Road Trip w/ 8 and 4 yr old

[quackaddict]

Been 3 years since coming to Intercot....seems like an eternity. Good to be back !!

DW and I are planning a road trip for the four of us (DS 8 and DS 4) and are contemplating 3rd week in May in POFQ or CBR in early March, before all the Spring break craziness. School schedule isnt a problem, but i am worried about the crowds during these times. I havent been during crowded times since the late 80's, so i'm completely out of touch with how bad it really gets. Any suggestions?

Also, the trip down concerns me a bit, due to length of time in the car. Leaving Metro Detroit area about 3 am Friday morning puts me into my first stop somewhere in Georgia...should I push it about 14 hours with the boys, or make them suffer just as much on the second day as the first and keep it to 9-10 hours?

23 trips and counting, and I feel like a first timer...LOL. Any suggestions, first hand experiences, etc would be greatly appreciated.

[Strmchsr]

Welcome back. :mickey: The third week in May isn't too bad, for the most part. Crowds are moderate and you definitely need to use fastpass, but it's manageable. The one thing you need to be aware of is Star Wars weekend is that weekend. It makes DHS NUTS!! But the other parks are okay.

[brownie]

Chattanooga, TN is a good place to stop. You'll have a longer drive the first day and a somewhat shorter one the second. I'd definitely go longer the first day.

2 years ago, we took 2 nights to drive down. We left around dinner time on the first day and spent the night in Lexington, KY. We spent the second night in Ocala, FL. That gave us about a 1.5 hour drive to Disney World in the morning.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Drive as long as you possibly can the first day! With DD we'd leave between 4 and 5am from Toronto and drive until we were about to kill each other, and DH was about to fall alseep (but we'd share the driving).

This usually resulted in about 15 - 18 hours the first day, and then a super-short drive to Disney the second day.

We always figured that every hour the second day felt worse than on the first, since you knew you were so close.

We had a couple of tricks to try and make the day faster ... DD would sleep for the early part, and then she'd colour, etc until after lunch. The DVD/nintendo was a "reward" for the afternoon. It really did help, and made the long afternoon hours go more quickly.

As for the crowds once you're there, Chris is 100% right. May is busy, but not crazy. Get an early start, use Fastpass and you'll have no issues.

[Janmac]

This usually resulted in about 15 - 18 hours the first day, and then a super-short drive to Disney the second day.

This is our plan. We leave early - about 4 am - and drive until about 6 pm, which is about Auburn, Alabama. We're ready to stop for the day. We're up and on the road the next day by 5 am and usually arrive at WDW by 2 pm. When we go home, we reverse, leaving about noon, and driving til Auburn. Up and on the road early and home by maybe 8 or 9. Having one long day and one short day, and leaving while it's still dark, seems to help.

The 8 year old may be an easier traveler. The 4 year old may have more trouble. One thing we have done in the past is stop at rest stops every 2 to 4 hours and let the kids run around. We have also stopped at the fast food places with the play areas. The kids play while we eat, and then they eat in the vehicle, after we've gotten on the road again. We also have better luck doing a restroom break at a rest stop and then stopping to fuel the vehicle paying at the pump.

A portable DVD player has been a huge help, especially with toddlers and pre-school travelers. We have also brought lap trays so kids can color (or whatever) while they're traveling. I have tried to notice which favorite toys they've not played with lately, and bring those, rather than the toys they were more recently playing with.

Also have to bring the blanket and the pillow, or pillow pet, or whatever thing they're got going on. Easy to slip on shoes. Possibly something to block the sun, even through already tinted side windows. We have even brought a small battery operated LED lantern to place on the floorboards for one kid who disliked the dark, even after she got to school age.

Also bring plenty of snacks, already in snack size bags. Especially carrots sticks, raisins, grapes. Some of the kids in our group have been very snacky while stuck in the car. I've noticed they'll eat the "good" stuff if it's available as readily as they'll eat the junk.

Can't help you as to crowd levels.

Jan

[Strmchsr]

This is our plan. We leave early - about 4 am - and drive until about 6 pm, which is about Auburn, Alabama.

I'm curious here - coming from MO, does this mean you come down I-65 to Montgomery and then I-85 over to Auburn and eventually to I-75 and south? If that's the case, it would cut 60+ min off your trip to take 231 south in Montgomery through Troy and Dothan, down to I-10 and over to I-75 via Tallahassee. I live just north of Montgomery and can vouch that going over to Auburn is the long way to get there.

[Janmac]

Hey Chris, how are you?

We used to have lots of family in central Florida and have spent a lot of time finding "the route" to travel.

Lately we've liked hwy 63 south through Missouri to Arkansas then to Memphis and along a soon to be new interstate to Birmingham, From there we continue our diagonal, on 280 and 82, through Georgia to I-75 south, as you mentioned.

We used to also have relatives (more trips than even to FL) in the Enterprise and Geneva areas. For some reason 231 seems sooooo long - some roads are like that. That stretch along I-10 towards Tallahassee is annoyingly long as well.

Don't know why going through Auburn and over to Tifton does not seem as long. The road just suits better, I guess. Some roads do seem to have personalities. There is one in Colorado that seems evil and I go out of my way to avoid it.

We actually stay at a motel in Opelika, next to a Cracker Barrel. The walk to the CB for supper is a nice stretch after 14 hrs in the vehicle. About the only time we do CBs.

We did take a long way in January 2010 when a large winter storm went right through our route. We decided to head to Opelika our first night and re-examine the road conditions and weather the next morning. Still not good, so we went down to Montgomery - I know :blush: - and took 80 across to 20 to Texas, north to I-44 in Oklahoma and home that way. Avoided snowy and icy roads in the Ozarks, worth an extra day traveling.

Jan

[Strmchsr]

That makes sense, Jan. Coming the way you're describing would be quicker. I was just thinking of coming down 65 to Montgomery.

Hope you're doing well!