Planes, Trains & Automobiles: Adventure Begins

What's the best mode of travel for families? Planes, trains, or automobiles?

My two kids, 6-year-old Paris and 4-year-old Dante, and I will come up with an answer to that question. We're about to take off for a 10-day adventure that involves traveling on all modes of transportation.

We start in Oakland, Calif., where we hop on an Amtrak train. We're stopping over to see the sights in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Anaheim (yes, we're going to Disneyland!), and San Juan Capistrano (Legoland) and then we end in San Diego. In each of our destinations, we'll be taking taxis and buses, renting cars, and getting around on our own two feet—and then we return home by plane.

I will report back on the upsides and downsides to all these forms of transport and offer up all sorts of tips. Hopefully, our adventure goes more smoothly than a certain moving starting Steve Martin...