Pre-Trip Riding in a Car with Boys - A June Pre-Trip Report

Hello humans! We are back and ready to roll - literally!

For those of you who do not know me and my family, here we are:
359732

SJ, Tim, myself (Kelli) and H

This will be our second time as a family of 4 in Disney World. The boys had a great time when we visited last January. Here is a link to that trip report if you feel like reading about our adventure (The Colds Didn't Bother Us Anyway). This trip will be a little different - we are driving. Yep, that's right, 18+ hours in the car to get to Florida...with 2 (3 if you count Tim) crazy boys. I'm not sure I will survive, but knowing that Disney World is our destination will get me through.

Here are our tentative plans:
When: June 11-17 (we plan to leave either late on June 9 or early morning June 10)
Where: Disney's Art of Animation Resort - we always stay at Pop Century, so this will be a new experience for all of us! We got a really good deal on the Little Mermaid rooms, so we snatched that. H is OBSESSED with Cars right now. When I ask him who he wants to meet when we get to Disney World he says "McQueen and Mater!!". Even though we aren't staying in the Cars section, I'm sure we will be spending a lot of time over there.
Why: I personally don't need a "why" to go to Disney World. We decided that because H is still under 3 and "free" we might as well take advantage. We also wanted to go before Galaxy's Edge is opened, and most likely won't be able to make a trip back for another couple of years.

We have made a few ADR selections, but those are still up in the air as the boys are pretty hit or miss with how they do in restaurants. So far I have Crystal Palace breakfast (Tim said to cancel), Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' for Father's Day (most likely keeping this one), and also Ohana for early Father's Day dinner. I think I am going to cancel Ohana based on price and recent reviews. I would rather keep Homecomin' and then spend our last evening in the parks.

We have about 2 more weeks before we make FP selections. I am really excited for this as SJ has hit the 40" mark, so there will be a lot of new things he gets to try. I especially can't wait to ride Test Track with him. He is going to love it!

So, who else has driven? I know @LisaBelle drove a similar distance and didn't have the best of luck. Any pointers??? Especially with young kids who aren't easily entertained? Also, thoughts on driving to the parks vs. Disney buses? I'm leaning towards driving just because having a stroller is such a pain. Tim is trying to convince me that we don't need a stroller, but I would rather have one and park it all day then get caught carrying two boys around.

Also, who else will be there in June? I know I am hoping to get my @Tuvalu card, but would love to have some other WDWMagic meet ups!

Thank you for reading! I will post our FP selections once I have them made.
 

BuckyMom

Well-Known Member
Well just like that, our FP day has come and gone and we are less that 60 days out!! I was able to get a FP for everything I really wanted (SDD, FOP, SDMT), and in all honesty, the times were pretty good as well. I will probably do some shuffling of plans seeing how we have park hoppers, but here is our tentative schedule:

6.11: arrive late afternoon - either stick around the resort to swim and explore or go to Disney Springs (I still haven't been here since the change from Downtown Disney, but it will always be Downtown Disney to me).

6.12:
EPCOT (AM)
Hollywood Studios (PM)
I would like to start our day in World Showcase and enter through the International Gateway. Any pointers on the best way to do this? Park at HS and walk? Park at DS and take a bus to an EPCOT resort?

6.13:
MK (AM)
AK (PM)

6.14:
AK (AM)
EPCOT (PM)

6.15:
HS (AM)
EPCOT (PM)

6.16 (Father's Day):
MK (AM)
Lunch at Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' (thinking about switching our day around and making this a brunch, but I figured that might be a crazy time at DS)
AK (PM)

6.17 (our last park day 😢):
HS (AM)
MK (PM)

Our flight doesn't leave until about 3:30pm on the 18th, so we will probably do some pool time or Disney Springs. Seeing how we are flying into Orlando Sanford, we won't have to worry about DME. Anybody ever fly through here before? I'm assuming it is the same size as our airport here, so security should be much faster than MCO, but I don't want to not give ourselves enough time.

Thanks again for following along. Let me know if any of your plans coincide!! :)
Greetings Fellow Midwesterner! DD (newly minted High School Grad) gets in on Sunday with her girlfriends (staying at POR), I get in on 6/13 (friends leaving, she's transferring to my hotel (POFQ) . We don't cross paths until the morning of 6/17. Are you doing Early Morning Magic at HS? We'll be there! We also are leaving on 6/18. SW Flight keeps changing on me, so we are now out at 5pm out of MCO.
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
If you call Disney they sometimes have been able to add a day or two at the deal we originally booked, it depends on their inventory, cant hurt to call
@MeeskaMooska0714 booked through a travel agent. Any changes/additions to the original reservation MUST be done by the travel agent communicating with Disney, since the agent “owns” the reservation. It is Disney policy and they will not work directly with a guest with a booking done by an agency.
 

MeeskaMooska0714

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
@MeeskaMooska0714 booked through a travel agent. Any changes/additions to the original reservation MUST be done by the travel agent communicating with Disney, since the agent “owns” the reservation. It is Disney policy and they will not work directly with a guest with a booking done by an agency.
Thanks! I always do all the plans myself, and I am kicking myself time and time again for having a travel agent friend handle it this go around. Lesson learned 🤷‍♀️
 

MeeskaMooska0714

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Greetings Fellow Midwesterner! DD (newly minted High School Grad) gets in on Sunday with her girlfriends (staying at POR), I get in on 6/13 (friends leaving, she's transferring to my hotel (POFQ) . We don't cross paths until the morning of 6/17. Are you doing Early Morning Magic at HS? We'll be there! We also are leaving on 6/18. SW Flight keeps changing on me, so we are now out at 5pm out of MCO.
Yay! I will keep my eyes peeled for you guys! We are not doing Early Morning Magic, but that was the only day that I could get a SDD fast pass in the morning. Like I said, our afternoon / evening plans typically don't always stay the same, so I may see you earlier. :)
 

Laura Loves Tigger

Well-Known Member
I have traveled into and out of Orlando Sanford. It is a nice airport and lots smaller than MCO. Security for my afternoon flights were a breeze, probably less than 20 minutes from entering the line to heading to the gate this includes the pat down I always get because of my knee replacements. Enjoy your trip!
 

krisri18

Well-Known Member
I tried and they said that because my reservation is with a travel agent then I will have to go through them.
My apologies, I knew that and somehow forgot all at once. my brain is functioning at half steam for the past couple weeks due to returning to my full time overnight job and E refusing to nap during the day for more than an hour.
 

MeeskaMooska0714

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My apologies, I knew that and somehow forgot all at once. my brain is functioning at half steam for the past couple weeks due to returning to my full time overnight job and E refusing to nap during the day for more than an hour.
You do not have to apologize for that!! I totally understand the mental fog of not only having a new baby, but then going back to work full time. Fingers crossed E starts behaving and letting his mama get some rest!
 

MeeskaMooska0714

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ok - we are less than one month out!! I can't stop thinking about our trip, and I'm doing my best to just go with the flow and not worry about plans.

Just one change to the schedule...we are now doing the Bourbon Father's Day Brunch at House of Blues instead of Homecomin'. I was super excited about this when I saw it! Tim and I ate there on our honeymoon and got the bread pudding and it was amazing! When I saw they were doing the Father's Day brunch, I asked Tim if he would prefer that and he said yes, so that is changed now. The bad news is that it throws off all my FPs for that day that I had in the morning for MK (which included SDMT :bawling:). I keep checking the app to find later times, but nothing is coming up. I will keep trying, but need to do my best not to stress out, or else Tim will never let me come back to Disney World! :eek:

Other than that, I'm just trying to figure out our packing lists and try to not think about my trip every second of the day! :)
 

Rista1313

Well-Known Member
Ok - we are less than one month out!! I can't stop thinking about our trip, and I'm doing my best to just go with the flow and not worry about plans.

Just one change to the schedule...we are now doing the Bourbon Father's Day Brunch at House of Blues instead of Homecomin'. I was super excited about this when I saw it! Tim and I ate there on our honeymoon and got the bread pudding and it was amazing! When I saw they were doing the Father's Day brunch, I asked Tim if he would prefer that and he said yes, so that is changed now. The bad news is that it throws off all my FPs for that day that I had in the morning for MK (which included SDMT :bawling:). I keep checking the app to find later times, but nothing is coming up. I will keep trying, but need to do my best not to stress out, or else Tim will never let me come back to Disney World! :eek:

Other than that, I'm just trying to figure out our packing lists and try to not think about my trip every second of the day! :)

haha.. good luck! If you figure out how to stop your brain, can you tell me how!?
 

DryerLintFan

Premium Member
Hello humans! We are back and ready to roll - literally!

For those of you who do not know me and my family, here we are:
View attachment 359732
SJ, Tim, myself (Kelli) and H

This will be our second time as a family of 4 in Disney World. The boys had a great time when we visited last January. Here is a link to that trip report if you feel like reading about our adventure (The Colds Didn't Bother Us Anyway). This trip will be a little different - we are driving. Yep, that's right, 18+ hours in the car to get to Florida...with 2 (3 if you count Tim) crazy boys. I'm not sure I will survive, but knowing that Disney World is our destination will get me through.

Here are our tentative plans:
When: June 11-17 (we plan to leave either late on June 9 or early morning June 10)
Where: Disney's Art of Animation Resort - we always stay at Pop Century, so this will be a new experience for all of us! We got a really good deal on the Little Mermaid rooms, so we snatched that. H is OBSESSED with Cars right now. When I ask him who he wants to meet when we get to Disney World he says "McQueen and Mater!!". Even though we aren't staying in the Cars section, I'm sure we will be spending a lot of time over there.
Why: I personally don't need a "why" to go to Disney World. We decided that because H is still under 3 and "free" we might as well take advantage. We also wanted to go before Galaxy's Edge is opened, and most likely won't be able to make a trip back for another couple of years.

We have made a few ADR selections, but those are still up in the air as the boys are pretty hit or miss with how they do in restaurants. So far I have Crystal Palace breakfast (Tim said to cancel), Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' for Father's Day (most likely keeping this one), and also Ohana for early Father's Day dinner. I think I am going to cancel Ohana based on price and recent reviews. I would rather keep Homecomin' and then spend our last evening in the parks.

We have about 2 more weeks before we make FP selections. I am really excited for this as SJ has hit the 40" mark, so there will be a lot of new things he gets to try. I especially can't wait to ride Test Track with him. He is going to love it!

So, who else has driven? I know @LisaBelle drove a similar distance and didn't have the best of luck. Any pointers??? Especially with young kids who aren't easily entertained? Also, thoughts on driving to the parks vs. Disney buses? I'm leaning towards driving just because having a stroller is such a pain. Tim is trying to convince me that we don't need a stroller, but I would rather have one and park it all day then get caught carrying two boys around.

Also, who else will be there in June? I know I am hoping to get my @Tuvalu card, but would love to have some other WDWMagic meet ups!

Thank you for reading! I will post our FP selections once I have them made.

I'm still on page one so this may have been mentioned but DON'T LET ANYONE TALK YOU OUT OF BRINGING YOUR STROLLER!!! Bring. The. Stroller. Bring it. I cannot say this enough. Bring the stroller. My friend didn't think her 5 year old needed a stroller when we went last September, and by day two we were renting a double stroller from the park and carrying the girls much more than we wanted to. Bring the stroller.

I'm here... So many people make the drive from Michigan (not me!) I'm sure you will be fine. I don't know what your preference is on screen time.... but maybe consider getting some kindles for them to watch movies on, or a back of the seat DVD player if you don't have that in your vehicle already.

I wish I could avoid the Star Wars opening....I booked for September 16-24th, thinking the kids will be back in school, and the crowds would be low.... and bam.... they change the opening to a couple weeks before we go. I could change the dates, but I don't really want to... we already have our southwest tickets, and we got in on the free dining stuff and I don't want to give that up.

Pro-tip for tablets and movies on long car rides..... don't give it to them right away. You only have so long before the boys will get tired of snacks and toys and coloring. And you only have so long before the boys will get tired of screen time. But it's difficult for them to go from screen time to coloring. Start with the toys and the activities. When they cannot sit for that anymore, surprise them with their tablets.

Also, I've seen snacks mentioned and for long car rides you want to plan out the snacks, and then double that amount. Kids eat so much when they're bored in the car. And bring a couple hail mary treats, like a fun sized chocolate. For when things are going sideways and your next stop isn't for another half hour. You can show it to them and then do a game with them before giving it to them. Make them earn it a little bit. Like.... when you see five barns, you can have the chocolate, so call out when you see a barn.

And stop at every rest area you can. Let them run around a bit. It's going to add an hour or two to the overall trip, but it gets their wiggles out.

You've got this! You've so got this! Good luck!!
 

DryerLintFan

Premium Member
We did the same switch back on our first trip. We were looking at a 15 hour car ride (not including stops) with an almost 3 year old. The flight was less than 2 hours and direct. I cannot tell you how grateful we were that we flew rather than drove. Especially on the way home when we were so tired and exhausted and burned out. My kid's dad mentioned when we landed at our home airport "we would just be reaching the florida border about now...."
 

MeeskaMooska0714

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Pro-tip for tablets and movies on long car rides..... don't give it to them right away.
Even though we aren't driving anymore, I can still use this tip for the plane! Such a great idea! I have to do my best to make sure they don't know I have them with me.
My kid's dad mentioned when we landed at our home airport "we would just be reaching the florida border about now...."
That is so true!! I'm so glad we were able to find cheaper flights so we didn't have to drive. Even though we are flying into Sanford and have to rent a car, I think it will end up being better than relying on Disney transportation the entire trip.
 

MeeskaMooska0714

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
ok... I think I totally missed this part! Yay for flying! Even if it is to the wrong airport....
Oh, yes, flying Allegiant out of GRR! It was so much cheaper than flying to MCO, and it's a direct flight. Plus, with the cost of a rental car, it was still cheaper than Southwest. I'm sad that we don't have DME, but I'll survive.
 

Rista1313

Well-Known Member
Oh, yes, flying Allegiant out of GRR! It was so much cheaper than flying to MCO, and it's a direct flight. Plus, with the cost of a rental car, it was still cheaper than Southwest. I'm sad that we don't have DME, but I'll survive.

Hey, I know someone who lives there! I work right over by the airport too. =D I'll be leaving out of there on the 16th... off to Minneapolis to hang with 200 of my closest knitting friends!
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom