OK, I finally got to road test a Journey 2011 R/T and here are my impressions compared to the Explorer :
the Journey has a really nice 8.4" touchscreen that is comparable to the Ford MyTouch. I find the MyTouch interface is a little nicer than the UConnect, but the UConnect is a lot simpler and a LOT more responsive; it instantly reacts to a touch of a finger. MyFord Touch is slow and there is a annoying lag time. The Buttons on the Steering Wheel of the Ford are a lot simple with a 4 way and OK button in the middle. With the Journey, those buttons are placed ankward. Another bad thing for Ford is that the Remote Start and push button start are not available in the XLT model, only on the expensibe Limited model.
The Journey is a really quiet ride, but not as much as the Explorer where you can barely hear anything from the outside. The Explorer is also smoother than the Journey, but that may be because the R/T has a performance hard suspension where you feel the road a little more.
The Explorer seat height is higher than the Journey, but the Journey is not bad. Compared to my Kia Rondo, I was feeling a lot higher in the Journey.
Space for driver legs now. I'm 6'2". In term of length the Journey has a lot more space for the legs, I can stretch both my legs fully on the left of the brake pedal, a thing that I cannot do in the Explorer. But the explorer driver side legs space is a wider for the knees (but there is really enough space in the Journey to be confortable).
The Explorer is a really nice ride, but after I tried the Journey, my heart fell for the Journey! There is a LOT of nice little nice things and features on the dodge that the Ford doesn't have. And I think the Fold-Flat passenger seat is the feature I like the most on the Journey ( So I can fit long things on the car).
For me, the Journey won the match (but the Explorer is still a second choice)
And, its about 7000$ cheaper.