Did you know that 70% of people drive to Disney World? Today I have road trip tips to make the drive go more smoothly.
I also have recent news and a quick tip to allow you to enjoy a piece of Disney World at home.
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Road trip tips
Some ideas to make road trips go more smoothly:
- Play games - take trivia cards, book of questions (or 1 of many question apps), play the alphabet game, do Mad Libs
- Make a road trip playlist and take turns being in charge of the auxiliary cord
- Plan stops along the way using apps/websites like Roadside America (available for iOS) or Roadtrippers (available for iOS and Android)
- Make the car homey by bringing trash bags, pillows, and snacks
- Use the Waze app (available for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone) to check for traffic issues (and passengers can stay entertained by recording things in the app along the way to accrue points)
- Plan for the nighttime hours with book lights, glow sticks, etc.
- Bring DVDs of old sitcoms younger people may have recently started watching
- Encourage good behavior for kids by using clips that can lead to treats at rest stops or gifts that you've brought with you
News
- DisneyQuest in Downtown Disney is closing in early 2016.
- July 30 is rumored to be the date that premium events for Food and Wine Festival will be open to book.
- Magic of Animation building at Hollywood Studios is closing on July 12.
- A temporary Frozen boutique is coming to Hollywood Studios in mid-July and will be there through September 7.
Quick tip of the day
Although Animation Academy at Hollywood Studios is closing, you can learn to draw characters at home using YouTube videos that are hosted by Animation Academy artists.
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To add onto your suggestion about the buying the old TV show box sets of DVDs is to check out your local library because they have a lot of the older ones. The best thing is…they’re FREE! Same with audiobooks if you can find one for the entire family.
Watching a new/ old Disney movie can be fun to introduce kids to charcaters they may not know yet. (Marie, Mary Poppins, Arthur for the sword in front of the Carousel. )
Do you know if the Frozen Boutique will offer reservations, and if so, when they will open up? We are skipping BBB, but I’d consider the Frozen one. Thanks!
Just googled our trip because we plan on driving–quick tip–have cash or card ready for tolls!!! i would have never thought to add that into the budget.
Does anyone know how much the tolls are/how much to budget for tolls?
Leanne, we just went in June (taking I-75 from Atlanta) and we had two tolls. Florida Turnpike was $3.00 and FL-429 was $1.50. So round trip was $9 for us. However, while driving around Orlando to do some shopping I missed my turn and ended up on a toll rode so we actually spent more. 🙂 I always get about $15 or $20 in ones and quarters from the bank and put it in the console of the car so it’s handy for tolls (it’s quicker if you have correct change). Of course, you might need more depending on where you are located.
Whoops……meant “toll road”.
The best tip I can give to anyone traveling with a toddler is to make a travel magnetic board. It kept my 1 1/2 year old entertained for at least an hour at a time on our last Disney trip. You can buy small magnetic boards at any craft store and they also sell small wooden animals that you can hot glue a magnet to so that your little one can create little scenes or name their animals, cars, etc. It worked out so well for us!
My family travels a lot as well. We take 10 to 20 hour road trips at least twice a year. It takes us 15 hours to get to Disney. My kids LOVE our road trips. I have been planning car activities since they were little. I wanted to comment on road trips for teens. There are a lot of ideas for planning games and activities for young ones. However, there is very little for teens. Here are some fun things I did this spring for our 18 hour trip to snow ski: 1. Instagram scavenger hunt – I gave each teen a list of items they had to find on the road. The kids would take pics and upload them to Instagram using a hashtag we made for the trip. The items were worth different point values. For example, something easy like a Whataburger was 5 points while a more difficult photo like an RV pulling a car/truck pulling a boat was worth 20 points. We added up the points at the end of the game, and the winner received a $25 gift card. 2. Mission Survive Road Trip – I created a series of videos that had challenges on them. Each video was linked to a QR code. The kids had to scan the QR code to get the video. The video gave them challenges like get a radio to broadcast you on the air. The person that completed the most challenges got a gift card.
I just found a need to step up my road trip game once my kids became teenagers. I thought I would share. Thanks for all of your wonderful planning advice!
You are a rockstar! Those games sound so fun (for adults, too, haha)
One of our favorite road trip games is “guess the character”. Essentially it is 20 questions with Disney characters. I know you were trying not to use electronics in your discussion, but another option is a Disney movie marathon. When driving to Disney (or in the weeks leading up to a trip) we like to watch Disney movies that have references in the park. Thanks for another great podcast topic 😉
When is Animation Academy closing?
July 12.