4 Kids and 10 days in the USA

[Princess Fiona]

Thoroughly enjoyed your TR, extremely cute and by the sounds of it well-behaved kids.
Did you stop at Peggy Sue's diner on the way to Vegas?

 

[Atleastonce]

Disregard my previous directions to food for less. Did not realize the TR was not live.

 

[harvyk]

Griffith Observatory - OK, so we're only here because it's been in many a movie and a star trek episode, but it was interesting none the less.


A very fitting sign for our last day


Mmm Ice Cream

 

[harvyk]

Mmm More Ice Cream


We seemed to have picked up an extra bag along the way.



Ready for their first A380 flight

 

[Mark3000]

harvyk, you are an inspiration. We've been too scared to take our little kids on flights longer than 8 hours, but you make it sound manageable even with more kids.
Maybe it is time to take the plunge and take them to Disneyland. We will see how they go in Thailand first. If they pass that test, maybe USA next year
Thanks for a great report

 

[harvyk]

Thoroughly enjoyed your TR, extremely cute and by the sounds of it well-behaved kids.
Did you stop at Peggy Sue's diner on the way to Vegas?

Saw the sign, but didn't stop.

 

[harvyk]

harvyk, you are an inspiration. We've been too scared to take our little kids on flights longer than 8 hours, but you make it sound manageable even with more kids.
Maybe it is time to take the plunge and take them to Disneyland. We will see how they go in Thailand first. If they pass that test, maybe USA next year
Thanks for a great report

Preparation was the key, we simply made sure that they had games / toys / favourite snacks (so muesli bars / cruskits / biscuits), plus of course AVOD. We also brought along their blankets and dolls and pretty much let them set the pace on the flights (we didn't force them to sleep, we simply let them sleep when ready).
Having great cabin crew both ways also helped.

 

[Austff]

Great trip report , reading this has made my day a lot more pleasant after a tough morning .
You guys are doing a great job traveling with 4 very young kids , I am in awe . When you do Disneyworld (I'm sure it will happen as this trip has been great ) I can recommend some condo's to stay in .

 

[TomVexille]

Great report.Thanks for sharing.

 

[ReLoad]

Great TR, as a dad who travels with the billy lids appreciate what you went through for a great family experience.

 

[Travelqueen]

Great trip report..... Thanks for taking the time to include us in your family holiday.

We did a similar trip a few years ago when my children were 13 and 15, and I thought that was challenging.

Makes me me want to go and do it all over again.

Well done to you and your wife with 4 little ones.

TQ

 

[Paddy55]

Great TR, harveyk and especially loved all the photos

 

[AL10]

Enjoyed reading this TR. Clearly a fun family trip.

 

[Sprucegoose]

A good balance to the pressures of travel well done!!

 

[jukebox333]

Great trip report! Having herded my three kids in planes from a very young age, I know you probably havent documented half the stresses and ordeals that inevitably occur - but that the reactions you get from youngsters when they travel and experience the world is priceless. Thanks for sharing - and hope you start planning your next one soon!

 

[UP4014]

Excellent trip report of an excellent trip.

cheers

Matt

 

[harvyk]

I know you probably havent documented half the stresses and ordeals that inevitably occur - but that the reactions you get from youngsters when they travel and experience the world is priceless.

I figured I'd skip the little details such as saying "kids you need to get dressed we're going in 5 minutes" for the 27th time...

 

[ReLoad]

Questions from mrs reload:

How did you go with laundry?
How much luggage were you burdened with?
How did the kids go with the whole queuing up thing, any techniques to share?

 

[harvyk]

Questions from mrs reload:

How did you go with laundry?
How much luggage were you burdened with?
How did the kids go with the whole queuing up thing, any techniques to share?

When we stayed with our friends in LA we did a couple of loads of Laundry.

We left with 2 checked bags (one large, one small), each child had their own carry on bag (their school bag), the Mrs combined per handbag with the nappy bag, I had my roll-a-board (the one I normally take traveling HLO) plus my laptop bag. We gate checked the stroller each way.
On the way back we brought a $10 duffel bag since we did purchase some extra clothes / souvenirs whilst we where away.

Queues at the airports wasn't too bad, since we had combinations of status (ok, so only PS, but that does get you skipping the Y check in queue) / express passes / and customs officers taking pity.
Disneyland was probably the worst for queues, so there we picked rides which had smaller queues and used things like "rider swap" to help skip queues where the 3 youngest where just too small to go on the ride.

 

[blackcat20]

Looks like your 'monsters' had a great time!

As pulling onto the first of the LA freeways, the Mrs (who doesn’t like driving) turned to me and told me she was happy I was driving. Luckily I have had previous LA freeway driving experience, so I knew what to expect. To put bluntly, lots of lanes, lots of cars going very fast, speed limits not exactly followed, and it is not uncommon for multiple (eg 3 or 4) roads all splitting off at the same time, meaning it’s really important to be in the right lane at the right time. I’ve driven in both SYD and MEL, and I don’t think anything our two biggest cities have even comes close.

The freeways are definitely an eye-opener! On the upside, if you find yourself in the wrong lane, other drivers are pretty quick to let you move over in most cases (which just doesnt happen here).