This post is related to the below Disneyland post, but I didn't want to ask toooo much in one post
We will be driving to Disneyland with DD, almost 1-yr old. We have never taken a long trip with her, and we're debating on when to leave. We estimate about 8-hours for the trip.
#1 - Should we leave at 7am (Have to drop off dogs for boarding, can't leave earlier) and arrive around 3pm, which means DD will be in the car seat for the entire happy part of the day.
#2 - Should we leave after work / dinner the night before (drop off dogs a day early) around 7pm (DD's bedtime), so that she can sleep the entire drive, and get there around 3am, and driving all night after a day at work? As a side note, DD usually wakes around 5:30am for the day, so one of us would have to get up with her, and most likely, the other will wake too. If choose this option, we would have a lazy day at the hotel napping, and hanging by the pool before we are at Dland for three-days.
Any advice is very much appreciated as we have NO experience with a long car trip with DD.
Re: Long car trip
i would plan on leaving at 7am. How does dd do in the car now? We took a trip with Lexi at that age, and we would drive for a couple hours, stop for 15mins to a half an hour and relax, run around, snack. Also I would not plan on going to DL after driving most of the day.
Also , once we tried to do a 10 hour drive at night, after work, and it was a disaster. THe kids slept great. However, DH did 90% of the driving because i couldnt stay awake. Then when we got where we needed to be, it was 6am, and kids were up and excited and ready to start thier day, and DH and i wanted to crawl in a hole.
Thanks for the advice, seems it's pretty much split down the middle. We decided to stick to our original plan and leave at 7am once the boarder opens up. That way we don't have to pay an extra night for dogs that aren't even ours. Plus, DH informed me that if we drive after work, I have to stay up the entire time with him so he doesn't fall asleep. I proposed one driving while the other naps, then switching half way so that one person doesn't take the brunt. But if he can't drive while I nap, no way can we drive all night, with DD waking up at 5am for the day.
Sometimes DH's are completely irrational and won't listen to reason, or don't want to admit they are wrong, whatever the case, we're going with the safe bet.