Is it worth driving from New England to Disney for the "experience"?

[gtpoohbear]

A long drive is never something I *want* to experience, so I guess I can't really relate if its something you think you'd actually enjoy. Logistically and financially I don't think it makes sense. Flying is always a better "experience", at least IMO.

 

[linzbear]

I think you're wearing nostalgia glasses for South of the Border, it's nothing special. We've driven down twice now and we'll likely do it again, but this year we got a deal on plane tickets. We're spending probably an extra $500-600 to fly this year, and I just cannot wait to not spend 2 full days in a car!!!

 

[richmo]

I'll jump on the bandwagon. Not worth it for a savings of $300. I imagine the depreciation on your car alone for almost 3000 miles will be more than that.

And, I don't know your situation, but the 2+ extra days in the car means either less time at Disney or a hit to your vacation time.

 

[DisneyFive]

Being that I'm the one driving. No way is it worth it!

It would start our stay off "on the wrong foot". I'd rather arrive to WDW rested, ready to go. 2 1/2 hour flight, versus 20+ hours of driving? No thank you. Plus it just adds to the number of vacation days I would need to use.

...and the drive back would be a total drag.

Dan

 

[TXAKDisneyFan]

I've been on more cross-country road trips than I care to remember, and they are tedious. Stopping at different attractions breaks things up, but it also adds cost and takes time. I think $300 is close enough that it's within a margin of error where the road trip could easily end up costing more than flying. A cracked windshield, flat tire, etc and pretty soon the savings are nil. Plus, I'd MUCH rather spend the extra couple days in Orlando than driving.

 

[moran66]

I wouldnt do it for the experience. I used to swear against driving but now with 3 kids and 3-4 trips to disney per year. I have started to like driving over flying. Waiting around at the airport getting crammed in the plane like cattle screaming kids. not saying either is better just saying drivng isnt all that bad. I drive from pa though. new england might be another story

 

[JimmyV]

Growing up, we traveled to South Florida:

• By train from Penn Station (NYC) on the Silver Meteor, Silver Comet and Florida Special many many times.
• When the family grew from 4 members to 6, we drove from New England. Did this at least 5 or 6 times. Going down was full of anticipation. The drive back was torture.
• After WDW opened, we continued to drive for a couple of years, and then took the Auto Train from Lorton, VA to Sanford, FL. This was far, far better than driving all the way. Did this probably 5 or 6 times.
• Since I started going down with my own family, I have always flown.

I cannot imagine driving ever again. I could take the train without hesitation. But timing gets in the way. You need to devote 2 full days down and 2 full days back. If I took a two or three week vacation, I might consider it. But for 10 days or less, that is too much time doing a whole lot of nothing. And there is no way that South of the Border warrants a special trip.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

What is "South of the Border?" I think of that as going to Mexico...am I stoopid?

My car time limit is generally 5 hours. Anything over that is a plane trip for me. We're planning a trip to Mt. Rushmore this summer and that's like 8/12 hours in the car, which I would never, ever do normally, but in this case, driving is really the only sensible option, unfortunately, so I'm going to suck it up.

 

[DizDaD7]

Just 1 point to add to what I wrote before.

Both times when we drove, we didn't have to take an extra vacation day from work nor did we add on to our trip because of this.

Both trips we left on a Friday afternoon @4:00, just after work. We drove through the night & arrived to check in just around noon.
If we were flying those trips we still would've been checking in on Saturday, not Friday, so we didn't lose any time..Just sleep..lol
Worked out perfect too, because kids went to sleep at like 8 and were out till at least 6-630, which is most of the trip.

 

[JimmyV]

What is "South of the Border?" I think of that as going to Mexico...am I stoopid?

The ultimate in Roadside America Tourist Traps.
http://www.thesouthoftheborder.com/

You start to see the billboards advertising it as soon as you get a bit south of Washington DC. "Only 287 miles to South to the Border". The billboards are at once cute, funny, politically incorrect and culturally insensitive. But they are burned on my brain as part of my childhood.

 

[DisneyMim]

Fly. We live in Boston. My husband and I drove many moons ago before the kids. It's a LONG drive. My brother always drove from here, but lately he hates it and prefers to drive unless he's spending a long time there. He says with all the trucks and much more traffic than years ago it can be a tough drive. For $300 it's not worth it (IMHP). Whatever you do have a wonderful time!!

Enjoy The Magic!!

 

[ArwenMarie]

If you don't have a fear of flying and can afford flights, then fly. It's really far.

We did the drive once from NJ and I really enjoyed the ride down, but the ride back up was the worst!

There is a good thread on the transportation board with 1,000 mile+ drivers on it if you are interested!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

The ultimate in Roadside America Tourist Traps.
http://www.thesouthoftheborder.com/

OMG, how hilariously random and offensive! LOL.

 

[sharona]

Don't do it. The time suck alone is not worth it unless you have unlimited vacation time or are saving big $$$$. I understand families of 4 or 5+ who drive down. Airfare, especially during school vacation weeks, can be outrageous and when you X5 it is more than 1/2 your total bill for the trip. But 3 people to save $300 - no way.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Are you road trip people?
If you are, it could be turned into an adventure. To balance some of the drive, you could auto train the return trip to cut out part of Florida, most of Virginia, and all of NC and SC.

If you are not road trip people, the novelty would dissipate in an exponential pattern. We did several drives from VA to FL when we lived in VA. I stopped at South of the Border once. Relic of my youth--well--once was enough and may have even been too much. I am not sure how they even stay in business while paying rent on all those billboard ads.

But for $300? I would be on a plane.
And I am not against road tripping.

 

[Laketravis]

We've always flown, will be flying there again next month but we are going to try driving in June. Like a previous poster said, we'll leave on a Friday evening around 9pm and should arrive in Orlando around noon on Saturday - 15 hours from Austin. I used to love extended road trips, having driven to Chicago and Denver and other places straight thru but that was years ago and never with DS.

Since we are going to be staying in Orlando for no less than three weeks, I want to have transportation so we can go do other things (Daytona, Miami, Islamorada, etc). Flying and renting a car would have cost much more.


.

 

[dakotix]

We live in Massachusetts. We have driven down before. Getting down there is nice if you don't mind driving. It was actually really fun. The hard part was coming back! We were so tired from our trip and so the drive was a lot harder to take.

 

[greentea]

I hate flying, but I hate driving more. I'm okay driving for a couple hours if I really have to, but more than that and I'm sick of it, my back hurts, and my legs hurt. But stopping to take breaks makes the trip even longer. I also have really bad luck on several-hour trips, like getting stuck at a standstill on highways for hours because of accidents or terrible weather. I can't imagine driving all the way back from Disney after a week of being in the parks! But if you like driving and you and your family want to road trip and don't mind the extra days, that's totally up to you. I just wouldn't do it to save a few hundred dollars because you'll need to buy a lot of gas, extra food for the days you spend driving, hotel to rest, mileage on the car, and any extra vacation days you need to take. Do it because it seems fun to you, not because someone else likes or doesn't like driving.

 

[Simba's Girl]

For $300, I would fly for sure!

We are doing our 2nd trip down driving from MA as a family (we each drove down when we were kids a few times) this August. The main reason why is because there are 5 of us and we will be saving at least $600 by driving vs. flying, probably more than $1000. We each don't mind road trips and our kids are 8, 12 and 15 so its easier than when they were littler.

The first time we drove as a family my oldest was in 4th grade and we took her out of school. Her teacher had her do a journal during our vacation and one of her entries (I still have the journal) was on the way home-we were in NJ I think, "I really wish we had taken a plane right now" LOL

HOWEVER if I can fine a good deal on airfare, I will re-think the driving thing.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

I like to do something "different" each trip, so I have flown and driven, from a much shorter distance (10 hours). For me, if I have to stay in a hotel overnight, I'm eating into too much of the time at the destination. I can do a much shorter long drive from the experience some other time.