Driving to Disney with nearly 22 month old twins???

[k_null81]

The title says it all. Well almost. We are supposed to be going to Disney in May for 8 days. I know we need to decide in the next month or 2 if we should drive or fly. Our drive to WDW without children and with minimal stopping is about 15 hours. So not short trip by any means.

The only real pro's of flying that I can think of right this minute is we would be there in 2.5 hours and not putting the mileage on our vehicle. But if we drive we will have our good stroller, plus we'll be able to come and go from the parks as we please since we will have our vehicle, and we won't be limited by how much luggage we can have, and we'll be able to stop at costco or sams on our way in to pick up drinks, snacks, and breakfast items for our room since we'll be staying in a villa with a full kitchen, and the cost of driving will be cheaper then flying assuming gas doesn't sky rocket between now and May. Though I heard gas and flight prices are supposed to be going up in the near future. :(

So my question is would it just make more sense to fly or drive? If we drive we will leave early in the morning and want to get within 5 hours of disney before stopping for the night.

I'm just thinking we are crazy wanting to drive that long with 2 toddlers. Am I crazy to drive? What would you do? Or if you have any BTDT advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA
Kristin

[Momof3Labs]

Where are you staying?

[lhafer]

I priced it out for us. Driving would take us 16 hours. So that means: toys for entertainment in the car, food (breakfast/lunch/dinner), gas, hotel for the night. x2 because you have to add those same costs for coming back.

Flying came out to be about $100 more. So we decided that a 2.5 hour plane ride is TOTALLY worth a Benjamin over a 2 day car ride with a 4 year old and a 9 month old.

You can rent a car if you want that freedom. The kids aren't quite 2 years old so they would not cost you a seat, unless you wanted to pay for them.

And you can have stuff shipped there ahead of time, which will lighten your luggage load. I am shipping stuff ahead of time (getting ready to place my order on Monday). If you use Amazon or Diapers.com you can get a lot of stuff that you need, and get free shipping. Then you can also order anything else you need from Garden Grocer and it will be delivered to your villa.

So if it were up to me, I would totally fly. Get there sooner and you won't be starting your vacation exhausted from a 16 hour drive. And this is from someone who loves to drive, and doesn't like to fly.

ETA: I am bringing our good stroller as well. Just got a stroller travel bag for it.

[TwinFoxes]

I would never drive 16 hours with my (29 month) twins. My kids are NOT good in the car for that long. We drove from Detroit to DC, and broke it up into THREE days. And not because I was dying to check out Morganstown WV. in their defense, they were only one at the time.

But all kids are different. Some kids l-o-v-e the car. Is there any way you could leave at night, so they'd be asleep for a good portion of the drive?

BTW, we priced it out too, and I think it actually came out as more expensive for us to drive, but we may have been including two overnight stays each way.

[k_null81]

Thanks for the advice thus far....guess I need to start making a lists of costs for both options.

I figured it would be crazy to drive that far with 2 under 2. I do love road trips but prefer to fly when going to Disney. I was pretty set on flying and my husband is the one that had me convinced we should drive.

Now I wonder how well they will do sitting on our laps for the plane ride...lol if that's what we end up doing.

Oh and we are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

[mikeys_mom]

But all kids are different. Some kids l-o-v-e the car. Is there any way you could leave at night, so they'd be asleep for a good portion of the drive?

I agree that it really depends on the kids. I have 21 month old twins plus a 6 yo and a 4yo and I would not have a problem driving that distance with them. I'm not saying it's easy or that it's something I want to do regularly but not something that I dread. My kids are pretty good car travellers. We did a 9 hour trip this summer when the twins were 15 months and it was fine. It was actually better than we expected.

[k_null81]

I agree that it really depends on the kids. I have 21 month old twins plus a 6 yo and a 4yo and I would not have a problem driving that distance with them. I'm not saying it's easy or that it's something I want to do regularly but not something that I dread. My kids are pretty good car travellers. We did a 9 hour trip this summer when the twins were 15 months and it was fine. It was actually better than we expected.

Well that's good to know! Are boys don't do too bad in the car in general but the one time we did drive 2 hours to a family function and they weren't to happy. So I guess it all depends on the mood that day. Also they seem to get cranky whenever the car isn't moving. Guess we really won't know how they do in the car till closer to that time as they may change but can't wait to long on plane tickets if that is what we are doing though.

Thanks again

[DietCokeLover]

We drove it last year with a 24 mo old and a 35 mo old. Yes, driving has it's challenges, but I'd definitely do it again. Our drive was close to 20 hrs.

Just get a good stock of "fresh" toys, DVDs, etc. That helped a ton.

[WatchingThemGrow]

No question for me. I would fly. There will be plenty of years to drive later. While they are lap babies, it is worth the experience. Get a travel bag for your stroller and leave the car seats behind.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

No question for me. I would fly. There will be plenty of years to drive later.

:yeahthat: i don't have twins and have never done a drive that long (max was 8 hours) but for me i would fly, hands-down. IMO a couple hours of inconvenience (flying in an airplane) is far, far less exhausting than a ~20+ hours in the car, with kids so young. we have flown with DS eight times, and done road trips (5-8 hrs) and we are always more tired after the road trips it seems.

one main disadvantage of driving is that only ONE parent is able to entertain/handle the kids (since the other must be be driving). this gets to be really draining...after ~8 hours of being in the car and entertaining my son, i'm tired...and DH is tired too from driving...so either way it's exhausting for both parents.

whereas this past flight we took was 3 hours and while the first 1 hour was very rough (DS was hungry, tired and very fussy and crying), once he was asleep, we were golden. DS slept the rest of the flight in his carseat (2 hours). so for those two hours DH & I got to chill and even watched an entire movie on the flight! if we had driven, at least one of us would have had to drive 20+ hours and the other would have had to keep DS entertained on their own for several hours and we would have been too tired to do anything for at least a day or so afterwards.

eta: i say all this though given that my dh gets lots of airmiles, so cost usually isn't an issue for us with flying. i can imagine with 4 plane tickets + car rental, flying will probably come out significantly more expensive.

[twowhat?]

No way to driving (if there are no financial limitations)!!! We are STILL afraid to drive OR fly with our 26-month-old twins. But if we had to, we'd totally fly. At that age, the extra "steps" of flying will provide some distraction and then the actual flight itself (where you have to provide entertainment/keep them still/in one place) would be shorter. I would much rather drag toddlers to the airport, through security, board plane, watch safety video, watch flight attendants doling out drinks, etc, look out airplane window at clouds, visit the bathroom a couple of times, and maybe even fall asleep, than to just hop in a car and have to entertain 2 toddlers strapped into car seats for 15 hours (and hope that that they sleep for some of it). And it sounds like you mean 15 hours with minimal stops? That just sounds FAR more brutal and exhausting to me!!

eta: yeah, it probably depends on the child. I have a friend who did a 20 hour drive (one way!) with a 2-year old and she was happy to sit and play BY HERSELF in the back seat. They only had to have an adult sit back there for 3 HOURS. TOTAL! NO WAY would our kids do this for even a 1 hour drive!! They are constantly bickering, fussing about dropped/lost toys/food, tantrums due to not wanting to be in car seat, etc.

[k_null81]

By any chance do any of you know if we decide to fly will they let me bring the double stroller as well as their car seats on board?

I'm really hesitant on bring my stroller because I don't want it to get damaged but I love my stroller and would love to avoid renting a disney stroller or a stroller from an outside source just to keep the cost down.

And if we do decide on taking the plane we don't plan on buying tickets for the boys so the car seats would have to be stored so I wasn't sure if they would allow us to bring 2 car seats and the stroller.

Thanks again for all the advice.

I just really want to have a car while we are down there because I think it would make it easier to come and go from the parks as needed instead of having to wait for transporation. Especially if we have the dreaded melt down which I'm sure is bound to happen.

[lhafer]

Yes you can bring your stroller and both car seats. They will not be charged as carry on luggage. Have everything gate checked if possible. The stroller if nothing else. And get travel bags for everything!!

[Pbl427]

So far, our twins do well on flights, so I would also vote to fly and limit the period of potential torment! :) Although, I agree, each child is different.

If you choose to fly, be aware when you select your seats, you and DH can not sit in the same row as you can only have one lap child per row. You can both sit on the aisle across from one another - effectively next to one another, but with the aisle between you - but not right next to one another in the same row/side of airplane. I hope that description makes sense.

Have a great trip!