Would you drive in a car overnight for 13 hours with a 4 year old and a 2 year old?

[AmandaChan]

I am already thinking about future visit and we had a less than pleasant experience flying last time and I am wondering, would you drive in a van overnight from Cincinnati to Orlando with a 2.5 year old and a 4.5 year old??? Three adults will be in the car that can alternate driving.

[faline]

What size is the car? Are you planning a straight through drive or an overnight?

Personally, I'd probably fly.

[deedeebee]

Noooooo!! We have done both, with 3 kids, each 17 months apart. With the flying it's over quickly

[BrerGnat]

Um, no. Never. Take a direct flight, at a normal time (not crack of dawn early or past bedtime late).

Our longest road trip with kids was 6 hrs. It was about 4.5 hours too long for ALL of us. Our kids do NOT road trip well.

Traveling by plane gets better with more experience (when kids are involved). Keep trying!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Are your kids good in the car for long trips?

If so, then I'd go ahead and drive, but it sounds like it might be crowded (3 adults + 2 kids in car seats), unless you have a van.

My DD was a road-trip child, we did lots of long trips when she was little, so she was quite good at it. But, if you haven't done a long trip before (or even a longish trip), it might not work as well as you think.

I do like the idea of driving overnight, maybe even start right after dinner, have the kids fall asleep and then you'll be most of the way there in the morning when the kids wake up.

[andreallybadeggs]

Dissenting voice here, slightly, since I'm part of the station wagon generation. Flying would still be my preference IF it is non-stop and reasonably priced. Otherwise, assuming your children can comfortably rest/sleep in a car, I don't mind road trips with kids at all. Gives me more control over their situation-- when they sleep we drive, when they need to potty or run around, we stop. And stops along the way can be a big part of the fun, I think. We've driven all over the USA and in several countries with kids ranging from 6 weeks to 18 years. It was always fun, and once showing them a movie in the car became an option-- piece of cake.

[MstngDrvnDsnyLvr]

I'd drive. But then I had great car travelers at that age. We also stopped to stretch at every rest stop. We had a bag with snacks and cooler with drinks. We took our time (from NC to Canada), 3 kids aged 6 (twins) and 1½. This was before video systems in vehicles, so we sang, read books, played eye spy, all in all, it was an uneventful trip.

[jmj18]

Never....

[Jillirose]

Have done it many times (from Northern Michigan). The key is to drive when the kids are mostly sleeping. And, bring DVDs, and other activities. We always break for real food and stretch our legs!

[Buttercup]

Yep! We drive every year from Ontario. 23 glorious hours! We've been doing it since the kids were babies in diapers! We usually break it up over 2 days, and we start our first day of driving at 8pm at night! (Drive all night, stop the next afternoon in Georgia for one night, continue the next day) Yes, it's better when the kids are sleeping, but it's not so bad during the day either. Set up a DVD player in the back seat, lots of paper and pencil crayons... easy peasy!

Been there, done that, no problems!

[Melanie]

We would, but we're kinda crazy like that and have done road trips such as this since my boys were very young. Like someone said earlier, if your kiddos are fairly good in the car and it will be during sleeping hours, personally I wouldn't think twice about it. It all depends on your personal situation.

[Tink#64]

Hey AmandaChan, you're just a little North of us & we've driven our last 3 trips & had no problems what so ever. We do stop for the night, usually trying to make it about 9 hours before stopping. Kids are great, watching their dvd's - it's mom that becomes stir crazy & ready to be out of the van! I would think having 3 drivers to switch off it would be easily doable!

We pack lots of dvd's, snacks & things to keep the boys engaged & entertained, Ipods & dvd players are the real life savers! We flew for years, and we too had several less than pleasant experiences with luggage, delays, etc & the last few trips, have either been spur of the moment and/or airline tix just too pricey to justify!

Many positives to driving - you can take as much as you want! We really take advantage of that for in room breakfasts, snacks for the parks, also bringing our wine/beer , and bringing our cooler saves on that daily fridge price in the values! We also have this silly tradition of stopping at the rest stop as we enter each state & taking a pic with the state sign! Cute for the vaca photo album. Now the journey is part of our vacation!

[Jeff]

Yes! My family always used to fly but flying these days is such an unpleasant expierience that we have switched to driving! 21 hour drive for us but so much more enjoyable than the airlines!

[CanadianWDWFan]

We almost always exclusively drive since airfare to Orlando is very expensive. We figure the money we save driving down allows to stay at either moderate or deluxe resorts.

Really for an over night trip the question is, can the adults driving handle it? Since the kids will most definitely be sleeping during the night, keeping alert during the night might be an issue.

For us it is a 20+ hour drive and our kids handle it pretty well. I do all of the driving and try to be well rested before we leave. We like to put a 14 hour drive in one day and a "short" 6 hour drive the next. We leave home VERY early in the AM and stop around dinner time the first day. We then arrive at WDW by early afternoon on the second day.

Another thing that you should think about is how tired will everyone be after driving over night. You will probably loose a day sleeping off the effects of the long drive. If you leave home early enough, say 5AM, this should then get in to your resort early in the evening. Get to bed at at reasonable time then you will all get a good night's sleep and be ready to hit the parks first thing in the morning!

For the younger crowd having activities is a must. We first drove our youngest when he was six months old, having someone beside him to help keep him entertained was the issue. DVDs help as are any activity centre that can mount to the back of the seat.

[busterthebronco]

my opinion doesnt count since we are only 7 hours away but we have flown and i hated not having MY car.
we take vacations headed north and drive that far but we stop and sleep in 9 hour increments.
its a fun way to see our great nation!

[Scar]

The OP does say they will have a van and be traveling overnight... that addresses two of the main concernes. So yes, absoulutly you should drive. With gas prices coming down (saw it for $2.93 the other day,) and airline tickets skyrocketing, you should save $$$ driving.

[joonyer]

ROAD TRIP!

We live fairly close to WDW (5 hour drive) and always drive there. But we have made many many trips in the car form GA to Northern Indiana and back. through the years, and started when our now nearly grown boys were babies. When I was a kid my family drove to Alaska and back, camping, six-week trip, so I kinda grew up used to long car trips.
It can be trying at times with kids, but so can air travel. I've just about reached the point where I'd rather hitch-hike than fly anywhere. Air travel has become a royal pain in the neck. Anything less than 24 hours and I'd drive.

[MOJoe]

It's about the same travel time for us. And years ago we always drove. Airfare wasn't in the budget, so it wasn't considered.

Gotta share this story. Our first Disney trip as a family, we drove to WDW with our 2 year old during Christmas week. He put up with the long trek and the huge MK crowds like a trooper. But on the way back, 3 hours from home, unable to endure car seat confinement any longer, he began pounding on the retraints and uttered his first complete sentence......."Get Me Outta Here!"
Oh those Disney Memories.

[Trev&Ev Mom]

Heck NO!!

Two horrible hours on a plane beat 6 hours in a car anytime!!

[Hair_Razor]

I've done both and I do like to fly. The only reason I would drive is because of budget. When we did drive we took our time and made a stop about two hours out. We leave at night and the kids sleep. We wake up in the morning fresh and can take our time driving in and we are ready to roll once we get there.