Suggestions Needed - Fly vs Driving and Looking for a Driving Planning Site

It will be quite a bit cheaper to drive... you have to buy airfare x3 people.. + rent a car car seats...

driving will save you money even considering that you will have to pay for gas..

I have driven at least once a year (alone) to PA (approx 10 hr drive) with 3 kids. Its fun. lol

My suggestion would be to start EARLY!!! Or drive over night. The kids sleep in the van most of the time that way and then you stop early afternoon to sleep and have the passenger adult supervise the kids in the pool area. Plan on stopping at a mall. Not to buy stuff but to let the kids play in the play area.

Pack games and toys. It will be easier since you will have 2 drivers and extra hands to deal with the tragedys of traveling. Try to time it so you are not stopping all the time But do stop for meals and let the kids run for a bit.

Good luck and have fun!!

We drove to Florida with our 1 and 2 year olds (at the time). I really liked driving because I could pack everything and anything I wanted for the kids and we could have our own vehicle when down there. We left around 5pm and drove through the night. That actually worked very well. The kids stuck to their exact night and naptime schedule. As long as you are up for the drive, I think you would be fine and it is worth it.

Drive! We live in Michigan and drive to Florida with the kids often! We leave in the evening and my husband and I take turns driving through the night. That way the kids are sleeping the whole time. However we have also stopped over in a hotel. We like driving through the night best! Have fun!

as a mom of young twins - if you can fly --FLY!!

First of all, most airlines do not charge a luggage fee for the car seats and strollers. (they wrap them in plastic) So those are free.

additionally, its LONG haul to Florida. I have made the trip many many times, and its tiring, and cuts into the time you have available to actually be there. Kids get whiny....and louder, and its hard for them to be in a car for 22-24 hours, even if you break the trip in to 2 days.

The cost of all the extras, gas, meals and snacks, & Drinks and motel adds up over the course of the trip more than you think. Also bathroom stops can be tricky. (FYI: Wendys almost never has a changing station, McDonalds usually does)

Look for good airline specials; Good tickets are out there if you plan ahead. Spiritair.com and expedia.com are good resources.

Basically, its going to be hard enough on a 3 hour flight with the kids.

My 2 cents: Do all of yourselves a favor and keep it short and enjoy your vacation.

Good luck!

I would definitely drive. Allow for frequent stops. Put together surprise boxes for each child and dole out things to play with ever so often. Have plenty of snacks. Some people drive through the night when the children sleep. We personally never did that with our four kids. If you have a portable dvd player or computer for the two older ones to watch movies will help. You and your mom may have to take turns driving and sitting back with the children from time to time. Flying limits you to one suitcase a piece. You can take car seats as one of your checked luggage or pay extra for the second piece of luggage. But bear in mind that a stroller would be helpful and you actually need 3 car seats. It is doable by car with a little extra planning. You might want to add an extra hotel night going and coming to make the trip more pleasant. Have fun.

I have two kids (now almost 6 and 3) and all of our family is at least 12 hrs away so we've had this dilemma a couple of time a year. We prefer to drive, and just made an 18 hr each way drive a couple of weeks ago. One of my best recommendations is to rent or buy a couple of new movies for the kids (Red Box is great because they are a dollar a day and you can return them at any red box throughtout the country) and bring food for them to eat. We try to make our stops at malls, Targets, Wal-Marts, etc, so that they are eating while in the car and then they can run around and play for a little while when we need gas or a rest stop. Most good Atlases will list malls and parks in major cities, and they are a good resource to check into. As for spending the night, we prefer to stop for a night on the way down if its going to be more than 12 hrs to get there, then power through and get home in one shot on the way back, because by the end of the trip, we all just want to go home. I hope you have a great trip! Good Luck!
C.

We have may long car trips many times over the years rather than flying due to costs. Only once did we rent a car and that was because we would be putting 5000 miles on the car and wanted to spare ours. The biggest issue is keeping kids entertained in the car. We like to drive when they are more likely to sleep. I would often sit in the back of the car too rather than in the front with my husband to keep the kids entertained. Nothing more stressful on the driver than having upset kids. Remember to stop and let them stretch. We always stayed in hotel at night to give the kids and us a break. There is a magazine called Family Fun that has a travel section I have always found helpful. We look at the areas we will be driving through and find a place that would be good to stop for an hour or so to give everyone a break and do something "fun". They have a web site so you might get ideas there. Keep in mind if you decide to fly most air lines are now charging fee's for everything. I was never able to travel light with kids and the last time I flew I had to pay for each suitcase and by weight. Plus once you get there you will have your car and won't need a rental. Trust me - it won't be an easy trip. Even with my kids older now they still complain in the car - but when I ask they say they would rather drive than fly. Buy or come up with new activities for your kids to do in the car now and don't let them have them. For example, I get books, magazines, new dvd's and games for them but they don't get them until we are in the car traveling. Something new is more entertaining than the same old toy they can play with anywhere. They are a little young but we always do the Alphabet game, car bingo, etc... Good luck

We took our kids to Florida last summer and we flew. My daughter was 4 1/2 and my son was 2. They did awesome! On the way down I brought my laptop with a new movie for them to watch. I also had a bag with new books, coloring books, crayons etc. to keep them entertained. On the way back we wore them out the day before so they slept most of the flight back. To me it was easier then driving and my kids are use to road trips.

Hope that helps.

Good Luck!!

Tyra, drive!! you will have much more money for vacation if you drive. That and you can plan your stops and entertain your kids. We just do a google map. We have gone every year around valentines day for about the last 6 years. We have a binder with our maps etc. Our kids are older so we plan to drive for about 15 hours then stay overnight at a hotel. We are into georgia by that point. We leave early morning and are done by about 8 p.m. Then up early and to our timeshare by 3. It usually costs us about 300 for gas. There is an Aldi's market on orange blossom drive. If you are planning to do any of the parks, I would think again due to the age of your children. We took young grandkids and it wasn't pretty by the afternoon. Gatorland is only about a half day thing and you can get tickets around 17 dollars for adults. The little ones enjoyed the pool and beach WAYYYYYY more. Hope you enjoy your trip. L.

Someone recommended the TRAIN to me this week, something I haven't considered, but it made sense. Kids can move around, they're not confined like they are in a plane or car, you can get a "sleeper" if you want, Mom doesn't have to drive etc etc etc. You might check Amtrack prices

FLY!
We are currently in CHina for my husbands work, and I have flown with my daughter who's almost 3) by myself, and driven from Oh to MI this summer when I was visiting family. THo she did a lot better in the car then I expected, next time, we'll be flying.

It's quicker, and if complications do arise, there's the portable dvd player (never leave home w/o it) and get up and walk around w/ the kids as soon as the seat belt sign indicates.

She loved to look out the window, and see the clouds just like Tinker bell and peter pan, etc etc.

We have done the trip both ways and it worked out fine every time. I make decisions like this based on how I think my kids will handle it because I want to be able to enjoy myself.

If you do drive and have AAA, get a trip tik. It will have detailed directions and maps, construction info, and warnings where traffic is heavy due to rush hour.

There is also a book called Along Interstate 75: Local Knowledge for I-75 Travellers Between Detroit and the Florida Border (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Along-Interstate-75/Dave...) It's set up similar to the trip tik, but it lists all kinds of other info. When we used it 5 years ago, it had info about speed traps, local history, good restaurants for familes, local places to stop for breaks, local sights to see, etc. It's not free but it is definitely worth the money.

Fly - it's worth the extra expense.

When my son was about 6 months, we flew from MI to Florida and had a great time, so I recommend it to everyone!

Now that he's 18-months- we have a hard time taking a 3 hour trip between all the bathroom breaks and food breaks and the "why is he upset/what's wrong" stops.

When we fly, it's so much easier - they even let us take our stroller through the checkpoints and on the plane.

Security's a bit of a pain, but once you make it through, you know your next stop is the destination or the connector to the destination.

The only other thing is that when we rented our car, the car seat wasn't installed, so we had to find the car and spend time installing the car seat before we could leave the parking lot.

If you are going to drive, then I would plan for at least a couple of days on the road / hotel stays each way because nothing will go as you plan.

Hey Tyra,

You have many responses but I thought I would add just a bit. Flying would be easier, but probably more expensive. You just have to decide how much your time is worth:)

We moved from Oregon to Michigan this past summer and had to drive our two vehicles out. We had to do the trip in four days with a 1 year old. He actually did pretty well, we kept the trips to about 7 hours a day, but could probably have done longer if we had started very early in the morning and just transferred him into his carseat. If you drive, I would absolutely recommend AAA. We have a membership and one of the perks is free maps and trip planning. They literally had an agent put together a cross country map for us with our route highlighted and personal notes along the way. It came in one little ringed packet and was AMAZING. Not only did it show us the best route with explicit directions, but it also listed hotels in each destination city. The service is free with membership- it's called Triptik. You also get the benefit of roadside assistance, hotel reservation assistance, and discounts. Good luck!

Sounds like driving might be your best bet. When we drove from MI to FL we left after dinner and drove thru the night. Then we didn't need to deal with a hotel and our son slept for nearly half the drive (over night). When flying there are some things to consider: you need to think about dragging your entourage through the airport, airport parking, new baggage restrictions/weight restrictions, dragging your entourage to the rental car pick-up with baggage in tow too... When you drive, you don't need to worry about all that stuff. At the time we only had 1 child, but it worked well for us. As far as the mapping goes... Google Maps is pretty good and you can even add in stops along the way if you want to do some sight-seeing, etc. The other option is to pick up a GPS, you can get them for around $150 now (after trying many models, I prefer Garmin)... Then you have it for your entire trip, and when you get home (very handy for finding attractions, hotels, resteraunts, etc.).

We flew to DC in July with a 6 year old (cognitive impaired so more like 3yrold) and 1.5 year old. We chose to put the 1.5year old in our laps. Keep in mind some planes are only 2 seats by 2 seats. Are you ok with one of your kids sitting by themselves? If not make sure the plane is big enough to accomodate. Also, you can bring carseats as gate checked items. They don't count toward your checked/carry on baggage but you do have to carry them through the airport. And are you pretty good at getting carseats in a rental? Our rental did not have latch loops, just ratcheting seatbelts.

I'd say it was a toss up - I hated the urgency of flying - having to be there at a certain time, wrangling the kids, going through security (all of you have to take your shoes off kids too), checking luggage (we had a suitcase have to be opened by security), the time it took to get the carseats in the rental - but loved that it was so much less time to travel. We tried to drive to DC 6 months prior to that and ended up in Pittsburgh with the flu. Never made it to DC. If we had flown we would've gotten there and then got sick!

We used to drive there with my mom, my 5 brothers and 2 sisters all in one car, fun!

I would suggest, make a few copies of mapquest. they make the highway signs on the side, and it makes it easier to tell which way to vear towards....

I travel a lot and I stop every hour for 5 minutes.

Hi Tyra,

I was surprised to read your post because I have been thinking about the same dilema for mysself. I would like to go to Florida this winter/spring with my 3 kids. They will be 4 1/2, 3, and 1 1/2 at that time. I flew with my older two and it was really tough. I know a lot of people have had really good experiences flying but mine was not. At one point both of my girls were crying - it was a horrible feeling to not be able to console them and to get looks from other passengers. At another time we had to get off the plane for a layover and they were both sleeping. I could not carry both of them and our bags - it was stressful. Oh and trying to fit all of us in the lavatory - tricky.

I'm thinking about driving and doing what a lot of other people have suggested and drive over night. (I still need to find someone to ride down with me because my husband can't go and I really don't think I want to do it alone.) We have not gone on many road trips so I think it would be tough but I feel like we'd have more flexibility in the car - easier to go potty, get meals, etc. on our own schedule. I wish you the best in whatever you decide to do. It sure will be a great time to get some much needed sun. Good luck!

Sherry.

It's not the dilemma you think. But I empathize. Is your mom going to make the trip with you? I mean if she is inviting you to tag along, she could help. Somehow. If you choose to fly, she could help managing the kids. If you drive she could help with the driving.

I'll hate myself for saying it, but I'd drive. As long as you've already got the wheels, car seat, etc, why rent another? The DVD will have diversionary benefits. If you don't have issues with driving just an hour, like me, why not split the driving. Alternatively, there's the fun of a train ride.

Just as an FYI: you can check all car seats at the airport for free, so you don't have to rent them. you can also check a stroller at the gate for free. Pack n plays can also be checked at the gate for free. each kid can have a carry on, like a small backpack, with toys crafts and snacks. you can also carry a diaper bag in addition to your own carry on and purse. I know it sounds like a ton of stuff to lug around but I just wanted you to know. I just did the trip with my 18 month old and it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected, but I wasn't taking 3! LOL Good luck

No one has mentioned music!? Buy new sing-along CDs or upload them to the IPod from the library. My 4yo & I just flew West (9 hrs total w/layovers) and my hubby uploaded 2 Dora episodes on the IPod before we left and the battery lasted for the whole trip! (Might be more difficult w/more than 1 kid, but the music was what I started with!) We also drive to the UP 10 hours a couple of times a year. Taking a break every few hours helps.
Good luck, have fun!

Tyra ~
I would think that driving is probably the easiest...no running around at the airport! We've flown with just adults, and it can be stressfull.
You can get a map at randmcnally.com The times they give are driving the exact speed limit and don't accomodate rest stops, but other than that, they are very accurate. You can even buy one of their map books either online or at the store, and the maps will give the page number in the book to make it easier.
You can go to tripadvisor.com to find hotel reviews, and any other reviews you need.
We've stayed at a Hampton Inn outside of Atlanta (just before) that's right on I75. They are priced reasonable, they're clean and have a free continental breakfast. Any meal you don't have to pay for is good! You can find them online and book ahead of time.
I would pack a cooler with juices/waters, some snacks, etc. The DVD player will help alot. You'd be surprised how well kids will do in the car. We just drove down to Virginia in the spring and my grandsons & their cousin came with us and they were great (ages 6 1/2 & 2). I would stop every couple hours just to let them out to run around.
Good luck, and have a safe trip!
D.