Fun on a Long Drive.

[Hog]

What does everyone out there do for fun on a long drive to disney? We have a 16 hour drive...

[Jillirose]

Traveling with kids or not?

With kids-we get up Super early and leave so they sleep for first 5 hours or so. Then we get breakfast and stretch - maybe walk around town. I buy surprises to hand out every so often along the way usually puzzle books or coloring.

My husband and I go to the library or Cracker Barrel and get some documentaries on CD. One trip we learned all about Woodstock and heard original interviews from the organizers and attendees!

[yjgirl32]

We too had a long drive- I believe it was 19- I only have one child and for each state we passed thru I gave him a gift- small- plus we learned something new about each state along with the capital of each state. My ds was 7.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We have an 11-12 hour drive. We play "car" games. We play the ABC game where you find a word starting with A, then B, and so on. We make rules like it has to be on a sign, not on a car, or whatever rules we feel like making. We also play the license plate game, looking for cars from different states and seeing who can find the most from different states. One year I found these car bingo games where you get a "bingo" card with pictures of things you might see on a road trip. The cards were dry erase cards and came with dry erase markers so we could use them again and again. That was a fun way to make time pass. The kids watch DVDs and play their DSi games. I either play games on our phones or read magazines. We also bring books, word puzzles, and coloring books to keep everyone busy. DH and I sometimes take turns driving so he can get a break. When traveling with multiple families we tend to text back and forth through out the drive just for fun.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

We always get up early and get a good start. Somehow, it is so much easier to travel early in the day and not feel as exhausted.

We also have a "rule" that DD can't use her DVD player until after lunch, so it gives her something to look forward to.

To actually pass the time, DH and I love books on iPOD, and find that they pass the time much better than just listening to music.

We also play the "singing game", where we go around the car and everyone picks a song they want to sing. Believe it or not, we get a lot of miles under us with this one. We also take the iPOD's for some music, and pack DD a "fun bag" with books, markers, etc.

[Dsnygirl]

Subscribing to this thread b/c we have a 19 hour drive ahead of us in August... 12 the first day, 7 the next. We've done 10 1/2 before, so this will be a first!

My girls will be 10 and almost 13, so they are bringing their DS's, books, word find puzzles, crosswords, cards and movies for the DVD player... we will listen to Disney music as we begin and as we hit Florida on day #2... the rest of the time, it'll be fun summer stuff like Jimmy Buffet, Kenny Chesney and the like.

My DH is flying, so it'll just be me and them... we're all looking forward to it, but I will keep popping on here for more good ideas b/c I know it will get a long at times!!

[georger]

I love the idea of passing out a surprise for every state. I need some ideas though, for boys 10 and 7. So far I have a new deck of UNO cards to play for the first surprise. Any other ideas....thanks

[Dulcee]

When I was a kid we always drove down with our parents from NJ so it was a two day ride. Usually did 15 hours the first day and then shorter the second.

Mom was good for stocking up on "gifts" for us when we were younger. Usually dollar store toys but we'd get one every hour or so and it would keep us amused. I remember lots of my little ponies too lol

Once I was older I made a package that was mailed from "mickey" to my younger sister. All activity sheets, coloring pages etc. Also made a whole bunch of cds one year that was all park music.

On the ride we'd always play the license plate game, trying to see if we could get all 50 plus canada's on the way down. We came close most years.

I wish we had DVD players growing up but I imagine that would be a huge help.

One important thing to remember...don't just plan for the ride there, you have a long ride home to and at the end of that isn't a disney trip so sometimes you need even more to occupy young minds on the ride home when visions of mickey aren't there to occupy them!

[Daisy712]

We always went to the bookstore the night before and I let my kids by books just for the trip. Also, my children are now teens, but when they were younger they could never comprehend "how much further." I always brought along a copied map of the USA. I would draw a dashed line showing our route. Instead of asking how much longer, she would ask me to help her update the map. It was a great way to see how far we have come and how much closer we were getting to WDW.

[steamboat willy]

We will have "Our" 10 hour fun drive in 102 Days. Usually just DW and myself but this trip we will have our 5 year old GS so we will be looking for ways to keep him entertained.
We are looking at getting up early and leaving by 4 a.m. Plan is to get him and DW in the car and back to sleep during the quiet, dark morning hours.
They should wake up sometime in South Carolina, Georgia if I'm lucky.
I also plan on purchasing a portable DVD player for the hours before lunch and then cruise into our WDW Resort after noon by 2 p.m.
He loves watching BIG TRUCKS, BUSES and other more interesting BOY stuff on and alongside the road. We are all GOOD travelers so I am looking forward to our ride.
I like the idea of a little "surprise" as we cross into a new State.
I'll keep checking back to this post to see what other tips come up for traveling with Kids.

[MushuGrl]

I LOVE the Road Bingo games. (And I haven't traveled with a kid in a long time...let's just say I'm mentally preparing myself for letting the kid out at Disney.)

We also load up on trivia games to keep ourselves occupied - Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, Jeopardy...you can get those for your laptop or even on your phone just to keep you occupied - makes the time fly for the drivers, too!

[pamlvt]

We live in Michigan, it's a 21 hr drive. When our kids were young (back in the 80's), I would put a little $1 toy, game, book or puzzle, a snack and a little drink in a brown paper bag. When they were real young they got a "suprise bag" every hour. When they got older they got their bag every 100 miles. I labled each one in the order I wanted them to get them. The ones they got in the am would have morning-type snacks and in the pm, day-time snacks. The trinket would be timed also to keep it interesting. They enjoyed trying to guess where we'd be when it was trinket time. As they got older, they'd use a map and try to calculate where we'd be and what time we would get there.
We also listened to books on tape and radio shows on tape (before the days of DVD's and portable electronics).

[Ramblingman]

Our drives have been up to 9 hours. We stop at Hardee's first for breakfast biscuits, or as my wife calls them, sleeping pills. Then I drive by myself for a few hours.

To help pass the time, we sing Disney songs that I have on the iPod. When the kids were younger, we played a version of the alphabet song. You start, "A, my name is Annie and I like Apples." The next person does B and so on.

Once the kids were a bit older, we stop when we hit the FL state line and buy scratcher tickets. That keeps them busy for awhile (longer if you buy the bingo ones...LOL) Then you stop and turn in the winners for new ones. You can also do that in GA as well.