Driving to Disneyland with Babies and Toddlers

Hi again! We covered flying with kids, so now we'll tackle the more daunting task of driving with kids. While Andrew and I definitely prefer flying, we also understand that it can get super pricey, especially if you have a big family. If driving just makes more sense for you and your family, we totally get it. We've made the trek from Utah to Anaheim more than once, so we have some wisdom to share there as well.

The trip from the Salt Lake area is about 680 miles, or about 10 hours if you drive without stopping. Which, let's be honest, is absolutely impossible when you have kids. The drive will end up taking anywhere from 12 to 14 hours, depending on how many stops you take. In other words, it's a long drive, and it can be exhausting. But it is also usually far less expensive than flying, so the trade-offs might be worth it.

If you have children that sleep just fine in the car, it might be worth looking into either leaving really early so they'll have a couple more hours of sleep during the first part of the drive, or leaving after bedtime and driving overnight in the hopes that your kids will get an okay night's sleep in the car. Our girls are not great car sleepers, so we like to give them a good night's sleep the night before we leave, otherwise they'll both be monsters the entire day.

I don't know how this was comfortable, but it worked for her.

My first piece of advice when driving long distances with small children: Snacks, snacks, and more snacks. This is not a time to worry overly about your child's nutrition. Bring your kids' favorite snacks, and maybe throw in some extra treats they don't get very often, and hand them out as needed to keep them happy. When we drove with both girls back in February, Goober had a constant supply of goldfish crackers, fruit snacks, fruit leather, chips, and so on. It may seem like an excessive amount of snacks, but it kept her happy and occupied, so it was necessary.

Piece of advice number two: Toys and activities. Lots of them. We packed a tote bag full of random toys and activities for Goober. We raided dollar stores and the dollar section at Target to find some new coloring books and little toys that wouldn't break the bank if they got lost or ruined. We also got her one bigger toy that we gave her for the first time in the car. This was all in addition to some of her favorite toys from home. Most of the smaller items didn't hold her attention for long, but there was always something else we could hand her. And don't discount random things from home that your toddlers like playing with; during our drive last May, Goober's favorite thing was Andrew's broken PlayStation controller. You never know what will hold their attention.

Number three: Bring that iPad (or other tablet)! I know that it's really important to watch your kids' screentime. I get it. But when you're on hour 10 of a 14-hour trek and your kid is screaming and no food or toy is helping, you're going to want the option to turn on their favorite movie, TV show, or app. Before our trips, we download shows from our DVR and movies from iTunes to the iPad. More often than not, we don't have to resort to the iPad until later in the drive when Goober is exhausted and sick of being strapped in a car seat. Watching a show was a great way to pull her attention away from her misery.

We let Goober climb around the car during one stop. She loved it.

When we last drove in February, Peanut was only five months old, so obviously none of the above items worked for her. Which actually made her fairly easy to deal with. We stopped every couple of hours to stretch our legs or get food or get gas, and we timed those stops with when Peanut needed to eat. But for the most part, she was content, which was nice.

One other thing we've done on occasion is stop in either Las Vegas or Mesquite for a night to break up the drive. Las Vegas is a little more expensive (even if you stay off the strip), but even the cheaper hotels are nicer. Mesquite has really cheap hotels (like $80 a night cheap), but there's a reason they're cheap. While it is nice to get out of the car and have that break, it does add the cost of an extra night at a hotel and another day of eating out. It also makes for two long travel days as opposed to one incredibly long day, so take that into consideration and consider how your littles will handle both situations. Our girls also seem to have this weird sixth sense when we're only going to be in a hotel for one night, and they both sleep like crap. Then magically they sleep better at our hotel in Anaheim. I don't understand it, but it has happened every time we've stopped for the night.

What good's staying in a hotel if you can't pull all the toilet paper off the roll?

The last important note I will make about driving to Anaheim is the Primm effect. Primm is this tiny town about 45 minutes outside of Vegas that only exists because it has a couple casinos, and the highway goes from four lanes down to two. It's also the border between California and Nevada so you have to go through the California checkpoint to say you don't have any fruits or vegetables. Even if the checkpoint isn't open, you still have to slow way down to go through it. If you hit Primm at the wrong time on the wrong day, you will be stuck in Primm for hours. When Andrew and I drove down with my parents in November of 2014, we were in nearly standstill traffic in Primm for two hours. It was ridiculous. You definitely want to pay attention to that when you're deciding to leave for this trip.

So why is Primm such a crazy traffic spot? Because Southern Californians love hanging out in Vegas. If you're traveling on a weekday, you're probably going to be fine. But if you're heading down to Anaheim on a Sunday, unless you can get through Primm before about 10 am, expect to hit traffic until about 6pm, as that is usually when Californians are heading home from Vegas. This also applies for Monday holidays. Just don't drive down on a holiday weekend. In 2014, we headed down the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It was awful. And when you head back north to Utah, just don't drive back on Friday if you can help it, since that's when everyone is heading out to Vegas. This might seem trivial, but seriously, the traffic gets awful. No sense adding 2-4 more hours onto an already long drive.

While driving to Disneyland can be daunting, it is absolutely doable, even with little ones. I mean, it's not exactly fun, but the actual travel part of traveling with little ones rarely is. But the destination makes the trouble worth it, right?

Flying with Toddlers

Hi everyone! This is Andrew. Thought I would give Lindy a break from writing all the posts. Today I'm going to cover some tips about flying with toddlers.

Mickey (or little Mickey as Goober calls him) was her travelling companion

First things first, flying with kids is by no means a walk in the park. It can be stressful and there is a lot more stuff you have to bring compared to flying by yourself, but it is hands down better than driving. We've done both and I'll take the added stress and cost of flying versus driving to California with two little ones. So with that said, here we go:

When booking your flights, you have to decide whether you want a separate seat for your little ones. When we flew with our girls, we had to get Goober her own seat as most airlines require kids two and up to be in a seat, which we were fine with because neither of us wanted to try and have her on our lap for two hours. Holding Peanut wasn't bad and we were able to hand her back and forth as our arms got tired and as she got tired of us. Depending on how big your kids are, you may need a booster seat for them. We got lucky because Goober is giant for her age.

Excuse me stewardess, I was supposed to have a window seat. And where are my peanuts?

How you choose to get to the airport is up to you. We drive ourselves and just park in the long term parking, mostly because it would be way too much hassle to have someone drop us off. So here is where the stress starts with travelling with toddlers. On our latest trip, we didn't want to have to bring the girls' car seats. We've done it before and it was horrible. So we end up putting the girls in our double stroller (which we'll cover in another post), and loaded ourselves down with our bags. The shuttle from parking to the terminal was kind of a pain because the double stroller is quite wide so a couple of times, we actually had to take the stroller off to let other people on and off the shuttle until we got to our terminal. The next time we go, we are going to try leaving the stroller collapsed, Lindy will take the girls and one bag, and I will be the pack mule carrying everything else.

Once you get to the ticket desk, you'll be able to off-load whatever bags you're checking, which will make security a little easier. At this point, we folded up the stroller, I took Goober and the carry-ons, and Lindy had the diaper bag and Peanut in a baby bjorn carrier. When you go through security with kids, they'll just have you go through the metal detector (which is nice because its a little faster). This is also why we didn't bother keeping the girls in the stroller because it has to go through the scanner anyway. If you are bringing an iPad or similar device, remember which bag you put it in so you don't have to search through all your carry-ons. Also, if you are bring ready-to-feed formula or breastmilk, you will have to remove them from your bags and put them in their own tub for scanning. More than likely, TSA will require additional screening of them. Basically they swab them and put them in another scanner. It can be a little time consuming, but there's no way around it. This is also why we only bring enough formula with us in our bag to get us through the day, plus maybe one extra bottle in case of flight delays (but we are DONE WITH FORMULA so this won't be an issue for us anymore, praise Jesus).

Once you finally get through security, you can put the kiddos back in the stroller to get to your gate. Once you get to your gate, ask the gate attendant for a gate check for your stroller. Affix that, and when you get to board, just fold up your stroller and leave it at the end of the jetway. There is no charge to check strollers or car seats, whether you're gate checking them or checking them at the ticket desk. Also checking something at the gate doesn't count against your allowed number of carry-ons. 

For me, after security, the rest of the trip is pretty easy and basically consists of keeping the kids occupied. Thankfully, if you're just flying from Utah, its only a two-hour flight. Bring electronic devices with favorite shows downloaded, make sure you've got kid games on your phone, lots of snacks, and maybe some new toys so hopefully they will keep the kids entertained longer. Then again, on our last trip, Goober fell asleep both on the way out and on the way back home, so we got lucky there.

Goober lost the fight about halfway through the flight

We discovered on our last trip the joy that is flying into Santa Ana airport in Orange County (aka John Wayne Airport). It's a smaller airport, so it's far less crowded and it's closer to Anaheim. It does cost a little more (anywhere from $50-$100 more per ticket), but the benefits are well worth it, especially when you consider that your shuttle will be cheaper and it's only about a twenty-minute drive versus the forty-five minutes to an hour it takes to get from LAX. It's also great coming back because the security lines are MUCH shorter and faster.

Now, we got to California, but alas, we don't have our car seats. This is where Payless Airport Shuttle comes in to whisk you away to the Magic Kingdom. For a small extra charge (I believe it is $10/carseat), Payless will provide car seats for the trip. Again, this is one of those small extra fees that we were more than willing to pay if it meant we didn't have to haul two car seats through the airport with us. Basically, when you arrive, you just call the shuttle and let them know you've arrived. They will generally tell you to call them again once you have your bags and are out at the curb. The drivers are generally very helpful and will load all your bags while you are getting the kids strapped in. The trip from Santa Ana airport to one of the hotels across the street from the Disneyland for the four of us and two car seats was $85 each way plus tip. Compare that with some other shuttle services from LAX, which run around $90-$100, and they don't offer car seats.

And that's it! Twenty minutes later you'll be at your hotel and ready to start your Disney adventure! Keep an eye out for a post about our tips for driving, since we know that's a popular option for families traveling from Utah.