Anyone Else Considering Driving This Year?

[Magic4UsZ's]

I have been waiting for SW to come out with some lower rates than Airtran, but they are even MORE!!!!!!! We are going this June and the dh said if we cant find a reasonable rate we'll be driving. EEEKKK!! Map quest states a little over 1000 miles for us!! We've done it once before in two days there and two days back, but we are thinking maybe getting up in the middle of night and trying for one day of 16 hours of DRIVE time. Are we insane? At least we wont need a rental car when getting there.(which we do when we fly)


Anyone else thinking the same?

 

[I Love Pluto]

We drive each year from the Phila. area. We take 2 days down, and 2 days back. I like the road trip.

 

[OKW Lover]

Are you insane for thinking about driving? Possibly

As you pointed out, you'd lose a good part of your vacation time just driving to and from WDW. If your vacation time is limited, you are probably better off flying so you can enjoy more of your trip.

And don't forget the higher risk factor in driving rather than flying.

 

[sammielynn]

Have you tried Allegiant Air? I got a great deal with them. $39 one way from Cahttanooga to Sanford.

 

[magsmom]

We are seriously considering the drive this summer unless air comes down consideribly. Since we are coming back Labor Day weekend, this may be the way we go.

 

[Magic4UsZ's]

I have to admit that the year we did drive, we have some fun memories of things that happened on the way. But like it was stated by okwlover it does cut into your Disney time, or cuts into your vacation days from work. I was thinking of trying the drive straight down (this is the insane part) and making it into 2days on the way back. Dh says he doesnt mind driving, he actually likes to drive. (Yea for me )

I'm not giving up on airfare just yet, but any tips for such a long drive down would be appreciated.

Thank goodness our kids are 8 & 12 and are really pretty good about driving, but that I think would be asking alot of anybody to endure.

 

[piggy]

We are driving it is over 800 miles for us but the cost will be less than flying. If you leave around midnight the traffic is not as bad. We are leaving at 3am.

 

[Magic4UsZ's]

Good to know piggy. I know that when we are at our resort we sure do see alot of license plates from far away, so there must be a fair amount of people who drive. Any tips for keeping everyone happy?

 

[tinaluis]

We've done the drive several times and we've flown several times too. We have a DVD player in our van, pack plenty of snacks for the kids, have them bring books to read and booklights, and stop as often as we need to. Sometimes we've driven straight through to Orlando (our drive is about 1,200 miles) and other times we've stopped. We take it as we go.

For us, in April, it's drive or stay home. Of course, we're driving ! Normally we plan our trips some months in advance, but this one came up kind of suddenly and airfare is outrageous, not to mention the price of a rental car. So, we're driving, and we're going to love it (or at least like it because it will get us to WDW).

My suggestion is to plan on driving but also to watch the price of airfare. If it comes close to what you'd pay driving, then book the airfare. If not, drive. Either way you'll end up in FL!!!!!

 

[Magic4UsZ's]

Your right Tinaluis!!! either way we end up in FL.
We live in the middle of Illinois!!! so you know what I'm talking about. When do you guys take off. I've read that some people start out at night say 10pmish and drive thru the night, others go to bed early and get up and go at 3 am with the kids in their PJ's. I guess I need to figure out what would put you going thru the bigger cities at an off traffic time.

 

[SnowWhite]

We always drive straight down (25hrs. for us). I-75 is the best route for us as it has lots of exits for food and washrooms. The drive can get alittle tiring near the end but soon as we pass under the "Walt DisneyWorld" sign it seems to disappear. Just make sure if you try this that you are capable of driving long distances. I recommend a couple drivers. Personally I am used to being in a car for 12-14 hrs a day as I teach driving. So I don't fatigue as much as someone who isn't used to being in the car that long.

Rob (Snowwhite's DH)

 

[Magic4UsZ's]

Rob,
you are so right. You definetly need a couple of drivers. I will give Dh breaks. I just dont enjoy driving in heavy traffic that is going 80 in the slow lane. It seems that was how it was thru georgia a few years ago. I need to get onto map quest and figure our times thru congested cities.

I bet as soon as I get things figured out for a drive trip they'll lower airfares, seems to be how it goes. That would be ok with me too.

z mom

 

[marybrat]

We're driving for the first time. We're towing our camper too. So, this will add hours to our drive time. We'll be taking two and a half days to get there.

 

[Jon99]

We always like to leave around 3:00 PM, get there before noon...

 

[Novinha]

We made the decision to drive down too. We were going to fly and rent a car. We'll spend two weeks down there (one at the non-Disney parks and one at WDW). After we looked at prices for plane tickets and the price of a rental car for two weeks, we decided to drive. We have a Honda Civic, so we get pretty good gas milage and after calculations, we figured we'd be saving over $800 and that was worth more than the extra time to drive.

We'll be coming from Louisville, KY and stopping at Valdosta, GA on the way down and at Macon, GA on the way home. It's a bit easier for us if we don't spend more than 10 hours in the car at one time. I am very happy we made this decision. It feels less stressful not having to worry about airport security and getting our luggage and hoping they have a good rental car available.

 

[pigletof4]

We leave in two weeks and we are driving. This is a last minute trip and dh would rather fly, but I can't find any reasonable rates. We're going with another family so we are leaving around 4 on Saturday afternoon which should put us at Disney some time mid morning on Sunday. We are going to take two days coming back though.

 

[pigletof4]

Marybrat, I was wondering how you travel down to Disney. We live in Erie, PA which is two hours west of you. Do you come this way and head down 79 and points south?

 

[marybrat]

We've never actually driven to WDW before. However, our plan is to drive to Erie and then 79 and so on.

 

[mirthmaiden]

I drive to Florida at least 3x per year. It is 14 hours from central VA to my parents' place in The Villages. And I usually do 90 - 95% of the driving myself, even when I have passengers who can drive. But then, I drive for a living (about 300 miles per day) and I don't mind it. My kids have been doing this since they were wee tots so they're used to it as well. When you have a family of 6 traveling, airfare would cost more than our hotel for the week. We choose to drive so we can afford other things.

I don't think anybody can tell you "yes, drive" or "no, don't." It's all about your personal tolerance for it and cost / benefit analysis.