First drive road trip: We take a the 2011 Toyota Sienna for a family 1000 mile drive to Disney

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We have never done a big road trip with the kids. We’ve done day trips to the mountains; we’ve gone to visit friends an hour or two away, but nothing on a grand scale. I am writing this because we decided to go on a road trip. The kids are now 6 and 8. They can handle it. It’s a familial right of passage, isn’t it?

Anyway, I was more stressed and anxious as the road trip neared. Mostly because we’d invoked the name Griswold. Project Griswold was the moniker for our journey from Denver to Disneyland via the Grand Canyon and back again. In a week. Would it be a bad thing to invoke Clark W.’s name on our vacation? I double-checked to make sure Disneyland would be open, just in case.


Kiddo To keep us from going too crazy, I got a hold of a 2011 Toyota Sienna for the trip. With reclining, footrested captain’s chairs in the second row, at least the kids would have some boundaries to prevent the “he’s/she’s touching me!” argument.

And the rear entertainment system with a 16-inch screen (that can split so each passenger can watch their program of choice) would surely keep them occupied when the landscape became tiresome and plain. The front passengers could listen to their own programming because the rear passengers would have wireless headsets to go with their fancy screens.

These features helped ease my anxieties each time I thought about them. And trust me, I packed accordingly. We had music, movies, podcasts, and TV shows on disc. Of course, I packed books (the reading kind and the activity kind). I think packing helped calm me. That would explain why I packed a LOT. I will rethink that next time.

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The Sienna did a pretty great job of transporting us. The utility was unbeatable. Even valets at the hotels we went to commented on how cool it was and how awesome all the features are. We got decent mileage (20.5 mpg) considering all the luggage we took and the fact that I might have been going faster than the uber-economical speed of 65 mph.

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There was some road noise, presumably from the run-flat tires, but I’ll take road noise over kid-bickering any day. I loved all the cupholders and cubbies and storage bins, but wish the kids would have actually used them. The floor was the storage facility of choice in the back seat.

Well, I can’t have it all, I guess.

Sara Growing up in Colorado Sara Lacey was always kind to her cars.  These days however, she spends her time punishing automobiles with the help of her children.  Reviewing cars from the unique perspective of a woman and mom, Sara also writes for MotherProof.com and Cars.com.  In addition, she sits on the board of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press Association.

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