down in June from Pennsylvania ....My 75 year old mom , my husband and my 15 year old autistic son ....long drive but it can be done !!

 

[Clark Griswold]

Normally, each year when my family and I drive down to Florida from central Illinois, we have a spot where we spot for the night that is about 12-14 hours from home. We make a few stops for gas, breakfast, and lunch, but we normally have a great trip. I believe that when vacationing to Florida, the trip is half the fun!!!!"
:sohappy:

In the words of Clark Griswold, the trip is half the fun.

Go Cardinals!!!!!

 

[ilovejr71292]

also if you stop somewhere like a mall say in north carolina you could get some energy out get some food and explore whats different down in a different neck of the woods