Tips on what to pack for the drive down

[mom42860]

I know a saw a post on this somewhere but can't find it, I am looking for tips on what to pack in the truck for the drive down. Thanks!!

 

[wdwnutze]

I am also thinking of making the drive to Orlando for our next trip. We have never driven before but are thinking of trying it. It will be myself, my mom(65), dd1(10) and dd2(4).I'm interested in the driving distance. How will you be breaking up the trip(if at all)?

 

[goofyforwdw]

We use to drive every year but lately we have been flying so I will try to jog my memory. We to are driving down in April (air fare is too high )we will be four in a Suburban DH and I ,DS 17 (6'2 240lbs) & DD 15 shoud be fun LOL. We pack books on tape for Dad and I to listen to while driving and CD for the kids. Will be bringing laptop with a converter to the lighter plug so they can watch DVD's. Lots of drinks and snacks ,I like to read when not driving so a book and dramamine. Also need lots of gum and hard candy's while driving. Pillow's blankets and eye covers for sleeping. Also bring handheld games to pass the time. Also bring a pot you can heat water with using the lighter plug to make coffee with the bags so we don't get lost looking for a place to buy coffee at 2 am. Lots of change for tolls though we changed route so not many tolls. Well that all I can think of now Oh Yes don't forget lots of patiance and a sense of humor. Wow I better start gathering.
Brenda

 

[DISFANS3]

Looking for the same info? First time for the big drive for us. We live in SW MO,Have two weeks so going to take two days down two days back. Trying to compare gas price as to flying?? This might be the only time we drive, Back to the airlines next year??? 135 Days left 2 days at Dolphin,9 days at AllStar movies....... CBR99 Allstar Movies Feb2001, Allstar Music Aug 2001.......

 

[ctgirlluvsmickey]

Our family use to drive down to WDW from CT. We use to take 3 cars down. In our car, my mom use to pack a cooler with drinks and snacks in to. She would make sure that we had CD's and tapes to take down for the ride. We'd all have books and magazines. Pillows, blankets and slip on shoes so that we could relax and take our shoes off. We'd have electronic games and travel games to play. Each car had a cell phone just in case any of us got lost. We would leave at 5am, our first stop was in New Jersey, then Virginia (south of Richmond) then we'd stay the night somewhere in SC. It normally took us 25-26 hours to get to Orlando. I dont remember how much we spent for gas and tolls though.

 

[buzz5985]

I returned last week from driving down. What a great experience it ended up being for us. We left Wakefield MA (10 miles north of Boston) at 4 am. We stopped overnight at Rocky Mount NC, at a Red Roof Inn. Arrived in Rocky Mount around 6 pm. We were stopping every 2 hours for 15 minutes, lunch 30 minutes. Left Rocky Mount at 4:30 am, and arrived at ASMo at 3 PM. We hit NO Traffic on the way down. We had Harry Potter books 1 and 2 on Cassette that we listened to. I wrapped up little gifts to give my son (5) when he got a little restless. Matchbox has a new series of cars out - The 50 States. When we went into Connecticut he got the CT car. Not all the cars are out, but I was able to get 5 for the states we were passing through. Each car comes with a little license plate, so then we were playing look for the CT plate in GA. I wrapped up crayons, coloring book, sticker book. We also had a portable VCR for the drive, and was surprised how little he watched it, maybe 2 movies a day. If it had been me, I would have had it going nonstop. LOL We also had our 10 year old Dog with us!!!! And she did great on the drive too. I think she was just so happy to be going with the us. We had our Cooler, Toaster,Coffee Maker. We had breakfast on the road, and lunch too. Ordered Pizza for dinner. So the costs for us for the drive were $80 for Gas, $12 in Tolls, $47 for the Red Roof Inn, and $22 for food. Probably could have saved on the price of the room too, but we had to go to a place they take dogs. That Rocky Mount was a good place to stop too. Every Hotel chain had a place there, ton's of restaurants, and a mall. Any questions just let me know.

 

[dvcdudes]

I guess you are a little further than us but we drive down twice a year. I leave at about 3AM. and drive straight through arriving at WDW at about 8PM (depending on traffic). When I bought into DVC I bought a conversion van for the trips. It's great. It has a TV, VCR, Nintendo 64, and room up the Wazzo.
As far as what to pack for the drive. First and foremost if your leaving early in the AM... don't forget to load the kids in the car. They will be very disappointed.
We pack a cooler and get plenty of snacks for the trip (Nothing healthy) Give the kids a treat. It's one day. Bad eating for one day isn't going to kill them but it might keep them quiet. The kids make a mess. I try not to worry about it. I give the car a good cleaning after we get back home. Try and relax on the drive. It won't be perfect so let it go. The kids are going to make crumbs and a spill here and there. There's nothing you can do about it. just enjoy the trip yourself. Strike up conversations with the kids. It passes the time. My kids have entertainment in the VCR and Video games. One suggestion, my friend brought his laptop with a DVD rom and the kids watched DVD movies on it. I always bring books on tape (FOR ME). I get so wrapped up in the book sometimes... the time flys by. I've been listening to Stephen King "The Gunslinger Series". I'm up to book 4 and each has about 10 half hour tapes. I get them from the library. A personal tape player for each kid with head phones and their own book on tape might entertain them too.
Good luck and enjoy your trip.

 

[airhead]

I'm seriously thinking of driving down to WDW (I'm 30 miles north of Boston).
After reading all these posts I think I could deal with it! I don't think I could go
straight thru without an overnite somewhere. I HATE driving at night. White lines put me right in a trance!! I like the idea of not flying!!!!
Do you follow RTE 95 all the way?

Airhead

 

[buzz5985]

Yes, basically 95 all the way. We stopped in Rocky Mount NC. About 700 miles for us. Tons of hotels and places to eat. We stayed at the Red Roof Inn $46 for the night.

 

[wdwnutze]

Buzz5985--What day of the week did you leave? I would be worried about hitting traffic in NY but you said you didn't have a problem. What time did you make it through NY(if you remember). We are taking a shorter trip in May to VA(about 11hrs). If we can do that then the next trip will be WDW. We would be leaving from Belmont(mom lives there) and have been debating what time we should leave. I appreciate your help so far. We will be traveling with 2 adults, 9yodd and 3yodd. WDW probably wouldn't happen til August 2003(if I can hold out that long.)

 

[Lorix2]

buzz5985 - this might sound silly, but what type of vehicle did you drive to FL? We're "renting" an Expedition from our close friends and a little worried about how much we'll spend on gas...wondering what to expect..thanks.

 

[buzz5985]

wdwnutze - We left at 4 am on a Saturday. We picked my son up right out of bed and threw him in his booster seat. We were going through NY at 8 am. And we had a short stop in a rest area for breakfast around 7 am, for about 15 minutes.

Lorix2 - I drive a 93 Pathfinder. Only got about 18-19 mpg on the drive down. Go on the cars website and figure out how many mpg it gets. Could get expensive, especially with gas prices going up.

 

[mom42860]

Also if you have Microsoft Expedia streets & trips on your PC it has a function that you can figure gas cost, Thanks for all the info. sharing