Calculating the cost of driving...?

[DisneyBliss7]

I hope I'm allowed to mention this website, if not I apologize!!!....We usually fly to Disney but this time I'm looking into saving some money and driving. I went on the website '' drive to Disney'' and it calculated our trip costing $252 round trip for gas! That seems soooo cheap to me? I'm not complaining just surprised We live near Albany NY and drive a 2009 Honda Odyssey with 2 adults and 5 kids plus all our luggage. Is this website pretty accurate? Or is there another calculator I can use to estimate the cost of driving. I would love for this to be true, it cost around $2500 to fly for the 7 of us The money we'd save driving could go to so many other places!

 

[maxiesmom]

I don't think it is accurate. It came back for me as costing $82 one way. And I live in Michigan.

 

[minnie mum]

For past trips we've used gasbuddy.com to estimate our costs and found it pretty accurate. I tried your info on it and it showed $225 return trip. Of course it can vary somewhat depending on which gas stations you fill up at. GB will also recommend the cheapest places to get gas on your trip.

 

[puffkin]

One thing to consider is that you will be doing mostly highway driving the entire way so you will get a lot better gas mileage. It can be pretty significant.

For instance my DH has a longer commute but its all highway miles. He was out of town for a week and I drove his car instead of mine which is much more "local" driving and I easily got 10 mpg less than he normally does. Add that savings up over a long trip and its pretty significant.

 

[tobikaye]

I used the Trip Cost Calculator on gas buddy. com for my trip. I tried about 5 times over a month period since the price fluctuated as gas prices changed. I entered the addresses I would be going to and the type of car I was driving. I got rates from $180 - $230 based on date, route and price.

I decided to buy a Visa GC for $200 and then I would just go in and tell the cashier how much to charge. I used the website to get an idea of which cities we would be best off to get gas and estimate of how much we would need to fill up. I usually got $35 or $40 when we stopped for gas and that filled up our 2007 Saturn Outlook. The tank was usually somewhere between E and 1/4 full. I figured I would pay out of pocket for anything over the $200. We came home with $10 left on the $200 gift card.

 

[MOpGrad2013]

MapQuest can also figure it for you.

$285 sounds more accurate for one way. DS just drove from Tampa to our home (north of Nashville TN)...cost him $150 one way for a mini-van.

 

[sam_gordon]

I hope I'm allowed to mention this website, if not I apologize!!!....We usually fly to Disney but this time I'm looking into saving some money and driving. I went on the website '' drive to Disney'' and it calculated our trip costing $252 round trip for gas! That seems soooo cheap to me? I'm not complaining just surprised We live near Albany NY and drive a 2009 Honda Odyssey with 2 adults and 5 kids plus all our luggage. Is this website pretty accurate? Or is there another calculator I can use to estimate the cost of driving. I would love for this to be true, it cost around $2500 to fly for the 7 of us The money we'd save driving could go to so many other places!

Use Google maps from your address to WDW. Albany, NY to WDW comes up as 1231 miles one way. That would be 2462 RT. I'll round to 2600 (to allow for some extra).

Hopefully you have an idea of what your gas mileage is. I'm guessing 25mpg highway at best. So 2600/25mpg = 104 gallons * $2/gallon (current rate) = $208. If you only get 20mpg, it comes out to $260.

So that does seem pretty close to accurate for gas. Add four hotel rooms (two there, two back) at $125 (including taxes), that's an additional $500. Two extra days of meals at probably around $150 each day (for 7, seems about right), there's another $300.

So you're just over $1050 to drive. Compare that to $2100 to fly (figure $300pp), and you save ~$1000 to drive.

BUT, how much is your time worth? I think it's safe to say you lose at least a day of vacation (if not two) time at WDW.

 

[tobikaye]

When I took my trip at the end of November through first week of December, the gas prices were around $2.50-$2.65. Now, they are about $1.95-$2.10, I would have been able to round trip for about $140-$160 if I were going now.

 

[DisneyBliss7]

I just calculated on MapQuest and it was about $80 more (roundtrip). I got $165 one way. Which ever website is more accurate at the end of the day I still save so much money. I'm shocked I never looked into driving before. Well we did drive once with my in laws but we rented a 15 passenger van and we gave them a few hundred dollars before we left to help pay for gas/tolls. So i'm not sure how much it cost. Tolls is another cost I didn't factor in. Does mapquest include that in their price?

 

[justakrazymom]

I hope I'm allowed to mention this website, if not I apologize!!!....We usually fly to Disney but this time I'm looking into saving some money and driving. I went on the website '' drive to Disney'' and it calculated our trip costing $252 round trip for gas! That seems soooo cheap to me? I'm not complaining just surprised We live near Albany NY and drive a 2009 Honda Odyssey with 2 adults and 5 kids plus all our luggage. Is this website pretty accurate? Or is there another calculator I can use to estimate the cost of driving. I would love for this to be true, it cost around $2500 to fly for the 7 of us The money we'd save driving could go to so many other places!

We are near Albany and drive a mini van...its typically 100 gallons of gas to Disney and back..then tolls, food etc... wear and tear on the van. Fly from Hartford if you can..we got non stop flights for $70 each way..weve driven down twice and now will have flown twice..(6 people)

 

[sam_gordon]

We are near Albany and drive a mini van...its typically 100 gallons of gas to Disney and back..then tolls, food etc... wear and tear on the van. Fly from Hartford if you can..we got non stop flights for $70 each way..weve driven down twice and now will have flown twice..(6 people)

OP, if you can get flights for $200pp or less, I'd jump all over it. That would be $1400 to fly all 7 of you vs. $1000 to drive.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

We drive a 2002 Honda Odyssey and just got back from a trip on Dec. 28th. Total gas cost was $235 from Chicago round-trip (2366 miles total). Gas this trip was $69 less than our Thanksgiving trip and $196 less than our trip in April, 2014.

 

[sam_gordon]

7 people in a mini-van (even though some are kids)? Where are you going to put the luggage?

 

[Gr8t Fan]

7 people in a mini-van (even though some are kids)? Where are you going to put the luggage?

Odysseys are (surprisingly) spacious. We're a family of 6 and while we don't have loads of extra space once all the luggage is loaded, we survive. Everyday commuting is about the same and extra space is a luxury we usually don't have as a family of 6. We're happy to squeeze together, especially if it means a trip to WDW!

 

[DisneyBliss7]

7 people in a mini-van (even though some are kids)? Where are you going to put the luggage?

That is a concern of mine,,,we will probably borrow our friends storage that attaches to the top of the van. Its a soft top one. We may even send some of our luggage to our resort. Whether we fly or drive I will rent a double stroller for my youngest. I like having a spot for the cooler/bags while at the parks so the extra cost for a double is worth it for us

 

[texasroni75]

From Central TX (1100 miles each way in a full-sized pickup with 5 ppl and luggage in it), it cost us $500 round trip when gas prices were about $3.40/gallon. It's calculating $288 now for us. Sounds right.

 

[megveg]

I made the drive from MA to FL in November and round trip we spend about $220

 

[Hans Olo]

From Central TX (1100 miles each way in a full-sized pickup with 5 ppl and luggage in it), it cost us $500 round trip when gas prices were about $3.40/gallon. It's calculating $288 now for us. Sounds right.

We'll be driving down for our first ever visit in June from Kyle (just south of Austin). I sure hope the gas prices stay low. We have a suburban loaded up with 3 adults and 4 kids!

 

[monorailsilver]

That is a concern of mine,,,we will probably borrow our friends storage that attaches to the top of the van. Its a soft top one. We may even send some of our luggage to our resort. Whether we fly or drive I will rent a double stroller for my youngest. I like having a spot for the cooler/bags while at the parks so the extra cost for a double is worth it for us

If you get the soft top carrier remember it can rain. You don't want to start the beginning of your vacation with wet clothes or doing laundry the day you get there.

As far as the drive. I want to say 2 yrs ago we spent around $200 but gas was higher then.

This past April we did the auto train and we only got gas once from CT to Lorton. We have a van. I told my dh he couldn't fill up because it would be cheaper in FL and it was.

And as far as clothes, I would take the least amount possible and do laundry often. I even did laundry on the day we left disney last yr. I was up at 6, took a shower, put on my bathing suit (I needed to shave my legs for the pool day otherwise I wouldn't of showered!) and I started laundry. It was all dry and folded by 7:30-7:45 and my dh shooed me to the pool while he stayed with the sleeping kids and I got us a table for the day.

This coming April we are flying but I learned from last April. We each brought 6-7 outfits but we didn't do disney we did the beach. My kids went from a pjs to a bathing suit back to pjs most days. Basically beach, sisters pool, dinner, sisters pool, shower, bed, repeat.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

The one on gasbuddy will tell you also when it time to refuel you car and list the nearest stations to the highway you are on and gives you the price at the station.