ROAD TRIP!

One of the advantages to living in the South is our proximity to Walt Disney World. A 40-minute flight or a 7-hour drive takes us from Atlanta to the magic.

Coupling my husband's fear of flying with my strong desire NOT to wrestle a wriggly 30-pound toddler through security and onto an airplane led us to road trip to and from this year's vacation.

Some things to be aware of and be prepared for:

1. Break it up, if you dare - we chose to leave mid-afternoon on Saturday and stay overnight in Valdosta, Georgia, about 3.5 hours from home. Of couse, everything takes longer with a toddler, and traffic caused by an accident, and stopping for gas. But we made it to our destination, checked into the hotel, had dinner and bunked for the night. If you're driving this route, the Drury Inn and Suites in Valdosta has a sketchy clientele but the rooms are large and clean.

2. Be prepared - I made sure that I had plenty of snacks, iPad downloads, toys and other stuff to keep the toddler entertained. And although I started the trip in the front seat with my husband, I ended up in the back, keeping the kiddo entertained. Sure, he got antsy - but I"m sure he was just as bored as we were.

3. Your room won't be ready - ours wasn't, despite doing online check in. But Disney was kind enough to send us a text when our room was available. Funnily enough, if we had hung out in the lobby for about 45 minutes, we could have saved ourselves a lot of hassle. Instead, we went to the Magic Kingdom and had some fun.

Of course, it is possible to drive straight through from Atlanta to Disney. The issue I have is that unless you leave at zero dark thirty, you won't get to your destination until almost bedtime. So you've spent an entire day in transit. The 'break it up' formula worked for us on this trip, and I think we'll try it again in February.