Crazy Eastern Iowan considering driving--do you?

[IowaGirl]

We live in Bettendorf, Iowa which is along the Mississippi River and we are thinking of driving to Orlando to save on airfare and car rental.

We would normally fly because we both work and value our time very much.

We also value our sanity with a 9 year old and a 14 year old that are not used to a drive over 4 hours.

BUT, I have a company car which I could drive for free to Florida.

So, if you drive from The Quad Cities, how long does it take you? Where do you stop and rest at?

Or if you fly from Moline, how do I get a good deal? Meaning around $200 per ticket?
Thanks All!

 

[we3disneygo]

good luck ! we live in Central IL....not to far from you....have you checked Air Trans? we don't have enough vacation time to drive so we fly.......I don't think dd12 would do so well on such a long car ride.! have fun!

 

[ougrad86]

We live in Virginia, and it would take 16 hours to drive to Florida. I decided against it because that would be time better spent at the park.
There is no way to get a cheap flight out of the Quad Cities. But it will take 2, perhaps 3 days to drive down there plus hotel charges and gas. Plus you need to look at your route and see how long it would take. There would be alot of north/south to connect with other routes. My DH describes it as "wiggedty-wiggedty" until you get to Nashville. And then you hit the mountains.
I would honestly choose to go to Chicago. You can get decent priced flights out of Midway or O'Hare. It is about a three hour drive (avoid Chicago during rush hour), and then you can probably get a direct flight - you could spend 1 day traveling, and have extra time in the parks.
We travel every year back and forth to Iowa (my DH is from Council Bluffs). It takes us 1 1/2 days of hard travel (we stop overnight). We choose to drive because we would have to rent a car when we got to his mom's otherwise. But since we are staying onsite, with Disney transportation it made more sense to fly. The day we leave we will arrive mid-afternoon, time for dinner and an evening in MK.
I would map out what you want to do at WDW, and how long it will take to drive, flying options, etc. Lay them all out and make your final decision.

 

[WOODY13]

We live 50 mi. west of Chicago and have driven several times. It takes us around 18 hours. We usually do it in one and a half days. We have two kids 12 and 13. They have always been good on the long drives. My daughter has a small DVD Player and my son has a PSP that they can use when they are bored. Even with high gas prices you still save money over flying( but you can't beat 2.5 hours as appossed to 18) unless you get a great deal. It does take up alot of time though. Mapquest said it takes about 19 hours from Moline. I will make another point we always take either a van or a Suburban to give us more room to strech out I've never done it in a car.

 

[cinderlexa's mom]

We fly airtran. Usually their best deals are about 4-5 weeks before your travel date. Sign up for their email updates. That way you'll find out first about the Moline sales and book before they're sold out. We always get fare sales of $175 pp roundtrip.

Second choice is flying out of Midway Chicago. As you know, the drive isn't bad and if you sign up for Southwest Airline's DING software, you'll be in the "know" about $29-$79 one way fares.

Good Luck!

Unless you have personal days to waste--and time is money--it can be much more expensive to drive. Besides, it's statistically safer to fly--gotta protect those kiddos!

 

[IowaGirl]

thanks for your input--
We decided to fly Allegiant air--booked it just now.
I started to Brainstorm about other airports in our area and we will fly from Rockford IL on Allegiant for $737 for all four of us including taxes and fees leaving in June.
It never seems that the Airtran flights from Moline to Orlando are on deal when we want to go.
That aiport also does not charge for parking!
We are not picky people, so it should work out.

Thanks!