HELP! Driving from midwest!

[florida girl]

My husband has a conference in Orlando for a couple of days in September. We have two children, DD2 and DS will be 5 months at that time. We are Disney Vacation Club members and actually just moved from Orlando a year and a half ago. We love Disney and have not been with our daughter since last Sept b/c of the pregnancy and birth of DS. We are dying to take her back b/c know how much she would love it right now.

My question is has anyone ever driven with 2 small children this far? It would be about 22-24 hour drive. Are we completely insane????? We did just buy a new minivan with a DVD player which will definitely help the 2 year old. She loves to watch movies.

Also, if we do drive I'm thinking of leaving on Monday afternoon to get in about 5 hours. Then doing a long Tuesday drive and arrive Wed afternoon. I have also thought about driving all night and my husband and I taking turns sleeping. The issue is I DON"T want to screw up their sleeping habits, especially right before vacation! My DS is also breast-feeding so I know we'll have to stop frequently to feed him, which will kind of stink. PLease help me!! ARE WE NUTS FOR CONSIDERING THIS????

[Deesdisney]

When my kids where about the same age we moved across country from Ca. to Mi. It was a little stressful but if you bring toys and a portable dvd player with movies they like it goes alot faster. If your DD loves to paint get the Crayola paints and pens that do not color on anything other than the paper. Do not take Crayons. We ended up with melted crayons on the seat. Take breaks for them to get out of the car and walk around. If your DD is still in diapers good if not buy some of the pull up panties just in case. We had to stop every 2 hrs for bathroom breaks. I also spent alot of time in the back seat with them. Reading to them and playing.
It is not as bad as it sounds. Just as long as you can keep them happy. Hope this gives you some ideas. Have a great trip.

[tink2006]

We always drive to Florida from Indiana. We started this yearly trip when DS15 was 2. On that first trip, I let him stay up later than normal. He slept in a pair of gym shorts and tshirt. DH did most of the driving so he went to sleep early and I stayed up with DS. We left around 4 AM. He slept in the van most of the morning. A short time after DS woke up we were ready to stop for breakfast. For lunch, I packed a picnic lunch. We stopped at a rest stop to eat. I just didn't think it was fair to have DS in a car seat for so many hours and then expect him to behave in a restaurant. DS ran around the whole time. That was OK with us - let him burn some energy. DH and I sat on the blanket and ate. When we got back in the van, DS ate his lunch. I packed a "goodie bag" with new toys etc. He loved this. In fact, at the age of 15, he still wants his goody bag. The new toys and the DVD player kept him very entertained. We stopped driving around 4:00 PM. Enough time to swim etc so that DS could burn off some more energy. We did not make it as far as we wanted but that was OK. I just didn't want to have DS miserable in a car seat for so many hours!

[Hair_Razor]

I agree with Tink2006, stop around 4pm is a great idea that way everyone can rest. We leave really early, between midnight and 2am to do the same thing let the kids sleep until breakfast. I love the idea of eating at a rest area too instead of trying make the kids sit in a restaurant. I am actually going to steal that idea next time. Good luck!

[Lizzie]

We drove to DL with our friends it was a about a 21 hour drive. We had three kids under the age of two with us. On the way there we left at night and drove nonstop and arrived early the next evening. We stopped at a McDonalds with a playground for breakfast, than we brought food with us to eat lunch at a park and than dinner at another place with the playground.

On the way back we left at 2 right at a good naptime. Kids napped we stopped for dinner somewhere for them to play. They watched some movies than we drove through the night as they slept and stopped at a BK for breakfast.

I enjoyed the time of the drive on the way home more. Kids slept great in the car. But we also had 4 adults to rotate the driving.

[Stace74]

When DS was 3 and DD was 13 mo.s we drove from Indianapolis to Orlando during hurricane Ivan. I can say that with the exception of driving through Georgia with Ivan bearing down on us it was not a bad trip. All the things that previous posters have suggested are great and we did all those things. We left about three in the morning and so the kids would sleep for the first part of the trip. We had the DVD player, new toys they had never played with and a lot of patience. It was a trip we will never forget. When Disney World is at the end of the long drive it is all worth it! Just be flexible and do what your kids need. If they need a little time out of the car then stop and chase them around a rest stop for a while. Happy (and worn out) kids make for a happy road trip.

[florida girl]

This is all helpful! Thanks!!

[CanadianWDWFan]

We have been driving since our youngest was 6 months. He is now 4 and has been 7 times! WE find that the DVD is a HUGE plus. It really helps pass the miles. Plus I really like to listen to the movies my self while driving. Consider getting an FM transmitter for the DVD player so you can listen over the car radio.

We are over 22 hours away and do the drive in two stages. We like to leave in the afternoon , then drive until 10 or so. Get up the next morning and be on the road by 7. This will get us into WDW by 9PM. Get to bed early and then hit the parks the next morning after a good night's sleep.

We have found that by minimizing the number of nights on the road really helps our kids.

[Imagineer1981]

We are in ST. Louis and always drive. We leave the house around 8, get to Kentucky around lunch time and drive to just past Atlanta to a town called Forsyth off of I-75. We eat a late dinner and sleep. The next day we get up and are in Orlando by 3-4pm. Its a long one, but the kids will be fine. They will either sleep or play games the whole way. Just keep them entertained!

[florida girl]

Imagineer1981---or anyone??
Do you have any specific suggestions for rest areas or places to stop or stay in Forsyth that our 2.5 year old would like? We are coming from Des Moines and will come through St. Louis and then I'm sure take the same roads from there on.

[tink2006]

Imagineer1981---or anyone??
Do you have any specific suggestions for rest areas or places to stop or stay in Forsyth that our 2.5 year old would like? We are coming from Des Moines and will come through St. Louis and then I'm sure take the same roads from there on.

If you do an internet search for I75 exit information, you can find a site that lists all exits and what is available at each exit. Just scroll down to Forsyth. Hope this helps