DH drives me crazy! No pun intended!

[sorul82?]

DVC Grammy: I see you have just joined...Welcome! Wow, a ding for $24! I just missed one a few weeks ago for $31. I keep waiting and waiting..... For $250 for the 5 of us, we'd fly everytime!!

 

[dudspizza]

#1 no way in H E double hockey sticks am I driving from Minnesota.....

#2 our entire family loves to fly. In fact, the airport, the flight, everything about it is a highlight of the trip.

#3 We are to Florida in half a day versus 2 days and we are not totally worn out.

Driving will never be a consideration, unless we get a motor home...

Duds

 

[Dopey's twin Dippy]

i do not like to fly. so we have taken amtrak quite a few times. of course now my dd is 17 , and she says she is not sitting on the train for 2 days anymore........haha. we have not gotten the sleeper car room cause by the time i call its way to expensive. every one in work laughs at me cause they say , hey 3 hours and your there. but i just have tried to think about flying but i get anxiety over it. we are debating now whether to go in october for my husbands birthday. of course ill check into roomette so he wont complain about the longggggggggg train ride. haha

 

[Hef4545]

We drive because DH is afraid to fly. I finally convinced him to take the plunge. I am crossing my fingers and toes and wearing a string of garlic that we have a smooth flight down or we may be renting a car and driving back.

 

[magsmom]

We have done both. It's a 24 hour drive and a 2.5 hour flight.

We actually kind of considered it this trip as we are going for over 2 weeks. That changed, however, once we got $59 flights on SW.

But, in general, we fly. DH and I have very demanding jobs and simply do not have the time to drive anymore. Even on this coming trip, that would cut 4 days in FL out of our vacation.

That, and the trip home is SO long and quite a letdown.

 

[powellrj]

With the price of airline tickets this year we were considering driving this year. Everyone decided they would rather stay home than drive down. I finally found airfare and car rental that wasn't heartattack worthy, so we are back to flying down.

DH can only take a week off work and there is no way we want to spend the first and last two days of our vacation in car with our kids picking at each other.

We can have breakfast at home and have lunch in Orlando, does life get any better than that????

 

[hearts8701]

i laughed at my husband makes me sick your too funny
but the reason for me to fly is simple i HATE the ride back home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[joshsmom]

We live in Illinois. When I was younger (in college) we drove to Disney--would have NEVER thought of flying because it was "too expensive." Well, I'm in my late 30's now and reality has smacked me in the face. Here's why we fly:

1. I only have so many vacation days a year. To use 4 of them to drive to and from WDW would be heartbreaking to me!!

2. Driving all that way makes me SO tired--even though we used to stop 1/2 way there. When we finally GOT to the World, the first day would be wasted because I would have just driven 9 or 10 hours! When we fly, we take really early flights and sleep on the plane--thus we are refreshed when we get there and ready to hit a park (usually MK!!!)

3. Because my mother and my son would drive me CRAZY duing a 16 hour drive!!!

4. Because of all the road construction EVERYWHERE, 16 hours can turn into 20 hours VERY quickly!!!

5. Because we can--I save for these vacations and part of that is airfare for my family (and my sanity--see above).

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

I'm weighing the decision to fly or drive next time.

In 1999 we drove. It took us 24 hours, but that included stops every few hours, extended stops at South of the Border and St. Augustine and sleeping.

This year we flew out of Philadelphia. It's an hour drive to the airport and you need to arrive at least two hours prior to departure. I chose a 12:45 flight so we wouldn't have to get up at dawn to catch a plane. Our day started at 9am, dropping our car with a friend who drove us to the airport. We landed around 2:30 in Orlando and took Magical Express to our resort (Pop Century). We checked in after 4pm, so our 2.5 hour flight was actually a 7 hour trip - and that was without having to deal with baggage claim.

Yes, flying is still faster than an 18+ hour drive. Even though we used Disney transportation all week for convenience, ease of use and the fact that we didn't need a rental car, I liked the comfort of having our own car to get around on our own on the last trip.

 

[joshsmom]

Maddhatir: Why do I get excited everytime you post something?

I have the same question!!!! And Miss Missy too!!!! Hnmmm, I see a pattern here!!!!

 

[maxaroni]

#1 - with 4 in the family, I'm pretty sure it's still cheaper to drive (even with the price of gas, food along the way, etc.)

#2 - for some odd reason, we actually prefer to drive (I know it takes way longer - we're coming from northern NJ), but we still like the stops along the way (In a previous post I think I've mentioned Crackerbarrels and Waffle Houses!) I just consider the day to drive down and the day to drive back as part of our vacation. We check-in to the CBR on August 13, and check-out on August 20. As far as I'm concerned, we're on vacation from August 12 through August 21.

#3 - LOVE to have the car at WDW. Even though we never leave the world the entire time we are there, there's something liberating about having our family car right there for us whenever we want it.

#4 - I really don't like to fly (kinda scared). But my family knows I will do it, and if anyone really felt strongly (especially the DH who does almost ALL of the driving), I would definitely suck it up and hop on the plane.

So far, this is our fifth trip to WDW, and we've driven 4 times. The first time was when the kids were 3 and 4, and we went with other family members and flying just seemed the way to go. The kids are 15 and 16 now, and they really don't have a problem with the drive. (OK - for this trip, our DD is flying down with her Aunt and meeting us there - but that just makes more room in the car for the 3 of us!!!)

I'm with the poster above who thinks she might have a "transportation" phobia - DH definitely has a heavy foot, and I'm a little white-knuckled during the ride. But still, all things considered, we're definitely just a driving kind of family.

This is us, for the most part. DH drives very well, so that's not a problem. However, it's a longer vacation and we prefer driving. This year we are flying, just do to the choice of less time in Disney to make the drive because we can't get the extra days off. We chose more time in Disney and fly but we are disappointed we aren't driving.

 

[taximomfor4]

We drive from NE Ohio mostly, because it is much, much cheaper. Even putting gas into our minivan. We don't stay in a hotel halfway down, we just drive straight through. There are 6 of us, SWA doesn't have direct flights out of CLE, so their dings have added up to about $1100 for the 6 of us, after fees + taxes. To drive, even if gas goes to $4/gallon, gas is less than $400. We eat cheaply on the drive. To tell the truth, I kind of liked packing up the van, heading to the parks to do some re-do's on favorite rides, and not even having to LOOK at a clock. When we flew (once), we went to DTD in the morning to shop. We were paranoid the whole time that we'd not make it back to the hotel before ME came. Oh, and I honestly, for some reason, don't even remember the drive home. I did all of it, mostly all night long.

So this year, we are leaving to come home (after our morning in the parks) on 8/19. DH has to go to work in the morning on 8/21, so no matter what time we leave the parks on 8/19, we'll be back on 8/20 SOME time.

 

[paladin]

Our last few trips we have driven. Since we generally go for two weeks, the time is not an issue. There are just two of us and we both drive, so we just switch when tired. We have driven all the way through, but prefer to stop along the way (we drive from Chicago). We don't have to worry about a car rental (obviously) once we get there.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We always fly. I'm such an awful passenger that even though dh is a very safe driver, I'd probably end up driving the whole thing myself. Also dh gets an achy back being in the car so long. Recently, we drove to the airport in Baltimore and traffic/construction on I-95 was so stressful and it poured cats & dogs. Maybe it's only me but driving just isn't as fun as it used to be.
Thanks to the awesome dings at SWA, our upcoming flight in Sept. will only cost around $475 RT for all 4 of us. It's soooo worth it.

 

[maddhatir]

Maddhatir: Why do I get excited everytime you post something?

ooooooh- you know EXACTLY why!

 

[WeLoveThePoly]

It's a 16 hour drive for us and we like to go in October.

We used to drive down when DD wasn't in school yet and time really wasn't an issue. Now that DD is in school (she'll be in 4th grade) we fly so we don't waste days driving. DD has a 3-day Fall Break every October and we already have to take her out for an extra 2 days if we want to go Saturday-Saturday.

Debbie

 

[sorul82?]

ooooooh- you know EXACTLY why!

I am sooo busted!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I am sooo busted!

You and so many of us. For some reason my eyes are so drawn to that tan line! mmmm.... what was this thread topic again?

 

[disneyfan219]

We have made about 10 trips to Florida since 1994, 4 of them to WDW. We have driven every time, mostly because I just love to drive but also because it has been cheaper (we have 3 DDs). I personally like to see everything between home and destination. I'll admit that I am afraid to let me wife drive, but that's because she drives too darn close to the cars/trucks in front of us, so I have always driven straight through myself. Usually, depending on the destination, our trips have been 13-15 hours and anything more than that becomes just too much. Remember that it is important to take breaks every 4-5 hours to rest if you are the sole driver. Our decision to drive has mainly been (up until now) to drive since we have had to bring the stroller, playpen, too many toys, etc. But, our next trip may be different.

In case you're wondering, I'm not at all afraid of flying (DW too)... It's just that I am afraid of putting my 3 DDs on a plane. It's hard for me to say exactly why, but I fear for them going through the airport security, sitting next to strangers and being exposed to something that I have no idea what their reaction will be and knowing that there isn't a darn thing I can do about it once we take off (not to mention having to expose all of those innocent people to our kid's behavior ). And I know it is safer than driving, in all of our trips we have seen several fatal accidents including one body on the side of the road with a sheet over it (we distracted the kids as we passed by). Because of this, we will likely fly in the future, unless we are going to do other travelling near our destination.

I say that the best way to travel is the method that makes you and your family most comfortable and the one that you can afford. Don't let it bother you that other people don't understand it (been there), just do what you feel is the best and don't look back.

Jeff

 

[sorul82?]

I was expecting a lot more drivers. I love the responses! Keep 'em comin'.