Going by car...10 hour drive - 4yo, 3yo, 1yo. wwyd?

[WatchingThemGrow]

We usually fly to FL twice a year, but flights seem doubly expensive this time. We're going to drive (eek) to my mom's house, and we'll stop for 2 nights at Disney on the way there. What's the best way to do a 10 hour drive to WDW with 3 LOs? Leave at 2 or 3 am or something else?

[resipsaloquitur]

I prefer long car trips with my two kids (7 and 1) to long flights. I travel 4/5 hours in the morning, stop at a park, a tourist attraction or Chick fil A if there are no other options, and let them run crazy for 2/3 hours. Then back in the car for 4/5 hours. Works great every time.

[WatchingThemGrow]

What time of day do you leave - considering we'll be landing at WDW at the end of the drive, staying at FWL.

[mikeys_mom]

When we drive that long a distance we like to leave first thing in the morning. We have the car fully packed, lunches packed, etc...We literally wake up, roll out of bed, give the kids a quick 10 min breakfast and leave. We can be on the highway by 8am if we get everyone up at 7am.

I think it also depends on what works best for you. DH and I prefer to drive during the day and our kids do better not having to be transfered from the car to a hotel in the middle of the night. My sister lives in FL and they drive up to Canada once a year. The trip takes them 1.5-2 days. They like to leave around 9pm and drive as long as BIL can last. I think usually they make it to 1 or 2am in the car before stopping. He typically sleeps during the day before the trip and enjoys driving at night.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Well, we've only ever done one long drive - about 6.5 hours, then a kid puked and we drove 6.5 hours back home. DH does not do well at night, and he doesn't let me drive either. It's pretty annoying. Maybe with my glasses and some caffeine, things will be easier.

[KrisM]

We like to drive overnight. We do 15 hour trips every summer and leave about 6pm and get there about 9 or 10 am. We stop and sleep for about 2 hours at a rest area in the car. I prefer this because the kids sleep for a lot of it and then have all day to burn off energy. But, we're going to visit their cousins, so they're totally playing and have other adults to watch them while we crash :).

If we were only driving 10 hours, I'd probably leave really early in the morning, like 4-5 am. I'd just bring them from bed to the car. You'll get there with time in the day for them to run around and play. And, hopefully, they'll fall back asleep for a few hours in the morning.

[larig]

I'm with others who like to drive overnight. We have driven to my parents house at xmas, and we have a 24 hour drive. We leave at about DS's bedtime (late enough to avoid weeknight traffic). DH takes the first shift, and drives us until about 10pm or so. I take over and drive overnight (I have crazy stamina). When I'm tired we pull into a rest area until DH wakes up from a nap, and then we go. DH ends up with about 6 hours of sleep or so. I sleep while he drives. We end up with stops getting there at about 10pm the next day. We travel with a dog, so we stop a lot to exercise. I take food so we don't have to use our stopped time for getting food--allows us to maximize the exercise time. DS is GREAT in the car and almost prefers it to being at home.

Your trip is similar to one that my parents and I used to do when I was a kid from IL to CO. We'd leave at night and get there the next day and had half a day to settle in and get lift tickets, etc.

[3blackcats]

Leave early in the AM! That's how we do it. We drive to FL all the time and home to Canada.

A 10 hour drive is not bad, IMO. If you left at 3am, by the time everyone wakes up and a gas stop it would be 7-8am. Stop for breakfast and let everyone stretch their legs. They don't even realize they've been in the car b/c they've been asleep. Watch a movie, that's 2 hours, stop for lunch, and push through to the end. Then you are to FWL in time for check in. If you arrive too early then you are just trying to figure out what to do before you can get into your room.

[KrisM]

When I'm tired we pull into a rest area until DH wakes up from a nap, and then we go. DH ends up with about 6 hours of sleep or so.

Glad I'm not the only one sleeping at a rest area! I told some friends about that and they all think we're nuts! But, we're in NY on the Thruway and they're huge and well lit. We just recline the seats and snooze.

[WolfpackMom]

I would leave late afternoon/early evening. The kids can probably stand like 4 hours being awake in the car right? Then fall asleep while you continue on the rest of the drive and you will still get there at a reasonable hour when you can sleep.

[egoldber]

When we drive that long a distance we like to leave first thing in the morning. We have the car fully packed, lunches packed, etc...We literally wake up, roll out of bed, give the kids a quick 10 min breakfast and leave. We can be on the highway by 8am if we get everyone up at 7am.

I think it also depends on what works best for you. DH and I prefer to drive during the day and our kids do better not having to be transfered from the car to a hotel in the middle of the night.

:yeahthat:

I can't stand to drive at night any more. After falling asleep in the car, my kids will often wake up when transferred to a hotel room and be up for hours..... Not fun for anyone! And then after driving all night, the kids wake up for the day and we're exhausted.

We have everything packed, get up, eat and go. We drive 10 hours to Detroit and Cincinnati once or twice a year and it's fine.

[LarsMal]

We have done the long drive thing many a time now! The worst one was when we decided to drive through the night. It was just L&M at the time, and M slept, but L did not. He was up half the night, which completely screwed up his schedule. DH and I took turns drivinv, but we were both too nervous to get any sleep. When we got to our destination (a family reunion) no one offered to help with the kids so we could rest. It was miserable!! My point is- if you leave at 2 or 3 am you might be setting yourselves up for a tired and grumpy group. Not what you want in the 'ol WDW!

We're fans of getting a decent sleep and hitting the road early. Sometimes we even do breakfast in the car. Like pp, we drive 4 or 5 hours and stop to eat. Chick-fil-a is a favorite b/c of the play place, but really anywhere to get out and stretch the legs for a bit is good. We try to keep it to an hour and then drive 4 or 5 more.

We take lots of movies, snacks, books, and coloring activities.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Ok, I'm hearing that some of you make it through these events... The idea just stinks all around in my mind. I much prefer the idea of flying into orlando on a nonstop flight, using ME, then renting a car to get to my mom's house for the rest of the week.

Neither of us is great at night.. For example, it is currently 8:36, and I'm stuck on the couch. DH was just asleep in a chair sitting up, until I reminded him to go clean the kitchen. We'd do much better leaving at 3-4 am. Off to check the airlines again...

[larig]

Glad I'm not the only one sleeping at a rest area! I told some friends about that and they all think we're nuts! But, we're in NY on the Thruway and they're huge and well lit. We just recline the seats and snooze.

Everyone thinks we're crazy too, nice to find a kindred spirit!:jammin: My parents were always "drive straight through" types themselves, so I guess that's where I get it. We're usually traveling with a dog, which makes it hard to stop at hotels. Usually we're on I-5, the big WA-CA highway, rest stops are plentiful and nice (we have our favorites). Plus, I'm actually more scared of bedbugs than people at rest stops! ;-) We sleep in the car when we travel in Europe too. It's the only way we can afford to see the stuff we like to see.

ETA: we're planning on taking a 30 hour trip later this year--renting a minivan, taking the kid and the dog. Should be an adventure.

[liz]

ETA: we're planning on taking a 30 hour trip later this year--renting a minivan, taking the kid and the dog. Should be an adventure.

:bowdown: Wow. You are a strong woman.