Making the Drive Enjoyable

[Deb & Bill]

Not sure if this is the place to put this or not. One way we are making an easier drive to WDW from home is to listen to the Harry Potter books on tape. They last about 8 hours each and are marvelous. They are unabridged and the narrator does a fantasic job of giving each of the characters their own voice style. I have my husband and 8 yr old son hooked on them right now. Now if I could just get them to read the books. Barnes & Noble has the tapes on sale right now. If you have the B&N member card, it reduces the price even more.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Lucky you! My DS does not like to listen to the books on tape, he like me to read them to him. He can and has read them all himself but on long trips he likes me to read to him. We were hoping that #5 would be out for our January trip to Disney but don't see that happening. Just thought I would share some other fun Potter ideas we are going to be using on our long drive. We have the trivia persuit game and plan to take the questions only along and use them in all sorts of fun trivia games as we ride along. Also, I invested in some of the coloing books and stamp sets of Harry Potter when I found them on sale.The gameboy verson ( both color and advanced ) of the new game will be out on Friday. Santa has it on his list. Poor DH. He is not a fan(yet). Have tickets for the movie on Friday! Enjoy you trip and have fun getting there.

Jordan's mom

 

[jillhou]

We play the ABC game - with differing variations at times. My kids are 13, 10 and 7 and even the 7 yr can play this - although he is usually on an adult's team. We have to find the ABC's on road signs, cars, license plates, billboards, etc. You have to go in order. Sometimes we play only 1 letter per sign. A particular letter can only be used once......that is - the P from the speed limit sign can only be used by one person during a given game. My kids love this game.....really love it.

I also make up pencil games before we leave. Word searches, hangman sheets, dots, tic tac toe, scrambles, etc. The searches and scrambles are either Disney related or travel related. We also watch tapes on the way. The TV in the car is a blessing!

 

[ksdave]

One thing my wife is getting me for Christmas would be a big help to anyone considering a long drive to WDW....the new personal DVD players. The lower end models are now down to $349. I plan to make alot of use of mine through all my biz trips. They have screens in the same shape as theater screens and are about 5.5" across.

 

[DisneyWorldDad]

We also play the ABC game as well as taking a AC/DC TV to watch our favorite disney movies (plus one favorite vacation movie starring Chevy Chase!)

We also have a tradition of rewarding the first one to spot a Disney sponsored billboard once we get into Florida. Once you get on the FL turnpike, this game is less of a challenge!

DWD

 

[M&C'sMom]

We haven't driven to WDW before, but have driven to Colorado twice. (about 26 hours)
Here's what I did. I checked out new books from the library and some books on tape. We all listened to some and some my DS (7) listened to on his headset. I also shopped at the Dollar store and other toy sales before we left. I wrapped a small gift in foil for each of my kids to be given in the morning and another in the afternoon for each day. (word search books, doll clothes, sticker books, etc.) Don't forget some for the return trip!! They looked forward to them and each gift bought us some quiet time. I also purchased a new GameBoy game for my DS. My DD (4) enjoyed the gifts, too. We also brought a Rubbermaid box for each of them to store their goodies in. The lid worked great to lean on for drawing or coloring, too! I think next time I would also consider an adaptor for the Nintendo to be hooked up to the TV. We did limit viewing time, used it mostly in the afternoons and evenings.

God luck!