Are we REALLY crazy for driving?

[DJT]

I strongly dislike flying but have flown to WDW twice a year for the last several years, always on SW except one way last year, only because I can get there in two hours. I hate the turbulence and with all the recent emergency landings for this and that, I just can't make myself fly right now. DH wanted to drive anyway, because he said he's just ready for a road trip. So, even though I'm not fond of his driving (made me laugh when a PP said her DH pulls out of the driveway at 90 mph - I can identify), I'm ready for a road trip, too. It's just DH and I and we live in Southern Indiana, across the river from Louisville. We have decided to leave around 3:30 when DH gets home from work on a Thursday, and for different scenery, drive down 64 (instead of 65) from Louisville to Asheville and spend the night. Then drive through Savannah and on to St. Augustine and spend the next night, do sight-seeing in St. Augustine and then on to our resort at WDW on Saturday evening. We plan to just take our time and enjoy the journey. DH is eager to see just how good the gas mileage will be on his 2006Vibe since this is the first trip we've taken with it. I must admit I'm not looking forward to the trip back which will be the boring route - Valdosta, Tipton, Atlanta, Nashville, but I'm going to try to make it pleasant and enjoyable. We will stop and spend the night somewhere on the way back as well. This will be the first time we've driven in many, many years and we're actually looking forward to it.

Donna

 

[redcubfan]

We have two young sons and have driven to WDW the past three summers from Oklahoma. I agree with an earlier post, our vacation starts the minute we leave the house. I strongly suggest the book "The Next Exit" because it lets you know what is coming up at each exit, so you can plan your stops as needed. We have picnic lunches to save money at some of the beautiful state parks and rest stops along the way. The boys watch movies, color, listen to music, have plenty of snacks, and they are perfectly content. It's our uninterrupted family time and we love it. Good luck!

 

[Kims09]

Nah, I don't think you are crazy. It's more family time for us.
We're from Wisconsin (Racine), too, and we drove to WDW in November 2007.
Granted, we took the scenic route on the way down and spent 3 days driving down- so we were never in the car longer than 7 hours per day. We had our 3 1/2 year old daughter with us in a Toyota RAV4. She did great! I had little goody bags put together of stuff to do, which received about 1 every day on the way down. Also, we have a DVD player in the car too, which was a great thing to have to have as well.
On our way down, she did get carsick as we travelled through some of the more mountainous areas in Tennessee. She's a healthy girl who had never been carsick before in her life so that was a new one for us. I'm glad I had enough sense to pack some papertowels (although I packed it to clean the windows, not for the purpose it was used).
On the way home, we were thisclose to making it home in one day. We couldn't sleep the last night before we were supposed to leave, so we ended up leaving about 4:00 a.m. from Florida. We would have made it home probably around midnight that night, but a huge ice storm hit right around Indiana/Illinois border. Traffic was at a stand still so we opted to get off the expressway and spend the night at a hotel. We were home by 9:00 the next morning.
We're driving down again in October this year. It's definately cheaper. It's about $700 for the three of us to fly and that's not including the baggage costs as they are now ( I didn't even bother to waste my time trying to price that out). I figure with gas and one hotel stay each night, we'll be around $550. Plus we'd have to spend money renting a car or getting a taxi a day or two (as we're going to Universal) so we're playing out the cheaper route.
I'm sure you'll be fine!

 

[MrsPete]

I'd do it, BUT before I'd commit to it, I'd do a total cost analysis of what driving would cost: Gas, hotel, a few goodies to keep the kids entertained. Meals on the road are a little tricky. You'd have to feed your family at home, but you'll spend more on the road -- even if you picnic, that tends to mean convenience foods and they're more expensive than what I eat at lunch at home -- so it's fair to consider the difference between what you'd spend at restaurants vs. what you'd prepare at home, and consider that your "road food" cost.

Once you figure out what it's going to cost, check and compare airfare. Be fair about this too: Include the cost of any ground transportation you're going to need, checking luggage, loss of the ease of bringing drinks conveniently. Don't forget to include the cost of parking your car at the airport. IF you could get it close, I'd go for the convenience and fly -- but if driving = significant savings, do it!

While you're comparing, count your hours too. Don't forget that flying may only mean two hours in the air, but a fair comparison would include driving to the airport, arriving an hour early (two hours, depending upon the time and date) early to get the luggage and security taken care of.

Actually, I've been looking at something simliar recently:

We're going on a cruise out of Miami next summer, and I was trying to find a cheap airline flight. We can get there for only $79/each -- well, $59, but we'd have to drive to an airport three hours away to catch that flight, so it doesn't seem worthwhile -- to fly into Ft. Lauderdale, which is a short drive from the port . . . but the very best I can do for the return trip is $129. So I figured up the total cost for the six of us to fly, and by the time I'd included taxes/fees, ground transportation, meals, etc., it was a tad over $1600. I tried every trick in the book, and that is the best I can do.

Then I figured up our driving cost. Just under $400, which includes a little extra gas for driving around, meals on the road, and parking for a week at the port.

The upshot of the math exercise is that I've accepted that driving 13 hours is not only do-able, but it's the smart choice. Seeing that it costs less than 25% to drive has changed my attitude about driving (yes, even with four teenagers). Driving means that $1200 stays in my checking account, and that's enough for us to do some cool stuff on the cruise: Drive jet skis, take some cool tours, drink loads of fru-fru drinks. I wouldn't drive to save $200 . . . but to avoid spending $1200 is fine.

Stopped at McDonalds - he could play on the playground equipment and then eat in the van.

We used to do this too. DH'd take the kids straight to the playground while I ordered food for him and me. We'd let them play, play, play while the two of us ate -- we'd feel like the worst parents in the whole world, of course, eating while our kids had nothing! But then when it was time to go, one of us would get the kids' shoes on while the other bought Happy Meals for the car. It was an efficient use of time, and they certainly didn't think they were being abused because they weren't "eating with us".

We start out late in the day and drive as much as we can through the night while the kids sleep. Then day 2 we would stop in Georgia; Macon, Tifton, or Valdosta. We would have an early dinner, let the kids swim/relax. The the next day it is a much shorter drive, especially from Valdosta.

Planning is key! We pack everything in the car the night before, even purses and backpacks. DH and I sleep, but we let -- no, we encourage -- the kids to stay up as late as they can. They get their baths the night before, and they go to bed wearing sweat pants or something else comfortable. The next morning we wake them, and they just stumble into the car, where they resume their sleep. We always get a lot of good miles behind us before they wake and request a late breakfast.

Your specific plans might vary, but thinking through the drive makes everything so much easier. Now that mine are teens, we let them say how they want to manage. They do a pretty good job, but they've had practice!

 

[lsg1]

We've driven down many times from NYC and my kids complain now when I say we are going to fly, since they really enjoy the ride down in the car. I have 3 kids (now 13, 19 and 22) but we have driven down since my son (now 19 was 8 months old). And on 2 of the trips, my oldest brought a friend along, so there was 4 kids in the car. We make the drive part of the trip, and they have the best memories of our trips. Some tips I can give is to bring lots of healthy food in the car so that you don't have to stop along to way for meals. I buy those tuna kits with the mayo and relish and crackers, and each kid gets to make their own lunch. We drive for 10-12 hours the first day, so that the second day is not as long a drive. We always stop at Santee, SC and then eat at crackerbarrel for dinner the first night. Agreeably the ride home is never as much fun as the ride down, but you are definately not crazy by any means.

 

[ILuvTigger]

No, you are not crazy. We drove (live in IL) to WDW this past Feb, brought our daughter and 3 year old nephew. We thought we were crazy, but it ended up being nice. My crazy commando dh drove straight through, 20 hours. LOL I loved every minute of it, all of us were excited to see the Mouse. In the end we saved about $700 driving, made it even more worth it....more money to spend at WDW.

 

[Missin'Disney]

DH and I (no kids) drove from NY last January to WDW and we loved it! We did 12 hours on the way there the first day. We were able to stop at great BBQ places in NC and SC for lunch and dinner which was a highlight of our drive there. We stayed in Santee, SC which was had a lot of hotels to choose from and it was really close to Sweatman's BBQ (which is the real reason we chose it). The next morning we drove the 6 hours to WDW.
On the way home we drove from WDW to Savannah and stayed overnight. We ate dinner at Paula Deen's restaurant The Lady and Sons which was yummy! The next morning we explored a little bit and then drove straight home which took about 14 hours.
We would definitely drive again but the only reason we usually fly is because I don't get a lot of vacation time from my job. I get 2 weeks a year and DH has 1 month so we'd rather do 2 1 week trips than 1 big trip per year.
We made the driving part of the trip and had a lot of fun. We downloaded a bunch of WDW Today podcasts to entertain ourselves and we also took a couple of audio books plus our collection of Disney CD's that we normally keep in the car.
I would definitely say drive if it suits your family, DH and I enjoy road trips so it really worked for us.

Sorry to kinda-hijack, but I just wanted to say swankybeth cause you're only the second DIS'er I've ever seen from RVC!! We need a DISmeet! Now that I've seen your pic in your sig I'm gonna look for you around town

 

[dmorgia]

We're planning our first vacation to DW in September 2010. I've booked it already and we're set! It'll be me, my husband, our 2 year old daughter and 4 year old son. We're from Wisconsin. We're driving. Are we nuts for driving? We have a minivan so it's not like we'll be super cramped or anything. I'm not a fan of flying and I'm just worried with all of our luggage, stroller, snacks, toys for the kids, etc, that it would be easier (and cheaper) to just drive. I love to see the country as well and I figure a good 2 days of driving and we'll be there. Everyone we tell thinks we're crazy... will it really be that bad???

dont worry ive done it with an 8, 6, and 2 2 year olds

 

[cassandrap83]

flying is SO cheap now, and so much safer than driving.

 

[swankybeth]

Sorry to kinda-hijack, but I just wanted to say swankybeth cause you're only the second DIS'er I've ever seen from RVC!! We need a DISmeet! Now that I've seen your pic in your sig I'm gonna look for you around town

LOL, definitely. If you really want to find me, go to Kookaburra on Saturday and Sunday mornings, we're usually sitting outside enjoying coffee!

 

[lisajl]

We drive from Ohio and let me just say this, some of our best memories are on road trips. We have a great time! We have been driving everywhere we can since our kids were small. Just make sure you take some breaks along the way and you will be fine. Trust me, it will be great.

Lisa

 

[Pixieflip]

You are not crazy! We drive from Nebraska every year and our whole family loves it. It does help to prepare and view it with a great attitude.

I figure we save nearly $900 by driving, even with a hotel stop on the way down and back, so it's a no brainer for us. We are a family of 6, airfare is about $240 for us, times 6 is $1440, driving costs about $550. Maybe someday we'll be able to afford flying every time, but for now driving makes WDW something we can do every year instead of longer.

Everyone here has listed great tips to surviving it.

 

[gk90]

Not crazy--we've done the trip, 2250 miles round trip, twice, just got back a few days ago and thought it was fine. Lots of good tips on the 2000+ mile drive thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1655918&page=124