driving to Dis.ney and tips?

fjaril · January 2012

We've rebooked the hotel for this long weekend! I'm super excited b/c

1) I'm feeling a million billion times better since surgery

2) I saw baby j yesterday and baby looks to be around 3.5 pounds, so the fact I've only gained 1.5 pounds since surgery isn't upsetting me anymore

3) H is totally gaga over Mickey and the others these days, so I think he will flip his lid when we pull up!

So any tips on making the drive from Belmont? Gmaps says it's a bit under 7 hours, so should we leave ugly early and hope he goes back to sleep?

Is there somewhere cool we should stop at? Some odd road side attraction like a giant ball of string or the worlds largest gumball?

We plan to play at the park on Monday before we drive home so he'll be tired and sleep on the way home.

So excited!!! Thanks for any tips

eta: I should add he's almost 4, think we should bring a stroller or let him walk? We're staying at the Dis.ney land hotel so we won't be far from the park or need a shuttle to get to our hotel.

pkw · January 2012

Here is what we did:

We left at 6am on a Friday morning and took 101, EJ did not go back to sleep, which we didn't expect him to. He was groggy and out of it for an hour or so then perked up enough to have a small snack and some milk. We read him books (we took my parents minivan and my dad drove the first half and I did the second half) and played some games to entertain him until we got to SLO. We ate at Panera in SLO (it is one of DH and my favorite of their locations). We let him run around and stretch his legs. When we got back in the car we pulled out the iPad2 and played him movies we had previously loaded on there. He was thrilled and though that was awesome. We had a really smooth trip.

We got there, checked in (we stayed at the DHotel and so Goofy was in the lobby so EJ was SO excited and held Goofy's hand and followed him around, so loved that while I did check in).

We went into the park from 1pm until 8pm that night and EJ napped in the BOB. We did Disneyland the following day and half day on the last day and drove 2.5 hours to SD for a few days to visit family.

On the way home, we wanted to avoid all LA traffic, you will hit traffic no matter what, it is LA...they always have traffic no matter how you toss the coin or time it. From SD we were able to route around LA and stopped in SB for lunch. Again movies on the iPad2 for the win.

We found that the fewer the stops the better. He was OK with being in the car but the in and out would make him not be OK with being in the car.

Mrs.Wright07 · January 2012

I haven't done Disney, but my BFF lives in LA, so Madison and I have had many mommy/Mads roadtrips. We typically stop twice going down 101. We stop once in Salinas (definitely not much to see, but there's a big mall right off the freeway - It has a pretty big play area for kids inside if you want to let him stretch his legs. Then we stop in either SLO or Santa Maria. That breaks the trip up into ~2 hour stretches.

Oh and I'm a nutjob and generally leave around 3-4 in the morning - That way I miss bay area commute traffic when I leave and hit LA before rush hour (although what K said about LA traffic is true - It's never going to be an easy drive)

LV2006 · January 2012

We went right before L turned 3 and again right before she turned 4. We left around 8 or 9 am both times. She had a DVD player in the back seat (she never gets this any other time) and a couple of new movies, and we only ever heard from her when she needed food or a bathroom. It was amazingly easy! We didn't make any major stops - food, bathroom and gas were it.

We stayed off property so a stroller was essential. We met friends there, though, who were staying at the Grand Californian and who have season passes and go all the time. They brought a stroller as well, for their 4.5 year old. The stroller makes everything SO much easier, and I highly recommend bringing one.

Have fun!

dirtbikemom · January 2012

We have done Disney many times w/ DD from age 2-5. We always leave around 5am and take Hwy 5 down. If you take 5 there are 2 rest stops we always stopped at. There is one that is about 45 mins south of where 152 joins Hwy 5 then there is another that I can't recall off the top of my head. I just know they are named after officers and one is "Chuck" and the other is "Larry." We also stop at Lost Hills (Hwy 46) for gas and food. With this we usually get into the Disney area around 11:30am.

We still bring the stroller even though DD is over 5 y/o. I would be a miserable wreck w/o it. He won't last long if he is walking the whole time. The stroller will give him a break and time to rest.

Have lots of fun!

NorcalLinds · January 2012

We left at 6pm and took 5. We stopped one time to get gas before the grepevine. The boys fell asleep in the car and slept the whole way down. We arrived around 11:30pm, once we got into our room everyone crashed. No big deal with the boys going back to bed after the drive. We woke up the next day and had a great full day at the park.

take a stroller, or rent one when you get there. I think they have the city mini's to rent

the way home was kinda crazy. we had spent 3 days at the park and planned to leave on our last day, drive through the night. We left at at 9ish and got home at 3am. The boys did awesome, but that drive was rough, we were so tired. But for us it was worth it because we had a full day the next day to just sleep in, stay in jams and do laundry before the work week.

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