How far would you drive to WDW?

[almburr]

We are thinking of taking the kids back to WDW in a few years right now they are 12,8,6,5,2 and us me and DH

the four oldest have been we want to wail till 2yr old is 4or 5.

we have flown and it is a 3 & 1/2 hr flight, not bad. If we drive it would be 26hrs!!!

If we drove we would save around $1,000 but to drive a total of 4 day, 2 to get there and 2 to get back.

We have a Suburban and DVD players, but to drive that long?

What do you think? Should we just pay the fare and get there have fun, Or drive?

[AllesonWonderland]

I'd hate to give up 2 days on either end of our vacation for driving. (No matter how well the kids travel. LOL :lmao: ) That being said, we drove 4 hours to Kansas City where our whole family flew Southwest roundtrip for $468. I'll continue to bypass closer airports for deals like that!

We drive 'home' to Nebraska and that's an 8 hour trip. Or we've driven to Colorado which was 12 from here...that's probably about the farthest I'd drive. (If I can continue to get cheap airfare.)

Good luck with your decision!

[fan_of_small_world]

5 kids, 26 hours?

Save your sanity...FLY!!!!!

Since you have a couple of years to save, you might as well plan for the airfare and make the experience much more enjoyable for all of you.

[kevschickee]

You couldnt pay me enough to drive for that long with that many kids lol I say fly

[Becky2005]

I think it all depends. We drove in 2005 with 4 kids -- not quite as long of a drive. I think ours was 20? However it probably ended up being 26ish --;) but we did break it up into 2 days. I knew we wouldn't be able to do it in 1.

There were many reasons we chose to drive.

First off we still had a stroller & all the baby stuff since our little guy was only 1.

All the security stuff makes me nervous (I just know I'll do something against the regulations since they change daily & we will end up missing our flight or something! OR my one child with sensory issues will be pulled for extra security or something & he would completely freak out) I also didn't feel like spending 4+ hours in the airport for security checks (I know the recommended time is 2 hours before a flight but I would end up wanting to arrive even EARLIER than that just in case there was a back-up of some sort) and attempting to keep the kids happy during that.

I kept reading things on the DIS about the airlines changing flight times on people & now I've just read the one about them changing seating arrangements on you. I'm a planner -- this would stress me completely out. That's the biggest one plus with driving WE decided what time we wanted to leave, etc... Which was good because I couldn't find the key to the safe when we were getting ready to leave which had everything important in it (including the car keys!). I would have become a total witch (worse than I was) if something like that would have made me late for my flight.

I did look into flying but with 6 people it just kept coming out cheaper to me to drive.

[WAHMto5]

We drive every trip from Northern Illinois. We always leave around midnight (dh goes to bed at around 5:00pm) and the kids sleep the whole night while we drive! When tey wake, it is time for breakfast and change of clothes. Then a full day of driving and we are normally at Disney late that evening. We get all new DVDs for the player and lots of snacks & activites!

[Becky2005]

We drive every trip from Northern Illinois.


You are braver than I to do that in 1 day. ;) It's always a 2 day trip for us but we barely made it home from Atlanta one time (with both DH & I practically falling asleep at the wheel), hence the fact that we know that's our limit.

[Finally_Talking]

I still remember the drive to WDW from Mass. in 1975 when I was six. It was August. There were two parents, six kids, one van with no air-conditioning (who had that in 1975?), no seat belts (who used them back then?) It was the biggest adventure ever! Sealed the deal for me as a life-long Disney fan. Yes, it was long, hot and mostly boring. It took two full days with my dad doing ALL the driving. I can only imagine how much better it would be now with nice, cool air, dvds, ipods, nintendo ds's, etc...

My first vote would be to fly for the timing/fatigue factor alone. But, if you must, then tech-up and drive...good luck whatever you decide.

[mnasmom3]

We drive from Michigan...detroit area. We always go straight through on the way down and plan for a 2 day trip on the way back but usually do that straight through too. It's about 20 hrs. We leave in the afternoon and the kids sleep a good part of the trip since we drive through the night. It's a huge savings since gas and food costs less then $400 round trip and flights for 5 plus the airport parking for a week costs around $850. Tack on a rental car for the week and you're at at least $1000. When I did the math it was a no-brainer for us. We'll drive! :lmao:

[arielsleepingbeauty]

We have driven to Boston. Without children it has taken us about 21 hours. With children about 24 hours due to all the stops that we make.

If I wasn't travelling with children , I wouldn't mind driving again.

Our oldest was 2 1/2 when we drove and that was fine. But now the kids are 5 and 7 and I don't want to hear "are we there yet?" for 24 hours.

We go during the less busy season and the price of airfare seems to always be a good deal that it's worth it for us to fly. We are paying $49.00 each way per person. We have someone drive us to the airport which is about 20 minutes away and then pick us up for our return. My Dh doesn't have that much vacation time so it works out better for us to fly.

[Darcy03231]

I have to agree with kevschickee, you couldn't pay me enough to drive! I live about 24-26 hours away and wouldn't even contemplate it. With the prices of airfare (if you're willing to take some inconvenient flight times) I can't imagine I'll ever drive it. Also, keep in mind that if you're going to break your trip up into 2 days there and 2 days back that 4 days of vacation time, hotels, meals, etc. Factor in the 4 days of vacation time spent driving, hotels, meals, gas, wear & tear on the car, all the stuff you'll buy to keep the kids entertained for 2 days on the road and it might be cheaper (and less stressful) to fly.

[*KeepMovingForward*]

:drive: We are in NJ and I can tell you we did it once and will never do it again. But everyone is different-some families enjoy their time on the road. We made it just past South of the Border and my DD got viciously car sick...stayed that way all the way to Orlando. She was 7 at the time...it was awful. Not to mention the kids were bored (they had tv/dvd/video games, etc.), cramped (even in a custom van) and constantly asking "are we there yet". Me and DH felt like Clark and Ellen Griswold!

We get such limited time to be off for vacation, that we feel our time is too valuable to waste with a day or more driving there and back. Like others have said, I'd rather be there and in the parks already. Plus with gas prices the way they are, I don't know that the savings would be THAT good for us. I think you have to factor into the cost savings that you are losing nearly 4 days of being at Disney to make the drive. When we fly, we normally get the first flight of the day and touch down by 9am in Orlando, so we pretty much drop our bags and run to a park. When we leave, we don't leave until after dinner on our last day...we try and stretch our time to the max.

If it were me, seeing the ages of your kids, I definitely would bite the bullet financially and get plane tickets...but that is just my .02 :upsidedow

[Steph9072]

I priced airfare for my bunch anywhere from $1600 with to transfers each way to $2100 non stop.

We will be driving from Indiana. This will be between 15-17 hour drive depending on how many stops are needed. The day we leave the older two have school & dh works. My two-year-old is going to my Moms. I will finish last minute packing and take a long nap. We will leave about 8:30 or 9:00 PM and I will drive as far as I can. If that is all the way great if not we will stop & get up early the following AM and drive in. But for the most part the kids will sleep through the drive. As long as I have Starbucks or Mt. Dew I will be fine to drive.

[dameodie]

We drive every trip from Northern Illinois. We always leave around midnight (dh goes to bed at around 5:00pm) and the kids sleep the whole night while we drive! When tey wake, it is time for breakfast and change of clothes. Then a full day of driving and we are normally at Disney late that evening. We get all new DVDs for the player and lots of snacks & activites!
This is pretty much our plan... we're about 21 hours away from WDW per MapQuest, so I'm saying 24 hours. We're going to leave Sunday evening after the wedding, and get to the condo Monday evening. Let the girls sleep, have breakfast in Nashville with a friend, and then drive the rest of the way to Disney. They get to sleep through some of the more boring parts but still see the mountians :)

It's also a matter of cost savings... Flying would be $800-$900 PLUS a rental car for two weeks... and even at $3.25 a gallon for gas it'd be about $350 round trip to drive (say $500 with food and whatnot)

[Barbers2005]

Another one for the "you can't pay me enough" camp. That's about how long the drive would be for us, and dh (who is obsessed with saving money on vacations) did suggest it....once. Then he remembered our last car trip to D.C.- two grouchy, tired carsick adults, one whiney carsick grumpy kid and three splitting headaches. After that, he gladly forked over the $.

[Mouse House Mama]

Let me put is this way. If there were no flights available I would ressurect a Teradactyl (sp?), strap me and my family on it's back and dangle a steak in front of it on a stick to make it fly.:rotfl2: I will never never never drive to WDW!!! It is roughly 24 hours in the car. I hate car trips. My kids will not want to sit in the car for that long either. We drove to Boston over the summer and a 4 hour trip took 8 hours due to traffic etc. I could have walked there faster!:lmao: The kids have told me that they never want to drive there again! They told my BIL he needs to move closer or he has to come here!:rotfl: I cannot sit in a car for that long. I can't read in a car or do a craft etc. I get sick so I just have to sit there. That is torture for me and everyone around me. It gives me anxiety. I also wouldn't want to waste 4 days of my vacation driving. Also- who wants to be bothered driving home for 2 days after all the fun of WDW?
So my answer is no. I would spend as much money as it would take to avoid a cartrip of that magnitude.princess:

[PrincessasMommy]

Let me put is this way. If there were no flights available I would ressurect a Teradactyl (sp?), strap me and my family on it's back and dangle a steak in front of it on a stick to make it fly.:rotfl2: I will never never never drive to WDW!!! It is roughly 24 hours in the car........I also wouldn't want to waste 4 days of my vacation driving. Also- who wants to be bothered driving home for 2 days after all the fun of WDW?
So my answer is no. I would spend as much money as it would take to avoid a cartrip of that magnitude.princess:

TOTALLY AGREE W/PP!!!
We live in Canada and have an Expedition, so we could drive, but with 4 kids for us.....no way! It it so worth our sanity and the adventure of the plane is so exciting to our kids!
Our experience is that a 5 hour trip to Montreal takes 8-9 hours with potty breaks and snack stops so NO WAY to a 2 day road trip!! For $1000 I would absolutely fly!!!

[dameodie]

... and a $500-$600 savings is worth the drive to me. Plus I don't mind car rides, espically when they mean $500 more to spend on food and souvineres! We're really trying to save as much as we can for this trip, and I see no reason to spend extra on transportation if we can easily work around it.

That being said, we ARE stopping in Kentucky on the way home... I can see us getting there on excitment vibes going down, but I think we'll need the break to get home.

[almburr]

its also a 3hr drive to get to the airport.

[Barbers2005]

Even with the drive to the airport, you'd still be making out better that way, IMO. After all, that's still a fraction of the time you would spend driving. BTW, I really feel for you that the airport is so far away, what a bummer!

[dameodie]

This is true, there's the distance to the airport factor too. We could fly out of a more local airport, but all the best deals are out of Chicago... which either means leaving here 5 and a half hours before our flight is scheduled to leave (3.5 hrs to O'Hare, to get there two hours before departure) and then the drive home... Well, it'd be more like 6 hours because we'd drive to my folks' house to leave the car there and have them drive us, so that we don't have to pay out the wazoo for parking. Generally though, parking is another cost you have to consider when you fly... and I really don't want to have to pay $12-15 a day for my car to sit and wait for us to return.

Driving is still more difficult than flying, but flying has its own logistical issues.

[Princess Roo]

There is no way I would drive that long to save $1000, especially with so much time to save and find deals on the airfare. I think the limit for us would be 10-12 hours.

Another thing to take into consideration that many people leave out is the cost of the wear-and-tear on the car along with just the gas costs. Most sources have the total cost of driving at around 50 cents per mile right now (more for cars that have worse gas mileage)! Even if your car purchasing habits are such that the miles used don't have much of an impact on trade-in value, cars with more miles need more service, which adds up in costs.

[kevschickee]

I dont care if god herself ;) came down and offered me $$ I would not drive lol

[dameodie]

...and if you keep your cars until they have no resale value left, that's not really an issue, other than needing a new car slightly sooner.

And I'm not sure what kind of deals everyone is finding... The best I found for us was about $700 to fly (for four tickets) not from our local airport, and not to MCO but the other Orlando airport (Sanford?)

Even Southwest out of Midway (cheep Chicago airport) was over $800.

It may be different if you're staying on property and can take the Magical Express. And while I'm not complaining about having somewhere to stay off property for free, if we flew we would definiatly need a rental car for two weeks... which isn't cheep either. When I rented one in CA on a really good deal, it was $300. Just did a quick search from the same company (Dollar) for two weeks out of MCO, with taxes et all it was about $400.

So $1200 vrs $450? No contest in my book.

Some of us simply don't have that kind of disposible income. The only reason we're able to go at all is because our family and friends are helping us (honeymoon registry) and we have free accomidations and tickets thanks to my parents.

[lillygator]

and I think 1 and 1/2 hours is bad! I could not imagine driving further than that. Our ride to the Gator Games in Gainesville (roughly 3 hours) is TORTURE to me.....!

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Some of us simply don't have that kind of disposible income. The only reason we're able to go at all is because our family and friends are helping us (honeymoon registry) and we have free accomodations and tickets thanks to my parents.

Definitely if finances are a major consideration, then flying may not be an option. And if flying means not going to Disney and driving would mean we do go...then I' drive (grudgingly...but I'd still drive).

When my kids were smaller, there were many times I did Disney on a shoe string (or less) and we cut corners so that we could just have the joy of being there. However, if finances are not a concern for someone, I'd certainly suggest flying. It all depends on your own unique situation. :thumbsup2

[Barbers2005]

When we flew last May, it was $125 each roundtrip, but we did have to fly out of LaGuardia and pass up two closer airports (so about 4 hours driving). We ended up renting an Suv to drive to NYC and back because I didn't feel comfortable leaving both our cars unsupervised for over a week (took the inlaws, so no way we would all fit in one car). Even with the cost of renting a car for two days driving the entire trip would only have saved about $200-300 (just buying gas and food, not stopping anywhere to sleep). So, we didn't actually pay $1000 more to fly, but I would have. This year we plan on flying from the local airport to eliminate driving altogether (15 minutes in a taxi) and it will cost a few hundred bucks extra, but I would rather wait longer for the trip and save more money than arrive at WDW miserable and dread the drive back the entire time.

[dameodie]

This is very true. Given my druthers I would fly as well :)

I would much rather have extra money in hand at WDW and be able to say "Yes" to more, rather than having spent all our mone on getting there and back and have to be a Scrooge. The girls don't understand things like transportation costs, but they sure understand souviners! :rotfl:

[Tinkerbell424]

I would drive.You get to save 1000$,but if you can't stand screaming kids and stuff then I suggest the airplane lol.My brother and I are 13 and 12.We drive up and it take's us 4 hours and it's a nightmare:p

But If you don't mind your kid's screaming and stuff maybe then drive.

[arielsleepingbeauty]

I always find deals on flights , but then again, I am always checking every website I know for a deal. I found that if you fly out on a Tuesday or Wed, then it's the least costly, at least on Southwest. I found us flights for $59.00 in May. We fly out of Providence. I wanted to go in May and i waited for the flights to be posted for May and then i planned it around the best prices for flights.
I know that not everyone has the flexibility, but if you do, you may be able to find reasonable priced flights out there. YOu just really have to take the time and check and recheck everyday.

[mom4scrapbooking]

okay see this is so funny. We are planning to drive yes you heard it drive from Oregon. Around 3000 miles there and back. We have 4 kids. Ranging from 13 down to 3. For us it was about getting to stop and see everything. The grand canyon, Texas, Florida, New York, Utah you name it. My kids will probably be done speaking to us after this trip for at least a week. We are deciding to either purchase a use or rent an rv or just take our van. I think that we will have fun and hecticness and lots of memories.

[Mouse House Mama]

okay see this is so funny. We are planning to drive yes you heard it drive from Oregon. Around 3000 miles there and back. We have 4 kids. Ranging from 13 down to 3. For us it was about getting to stop and see everything. The grand canyon, Texas, Florida, New York, Utah you name it. My kids will probably be done speaking to us after this trip for at least a week. We are deciding to either purchase a use or rent an rv or just take our van. I think that we will have fun and hecticness and lots of memories.


This is completely different than piling in the minivan and driving for 2 days straight to WDW. If I had a month I too would love to rent an RV and stop everywhere. That's a little different. To spend 4 days roundtrip is not worth any amount of money for me. I would rather save longer. princess:

[mm_ja]

I will throw my two cents in. It appears that geographically speaking I am in the minority here. We are a little over 500 miles away from WDW, or for us about a ten hour drive with two kids under 8. I dont like to drive, we can be at the beach in four hours and that is my limit. I have enough frequent flier miles for all four of us to fly on free tickets, but we will drive to WDW. We went last year and here are some of the reasons I am glad we decided to drive. Overall, we did not feel tied to the airlines schedule. About three am the night/morning before we left I got a nasty stomach bug, probably from being crammed on a plane earlier in the day (actually a bit of a funny story, I will save for a new thread). Needless to say by the time a flight would have been leaving a few hours later, there would have been no way for us to make it. The day we left I saw the line of people trying to get the ME back to the airport, and I have been through security at MCO, that can take a long time. We were able to check out enjoy the parks, and a nice dinner before driving a few hours and stopping for the night. We also quickly found out the convience of having our car there when my DS got sick and had to go to the Doctor and then a pharmacy (He had strep, not related to my stomach illness). Also we came home with a lot more stuff than we left woth and lugging that stuff through airports would not have been fun. Just my two cents.

[nicolita3]

when i was younger my family (mom, dad, brother and i) drove from arizona to WDW. we did it in 3 days and it was so much fun! on the way we stopped at six flags in texas, stopped at some zoos and aquariums on the way too, then we stayed in wdw for a week. it was the best! i would do it again in a heart beat.

[sk!mom]

DH and I will only drive places that are within a day's drive- say 12 hours max.

So for us, WDW is fly only although many years ago (1990) when we were younger and not debt free we drove to save money. I also only have 2 children and one doesn't always travel with us anymore. Our last Disney trip was only tickets for 3.

SO, I guess I'm saying that it's too far for me at this point in my life but if I had a larger family or it was a decision to save the money or stay home then I guess I would drive.

[almburr]

I envy all of you that are like a 20min ride to the airport.

The closest airport is DIA 3 1/2 hrs.

I just dont know wich driving route to take.

[DawnM]

I would drive. Are you staying on property?

I personally feel trapped when I am down there without a car. We have a Sequoia with a DVD player and we drove from CA to NC with just me and the kids! It was a 4.5 day trip but we made it. I have talked to DH about driving to CA for a vacation. We could make it in less than 4.5 days if we had 2 drivers and no trailer (cargo) to pull behind us.

Dawn

[mom4scrapbooking]

I guess in my previous posted I should have stated that we don't have an rv we just are looking into it. Even without it our van with a dvd player and 4 kids will be an interesting ride but one I am willing to make. It is all about time and money. I know that sounds weird but for us and there is so much we want to see around the world it is just easier to drive than to get off one place go to another plane and then another and then another. NO worries about renting a car. Can choose to offsite if we want. I am still unsure of this. For me it was about how we could stop at other states and still make the budget. The buget is hard. For me a dollar that my kids could spend for WDW that they have never been to is worth the drive.

[dbarker]

We have driven in the past--24 hours for us. I finally convinced DH to fly. If I were you, I would budget for the flight. Two full days of driving is horrible. The trip down to WDW is not so bad. But, the trip back home takes forever. We are tired, grumpy and want to be home already. I highly recommend flying if you can.

[almburr]

I would drive. Are you staying on property?

I personally feel trapped when I am down there without a car. We have a Sequoia with a DVD player and we drove from CA to NC with just me and the kids! It was a 4.5 day trip but we made it. I have talked to DH about driving to CA for a vacation. We could make it in less than 4.5 days if we had 2 drivers and no trailer (cargo) to pull behind us.

Dawn


we stay on site, We like hopping a boat for MK. we stay at WL.

We would drive and park at the WL and not drive again until it is time to head home. We like the transportation.

[jtopp]

many advantages and disadvantages to each. Consider:
1.- How much time (and money) do you loose from work or school, and is it worth the tradeoff?
2.-The drive to WDW is great. Everyone is excited. The drive home: the longest time you will ever spend in a vehicle with tired, bored, depressed people (and thats just me!).
3.- How well does your family cope on a long trip? Is the money saved worth the trouble?
4.- Discount airfares. alternate airports a short distance away can save you hundreds of dollars and some sanity.
5.-TSA -enough said.
both routes are great, as either way you still get to go to WDW. Enjoy and good luck.

[bennythepug]

We did it last summer, 3 kids (11, 8, and 2). It was not as bad as we expected. The kids were actually really good! (portable dvd player was a life saver) It was pulling a camper that was nerve-racking - and blowing a tire on a major highway :scared:

But, it was'nt so bad- we are doing it again this summer :rolleyes1
only this time without the camper :rotfl2:

[dameodie]

We did it last summer, 3 kids (11, 8, and 2). It was not as bad as we expected. The kids were actually really good! (portable dvd player was a life saver) It was pulling a camper that was nerve-racking - and blowing a tire on a major highway :scared:

But, it was'nt so bad- we are doing it again this summer :rolleyes1
only this time without the camper :rotfl2:

Yeah I don't think we'd ever do a camper either. If we ever purchase an RV that would be different. That's what we did growing up - pulled a trailer behind the van - and my mother refused to drive. Instead of making it in a day, it became a two and a half day trip each way!

[jenrein]

we have driven from NY to FL many times. I hate it, I love to fly. My husband refuses to fly- he never has flown.

[almburr]

I think we could do it, we would drive straight through on the way there and do 2 days on the way back.

My grandmother lives in St. Louis, and our neice lives in Nashville. Oh, my aunt lives in Tampa.

[disneyworldluvr349]

We spend about 32 hours getting there, or 1840 miles. We take baout 3 days to get down there and another on the way back up. We drive all the way from Colorado and we go once a year. I say we drive pretty far to get to Disney World!

[mommyseven]

I would recommend flying for that long of a trip. We drive 8 hours to go to WDW, and 8 hours is enough. Not only would it be hectic keeping the children in a vehicle for so long, it is very tiring and draining. You would not only lose your travel time from your vacation but it would take a good day to shake it off once you get there.

Save up and fly. I don't think that you'll regret it.

(disclaimer: DH and I are going in two weeks. I despise flying. If we flew it would be just little over an hour instead of the eight hours of driving. I'm choosing to drive to avoid flying. I'm good at giving the advice; if only I could take it. ; )

[cinder1]

We have 4 kids and we have only flown once to WDW (the first time we went when we only had 3 kids). We drive from Dallas. It's a long drive and I hate it. But the kids and DH don't mind it at all. The only time I really thought I'd lose it was when I was 5 mths pregnant with no. 4. We've even driven when no. 4 was only 5 mths old!! We'd rather save the airfare and spend it on other fun things in WDW. The kids watch movies the whole time, taking turns picking. We make frequent pit stops and try to stop for meals where the kids can run around a bit. We stop at motel and if the weather is good, the kids swim for a bit before bed. It works for us.

[angelmav]

We spend about 32 hours getting there, or 1840 miles. We take baout 3 days to get down there and another on the way back up. We drive all the way from Colorado and we go once a year. I say we drive pretty far to get to Disney World!

were in the same boat! Unfortunately for us, with 7 of us airfare is through the roof! plus wehave family in Houston so we drive there,visit, drop the dog then make the 2nd half, worked in the past, assume it will work as well this summer, plus we now have a conversion van so that makes for a more comfy trip

[almburr]

were in the same boat! Unfortunately for us, with 7 of us airfare is through the roof! plus wehave family in Houston so we drive there,visit, drop the dog then make the 2nd half, worked in the past, assume it will work as well this summer, plus we now have a conversion van so that makes for a more comfy trip

Were from NW Kansas, Its a drive to get anywhere. I think we might drive this next time we take the kids.

We are going with out the kids in a year, it will be our anni.:banana:

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

We drove from Jersey and it took us about 17-18 hours. We have driven the past 2 years but have decided to fly on our next trip. I just cant see myself sitting in the car again for that long. Although, saving all the money you would spend for airfare is a big decision.

Good luck with your decision.

[Befferk]

I haven't read the other responses but we drove last year, pulling our camper. About 30 hours there and 40 :scared: straight on the way back (on the way back we were coming from Key West, we had extended our vacation there). It was me, DH, and DS (4). DH said never again. Next February we are flying for the 1st time even though I am terrified (1st time flying). DH said 3 hours in a plane vs. 30 hours in a car?...No contest. It was a very exhausting drive, and I agree I would rather spend the extra time in the parks.

:wizard: Beth

[Tigger&Aidan]

We drove to the beach (about 13 hrs) with my nephews and it was torture! Now, we have a 2 year old that isn't too keen on sitting still! WDW is about a 2hr flight vs a 20+ car trip, so it's a no brainer for me! Plus, with the price of gas, it wouldn't be cheap! If we had to pay a ton for airfare, then we might consider driving....but only for a second!;)

[TENIA66]

our drive is 14.5 hours one way and we've done it for 7 years.........it's never even a question, we love it.......dvd player has helped of course we're a family of five.........

[Kellyscrapbooks]

We are thinking of taking the kids back to WDW in a few years right now they are 12,8,6,5,2 and us me and DH

the four oldest have been we want to wail till 2yr old is 4or 5.

we have flown and it is a 3 & 1/2 hr flight, not bad. If we drive it would be 26hrs!!!

If we drove we would save around $1,000 but to drive a total of 4 day, 2 to get there and 2 to get back.

We have a Suburban and DVD players, but to drive that long?

What do you think? Should we just pay the fare and get there have fun, Or drive?

We drove what was supposed to be 22 hours, but we hit a 4 hour traffic jam (EEK!!) on our last trip. My kids were 4 & 8 at the time. They did fine... that being said, we are flying for the next trip because it was a lot on me and my dh. Kids were too excited to let us "catch up" and rest. (We drove straight through)

[nessz79]

The longest car ride my oldest (now 4, 3 at the time) went on was 18 hours. He did realllllllly well. We opted to have the then-1-year-old fly with Grandma and meet us there. We did drive with the 1 year old on the way back and it was not fun for us to put it simply.

I think it depends on the kids and their ages.

[rt2dz]

Not reading the replies, just giving my thoughts.

We take a 24 hour car trip and a 22 hour car trip every year. And other little trips too. We've done it with nursing children as young as 3 months. We've done it when I've been 6 months pregnant. We've taken two dogs with us. We have only 3 kids, but I've taken my neice and nephew with us too for 5 kids. Obviously, it isn't a problem for us. I prefer it to flying actually, provided we aren't crossing water.

I hate the security checks and necessary early arrival time (which actually adds a lot to the trip, timewise). I hate the extra cost that goes with flying a large family (and then the need for a rental car on arrival). I hate the airline restrictions that aren't an issue when driving. We still have littler ones that would also mean strollers & car seats--what a PITA! I hate being capative to an airport/airplane--I like my freedom.

I think if you go into it with an attitude of dread, it will be awful. Things (and kids!) have a way of meeting your expectations, especially if they are for the negative. If you simply think it is a means to an end, it probably also won't be the best. But, if you think of it as part of your vacation and make it a point to have a good time not just make good time, you might find it fun and enjoyable. There are lots of ways to make a trip easy, beyond the DVD player, once you decide to drive.

In the end though, to each there own. It's only a decision you can make.

[MommaPooh217]

As a 20- something odd year veteran of driving 14 hours from Baltimore to Orlando with a sadistic hubby (who loves the drive) and 4 kids plus older 2 said kids assorted BF's and GF's and best friends and my sister and assorted nieces... FLY FLY FLY FLY FLY !!!! :crazy:




Blessed Be,
Tina

(who WILL get her way and Fly this year too !)