mishy274

Hi,
My husband and I (along with 2 kids under 5) are planning to head from Australia to Orlando (to do Disney etc) towards the end of August/beginning of September 2016, and have been thinking about doing a road trip to see some parts of the US we haven't been to before.

We don't have a specific amount of time to fit into but are thinking around 3 weeks for the road trip and time in Orlando.

So far I have come up with the following basic itinerary:
Day 1 fly into Oklahoma
day 2 Oklahoma
Day 3 leave Oklahoma in morning, arrive Dallas at lunch (just over 3 hour drive)
Day 4 leave Dallas at lunch, arrive Houston in afternoon (3 hour 30 min drive)
Day 5 Houston
Day 6 leave Houston in morning, arrive New Orleans in afternoon (just over 5 hour drive)
Day 7 &8 New Orleans
Day 9 leave New Orleans in morning, arrive Pensacola after lunch (3 hour drive)
Day 10 leave Pensacola at lunch, arrive Tallahassee in afternoon (just under 3 hour drive)
Day 11 leave Tallahassee in morning, arrive Orlando in afternoon (3 hour 45 min drive)
Day 12-18 Orlando
Day 19 leave Orlando to fly home
*not much time in Dallas as my husband doesn't think there's much there... do you think we should allow another day?


I am mostly looking for advice about:
-things to see and do, especially kid friendly things
-whether you think this is enough time
-whether you think I've missed out on somewhere we definitely should go (or somewhere we should avoid)
-any other tips (eg where to eat, stay etc in each of our major stops)

{Also, obviously during our drives we may want or need to stop and I know therefore the travel time will increase. Would love to hear suggestions about must-sees along the way!}

I realise some people may think its crazy to do a road trip, through the south, in summer, with little kids... but I really want to experience some new things and late august/september 2016 is the time we have to do it!

Thank you so much for your help!

Michelle

nytraveler

Have you alrdeay done road trips with kids this young. All I can see is a couple or really hot and cranky little kids that want nothing more than to sit in a nice pool and the have a nap.

Have no idea what you are doing in Oklahoma.

If it were me I would just do NO (hot and humid as hell in summer - but at least there are some kid friendly things to do for 3 or 4 days), then pick up a car and head to Orlando slowing down to allow for the realities for little kids.

DebitNM

Why dont you do DisneyLAND instead of DisneyWorld and spend your road trip in California or head up the coast to Seattle and go home from there??

Way more stuff for kids and the weather will be ideal.

I wouldn't do your itinerary without kids, let a lone with 2 under 5. That is some hot, boring for kids [and adults] drive.

doug_stallings

I would personally begin my travels in Dallas, making a detour to Austin (or simply begin in Austin), and then on to Houston and the rest of your vacation. I'd skip Oklahoma entirely. You'll have many more choices of flights if you fly into DFW, and you just won't be missing that much.

FYI: You'll need to rent a tollpass at a huge markup of around $10 per day if you do much driving in Dallas and other places in Texas or Orlando (and potentially other places). Sadly, our toll systems aren't consistently compatible nationwide.

You can purchase a window sticker tollpass for Orlando rather cheaply by mail, but I'm not sure about Texas. It may be cheaper to buy these in advance of your trip than rent them from the car rental company.

Bitter

where in Oklahoma

OO

I think Debit has a terrific idea, unless for some reason you are just married to the TX/LA/FL trip. Temperatures in TX that time of year range from 36° to 38/9°C. It's not quite that hot in Orlando, maybe 30-32° C, but the humidity is sky high, with almost daily, albeit brief, afternoon thunderstorms. The sun shines again immediately after, making for even greater humidity! As unlikely as it is that this would ever happen exactly while you are in FL, that is also the time of year hurricane season begins to kick into full gear. Again, it's highly unlikely it would interrupt your trip.

If you are married to that location, I agree with Doug about skipping OK, and instead flying into Dallas. Airfare will be far more reasonable, and I just don't know what you'd do in OK. If you spend any time in Dallas, it does have a fantastic aquarium downtown. There's more to do for kids in Dallas than Houston IMHO, but then I lived in one and not the other, so take that with a grain of salt.

I"d skip Tallahassee too, instead dropping down to the FL Panhandle and their beaches, which are some of the prettiest beaches in FL. It will be hot of course, but it is slightly cooler near the eater than it is inland. The sand is white as snow, water usually very clear (unless there has been a storm), and tourquoise...more like the Carribean than any other section of FL. I'd avoid Panama City Beach, but the other to the west are all gorgeous. Warning...that is also high season for those beaches when everyone else wants to be there, so you should have reservations ahead of time. Spend a day or so there instead of Houston..more fun for your children's ages.

Have to run. If something occurs to me in the interim I'll. be back. No time to proofread even so hope this all makes sense!

BigRuss

Why in the heck would you start in Oklahoma considering there is a DIRECT FLIGHT from Sydney to DFW?

There's far more in Dallas than in Oklahoma City. There's more in Dallas than Houston for the wee ones too. And driving around Houston is a fresh kind of hell that sane people avoid unless it's absolutely necessary.

I wouldn't do the Dallas-Orlando roadie part of this itinerary with small hobbits. Good gosh, talk about cranky little buggers. That's a heck of a forced march for the tackers.

You don't need a tolltag for Dallas, you just need to avoid using the North Dallas Tollway, the George Bush Turnpike and the parts of I-635 that require a toll (the express lanes).

Note today is September 2 and it will be 95F/35C in Dallas. Sunday will be 99F/38+C. And this is cooler than it was last week or the week before. These temperatures are NORMAL for Dallas.

longhorn55

I've driven almost all of these routes (Oklahoma City - Dallas, Dallas - Houston, Houston - New Orleans, New Orleans - Pensacola) at one time or another and they aren't scenic or enjoyable to drive--especially with two little ones in the back seat. You aren't giving yourself enough time in most locations to see/do anything of interest, even just the things the kiddos would enjoy (which is probably just going swimming or to a playground). And, as BigRuss has mentioned, it's going to be hot as hell along that entire route in late August/early September.

While in Houston, you could go to Galveston for the day--not a beach comparable to those in Australia, but the kids will just enjoy being in the water I imagine.

And while Austin is a great town, its attractions are geared toward grownups, not 5-year-olds. I'd skip it.

volcanogirl

Houston has a fantastic children's museum. I'd recommend doing that. You could also go down to NASA Space Center Houston; they have a whole area for kids. While you're down there, you could go to the Kemah Boardwalk, eat on the water, and they have tons of rides for children. The Houston Zoo is also really nice. The Museum of Natural Science has one of those rain forest pyramids with butterflies. If you make it to Galveston, definitely check out Moody Gardens - it's really fantastic with tons of things for children to do - aquarium, rainforest pyramid; they also have a white sand beach. Schlitterbahn Galveston is another option. September would be better; that's when the temperatures start to cool down.

NewbE

I can't imagine anyone beginning a vacation in Oklahoma of their own free will. Skip that, and skip Tallahassee.

volcanogirl

Agree, skip Oklahoma unless there's something you have your heart set on seeing there.

Bitter

"I can't imagine anyone beginning a vacation in Oklahoma of their own free will."

I have enjoyed a couple trips to OKC

doug_stallings

Knocking Oklahoma just because it's Oklahoma isn't very useful to the OP or anyone. I actually think there's a lot to interest a family there and plenty of attractions to keep them busy more days than they have, but it seems entirely inconvenient to connect there after a long flight from Australia, especially when there are so many other interesting things to see in Texas and along the Gulf Coast.

But Oklahoma is not by any means flyover country for tourists. There's native American heritage, cowboy heritage, beautiful scenery, and other interesting things to see. Even plenty of decent steaks, hamburgers, and barbecue to eat. I may not like the politics there, but it's an interesting place to go, and I've spent a lot of time exploring all the way out to the panhandle.

If going to Oklahoma, I might suggest Tulsa over OKC, but that's probably because I'm more familiar with the area and have more ties there. (There's an interesting Frank Lloyd Wright building in Bartlesville, not far from Tulsa.) And Tulsa doesn't put you much further from Dallas than OKC.

I suggested Austin as an alternative, but I get why some people might not think it's as attractive for a family. Maybe New Braunfels would be a better destination for a family, but perhaps not worth the extra hours of driving when the time might better be used in Galveston.

mishy274

Thanks everyone for your feedback and suggestions, you've given me a lot to think about!

My kids are generally good travellers, but one of my main worries (which a few of you have touched on) is that there's not going to be much along the way that will interest them.
I do like the suggestion about doing Disneyland instead of Disneyworld, but having already done LA/Hollywood/Disneyland etc on a previous trip, I really have my heart set on going to Orlando this time around.

I think based on all your info I may be better off rethinking the roadtrip. Another suggestion someone gave me today was to travel down the east coast (say from Washington D.C. down to Orlando) so I may have to look into that!

Thanks again all!

doug_stallings

I would have to say that if you have 10 days, flying into either NYC or DC would give you many more interesting options for stops along the way with fewer bursts of driving---DC especially so. You could probably do the trip in spurts of less than 3 hours or do longer half-days with several 2-day stops (I tend to find that a more restful way to travel). There are also some decent beaches on the way down to Florida from there, so you could divide your time between history and other attractions and beach time.

If you do this, I'd definitely save a bit of time for Colonial Williamsburg and Charleston or Savannah.

But it's not as if you couldn't make Oklahoma or Texas to Orlando a great trip for the kids. There are a lot of interesting things to do along the way.

NewbE

I like this idea much better than your original road trip. There is a lot more of interest down the east coast from DC to Orlando, without such extremely long distances in between.

HeaAndrews

Having lived on both the east coast and now currently in TX, an east coast road trip will be MUCH more enjoyable. You could either take I-95 (more traffic but more beaches) and see DC, NC outerbanks, Charleston, Savannah and Cocoa Beach or do I-85 to I-75 and see the Shenandoah valley, Smokey Mountains/Blue Ridge (gorgeous weather in the summer), and Atlanta. Given that you have 10 days, I would be tempted to try and work in a bit of both Mountains and beaches. Fly to DC and drive down through Virginia into NC on the Western side, then make your way to Charleston and down through Savannah. There are so many things for little ones to do in those places, I would almost separate the post out to those separate forums. You could also very feasibly limit the drive to 4 to 6 hours per day that way.