Cost of Driving from LI, NY to Orlando, FL

[C&G'sMama]

We've driven from Rochester, NY several times. It's roughly 1300 miles one way. We also take more time than a lot of people. We usually pick up the kids from school and drive 3-5 hours just to get out of town. We spend the night somewhere in PA and then the next day we'll drive about 12-14 hours. That leaves a short trip on the last day. One time we were stopped on 81 for a couple of hours due to a tractor trailer being over turned. But because we budget an extra day, it didn't really matter (thank goodness we had just made a pit stop and had empty bladders and a full tank of gas)

That being said we average about $100 a night for hotel (you could probably do it more cheaply depending on where you stay) We get some food on the road but bring some with us to eat on the way. Our kids have been car travelers pretty much since birth with DS taking his 1st car trip to FL at 18mos and DD taking her first car trip to FL at 2 1/2. We flew to Disney when DD was 18mos and that pretty much grounded us. We also like having the car with us and not having to rent. We've never had luck with the buses so we budget the car as an essential. So I would say your variables are food and hotel, depending on how long you decide to take to get down there. If you fly do you rent a car or do you depend on the buses?

We also like the flexibility driving gives us to make side trips. Last December we drove to Miami and stopped in Charlotte on the way down to visit family and did a 2 day 1 night very spur of the moment stop at Disney (we had to stay somewhere for the night between Charlotte and Miami, why not Disney?)
This trip we are stopping in Alexandria the first night and visting with friends in the area. We make the drive part of the vacation, even if we don't stop to make visits. The kids have leapsters, MP3's, the DVD, books, and other activities. They also get special snacks.

 

[dawnball]

If you just look at the fuel costs, you're going to drastically underestimate your actual costs. If you add up all your car-related costs (buying the car, maintenance, gas, etc.) over the time you own a car, you'll probably find that gas is only about 10-20% of the total cost. That means that if you calculate your gas expense for the trip to be $150, it's really costing you more like $1000 (not counting hotels, meals, tolls, etc.) in wear and tear on your car.

Yes and no, and it depends on the car you're driving and how many miles are on it. Not all costs scale, for one. Your car insurance isn't going to be affected by how many miles you drive on vacation. Neither are annual expenses like taxes/registration. You will have more maintenance/wear and tear and you -may- have more depreciation. Currently our cars are older, and depreciating primarily based on age and other uncontrollable economic forces (the Saturn lost $1000 in a week, after all).

We calculated out our incremental cost of additional miles at $.50/mile city and $.30/mile for extended highway. For reference, gas cost is $.13-.15/mile of that.

For the OPs journey of 2200 miles, that's $660 in car expenses. I'd probably budget $200 in lodging and unexpected misc. Plus meals on the road/car entertainment/etc.

Personally, I probably wouldn't do it, unless airfare was verrrrrry expensive, but everyone's mileage varies.

 

[Disneytwinz]

We have never driven to Orlando. Due to our finances, we want to see our options.

• How much would cost in gas driving a minivan from Long Island, NY to Orlando, FL?
• How much would it cost in tolls?
• How long of a drive?
• Is this possible w/ 3 small kids (3,5,6)?
• Do you make stops?
• Stay the night? How much does for a night? Where do you stop?

After all is said and done, would you do it again?

Thanks

It's possible...we made it with two sets of twins and a teenager
We're driving it again at the end of May. I take activities for in the car etc. and pack a cooler. We have a blast. We make stops on the way down to stretch our legs. On the way back home...it's rougher because we're tired. I also didn't time anything..we just headed home. So we won't be driving straight through this trip.
As for gas, it depends on what type of vehicle you are driving. It cost us about $500 RT in May 2007. This year we are counting on under $400 RT (gas is edging up though). I don't remember costly tolls but they were well under $10 RT.
We flew last year and didn't care for it at all. It was way more work and much more time consuming than driving.

 

[MichaelColey]

...it depends on the car you're driving and how many miles are on it. Not all costs scale, ... car insurance ... annual expenses like taxes/registration. ... We calculated out our incremental cost of additional miles at $.50/mile city and $.30/mile for extended highway. For reference, gas cost is $.13-.15/mile of that.

True, but those fixed expenses are usually a pretty small part of it. The majority of it is variable.

I'm curious how you calculated your incremental costs to vary so much depending on city or highway. Differences in fuel economy would account for some but not much, so I'm assuming that you're expecting a car to last quite a bit longer with highway miles than with city miles. That's probably true to an extent, but that's still a bigger difference than I would expect.

Still, even your calculations show that gas is only 25-50% of your automobile expenses, so whatever it costs in gas, the true cost is really 2-4 times higher. Everyone else seems to disregard those hidden costs, which far outweigh the gas costs. Also, I suspect that the other expenses are a bit higher for most people than they are for you and me.

The cost per mile of driving a car varies tremendously depending on many different factors. The biggest ones are the initial cost of the car and the length of time that you own it. The longer you own it, the cheaper it is to drive per mile. Those who buy a new $40k car every 2 years might end up paying close to $1 for every mile they drive, while someone who buys a $20k car and keeps it for 10 years might pay closer to $0.25 per mile. It'll vary from scenario to scenario, and I would encourage everyone to do the calculations and figure out exactly what it costs them for every mile they drive. It'll help you make better financial decisions if you know it.

 

[Disneytwinz]

Exactly..I just wanted to add, I understand where you're coming from.
However, I will add that our family car cost 6 grand and we expected to put miles on it when we bought it for vacations and transporting the kids to and from school. So it's really not an issue. It gets about 24 highway mi. to the gal. We have it serviced before we leave and again when we return. My husband is our (basic) mechanic, so that's a savings in itself. We justify our driving by the fun we have, and that's part of our trip. It costs us more in gas because we have seven people, but flying would cost us at least $1,500, easily. Driving costs us under a grand, a bit more if we stay overnight. We also visit family while in Fla. so that saves us from purchasing a rental. Those are some of the reasons that come in to play for us. We love the drive.

 

[LeeAnn]

Thank you for your responses. I hadn't check in a while and surprised by the amt responses. Thanks.

Just want to add some more info. Since some said to fly. I would agree but our wonderful Aug/Sep trip is no longer possible. DH was laid off. So flying and the trip are out.

My parents have a place in FL 3 hours away so instead of WDW we would go there since wouldn't cost us much there. But I need to budget all our expenses. It needs to be as little as possible.

I need to how much in tolls. In NYC area, there tolls everywhere. It can cost fortune to travel around here.

Flying for us would at be $1200 for 5. Driving seemes to the ways to go. Even though I have said I will NEVER drive, I'll wait til I can afford to fly. Well, I have learned never to say never.

If stopping at night, where to stop and how much is resaonable?

Any other cost that I'm missing.

We may add a day or two to WDW since we have unexpired extra days on previous trip tix. And Plus features. But that is if we can stay for a night or so at friend 40 min away. But that is undecided.

Want to cheer up depressed DH and give the kids some special time.

 

[Shyest99]

I was looking into the same thing- driving and we're close b it would be the same- I am in Levittown, LI. Still trying to see if it is worth it to drive with a 3 year old and 3 month old, but we will see. Sorry to hear about your DH. It is a very tough time right now.

 

[Goofygirl17]

I'm sorry about your husband's job situation. If you check out the transportation board there's a long (80 pages or something) thread about driving to Disney. There were a lot of NY and NJ people on there and lots of great ideas/information.

Hope this helps.
Goofygirl

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Just so you know Southwest has many August fares that are $89 each way. For a family of 5 if would be less than $1000.
ETA- I'm sorry your dh got layed off. I hope he finds something.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I can help with some of the tolls-----I spent last week in Savannah with dd14's Girl Scout troop, so we drove the Delaware-Savannah roundtrip.

At the DE-MD border on 95, the toll is $4.

In Maryland going over the Susquehanna River on 95 (Perryville exit, can't remember the exit number), the toll is $5 (northbound only).

The tunnel in Baltimore is $2 both ways.

The tunnel toll is the furthest south toll. I don't remember the Delaware Memorial Bridge toll (NJ-DE) but I do know that it is southbound only.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Grew up doing driving trip, parents and 5 kids in the back of station wagon 2 times a year to fla. Have not done it since, we fly.
I just booked SW for 3 at 717, late Aug, and dh just tonight said, should we drive I almost fell on the floor. It was from left field till he said, lets take the new truck, it would be real comfortable (we picked up our Honda PILOT last nite) I just and then said, No thanks...looking forward to a 2 1/2 hour ride on SW and being there.
That being said, I have VERY fond memories of our family trips, dad and mom used to make buckets of fried chicken and snacks and drinks in car and off we'd go (that was before we all got healthy eating habits) What fun, most times dad would drive straight thru, sometimes mom would drive (and once followed an 18 wheeler off I95, I think thats why they now all have signs, DO NOT FOLLOW ME, on their trucks LOL
Anyhoo, what great memories, like the stops at South Of the Border and all those silly signs before you reach it.
Well, whatever you decide, have a great SAFE trip! Sorry about hubbys job, best of luck in that regard!!

 

[rdevine10]

We just got back from the drive to FL for spring break! We are from CT, and it took us with stops (driving straight through the night each way)- 21 hours on the way down, and 21 1/2 hours on the way home.

We are in sw Ct near NYC.

We did get dual installed headrest dvd players prior to the trip. it was great each kid (we have 2) could each watch thier OWN movie. video games (leapsters on our case), were great too.

THe kids slept through the night, we were however (adults) very tired upon arrival in FL and home for 1 day.

We left on a Thursday afternoon, left 11 days later on a Sunday morning. DH did not have to be back to work until Wednesday, and I dont have to until tommorow.

Tolls were mostly in the northeast on 95. Get an ezpass. Plan when you hit the big cities- NYC, Philly, Baltimore, and DC & Richmond. Dont it ANY at rush hour!

And, check out the for 2000 mile drivers thread on the transport board. Very helpful info there.

I WOULD do it again, but would significantly prefer to fly! We only spent less than 300 on gas.... bugeted for hotels for stops, but chose to drive through. Maybe 30 on tolls. Plus add in costs for food on stops.

BTW- my kids are 6 and 3.... they did fine. Overnight driving was a BIG factor in that though.

 

[dogcarbon]

We leave from the Harrisburg Area, I think you could plan accordingly and avoid all tolls, other than leaving NY and NJ areas, as we have NO tolls on our drive.

 

[Ava]

We leave from the Harrisburg Area, I think you could plan accordingly and avoid all tolls, other than leaving NY and NJ areas, as we have NO tolls on our drive.

Which road do you take? There are several tolls on 95 south of NY/NJ. I'd love to know how to avoid them!

 

[MichaelColey]

We only spent less than 300 on gas....

I keep seeing this over and over again, and just want to help keep people in the right frame of mind. Gas is one of the smallest car-related expenses. If you're just looking at the cost of gas, you're seriously underestimating your driving expenses. (And I'm not talking about hotels, meals, tolls, etc. I'm talking about actual car-related expenses.)

For a typical car getting 20 miles per gallon, with $2 gas, your gas expense is only $0.10 per mile.

Think about the typical life of your vehicle. For instance, you may buy new cars and trade them in once you get to 100,000 miles. Say you buy a $35,000 vehicle (total of vehicle, financing, and taxes), get $5,000 for it as a trade-in, and spend $10,000 in maintenance and repairs over the life of the car. That makes your net cost $40,000, or $0.40 per mile. A 2,000 mile trip costs you $800 in wear and tear on your car (on top of gas). It doesn't cost you $800 right then and there, but it does cost you that in the long run.

If you only look at gas expenses in this case, that's only 20% of the actual car expenses.

Things will vary depending on the cost of your car, how old it is when you buy it, how long you keep it, how reliable it is, how much you drive, how well it holds its value, etc. Put together a simple spreadsheet and do the calculations for your own car buying and driving expectations and some different variations (cheaper cars, keeping them longer, buying used instead of new, etc.) and it'll really open your eyes.

I like to know our cost per mile and take it into consideration for everything we do. Is it really worthwhile to drive a couple miles out of your way to save $0.05 per gallon on gas? How much does lunch really cost you if you drive 10 miles to get there? Is it worth it to commute an extra 50 miles a day for a job that pays an extra $10k/year? Is it cheaper to fly or drive? You can't answer any of those questions unless you know what it really costs for each mile you drive.

 

[rdevine10]

I keep seeing this over and over again, and just want to help keep people in the right frame of mind. Gas is one of the smallest car-related expenses. If you're just looking at the cost of gas, you're seriously underestimating your driving expenses. (And I'm not talking about hotels, meals, tolls, etc. I'm talking about actual car-related expenses.)

For a typical car getting 20 miles per gallon, with $2 gas, your gas expense is only $0.10 per mile.

Think about the typical life of your vehicle. For instance, you may buy new cars and trade them in once you get to 100,000 miles. Say you buy a $35,000 vehicle (total of vehicle, financing, and taxes), get $5,000 for it as a trade-in, and spend $10,000 in maintenance and repairs over the life of the car. That makes your net cost $40,000, or $0.40 per mile. A 2,000 mile trip costs you $800 in wear and tear on your car (on top of gas). It doesn't cost you $800 right then and there, but it does cost you that in the long run.

If you only look at gas expenses in this case, that's only 20% of the actual car expenses.

Things will vary depending on the cost of your car, how old it is when you buy it, how long you keep it, how reliable it is, how much you drive, how well it holds its value, etc. Put together a simple spreadsheet and do the calculations for your own car buying and driving expectations and some different variations (cheaper cars, keeping them longer, buying used instead of new, etc.) and it'll really open your eyes.

I like to know our cost per mile and take it into consideration for everything we do. Is it really worthwhile to drive a couple miles out of your way to save $0.05 per gallon on gas? How much does lunch really cost you if you drive 10 miles to get there? Is it worth it to commute an extra 50 miles a day for a job that pays an extra $10k/year? Is it cheaper to fly or drive? You can't answer any of those questions unless you know what it really costs for each mile you drive.

Since you quoted me I thought Id just add I AM intelligent enough to know their is cost of wear and tear on the car. But, since I, unlike you obviously, don't break it down each time I drive out of my driveway, I didn't include that breakdown. I'm sure the OP can figure out the cost of wear and tear on her car. I was providing her with the actual expenses we had while on the trip.

PS: you can take that all out of the equation if you rent a car to drive on your trip