Driving from WI, 8 1/2 days, still fun?

[Cakesy]

We live near Milwaukee and are thinking of driving to Florida, is it a bad idea?

Family is myself, my husband, 2 kids (8 and 5.) We have friends outside of Atlanta to stay with. I've calculated and we aren't saving a ton of money with only 2 kids. But I don't like flying, and I thought a road trip, and seeing the country, seeing friends, etc. might be fun. But...is that crazy. Too many long days in the car for it to be fun?

Plan would be to leave on a Friday evening, drive till the middle of the night, stop to sleep in KY. Next day drive 8 hours to GA friends, get there in enough time to spend the evening with them and their kids, cook a healthy meal, get some sleep. Leave 5ish next morning to get to Disney with enough time to enjoy the evening. We would have 4 full days (five nights) in FL. Then we'd have to drive all that way back!

I figured leave early, make the long drive back to ATL area (made a touch longer by the fact that we are going to be staying a little further South than Disney at this point, Gulf Coast.) Spend the night. Next day leisurely drive through TN and sight seeing. Then the 9 hour or so drive home the following day.

I like the idea that we could see sights and friends. But is spending 4 9ish hour days in the minivan overall just a stupid idea and we should just fly?

 

[LynnTH]

I don't think I could do that. I think it would be OK if you were staying longer at Disney (like 7-10 days) but all that driving and only having 4 full days. I would fly in that case.

 

[pa. dad]

For us, it's about 850 miles and we fly. Your distance may be a little more than that.
2 full days driving each way so 4days total of driving is a lot. Some people like that. We tend to take shorter vacations and 4 days is too much for us then.

like you, I have friends in the Atlanta area but would feel awkward asking if the 4 of us could stay at their place for FREE coming and/or going. I doubt they have all those extra beds. Then i look at gas, tolls and wear and tear on the car and I doubt I'm saving all that much.

 

[Cakesy]

Oh it's over 1200 miles each way. No trouble on staying with the friends. We would save some money, but TONS like we would if we had 4 kids or something. I honestly thought the roadtrip experience might be fun. That's where I can't figure out if I'm way off base.
We have a 7ish hour road trip coming up, so that will probably give us a better idea. (we've never had reason to drive more than 4 or so hours each way with the kids before.)

 

[monorailsilver]

I couldn't do it. We drove from CT to Ft. Myers a few yrs ago with the 3 kids and my mother.

We left at 6 to avoid NYC traffic, were in NJ by 7 (avoided traffic) and stopped on Santee, SC the first day at about 9:30 pm. We would of made it farther but here was traffic in Richmond. The next day we had 9 hours left and were exhausted.

I couldn't imagine doing a park the next few days and then have to drive back.

 

[pa. dad]

Oh it's over 1200 miles each way. No trouble on staying with the friends. We would save some money, but TONS like we would if we had 4 kids or something. I honestly thought the roadtrip experience might be fun. That's where I can't figure out if I'm way off base.
We have a 7ish hour road trip coming up, so that will probably give us a better idea. (we've never had reason to drive more than 4 or so hours each way with the kids before.)

With an 8 YO and a 5 YO? Driving long distances not easy. If it just the parents and there's similar interests, it's not that bad as maybe you can agree on what's interesting to see and explore on the way. And what music to listen to and where and when to eat.
A trip of that distance you almost have to take highways 90% or more so you're not really seeing some of the local sights. You see highways and trucks and trees and rest stops and it does get old after a while.

 

[J'aime Paris]

Hi Milwaukee neighbor!

We drove to Orange Beach Alabama for Spring Break this year. (Not Orlando, but a similar comparison)
It's supposed to be about 17 hours... took much longer than that.

Some of the things we encountered:
Accident that shut down lanes set us back 3 hours at least.
Came across lots of road construction, some detours, some delays.
Car trouble...that set us back half a day Plus an unexpected hotel stay...

A 5 and an 8 year old may need more frequent bathroom breaks, time to burn off energy, and lots of distraction by the passenger so the driver can focus on the road. Are your children prone to car sickness? That's an important one!

Interstates tend to be boring.... One can only play "I spy" and other car games for so long. Even ipads and their technology devices get old after a certain amount of time.

If you can afford it, fly!!! That's my 2 cents!

 

[lcoult]

We live just south of you near Six Flags... we drive to FL every year. My kids are now aged 6-11 but we have done it all their lives. We leave around mid afternoon, stop for a sit down dinner to stretch somewhere in Indiana so we're out of traffic,etc. We throw on a movie for the kids, and say lights out around 10pm. Kids sleep through the night and we switch every 2 hours so we don't fall asleep. crack a window, drink mountain dew. You can do it. When the sun comes up, sit down at mcd's for breakfast, swap clothes, brush teeth. Refresh yourself. You're most of the way there by that time and the day light keeps you up. We save SO much money driving straight through.. packing lots of snacks. My kids each get their own 1" travel binder. I fill it with things to do, a pencil pouch,etc. They watch movies. Throw them fun candy and things when they get bored. They get so excited in the mountains in TN.. and we stop for fresh OJ at the FL welcome center. They get SO excited at that point and it keeps us going til we get there. check in, swim, relax, and you'll be good to go the next day!

Last time I checked.. this would cost us about $300 round trip in gas. No hotel fees. So it's WORTH IT! (Plus you don't need a rental car)

 

[powellrj]

We have about an 1100 mile one way drive. It's really do-able. When the kids were smaller, they would watch new movies in the backseat and I would pack lots of snacks. We have done it in sedans which I know anymore most people with kids don't do. There have been lots of trips where we have been there for 4 or 5 days and still had a great time.

 

[Cakesy]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.
For the record, we'd spend the last few nights at my parents condo on the gulf coast, just the first two in Disney. So not quite as exhausting. We haven't been able to afford a family vacation more than four hours away since before my son was born, so my kids have never seen anywhere but wisconsin and the Chicago suburbs. (We actually live in Kenosha.)
I thought driving would at least allow them to see the different geography, climate, vegetation, you know, plus I planned a whole day in TN on the way home. And getting to hang out with our friends' kids is an opportunity that wont come up much. We won't be able to turn around and do another vacation the next year (we don't have a lot of money.) But probably every other year. So there will be other opportunities to see other places.
I'm kind of trying to knock out two vacations in one I think. But that may be unrealistic. But then when they're 7 and 10 we can go to the grand canyon (flying to Denver or Vegas for cheap.)
Anyway, we will see how our drive to Minnesota goes first.

 

[Cakesy]

I'm not sure if I'm comfortable driving through the night or not. Something to consider though.

 

[Dashzap]

Even though we like road trips, it's not worth it to us to arrive at Disney tired. And road trips leave us worn out. It's easy to hop on a direct flight from Chicago to Orlando...

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

We live in NJ and make the drive to Disney frequently (about 19 hrs each way). While it does save us money vs. flying (there are 5 of us) it saves in other ways, too. When we drive we can stay off site (HUGE savings, especially if we use points for free hotel stays), we can get groceries easily, and I prefer driving to the parks over Disney transportation. Mostly we drive our motorhome (which is awesome because it has a full bathroom, so no stopping to use the restroom with 3 girls) and once we drove my minivan (not terrible, but the girls prefer having room to walk around). Our girls are used to the drive, and don't really complain about it, but they also don't see it as an "experience" -- it's more of a necessary evil in order to have a vacation. I will not drive our giant motorhome, so H makes the long drive -- usually straight through. We leave NJ around 6p and pull into Fort Wilderness around 2p the following day. We stop for gas every 3 hours or so (also a chance for H to move around), and we stop in Pooler, GA so grocery shop at Walmart for our stay. We have driven down for as little as 3 nights and as many as 7. I do whatever I have to for my Disney fix

 

[Dinohood]

well how much do you hate flying/ Because think of your kids pretty much after they leave a fun park they have to get back in a car and go home I would fly yes you think a drive would be fun but them might not. When I was in high school my parents took me to see yellow stone park we got to the park and i hated it there were no animals i was board and i was in high school.

 

[LISmama810]

We live in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago, so not terribly far from you. We do long road trips at least once a year. (Usually to Southern California.) Road trips are just what we do, LOL. Even factoring gas, meals, and hotels, it's still usually less expensive than five people flying and then renting a car big enough for all of us.

Anyway, we've driven to Disney World before, and we will be again this year. Last time my kids were 10, 4, and 2, I think. My husband and I won't drive overnight, and we try to limit nighttime driving in unfamiliar areas. We stopped for two nights--first in Kentucky, second in Georgia--on the way down and reversed on the way back. This time we'll drive longer days and just stop for one night.

On some road trips we focus on just driving and getting to where we're going. Other times we make the driving part of the trip (lots of stops for museums, etc.). It depends on how much time we have. You could also commando on the way down and mosey on the way back or whatever.

 

[Shellyb84]

No way would I spend that much time in the car. We have a 6 - 7 hour drive, depending on stops, and that drives us crazy. My DD (6 years old) would be miserable in the car that long, and driving is just stressful to me, we almost always end up in some kind of bad storm or crazy traffic.

 

[MandiC]

I am not sure I'd want to do that long of a drive for 4 days. We do roadtrips fairly often, my kids do well in the car, but I need a few days of minimal driving before I can take the thought of that drive again We haven't actually driven to FL yet, but we did drive to Ottawa, ON last summer and that was 16 hours there, 18 hours home. Same drive, same people in the car, it took us 2 hours longer because 4 year olds are unpredictable and we stopped to eat on the way back, whereas the way there we did fast food.

 

[Pookasaurus]

I've done it twice now - first with an 8month old and a 3yo and again with a 20mo old and 4yo. We'll be doing it again in November! Much prefer it to flying and it isn't bad at all (we are located about an hour west of Chicago so about the same distance/drive time). Much prefer it to flying!

We'd do the drive down over 3 days and home over 2. The first day we'd drive about 5-6 hours to stop and spend the night visiting my grandparents on the Il/Ky border. Then we'd leave about 7-8 in the morning and drive until about 4-5pm. We'd get through Atlanta and Macon and stopped in Cordele GA as there is a hotel there with an indoor pool so it gave the kids time to swim and enjoy themselves. We'd head out the next morning again 7-8 am (probably closer to 8), stop for some orange juice at the FL line, and then be in Orlando for lunch and at our hotel by 1-2pm. Plenty of time to get settled and go do something.

The only part of your plan I would possibly rethink is stopping in Atlanta on the way down for the Night. You'll still have a long haul then, and we always hit Atlanta around 1-2pm so that is a lot of wasted time IMO. If it were me I'd suggest doing the atlanta visit on the way home for an overnight. For the leg back we would usually leave Disney around noon-1pm and hit Atlanta around 7-8ish (i think). If you plan on leaving Disney a little earlier than that making it in time for dinner is definitely doable and the last leg (Atlanta to MKE) is definitely doable in a day or you can even split it.

There are a lot of fun rest stops and I like driving personally. The kids handled it fine too - we'd stop fairly often even if it was just a few min to stretch our legs.

Anyway, no, not crazy and completely doable. In November we'll be taking 3 (possibly 3.5 - haven't planned the logistics out just yet) to drive but that is just because we are taking the longer way through Alabama to avoid some of the mountains and will have to drive slower since we will be towing.

Eta when we drive they usually end up being pretty much 2 week trips - it would be up to do you 4 days was enough. When we were limited on days with our last trip we flew. At the same time the 8+ park days last trip ended up being too much for everyone too.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We've done it & would never consider flying. Enjoy the playgrounds at the rest stops in Illinois, check out the aquariums in Chattanooga and/or Atlanta, see your friends, etc.

 

[Cakesy]

We've now considered extending it to 10 days. Still having only 4 1/2 days - 5 nights in Florida. But taking about 3 days each way for driving and sightseeing. This makes the drive more of a trip in itself. But means a larger number of days spent on long drives. Any thoughts?
Each way's trip would involve two real long driving days, with one shorter driving day in the middle, (I mean, the shorter day is still 4-5 hours in the car though.) Can a road trip be fun with little kids? Or is it more a means to an end?