So we're driving across country...

[Juvysen]

And by "we," I mean my 9 month old, 5 yr old, and my 3.5 year old (or at least that will be their ages when we do this in January) and my mom and I.  We're driving from our home in NY to Orlando FL... and then back a week later.  

So, since I have some time before this happens, I was hoping for ideas for keeping kids happy (especially the baby!) on a drive this long.  It will likely be two long days in the car.  Also, advice from others that have done this?

The older two kids ride fairly well.  Several times a year we take 6 hr trips to the coast or where ever, but i have no clue what to expect when it's two 12 hr days.

Anyway, ideas?

Also, anyone have non-disney-related ideas of things to do that aren't overly expensive in central florida?  We are going down there to visit my grandparents -my grandfather has been in mediocre health and my mom wants to check in with him, but they live in Tampa (which we realize is quite a ways away) but couldn't get a place to share within my mom's timeshare paradigm that was close to tampa in the timeframe we wanted.

[hopefulfaith]

Those miniature games at Target have been a big hit:  mini Lite Brites, magnet/Colorform boards, etc.

Also, I have a stash of all-new stuff that the kids have never seen before that I whip out when it's time to travel:  new crayons for everyone, new and cool paper, new coloring books, new books to read.....  It doesn't cost a lot to have a couple of hours of relative peace and calm because everyone's engrossed in brand new, exciting stuff.

I bring along books-on-tape for the kids and a portable cassette player ---- we own quite a few, but you can borrow a bunch from the library.  They still sell portable cassette players at KMart, fwiw.  Books on CD are also nice; I can play those in the car player.

Snacks.

Frequent rest breaks (never more than 2 hours).

Silly exercise when you do stop:  Hey, everyone!  Let's all do 15 jumping jacks in the rest stop parking lot!  ((..my kids love this))

[mamatoablessing]

Any chance you can travel at night?  DH and I will switch off drivers throughout the night so the kids sleep through the majority of the trip.  From NY to Orlando is longer than we're used to (10 hours) but would still help.  Also, the DVD player is a life saver.

As for things to do in/near Orlando:

St. Augutine (nation's oldest city - great attractions and kids activities) - 1 1/2 hours NE of Orlando

Space Coast (home to Kennedy Space Center, nice beaches and other fun kid's stuff) - 35 miles east

Gatorland (alligator park/zoo) - Orlando

Green Meadows Farms (petting zoo, hey rides, etc.) - Orlando

Blue Springs State Park (known for being a manatee refuge and home to many - great wildlife viewing) - 30 miles E of Orlando

Orlando Science Center (hands-on type museum) - Orlando

Good luck!

[thedenverduo]

We went on a 58 hour road trip when my ds had just turned one.  A month or two ahead of time I started putting  a lot of his toys/books in a bag in my closet.  Then I took that bag in the car with us.  It was full of toys that he hadn't seen in at least a month and were "new" to him and kept him occupied very well.  I also made it a point to go in to a sit down restaurant for lunch every day.  That hour out of the car to just eat and move around helped A LOT.  We didn't drive through the night because I didn't want to be tired during the day and dealing with a restless baby.  However, we did drive until 10 or 11 each night, got to the hotel and just crashed.  My ds fell asleep at 7ish so then we had a good 3 or 4 hours of driving that he was asleep for.  I wanted to swim at the hotel pool or watch tv or whatever when we got in, but a couple hours of driving with the baby asleep was way better than a couple hours putzing around the hotel.

Hope this helps, especially with the baby!

[Juvysen]

My mom suggested we pack lunches and try and stop at a green kind of area (a park, or a rest area that has picnic tables) for lunches and let the kids run.  We've done the sit-down restaurant before, and they do like restaurants, but it's just more sitting for them, so I'm leaning toward picnics... if it's nice enough for picnics.  LOL

We don't eat fast food ( except, like, moes or panera - that are more kind of whole/organic/whatever) so fast food on the road isn't easy for us and we often opt for sit-down restaurants...

Putting away toys for a couple months is an awesome idea, though... maybe I can hide some of their christmas gifts after the first couple days so they have those on the trip... hmm.

[Red Pajama]

We traveled across the country for a summer camping trip with 4.5 year old twins and an 20 month old.

No movies for us, but we did a lot of books/silly songs on CD. If your kids are not yet familiar with the pooh stories, the origional stories on CD are great.  We loved them.

The kids had magna doodles. We bought binoculars for the older two. They had "lap toys"-- small things, that they liked.  We had chennille (sp) sticks (pipe cleaners) that I handed to them to create different things.

We also checked out "I spy" books from the library.

We stopped every few hours to streach their legs, and would often stop at places and rest stops that had kid playgrounds or walking trails. That might not work so well in the winter.  We packed a cooler and dry goods box and created meals and snacks on the run. 

Good luck on your trip.