Road Trip Stops on the Way to Disneyland from Gilbert

HI A., I was raised about 2 miles from Disneyland. There are not a lot of "stops" until you hit the Indio area. But just so you know, there are rest areas about every 20 miles, if not less. At least everyone can get out and stretch and run around, have a snack, etc. Breaks up the drive quite a bit. Also in Blythe on Loveland Rd (Love-something road!), there is a bunch of fast food places with play yards and we always stop there to let the kids play. Good luck and have fun!

There is an odd little museum in Cabazon, calif. It has these simple but big animatronic dinosars (not that scary at all) BUT also an area for kids to dig in clean white sand and and area to sift for cool little rocks. The sand area has a big sun shade over it. I'm not a creationist, but this was a nice way to stretch the legs and play on the long drive to and from cali.

There really are not many places to stop on the way, unfortunately. If you were to travel during the day, there is a town called Cabazon. In Cabazon they have a huge outlet mall that you can stop at, go in a few shops and grab lunch. We have stopped there a few times and it is nice to just let the kids out and run around where it is safe, not a rest area. There is also a fun store there called Hadley's. It is actually before the outlet mall. They sell nuts, dried fruit, etc. I guess it is kind of like a farmer's market. We used to stop there on our way to CA and get nutritious snacks. There are also the infamous dinosaurs that are near Cabazon as well. They are huge, life-like dinosaurs that you can go inside. I don't know if you can still go in them, but you can at least get your picture taken by them. They are in the parking lot of a gas station I believe. I don't know exit numbers or anything like that, but all of the stops are not hard to miss. You can also stop in Indio for lunch, dinner, etc. but I don't know of any specific restaurants, as we usually don't stop to eat and if we do it is just fast food. I hope this helps. Have fun!

Hi there,

There aren't really any stops with things to do, but we usually stop in Blythe and/or Palm Springs for gas and food. Blythe is just across the California/Arizona border, and Palm Springs is further along the 10, I think we usually get off at the Thousand Palms exit or something like that. Hope this helps!

You are right, there really isn't anything. I drive to Los Angeles all the time. When my Grand Kids are along, we make sure we at least we have a ball (size does not matter in this case...smile). One thing I can say is at least they have a lot of rest areas. Stop, let them run around kicking the ball and let them stretch their legs. You can even plan a pic nic for one of your stops, unless you travel at night of course. Have a blast and be creative. A thought, if you have a portable DVD Player take it and they can watch their favorite movies.

It seems to me that your 3.5 year old is the issue. I have a son the same age. He used to sleep in the car but that all changed when he was 2.5. What I have figured out because he would get restless and want out after a while is to get one of the portable DVD players like we have. The strap wraps around a front seat (you won't notice it) and hangs to where he can see it. Bring a whole bunch of DVDs-especially those automatic replaying type. Now the catch is that you may have to be a contortionist to change the DVDs but it'll work. I would also suggest getting one for the little one at some point or he'll get jealous. They're not cheep but well worth the price. We use ours even for shorter trips. Try one out before you go and see what happens. If he doesn't respond-take it back.

Hey A.,

Make sure you do NOT drive through the night on the way there... you don't want to be exhausted at the parks. Now on the way home, that's another story. We drove home one time at night after spending the day at the parks and our two kids slept the whole way because they were worn out from the park.

Six hours is a long haul for anyone, let alone young kids. And there's really not a lot of options to stop - yucky drive! We like to plan our trip around nap time. Maybe leave shortly after lunch, then they can nap on the way to the Cali border. When it's hot like it is, we stop at the Carl's Jr. in Blythe to let them run off some of their pent up energy. I don't like indoor playplaces, but their's is pretty nice. Just bring your hand sanitzer! :) Or even just stop at a rest stop and let them walk around outside for a few minutes. Once they realize for themselves how hot it is, they probably won't mind being in the car as much.

Bringing a DVD player makes it easier on you. Also, music and just being silly and interactive with them will help avoid the whiny-ness. Oh, and snacks/juice! Make sure you have enough on hand, of course. Good luck and HAVE FUN! We've been going to Disneyland at least once a year since before our first was born and we look forward to our yearly trips!!

I was also going to suggest the Dinosaur Musuem and outlets near Palm Springs. The dinosaurs are pretty cool and you can go in two of them. In Palm Springs you can ride the Tramway up the mountain 8500 feet. That was really cool.

My 3.5 yr old is a real traveling champ, so we have a container of goodies just for the car. We treat each trip like a grand adventure and start talking about it a day or two in advance, who we are going see, things we are going to do. All grand adventures have to be planned, so I print a map of the entire US and show her where we are headed with a marker. She gets to carry her map in her backpack. A portable dvd player is a invaluable toy, but at that age, how much Disney can you guys take? I give my dd stickers (be prepared, they end up everywhere), coloring books, we play kid music in the cd player.. stunning I know but even the kids get tired of Big Bird after a while. Just remember to offer something new to play with when you hear the first mumble instead of waiting until there is a full blown revolt.

Another thing to keep in mind is bathroom breaks aren't always as clean or convenient as the are at home. I take a portable kid potty as a back up just in case we're in the middle of no where and there's an emergency, don't forget the tp. And last but not least, only let them eat foods that won't make them thirsty. The salty things are great but if your 3.5 yr old has too much to drink tummy's will be uncomfortable because she has to potty constantly.

Have fun :)

All I can say is that I had the same genius idea to drive at night to avoid fits/restlessness when we went on a roadtrip a year ago (with two young ones like yours). I figured that my husband and I might suffer some tiredness, but at least my kids would be blissfully unconscious. And surely that would make things easier, right?

Yeah. Right. Let me tell you that went REAL well.

You see I was under this ridiculous misconception that because it's dark out and the kids are tired, they will of course sleep like babies in their car seats. Heaven knows, they've fallen asleep in them before!

Well apparently, the sandman can't keep up with a vehicle traveling at interstate speeds because my kids did.not.sleep. And when one of them would finally (FINALLY!) fall asleep, the other one would make a noise and wake them right back up again.

You see, there's some sort of unspoken rule between children on roadtrips, and that is to never fall asleep at the same time. And should that rule be broken, there's always Murphy's Law that dictates you will run low on fuel (within five minutes of both kids nodding off) and have to pull into a gas station with flourescent lights bright enough to scorch your retinas and semi-trucks that screech and and hiss and squeal until they come to a final, shuddering halt right next to you. Not to mention Murphy's other law that will cause adults in the vehicle to have full bladders at the worst possible time. Every time.

So learn from my mistake. If you try and drive at night, your whole family will live to regret it....if you're lucky.

Hello,

My friend always drives at night so the kids can sleep and there is no fighting, screaming or crying. Also, they take turns driving so the other can sleep for awhile.

As for a place to stop and rest, get something to eat and stretch, we always stop in Bylthe CA. It is right after you cross the border. There is a McDonalds, Carls Jr., Burger King and I think a few other places.

During the day, you can also stop at Cabazon "not sure on the spelling" but this place has 2 dinosaurs that the kids can look at and one of them you can go in and there is also a Burger King right there too. It is after Palm Springs. It is a really cool site to look at.

If you have a Portable DVD player that may help entertain the kids if your driving during the day.

Have Fun, love Disneyland.

I haven't read all of the responses yet, so if someone else suggested this, sorry. We just got home from a LONG road trip with a 1 year old and 2.5 year old. Our 1 year old doesn't like sleep, especially in the car. For us, driving at night would be a miserable time ending with 4 very cranky people at Disneyland. If your oldest will sleep in the car, then try it, but my kids won't. As for where to stop, I do agree with those who said to make stops minimal. Our 2.5 year old figured out that if he told us he had to go potty, he could get out of the car for a while and run around. Unfortunately, that made the trip a lot longer and it seemed that every time we got our 1 year old out, it was harder to put her back in. The best leg of our trip was the last when I was sick so we were trying to get home as fast as possible. We stopped 3 times on the 9 hour drive (it would have been fewer times had I not needed to throw up). Our daughter cried, but got over it and our son went potty when we told him to.
For my son, we made a special treasure chest for the road by covering a shoe box with paper and filling it with cheap toys. Fortunately, we had a ton so he could get a present about every hour. I just gave him one every time I felt like it or he asked. That might work with your 3 year old. Make a big deal about it and let him help decorate it. As for the 1 year old, ours was happiest with our empty water bottles and the bag of toys that she could take out one toy at a time and throw it on the ground. Every time we stopped, I'd gather them back into the bag and start over again. Good luck on your trip and have fun!

You can stop in Palm Desert. It's still too hot for this, but if you go when it's cooler, they have a zoo there. There's also a tram ride or something up to the top of one of the mountains, something like that, I can't think of the name right now.

Also, my kids get antsy so we have a portable DVD player to keep them occupied (mine are a little older), and they watch movies or whatever.

When my oldest was 18 months old, we drove from FL to AZ. We had a ton of toys and just kept changing them out to keep him distracted from the fact that we were driving ten hours a day (with many stops too).

Is the car seat not comfortable, is that why your child doesn't like it or the fact the he/she is strapped in and can't move? Just wondering.

But I think if you can't stop, then try to have stuff to distract the kids from the fact that they're in a car for hours might help. Also having snacks on hand (I use that to keep mu two from fighting. If their hands and mouths are busy eating or drinking, then they're not screaming and hitting (or "bugging": "Mom, he's bugging me.") whatever.

Oh, when I was a kid we drovr down to Phoenix from Northern California a couple of times a year or so to visit family. W eusually left at 2 a.m. after my dad had taken a nap (it's a 10- to 12-hour drive). I did sleep usually since it was the middle of the night.

Also, one more thing, the first time we drove to Anaheim, my little guy had a meltdown when we got to So Cal (we got a little lost in the dark cuz of the construction and made a wrong turn). he love the baby Mozart video and I happened to have the audio CD of it and it calmed him down and he fell asleep. he was just a little tired.

Have fun and good luck!

There are rest stops along the way. Quartzite, great place to get gas. Blythe, Palm Springs or the Outlets (malls) to walk around a bit. That should be good for a couple of walk a little rest stops. Good luck and it is only about 6 hours. Shouldn't be too bad. Sit with your kids a bit and play games along the way.

Blythe (Lovekin) Blvd.

Instead of focusing on stopping, you could focus on making the car trip more fun. We got a DVD player for our minivan so our daughter (who hated being in the car until she was 4) would be distracted. I also brought along some new toys and her favorite foods. We drove to San Diego with no problem. On the way home she did get upset a few hours from home and eventually fell asleep for most the remainder of the trip. Hope you have a great time!

-Jen

Hi A.! I don't have any suggestions for places to stop but I just wanted to reassure you about the drive. Last month we did our first road trip to San Diego with a 9 month old and a 2 yr old. We were really nervous about the drive but it was such a good experience that we did it again for a long weekend later in the month! I second what everyone said about the DVD player. That's a must! We tried to go in the morning a few hours before nap. That way we drove for about 2 hours, fed the kids lunch, and then they napped in the car when we got back in. When they woke up my toddler watched a movie and at the end of it, we were at the hotel so for them the ride didn't seem very long. Snacks are a must! Also, anything new. If you can pick up new books or new car toys (my son loved his new Color Wonder markers and coloring book!) this will also pass time. Someone gave us the great idea of filling a small album with family photos. My son loved looking at all the photos of himself and this also passed 20 minutes or so in the car. Have fun!!!

My kids and I drove last week to Disneyland, and I think that it is best to just drive, drive, drive. Eat before you go, and plan on only 1 stop for lunch, then eat when you get there. If you keep stopping at rest stops to let them stretch, it just prolongs the trip. It is only a 6-ish hour drive. You will be fine with only one stop. It is worth it to just bring along a portable kids toilet, that way if you really need to stop to let the kids go to the bathroom, you can just pull off to the side of the road, or at any exit without it being a huge time-stealer.