For those of you who drive to DW, specifically long drives...

[Mercy]

how often to you go? We live in Md. and it's about a 15+ hour drive. Everytime we do it my DH says..."next time we fly", but the expense of flying always causes us to drive again. Anyway for those who do drive, do you ever go more than once a year?

[mogwoi]

We live in Québec city, Canada. Our drive was around 26 hours each way with two kids ( age 4 and 6). It was the first time we drive and we had a great time. The kids were fantastic, we were very lucky they enjoyed the drive. I don't think we will go more than once a year (even once every two years) but next time we will drive as well. It is an economical choice as well as one based on fear of flying for myself. I don't like to be on a plane and that just got worse with the terrible attack on september 11.

[porkchop]

Im driving down in 2 weeks. Im driving with 2 kids both 13 yrs. and an elderly woman 78. Im stopping at hotels going down to make the trip more of a vacation. Im wondering if anyone knows about how much for gas it costs to drive from massachusetts.

[Mercy]

porkchop... use mapblast.com to calculate the mileage from your house to Orlando. Then if you know how many miles your car gets per tank of gas or per gallon, multiply that by the cost of gas. I get about 300 or so miles per tank and it's around 900 miles for us so...

20 gallons per tank X $1.45 per gallon (avg.) X 3 tanks = $87 give or take

Much less than flying, we also use priceline for hotel stops along I95. We've gotten good deals with them ($20 for a room at Holiday Inn).

[Kaa]

We live approximately 17 hours from WDW. We always stop on the way to Orlando, but drive straight through on the way home. While the actual cash outlay is less when we drive (about half the travel cost), we have begun to factor the cost of the time lost to extended travel. If we hadn't had to take an extra day of vacation to drive, what would we earn that day? While placing a cost on your sanity is VERY difficult, we have also found we are much happier on that first and last day at WDW when we fly than when we drive. By that I mean we are much less tired on the first day and we don't spend our last day at WDW dreading the drive home!

I should mention that our first three trips to WDW were within a period of one year and we drove all three times. Sometimes it takes me a while to rethink my situation. It also took me that long to finally decide I needed to purchase Annual Passes instead of coughing up much more money for Park Hoppers!

I hope this helps with your decision. I know it is difficult to hand over that additional cash to fly, but I have to say I feel it is worth it!

Good luck!

[macs4us]

We are driving from San Diego to WDW (via two nights in New Orleans), leaving this afternoon. It is our first road trip to WDW, but we drive to MN a few times a year, which is almost comparable (MN is 30 hours, WDW is 36 hours). We are doing this drive three times in the next three months, and can't wait to see a new part of our beautiful country!!!

FYI: Try freetrip.com - they actually give you average gas cost for your trip.

Bests to all,
Amy

[jx3smom]

We usually drive and we go about twice a year. The drive is 16-17 hours. We leave at 2 am to avoid DC traffic. Last time we left before 1 am. DH loves driving at that time. We got to St. Augustine, Fl by dinner time. This Oct. we have airline tickets because we got a good deal ($148.00) from Phila. Now I wish we were driving and we're hoping the flight gets cancelled.

[porkchop]

thanks for the info.

[Minnie's Mate]

We live in Metro Atlanta. We used to fly until our second child came along. Now we drive and find that is not that bad, about 7-1/2 hours. We have a DC powered TV-VCR combo for the kids to watch and that helps with the trip.

In the past we have average once per year, even when were flying. Now that our second is almost two, we will be going about two to three times per year.

However, I think 8 hours would be my max for driving. We (i.e., I drove, wife and kids watched Disney movies for the entire trip, lol!) drove to Virginia Beach this past June and it took 14-1/2 hours with rest stops and playground visits at meal time. We decided if we ever go that far again, we will fly one way or the other. But, the destination can make a big difference.

[Magic2000]

It's about a 12 hr drive for us and we usually do drive. On the way down, we've been stopping about half way in Tallahassee, on the way back, we drive straight through. We usually go to Disney every other year, but last summer, we bought annual passes, so we drove in July, flew in Nov/Dec, and then drove again this past June. We will be flying again in Nov/Dec (yes, I am very nervous about that now). We are a family of 5, so it is much more economical for us to drive than fly, but the visits in Nov/Dec were just little short trips to see the Christmas decorations. Last Nov/Dec, my DH couldn't make it so we're going back this year so he can see the decorations. It's about 650 miles one way, and we can usually drive for about $100.00 in gas, round trip.

[bobcat]

We usually drive and it is an 18 hour trip. Its a long drive and it usually takes a year until I am ready to do it again! LOL! ;) I drive myself with my two kids and I always have to stop for the night along the way.

[GEM]

We have gone twice a year for the last several years. It is about a 20 hour drive. We usually drive down for one long trip (usually 10 nights or more) and fly for our short tirp (usually just five nights). We really enjoy the drive. Of course, it is just me and my husband - no kids.

[Tessie]

We usually drive also. Its about 18+ hours with 3 kids. After a whole day in the car we have found that the kids really need to run off steam. We try to pack a picnic lunch and stop at a rest stop or a park not far off the interstate. That way we can let them run around a bit and it helps us stay sane. We also have AAA books with us and look for a place to stay for the night that has an indoor pool. After dinner we all go swimming for as long as we can. It helps the kids to relax and they love it. We actually drive for financial reasons but we really don't mind. It sure helps that our kids are pretty good in the car too!

[Mouser]

Our first 11 trips down we drove and we enjoyed the rides down..we would take it in two days...ten hours the first day and then two hours the next day, worked good for us.This year we flew down for the first time, loved it..but had to drive our rental car home as our flight was cancelled due to the airports being closed....so I got to fly 1/2 trip anyway..will fly again in a couple of years when we go. We were going once a year up till this year.

[mom2boys]

We're just west of you mercy. We've been 6 times in 4 years - 3 times in 2000. We've driven all but once. It's about 16 hours for us. 2 of the last 3 drives have been with a stop on the way down but straight through coming home. (We want to be rested upon arrival.) The trip we stopped in both directions there were 7 of us in the van - it was just too crowded for 16 straight hours of driving. The one time we flew we ended up spending 2 extra nights at Disney because they closed Dulles airport due to ice (superbowl weekend 2000). If we could get really cheap airfare, we'd fly again. I just can't justify doubling the cost of our trip by adding airfare for 4.

[nalasmom]

I found out something about myself recently. We usually drive form Florida to Connecticut once a year to see my folks about 1 week before Xmas. Well, we went this past August to surprise Grandma for her 75th birthday. Flew. Hated it. Thought I'd love the luxury of not having to take two days to drive, stop over, listen to kids argue etc.etc., but you know, I found that flying is a big pain. We got to OIA no problem, waited around the requisite hour (now it will be MUCH longer, I am sure,) and then hopped on the plane to Laguardia. Flight was great, but then a 2 hr limo ride to Bridgeport. By the way, I had a major problem with Connecticut Limousine, telling me on the phone that I could buy my round trip tixx to Bridgeport from LGA at the airport for 78.00 RT for me, and kids would be free. They then told me at the Airport I had to do it 2 weeks ahead of time, by phone with a Credit Card, so I got taken big time. I have a complaint in to management right now and am waiting for it to be resolved. Anyway, long story short, I plan never to fly again, not because of what has been going on lately, but because I found that even though it takes longer to drive, you do get to see the country, and you get to spend time talking to your kids, and you are in control of your own destiny. You can stop and tinkle, eat, stretch, whatever, anytime you want. On the plane you get a dinky little snack box, on the road you can eat anywhere you like, plain or fancy, and y ou can stop along the way and see a little of America. I doubt that I'll ever fly again, I think it wastes a whole day. Days spent in the car bonding with your spouse and kids (despite the occasional argument), are days worth spending. And, If they argue, it usually means they are hungry. I feed 'em and they go to sleep!!!

[DiznEeyore]

nalasmom:

I know exactly what you mean. I flew for the first time at age 19, cross-country (all my previous childhood trips, including one to WDW from Michigan were car/truck/motorhome). I do not like to fly -- I *tolerate* it, with the help of a Xanax, pillow, blanket & a Walkman! LOL

We had tickets to fly to WDW on Sept. 15, but Spirit couldn't guarantee us they'd be flying, so we had to decide whether to wait & take our chances or leave two days prior to drive. We decided to drive. It was dh, me & our 8yo ds in our little Saturn LS. I did go to Target the day before we left and buy one of those nifty 9" TV/VCR dealies to have in the car.

We left Friday at 3 (picked dh up from work) and drove 6 hours with a quick stop for dinner. We spent the night in Lexington, KY. The next morning we left at 8 and hit WDW property at 9:30 p.m. The trip wasn't bad at all. In fact, we really enjoyed the adventure! It took 19 hours each way.

We used the car extensively at WDW, too. We stayed at the WL & Poly, and never set foot on a bus. We always rent a car when we fly -- we like to be able to go from a park to Downtown Disney, or another resort, if we feel like it.

We have tickets to fly down in December (not looking forward to that), but dh and I are seriously considering driving again after that. We really didn't mind it, and I honestly did find it less stressful than flying!

[Dream]

We have been twice a year for the past 3 years and have grown to enjoy the drive. We live in Richmond, Va. and usually leave in the wee hours of the morning, stopping in St. Augustine for the night. We could do it in a day but stopping makes it more fun and less exhausting. We make a big deal out of choosing a book or two on tape to listen to as we drive. There are also some great books on travelling with kids with many games to play and ideas to keep even the littlest ones entertained. We enjoy the "forced togetherness"! No phones or tv or friends...just family enjoying being together. We flew once...what a disaster! We like to "do Disney" around Christmas time and the year we flew was the year of that huge ice storm! NOTHING was moving from Charlotte North! We ended up taking a 15 hour train ride from Charlotte to Richmond, with no food or water on the train and my DD (who was 7 at the time) was very ill...pneumonia we found out when we got home!! But that's another story!! Soooo...we enjoy our peaceful car trips to Disney! Is it December yet??

[leslieh]

Hi Mercy, we live in Southern Md, 25 miles south of Annapolis. We usually go several times a year, but have been flying alot due to frequent flyer tickets. My daughter was in college in St. Augustine last year, went down 5 times, drove twice, and flew down once to drive her home. She now goes to UMBC, near you. It takes us about 13-14 hours if we push it. We only stop for gas, bathroom and food at the same time. (that doesnt sound right) oh well. Either way we cant wait to go again. We are DVC members go as much as we can. We are now trying to plan a short trip in Dec. to visit without the crowds. Airfare was 110.00 RT from BWI on Monday, now its gone:(

[Carole]

Hi leslieh! Gee, we live about 60 miles south of Annapolis in St. Mary's County. Where are you?

We have APs for this year only.... So far, we flew down in December, drove in February & March, flew in August with the kids, planned to fly down on September 13, and have reservations to fly down in November. I prefer to fly if it a short trip and drive if we have to see family in Florida. Our passes expire in December - I don't know how long it will be until we go back.....

Carole

[disney0928]

We have done the drive to WDW from Mass twice; once just me & DH, once also w/ DS. We loved the drive! We minimized more costs by tent camping on the drive, as well as camping at FW. A tent campsite ate South of the Border in Dillon, SC is about $12 per night! We left from MA at about midnight, made it through to SC by dinner time. Set up the tent, cooked some burgers, asleep by 9:00. Back on the road by 8:00, made it to Datona by 5:00 PM. From there it's under 2 hours to WDW! This was an easy pace for us, as my DH is a trucker.

I wouldn't hesitate to do the drive down more often; my only problem with the drive is getting enough vacation time off to do it. I like to have 6+ days for Disney; driving really cuts into our time.

We did the drive home straight through in about 26 hours. We only stopped for gas, bathrooms and diaper changes for our 2 year old DS. This was somewhat less pleasant, but necessary due to a family emergency. It still went fine, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

We used less than $100 in gas, and about $30 in tolls. We totalled just under 1500 miles each way. Gas is MUCH cheaper once you're south of DC.

And I have tons of ideas for keeping the kids occupied, without TV. Mostly inexpensive. E-mail for ideas disney0928@aol.com

[PamNC]

We drive 99% of the time. However, we're 9 1/2 hours away, so I guess that's not too bad. Sometimes we actually can make it in 9, depending on traffic. We make the trip typically twice a year, one year 3 times. We've done it twice this year...within 1 month's time span. Probably won't go back until next year.

I know what you mean about the cost of flying. Even if the fare is good we found that by the time we fly, change planes and get our rental car, we've only saved about 4.5 hours. That's not worth the money for us. Unless we get a killer fare. Once we got $120 round trip. We had to fly out of the Raleigh airport, which is 1 hour and 45 minutes from us so it was still a bit of a time-stealer.

I like to drive because we sing Disney songs and talk about the trip all the way down. It's fun. It's just not fun driving back.

PamNC

[dvcdudes]

I seem to be the opposite of most. We are about 18-20 hours away. I drive straight through on the way down, but have to stop on the way home. I think I can do the trip down because I'm so excited but I'm so depressed on the way home that I have to stop about 1/2 way.
We have been going twice a year for the past two years driving each time.
I bought a conversion van for this reason. The kids and my DW have a TV, VCR, Nintendo64, we pack a cooler and have a porto potty. The kids actually enjoy the drive. My DW doesn't really likeit but likes flying even less. I get myself books on tape and listen to them on the way. It really makes the time fly (excuse the pun).

[leslieh]

Hi Mercy, we live in Calvert County, north end (Owings). We are about 30 miles from the Solomons Bridge. That should help. We have been to DW over 30 times we just love it. Cant get enough. My DDs are now 19 & 16 and we still go as much as possible. Still debating about driving/flying for a short trip in Dec. Its so beatiful at MGM with all the Christmas lights. Keep in touch neighbor!!!

[mom42860]

When do you leave if driving? Just wondering how you figure your driving time and where you will be stopping?

[Mercy]

leslieh, that was Carole that lives in So. Md., but I live really close to UMBC, I could walk there.

Mom42860, we use mapblast.com to help calculate distance and the amount of hours we want to spend on the road in a day. For us leaving as early as possible then driving about 10 hours or so puts us in Brunswick, GA. That is where we stop for the night, then I bid for a room there via priceline.com... we got a room at a Holiday Inn for $20 :) Then we get up early the next morning, have breakfast at the Cracker Barrell there in Brunswick and head down to Disney which is about another 4 hours or so, we get there about noon.

[Carole]

leslieh - we were just at Northern High School on Friday watching Soccer and Field Hockey games!

Mercy - UMBC is a beautiful campus. I have been trying to convince my daughter to go there - so far no luck!

We like to stop in at Richmond Hills exit in north Georgia. There is a Southern Cooking restaurant with nice specials for under $10. The specials include beverage, salad, rolls, entree, two vegetables and dessert! There is also a nice Hampton Inn at that exit and Disney isn't too far away!

Carole

[TinkerbellRules]

We have driven 4x (once with trailer, boy was that long!) and flown 1x, I think, to WDW. Drove 4x to the panhandle area (13hrs). We were to fly this year, but Delta cancelled our flight. We changed plans (gave us a refund) and moved our trip up two weeks and will drive again. It's about 16hrs from north of INdy.

Go to www.freetrip.com It's a great website (better than the others). It's very accurate and has gas prices along the way plus much more.

[Mike J]

We leave for our 3rd driving trip in 3 years on 10/20. We leave at 9pm Friday nite from Upper Delaware and usually get there around 2pm, stopping for gas twice and food.

Mike

[lynn46356]

We also drive. It takes approximately 20 hours. We leave Northwest Indiana around 2:00 pm in the afternoon and we arrive at WDW around 9:00 am. We have three boys, 13, 12 and 3, and find that they will fall asleep around 9:00 pm and when they wake up in the morning we are almost at our destination. We also don't run into any traffic in Atlanta with leaving at this time. On one of our drives down we honestly only seen a handful of cars on the road in downtown Atlanta. When we finally arrive of course Dad and Mom are somewhat tired but we have enough energy to do one of the parks till mid or late afternoon and crash early in the evening. We've done the same thing on each of our three trips down and are planning a fourth trip for this December. The hard part is always the drive home, getting to WDW is easy because we are all so excited.

[Blue, dear.]

It's about an 18 hr drive for us. I'd rather drive because I LOVE a roadtrip so I might be the minority here. :D

As far as how often we go due to the drive - it really has no bearing. I don't consider us devout WDW fans because we don't plan on going back after our upcoming Jan 2002 trip for about oh... three years or so. We took two of our kids last fall and since DH and I couldn't really ride the biggies or relax at Epcot, we've decided to go back (it was cheaper than going to Cancun!) and do "grown up things."

If we were crazy about the place and wanted to go all the time... I still only think we would go once per year. 18 Hours is a long time, even for a roadtrip fan like myself. ;) (BTW, we plan on driving straight thru this time.)

[Towncrier]

It's about 20 hours each way to/from WDW for us. We go once a year. This January, we had the opportunity to go down to WDW for 5 nights, but nobody (besides me) wanted to make the drive. We bought into the Disney Vacation Club in 1995 with the understanding that we would not have enough money to be DVC members and fly down each year. Believe it or not, we enjoy the drive. But not enough to make it twice a year.

We usually stop in the Hardeeville (SC) area on the way down. We leave home at 5AM and drive 12 hours. That makes for a short second day. On the way back, we stop north of Charlotte (NC) and visit friends who moved there from Ohio several years back. Very convenient for us. We did drive straight through on the trip home once. Might try driving straight through again when our children are a little older.

[Minnie's Mate]

We plan on buying our first set of annual passes for each family member for our next trip in December (second trip for this year). Since we are relatively close to WDW (7.5 hours each way) we had decided to go twice per year 'till the kids "out grow" Disney, once during Christmas break and once during Spring break each year. Of course, Mom and Dad haven't outgrown Disney yet!:D

A couple of nights ago my wife said she needed a vacation. Last night at dinner I told her once we have annual passes, we might go at the end of the summer because I didn't know if I could make it from Spring break 'till Christmas break. She said she had been thinking about that herself. She is a teacher and it limits the times we can go, but she said she gets 3 personal days per year and was thinking she might could take 2 of them for a 4 day week-end and just go to a couple of parks on an Autum trip, maybe in October. So who knows, we may become a 3X family.

Of course, I've been thinking that its too bad we don't have annual passes this year. I have been eye-balling a work related symposium that will be held in Orlando the week after Thanksgiving. I'm hoping it will be held there again next year.:earsboy:

[Minnie's Guy]

We also drive two times a year, 19 hours each way. About 6 yrs. ago
we purchased a TV/VCR for the car for our sons.(kind of a pain to carry into hotel
room, but a life saver!). Driving is our only option (I'm really afraid to
fly), but when we need to "rush" our trip, we book the AutoTrain.

[korzmom]

:crazy: our family usually goes 2 times a year, its about an 18+ drive plus pu;;ing a 35 foot camper behind you makes it a little longer...we always put a tv in the car stocked with vhs tapes (usually disney tapes) pack an electric cooler so sandwiches and drinks stay cold, and dont mind the drive... we're in a suburban so there are many stops for gas, glad the prices are going down...usually make a stop in s.c. but my crazy husband drove straight through last time..couldnt wait to get there. he said it wasnt bad, i dont know - i fell asleep. going in november and he plans on driving straight through again..wont be taking camper this time though, i'll miss fw. but got a great deal at a resort through friends that are dvc members...i hope theres no snow here at that time. :wave: disneyboys.jpeg

[dvcdudes]

Hi korzmom,
Did you rent points from your DVC friends?
What resort are you staying at?
I think all of the DVC resorts are very nice and you will enjoy them just as much, if not more than FW.

[korzmom]

hi dvcdudes, what i failed to tell you is that our friends also have a time share as well as dvc members, they offered their time share at the grande vista marriot resort...not in disney world but close enough,price was right. they are using their dvc the following week. they stay at the boardwalk. we're planning on going to hooptydoreview just so we can be on fw ground...my kids love that show.laughed so hard we cried. 1 day we'll be dvc members too, just have to wait awhile to save up the $$$$. thanks.

[dvcdudes]

My friend has a Marriot timeshare. I'm not sure if it's that one but he says it's first class all the way.
Enjoy!

[Minnie's Mate]

Like Minnie's Guy, we have a TV/VCR combo that we use on these and any other long trip. It is truely a sanity saver! With a now 4 year old and 16 mo. old., I don't know how we would make the trip without it. We could, it would just be less fun.

We carry Teletubbies for our youngest, Disney movies and park videos for both, and for our oldest son, we carry almost all of the "Land Before Time" dinosaur movies. It does make the trip easier.

I usually do all of the driving, but have decided, whether she likes it or not, to have my wife drive for the first part of our next trip in December. Normally, she sits in the middle row of our Expedition to keep our youngest from getting too lonely. Our older son has the third row to himself. Our dog rides in the front seat with me and we drop him off at my parents house near Ocala.

My wife is clostraphobic and gets car sick unless she is in the front seat. So we wind up stoping at every exit with a restroom for her and then after the 5th or 6th stop, she drives for a couple of hours 'till she "settles down". I'm also going to insist that she take Triptone before we leave to see if that will help. Anyone have any other suggestions for this subject?

[Robinrs]

I've driven twice and HATED it, but with all that's happening and after reading this thread, I'm driving on my next trip.

I live only 6 1/2 hours away so I should be ASHAMED of myself! After reading the lengths people with more children and stuff go through I need to just get on the road and go!

My son has decided he does NOT want to fly. To tell you the truth, our last three trips down by air were nightmares. Two were cancelled, the others delayed and one LEFT US! It once took us 8 hours to get there after all the delays and we could've driven... :rolleyes:

Well, I figured I'd have to rent a car anyway so I rented one here and we'll leave when we're ready and get there when we're ready. With the new restrictions demanding we get there two hours early, I can imagine how much time it would take just to fly...

Thanks everyone! I feel much better now.... :tongue:

[TinkerbellRules]

Robin: Oh, to be that close to WDW! Fly, never ;) Like I said, it takes us about 16 hrs to get there and drive straight through. We have the TV/VCR combo as well which makes it much more pleasant. Truthfully, everyone with kids should get one especially with younger ones. They are so nice and you rarely hear "when are we going to get there"! I always buy a new video before we go.

I'm paranoid about safety, though, and had my dad build us a tilted platform for the 13" combo. It is wedged between the front seat (will probably never get it out of there!) with really strong straps around the TV. We have a custom van and use it to pull a camper. Now, driving to WDW with the camper was even longer! We stopped at a Walmart on the way down since they allow RVers to stay overnight.

[Buzzz]

We are inthe tidewater Va. area about 14 hrs away and we have run down for a weekend but we love the ride. we have been known to leave on friday morning and get home sunday night. back to work on monday. this makes for a long monday but a weekend in a dream makes it worth it to us. May sound a little crazy but hay you take your breaks where you can. we do this on the spir of the moment . a couple time we had left for Nags Head NC. and ended up in Fl. I have WDW in my phone book on my cell phone so we call from the road and set up the room. One time we even called a freind had the log onto mousesavers and find us a discount code and use that to book the room from I 95 a unplanned trip for a day or two have been just as much if not more fun the the long trips we take. Ok i've goten a little long winded here so i'm going to stop now. But before i go let me say surprise your self and go for a weekend stop at the disney store get some hopper passes and just put them away for quick trips .

[bobcat]

Wow Buzzz! How long is the drive for you? I wish I lived about 6 hours closer and I would take a road trip too!

[Buzzz]

Here is the problem Bobcat if i lived 6 hrs closer i would stay broke from the weekend spir of the monment trips
ha ha Ha

[Deb & Bill]

We always drive from NE Louisiana. The trip is about 14 hours each way. We leave after school, get halfway there (Mobile Bay-Daphne AL) and then drive the rest of the way the next day. We arrive about 2:30 PM, check in and head to a park. The hotel we stop at in AL has a microwave and refrigerator in the room, so we either heat up something or get fast food. The return trip is similar - leave the park at noon or 1 PM and drive until AL. We usually get home about 2 or 3.

We used to live in Eastern Montana, so when I wanted to go shopping, I had a 2.5 hour trip to go to Target and the mall. I'd leave in the morning, shop for a few hours and then drive back home. As soon as our son was about 1.5 yrs old, he would make the trip with me. We looked for watertowers and animals along the way. He'd take a short nap and we'd be there. The return trip was the same. We'd hit Taco Bell and Cinnabon and bring some back with us. This is how he learned to be a good car rider and entertain himself or play games with mom and dad in the car (he's 8 yrs old). We've thought about buying a TV/VCR combo for the car, but we really don't need it. He usually brings crayons, paper, his gameboy and a walkman along with some CD's or cassettes to listen to.

[RumpleMom]

Our trip to WDW is about 19 hours. We wanted to save money this past summer by driving, instead of flying. We were in a rainstorm in VA and hydroplaned off the road shortly after lunch. Thankfully no one was hurt because that's really all that matters. Also we were not apart of the 9 car pile-up further down the road. We had purchased 2 new tires the day before our trip; they were destroyed. We hit a road sign which smashed DH door and window, glass everywhere... you get the picture. Anyway, it has cost more than plane fare, for 53 days of car rental, plus deductible. We have plane tickets already purchased for next trip, won't be driving for awhile.

[TinkerbellRules]

But you can, unfortunately, be in an accident near home as well. I was in one 2 yrs ago that caused $4,500 to my minivan. A man ran me off the road and I hit a sign. Those darned signs can cause lots of damage! It hit the windshield, and all windows on the side. I've been in 4 or 5 accidents and all have been within mins to an hour of my home. I hope they are the worst I'm ever in!

Bottom line, you must do what you feel comfortable with doing....

[Minnie's Mate]

Hey TinkerbellRules,

Let me know the next time you are going on the road! Your magnetic field must be in flux or something to be in that many accidents. I'm just kidding of course and I really hope no one was injured in any of them.

Just wanted to add a little levity to what appears to be heading into a downer if we start comparing accident histories.

[TinkerbellRules]

Minnie's Mate: Don't worry, luckily, they have all been minor without injuries! None, BTW, have been my fault either although the one I spoke of was considered my fault because I didn't have any witnesses. No one stopped, not even the other person he almost ran off the road! ALWAYS be a good American and be a witness if you see one. It went against me. Let's see, hit a guy headon (in MY lane) or swerve. I think I made the right choice ;) Also, don't be like me and let the cop fool you into believe you don't need a witness. You do! He wouldn't go look for the guy the jerk was passing in a No Passing Zone. I hit that sign!

Sorry, I still get a little ticked off at that one. But, my DD and are were safe. That's all that matters.

[MikeP]

We drove the first time we went to Orlando, since then my wife opened her own business and based on what she looses for the 4 days spent on the road it is actually much more economical for us to fly. I think we drove about 14 hours the first day then stayed at a hotel and drove in the rest of the way. So we burn 2 days each way, and fankly speaking the sights weren't that great from Dallas to Orlando. LOL

[veraletta]

this may sound silly but I love the drive down to florida, it will take me 16 hours as I drive straight to disney from ohio... but if you asked me when I was young, I would have flown down to disney in a plane... as a child we flew every where.. my step father was a flight instructor and he own his own plane..
He even made us kids learn how to land the plane just in case some thing would happen to him while in the air... but after his plane crashed 28 years ago.. I just get so worried once I'm in the air, that I find my self to scared to enjoy flying any more...so for me at least I think I should drive..

seems funny to me because my step father would say its saved to fly that to drive... and in my heart I know its true... I'm the only one of the 4 children that will not fly... while in the air all I see is what his planed looked like.. and its silly because it really is safer to fly than drive.. but I just cant get over it while in the air.. last time I flew a lady held my hand the whole time because I couldnt stop crying.. so for you that are afraid I do understand... and I think if you are afraid, some times the long drive just isnt that bad.. heck you really get to see the U. S. when you drive..

[Pryncess'mom]

When it was just the two of us we flew, after the kids came we drove. Flew in November 2000, it cost us $4000 for 5 nights in FW cabins. August 2002 will cost only $2500 for 6 nights at POR. Since the youngest kids don't like flying, and we always have such trouble getting from airport to WDW with all the luggage and car seats, we like to take our own vehicle. We now have a full size van with tv/vcr. We take our time (2-3 days) stopping whenever we want to to see something we might otherwise have missed! Although flying is quick and convenient (and usually expensive for 5) there is nothing like a road trip!!

[Tigger1]

We drive from Oklahoma (home of #1 college Football team , OU ). It takes about 24 hours including stops for gas and food to travel the 1400 miles. Our first trip in 97 we tried to go straight threw with 5 children. The kids did fine, they slept the whole way. We were to tired to drive. The next trip in 99, I found a state park near Pensacola. We then camped out there the first night and traveled the remainder of the trip the next day. We now take 2 mini vans, camp out at a state park on the gulf for a few nights on the way and 1 night on the way back. The kids still sleep most of the time we are driving, they are in there teens but help to drive at times.

Tigger