Cost to Drive to WDW

[dancin Disney style]

Has anyone kept a fairly detalied account of the cost of driving from the Toronto area?

I'm still trying to convince DH that flying would be better. However, I am pretty sure that I have missed the cheap airfare. The best I can do right now is $1074 US from Buffalo for 4 people. I know that it won't cost that much to drive. I just hate the thought of spending four days in the car that I could be spending at WDW.

 

[iluveeyore]

I use fuelcostcalculator.com to give us an idea of gas prices - check that out. Also, we are flying out of Buffalo for $856 for 7 of us round-trip - when is your trip? Southwest has many deals, most about six weeks out or less, we got $122 each round-trip ($69 down, $34 return!). Keep checking their website and sign up for DING!. We used to drive, but with the price of gas and having to stay over one night to break the drive up, it was much cheaper to fly. Plus with the Magical Express shuttle from the airport being free to WDW now (we used to pay Mears $30 each roundtrip - ouch!), that saves a bunch as well. Good luck planning!

 

[dancin Disney style]

iluveeyore---Thanks, I'm very experienced in all the things you have mentioned. I am looking to get an actual number attached to the driving trip. I need to prove to DH that driving is not the bargain that he seems to think. I have estimated it to cost around $625, he seems to think that it will cost no more that $500 "and that's pushing it" he says. "WRONG" is what I say.

Here's what I think:
---roundtrip---
gas---$325+ (price in Aug. ???)
hotel---$150
food---$150
grand total for 4---$625 US

I could have had N/S flights on SW for $670 about 2 weeks ago and he said "NO". I think the wear and tear on my car is worth the extra $45.

 

[digskat]

I am driving the I75, so we will be slightly different, but still comparable. We have driven down the last 3 years, and gas has averaged $275 including our use in Orlando area. We have booked a room in Dalton, Ga for $80 and we pack our snacks for lunch. Including meals, we have never broke $500 for the drive. For us to fly out of Detroit, it would be $500, plus gas and a hotel in Detroit, it is a couple hundred more expensive to fly. Benefit to us is the use of a vehicle while there, and no limit on souveners (gifts) we bring back.

 

[TreesyB]

iluveeyore---Thanks, I'm very experienced in all the things you have mentioned. I am looking to get an actual number attached to the driving trip. I need to prove to DH that driving is not the bargain that he seems to think. I have estimated it to cost around $625, he seems to think that it will cost no more that $500 "and that's pushing it" he says. "WRONG" is what I say.

Here's what I think:
---roundtrip---
gas---$325+ (price in Aug. ???)
hotel---$150
food---$150
grand total for 4---$625 US

I could have had N/S flights on SW for $670 about 2 weeks ago and he said "NO". I think the wear and tear on my car is worth the extra $45.

I would put into the equation the oil change you would need either prior to or immediately after your trip, as the trip itself would put 5000 KM on the car that you wouldn't if you weren't driving back and forth. Then there are the incidental charges that I ran into when I got sick (caught a virus in one of the hotels), and had to buy drugs for that.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I would put into the equation the oil change you would need either prior to or immediately after your trip, as the trip itself would put 5000 KM on the car that you wouldn't if you weren't driving back and forth. Then there are the incidental charges that I ran into when I got sick (caught a virus in one of the hotels), and had to buy drugs for that.

Unfortunately, DH is an auto dealer so the oil changes are free. I have mentioned the mileage because we are driving down for March break '08. That would put an extra 10,000km on my van in 7 months. I can handle the drive in March because that was totally my idea, but I don't want to do it twice. Eventhough this trip was also my idea

 

[MamaLema]

We spent $340 driving to and from WDW. This includes all the tolls as well.

I know many people say it's cheap to fly but I just don't think that's the case for us.

We usually go for 2-3 weeks and we are a family of 6.

If you add up the car rental for 3 weeks (we don't stay on-site and like to do other things besides WDW ), the cost of leaving the car at an airport for 3 weeks, plus all those extra taxes, I don't see how it would work for us.

We love driving, but that's just us

 

[digskat]

The oil change is another $40, incidentals can happen when flying too. My in-laws had the door on the plane blow off, as they taxied down the runway, ended up with an additional night in Detroit, and a loss of a day of vacation ($115 plus meals). A co-worker had his flight home cancelled, because the company went bankrupt, ended up with an additional 3 days in Cocoa Beach and 2 lost work days ($450 for his hotel, and $700 in wages). A friend had his luggage lost, and spent $250 dollars on clothes for the 4 of them (he eventually got $100 back and a damaged suitcase with some damaged clothes- 1 month later).

Other factors have to be considered;
1. Are you staying onsite?
2. Do you mind being tied to Disney's bus schedule?
3. Do you plan on going shopping, or off Disney property?
4. Do you intend to buy souveners?
5. How long is your vacation?

If you intend to do anything off property, you will either pay obscene cab fees, or rent a car. However, if time restraints are an issue, the 3 and a half days of driving, can be a problem.
For us, the drive is part of the vacation, DW researches the hotel for the way down, and makes sure it has a nice indoor pool, and decent restaurants nearby. We have a DVD player, and new movies for the kids. I do all of the driving, and usually put at least 15 hours in on day 1, so that we are swimming at our resort around lunch day 2. The trip to WDW is the start of my vacation, so we have no time issues. We enjoy having our own vehicle, to go shopping around Orlando, and to come and go as we please. As I said earlier, we have driven the last three years, and have had few issues. In the future, we may fly, but it will be because of time issue, not money, because we have found driving much cheaper.
Our quote (cheapest we have yet) from Northwest is $294 each round trip from Detroit for a total of $1168 CAD. It departs at 6:40 am, so we would have to get a room the night before for $120. Add about $25 for gas and another $35 for meals and we are at $1328 to fly. I'll take the $550 (including oil change) to drive, and spend the $800 on a few extra days there.

 

[DerangedAboutDisney]

iluveeyore---Thanks, I'm very experienced in all the things you have mentioned. I am looking to get an actual number attached to the driving trip. I need to prove to DH that driving is not the bargain that he seems to think. I have estimated it to cost around $625, he seems to think that it will cost no more that $500 "and that's pushing it" he says. "WRONG" is what I say.

Here's what I think:
---roundtrip---
gas---$325+ (price in Aug. ???)
hotel---$150
food---$150
grand total for 4---$625 US

I could have had N/S flights on SW for $670 about 2 weeks ago and he said "NO". I think the wear and tear on my car is worth the extra $45.

You're also driving to Buffalo (which is a certain amount of gas that you must add to the flight cost) and may possibly have to stay in a Buffalo hotel depending on your flight time. Also, once there, you'll have the convenience of your very own car without the added cost of renting a car.

(August prices of gas tend to be huge, I remember up to a dollar and a half a liter last year)

 

[dsneygirl]

We just got back from WDW and gas is averaging well over $3/gallon. In Buffalo it was $3.25.

 

[dopeyluvsgrumpy]

We drove from Kitchener to Disney last year. It cost between $300-$350 in gas plus two hotel stays each way. Add meals on top of that and two days of driving each way and it really isn't that great of a savings. This year we are flying out of detroit for less than $700 (four people). With the time savings we were able to add two extra days to our disney stay

 

[F4disneyfan]

Has anyone kept a fairly detalied account of the cost of driving from the Toronto area?

I'm still trying to convince DH that flying would be better. However, I am pretty sure that I have missed the cheap airfare. The best I can do right now is $1074 US from Buffalo for 4 people. I know that it won't cost that much to drive. I just hate the thought of spending four days in the car that I could be spending at WDW.

I have an accurate account of our drive from last Dec from London to Disney not quite Toronto but not to far off either we drove I-75 so if you are going that route let me know and I can post exact costs for fill ups and stations we stopped etc. For us we drive down at night and make it pretty mush a day and a half drive we stop for the night in Valdosta then arrive at Disney by lunch time the next day. We start out at about 6:30 PM and drive all night and then stop in GA at the welcome centre for breakfast. We then drive from there to Macon GA and stop for lunch and after an hour or so we are off to our stop in Valdosta for the evening at exit 18. So we are only 18 miles from the Florida border the next morning and we are at Disney by lunch time after our stop at the Florida welcome centre and then our stop at the rest area in Gainesville. Our total cost not broken down was just over 275 with hotel stay for the drive down and home. We then just drive straight through on the way home. The one thing we always take with us to save a big portion is our electric cooler it is invaluable especially for not having to worry about paying for meals on the way there or home.

 

[jersey shark]

For those in favor of driving, don't fall into the trap of just calculating "gas" (plus an oil change maybe) to represent all auto expenses

Here in the US the IRS has approved 48.5 cents as the allowable mileage deduction (takes into account fuel and operational expenses/"wear and tear" to run the vehicle) ...let's just say its a 1000 mile trip from Toronto to Orlando (its probably more)....this would mean the fully loaded cost to drive round-trip is about $1000 US (without factoring in food or lodging).

...of course, if you own your vehicle out-right, this is a "sunk cost", (that's why I'm sure so many focus on the immediate out-of-pocket expenses like fuel), but nontheless, a big trip like this does effectively speed the time up when you would need a replacement vehicle.

...yet another option to making driving more affordable is to snag a good rental car deal with unlimited mileage and drive to your hearts content.

Personally speaking, we're a flying family - our trips are not usually longer than 7 days so driving would be crazy - there's no trouble snagging low air fares in the NY/NJ - Orlando route either.

 

[digskat]

Here in the US the IRS has approved 48.5 cents as the allowable mileage deduction (takes into account fuel and operational expenses/"wear and tear" to run the vehicle) ...let's just say its a 1000 mile trip from Toronto to Orlando (its probably more)....this would mean the fully loaded cost to drive round-trip is about $1000 US (without factoring in food or lodging).

.

Is there any way you could translate this into english? The mileage allowance for a government employee in Ontario, is 42 cents, but what does that have to do with anything? It is your allowance for using your car instead of the companies, and is for gas, insurance, tolls, and wear and tear. Since it is your personal car, on your personal trip, you are already insured, and the tolls are included in our account, all that is extra is mileage. The average person holds onto a car for 4 years, and the average allowable mileage for sale is 20 000- 25 000 km/year, so a trade in would be at the 90 000 km mark. The extra each year with our drive, about 3500 km. Do you know what the difference in vehicle value between a car with 90 000 and 104 000 km......... nothing.
We are leasing our vehicle, and are allowed 25000 km per year (75000 total) we are 15 months from completion of our lease, and haven't hit 25000 yet, after 2 disney trips. We have had 1 extra oil change for 2 trips, because we never are near the 5000 km in 3 months. OUr wear and tear = nothing. We drove our vehicle the first year, and when we sold it, the loss due to our trip was nothing.

 

[craz4dogs]

We made the choice finally to drive because of the fact that we can bring pop/water/breakfast foods/etc. We also plan on doing some shopping while there and this way we can buy as much as we want with no worries.
If we bought one extra water/ one pop and an extra snack every day while at disney that would be an extra 10 a day (easily).

Drive (this is for family of 4--and driving a minivan--so if you have a smaller car/calculate lower costs for gas):
450 in gas (this includes driving around orlando too-12 day trip)
140-two hotel stays
50 (two dinners)
25 (coffee/snack break for a change)
Total-665
We didn't include lunch prices/breakfasts (we usually get a continental breakfast at hotels) as we will pack enough snacks/foods to tide us over.

Airplan
Cheapest we have been able to see has been just under 600 (and that is if you are really lucky)
but add in leaving vehicle at airport (can't remember cost---thinking about 75??)
gas to Buffalo airport and back-35.00
snack or coffee to airport/or at airport waiting for flight/and same on way home-25.00
Can not add it in but cost NOT to be able to bring in food/water with you-70.00 at least
Car rental in FL (can't remember the cost here either)
***you have to limit yourself on anything you buy--cost to you?
So at least: 850 or more

I figure if we are going to drive the 3 hours to Buffalo and wait a couple hours for a plane/or possibly have to stay over because of an early flight, and then another hour at the airport in Orlando or more and then worry about rentals and paying that fee, I might as well take our own car and know we can take whatever we want and know we can leave the resort whenever we want to too. I like the idea of freedom.

Now don't get me wrong---if we did not have 12 days to play with and only 9 or something, this would not be a factor. I would not take 4 days of driving to only have 5 days down there.........just for us, this way seems the way to be for now.

 

[michelle1]

I can see how driving is cheaper when you have a large family but with our size family (4) we can't justify driving and we drive an SUV which would run us at least $500 in gas alone. Everyone's situation is different, but for us, the time saved alone is worth every penny of the cost to fly...not to mention we are paying $343 for 4 of us for our July trip so there is no way at that price to rationalize driving over flying!

 

[nosnobunny2006]

Having a child and her family living in S Florida means that DH and I have been down there a lot over the years. We've done it both ways - driving and flying and I like both. The way I see it, your costs are pretty much equal. All prices in my calculations are US$.

Fuel = approx. $175.00 (1281 miles x 25 mpg x $3.11/gal.)
Hotel for 4 nights en route = $400.00
Food = $460.00
breakfast = $30 x 4 days
lunch = $25 x 4 days
dinner = $60 x 4 days
Total cost to drive = $1035.00

Granted you'd have to buy food either way. Flying would cost about the same but you'd be saving at least 2 vacation days or possibly more depending on your flights. For me, it all boils down to convenience.

Beth

 

[F4disneyfan]

For those in favor of driving, don't fall into the trap of just calculating "gas" (plus an oil change maybe) to represent all auto expenses

Here in the US the IRS has approved 48.5 cents as the allowable mileage deduction (takes into account fuel and operational expenses/"wear and tear" to run the vehicle) ...let's just say its a 1000 mile trip from Toronto to Orlando (its probably more)....this would mean the fully loaded cost to drive round-trip is about $1000 US (without factoring in food or lodging).

...of course, if you own your vehicle out-right, this is a "sunk cost", (that's why I'm sure so many focus on the immediate out-of-pocket expenses like fuel), but nontheless, a big trip like this does effectively speed the time up when you would need a replacement vehicle.

...yet another option to making driving more affordable is to snag a good rental car deal with unlimited mileage and drive to your hearts content.

Personally speaking, we're a flying family - our trips are not usually longer than 7 days so driving would be crazy - there's no trouble snagging low air fares in the NY/NJ - Orlando route either.

For us there is no wear and tear equation for our vehicle it is a lease and will be under warranty till the day we trade it in. I have put tires on the van but they were not needed we just wanted better tires than what came on it. As for oil changes our dealership has given us free oil changes since we signed the lease. We pay for oil because we want to use synthetic not Dino based oil which also lengthens the time between oil changes from 5000K to closer to 10K mind you we still do them every 5K unless we really get lazy. Our food for the drive we bring from home in our electric cooler we have a hotel for 1 night on the way down and drive straight back no hotel stay. We stay DVC so we make sure to pack food back into the cooler for the drive home thus no paying for food during the drive it was built into the cost of the trip while we were at Disney. Our total out of cast for our Dec drive we also stay in Florida for a minimum of 12-14 days so the cost for us to drive with hotel was just a tad over 300 bucks for our family of 5. We are now a family of 6 so driving is ALWAYS going to be much much cheaper and honestly way more fun than flying. We are going in Dec again just the wife and I and we are still going to drive just because we love it.

 

[Nickles]

We are going in August and for a family of 3, I haven't found anything cheaper that $1050 US. Someone suggested to me that we fly into Tampa and then rent a car and drive to Orlando. I got flights to Orlando (for the 3 of us) for $471. To rent a car to go down is $55. I saved for $500 by doing this.

Maybe it may be an option for you?

 

[dancin Disney style]

We are going in August and for a family of 3, I haven't found anything cheaper that $1050 US. Someone suggested to me that we fly into Tampa and then rent a car and drive to Orlando. I got flights to Orlando (for the 3 of us) for $471. To rent a car to go down is $55. I saved for $500 by doing this.

Maybe it may be an option for you?

I'm a little confused.