Planning a Birthday Party: Would You Drive This Far?

Yes, for my daughters 8th we drove 45 min to American Girl store. My husband and I took two cars and drove everyone, no parents had to go, they just had drop off and pick up time at my house. Give 3-4 weeks notice and avoid sports conflicts. They will love it.

I would think this opportunity would have the parents wanting to go along and do it. Now if it was for something like a pizza place with games and stuff? No, we'd not go. But this place is different. This is awesome!

I want to go!!!

I think you have a successful idea here.

I think it sounds like a perfect afternoon for child and parent. I would do it in a heartbeat. 40 minutes is not a long ride. However, I am sure not everyone will agree.

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I think it sounds like a perfect afternoon for child and parent. I would do it in a heartbeat. 40 minutes is not a long ride. However, I am sure not everyone will agree.

it sounds like a divine party. i'd have been over the moon at that age.

and less than an hour away? seriously?

why is this even a question?

?

ETA i'm floored by how many people would have their kids pass up on something like this because of a drive this short! and i live on the east coast where EVERYTHING is close! i mean, if your kid doesn't want to ride a pony, then obviously you pass, but i can't imagine turning down something this fun because of a car ride that short. and carpooling is surely an option, right?
khairete
S.

We went to one this spring (Clermont/Minneola), it was a horse rescue ranch. The kids had a good time and all the parents stayed. Just remember not to wear sandals and put that on the invites.

You will have a nice time and the kids will enjoy it.

ADDED***
I had one of my daughters birthday parties at Explorations Children's Museum in Lakeland and all the kids that we invited came to the party. That was about 45 minutes from where everyone lived. I am sure the kids will join in and the drive wont be a problem.

Yes, I would absolutely drive that far for something like that! Heck, we've driven that just for a birthday party at a friend's house before too. Anything over about an hour and a half is when we start thinking it's "too far" and required extra planning.

I would not drive my son that far to a party. However if you wanted to rent a van and take all the kids, I would be fine with my son attending. A friend had an American Girl party in NYC (she lives in New Jersey) - so with traffic well over an hour each way. She and her husband rented a van and took all the girls to the party and back. Everyone had a great time. I suspect if she had asked the parents to drive or train into the city and then hangout for a few hours before heading back after the party nobody would have attended.

I wouldn't mind, but I could see some people having a problem. Is there a way where you can offer to take a few kids with you if the parent's balk at the distance?

I drove that far yesterday to go to a friend's son's party, and it was just on the other side of Portland! But, then, we drive an hour and a half every Saturday to visit Grandma and Grandpa. I guess distance is all relative. My daughter would love to do this, and if I was in the vicinity I would drive her there too. What great party idea.

YES! That sounds amazing! My daughter is a huge horse fan and she would be begging to go! I would be asking you to see if you need any help simply because it would be so fun to see the horses and watch the girls! Added: You should offer to drive as many kids as you can. That way parents who do not want to drive so much in a day can just bring them to your house and pick them up at your house when you are home again afterwards.

Yeah I would drive that far.
We have.
It was for a fall festival at a country orchard / pumpkin picking farm that the whole pre-school class was going to.
All the kids had fun running the corn maze, the hay ride, the picking of pumpkins, fresh apples from the orchards and fresh cider.
It was so much fun!

Sign me up! My soon to be 8 year old would love this!

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Sign me up! My soon to be 8 year old would love this!

Having said that, nope, I wouldn't drive that far. If there were carpooling available then it's a no-brainer.

I think the longest we've ever driven is probably about 20-25 minutes to a party. And we hung out in the local area while party was on doing errands to make it work. We wouldn't have driven back home and back again ... if that helps.

I think 45 minutes to drive for a party is a bit excessive. Although I agree it does sound like a lot of fun. If they could carpool or you could offer drives it might make it work better for parents. Is there something local nearby to occupy the parents so they could stick around and not drive back again?

Good luck :)

Usually when we have out of town parties the parents organizing the party organizes rides so that parents drop off and pick up at the child's home and head to the venue from there. I did drive my son to one that far away this past summer, but there were other things to do in the area, so I brought my other son and one of his friends to check out the nearby attractions during the party.

If my child loved horses and was interested, I would go. The theme is very specific and not everyone loves horses and would be interested in that type of party.

That type of drive is nothing around here in the Dallas area in order to get to downtown, airport, special arena, state fair, trade center. Many places are within 30 minutes in good traffic. The hold up here is the unknown traffic issues. Weekends are usually not bad and everyone knows to stay off the expressways between 3 and 7pm. Drive time does not bother me because it is routine.

Is this to be a drop off party for the guests? If so, parents may feel stuck in an area with nothing to do for a couple of hours. I can see where some parents would not make the drive if they have nothing to do or other children with activities around that time.

An option could be to carpool or rent a limo which holds about 10 people and provide transportation.

We did a party that far for my daughter's 8th...everyone who was invited came. Your party sounds like a great time and I would drive my kids to that...just expect parents to hang out and not make the commute home :).

No. That would be 3-4 hours out of my day. I would have to find somehow to spend time where the party is. No way I would be able to drive home and back. Our weeks are so busy and weekends are valuable family time and time for taking care of things around the house. It's fine if I can drop my daughter off and pick her up in a couple of hours, but with another kid and a husband who works some weekends, I couldn't do that.

I also would not be comfortable with my daughter riding in someone else's car that far unless I knew the family very well.