Decided to drive to WDW

[jimmytammy]

That's taking into account all the driving costs? Gas, tolls, wear-n-tear, etc.?

If you really want to see the price difference, try http://www.befrugal.com/tools/fly-or-drive-calculator/.

Thanks for sharing this. All the more reason we drive. Flying, $1,556.00, driving, $254.00, plus drive time is only 4 more hours than the 5 hrs 45 mins spent hassling for a 1.5 hr flight

 

[#1hoosierfan]

We drove the first time we took the boys to WDW (about 15 hours) and dh and I said "never again." the boys did fine..... We didn't like it. We have flown the past two years.

This year, however, we are staying longer and combining the park with a Disney cruise. It would just be too expensive to fly.

I have always hated the drive home from vacation. We have decided to stop in Atlanta this year on our way back and visit the Georgia Aquarium. It would not be a "destination" location for us, but definitely something we want to see. Now we have something to look forward to on the way back, and we are only looking at about 6 additional hours of driving from Atlanta.

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[Gumbo4x4]

there is a money value to time lost, as well.

DBF and I both work-- and yes, we get vacation time, albeit limited amounts (15 8-hr days per year for me). To drive, each of us would have to take 4 extra days of vacation time-- almost a full extra week (24 hour drive, each way, 1250ish miles)

To be fair, you're going to lose 1/2 a day each direction when you fly (assuming no delays). So, it's really 3 extra days to drive, not 4. Plus, you also have to factor in what days you travel. Someone who flies down on Sunday night, spends 5 days in the parks, and then flies home Saturday morning wouldn't take any extra time off work if they drove 2 days each way. For us (we stayed longer), our 4 days of driving only cost me 2 days of work due to the way the weekends fall. Considering we'd have lost 1 day to flying, in the end it was really more like those 4 days of driving only cost us an extra ONE day vs. flying. But again, that's dependent on what days you travel & for how long.

I get bonuses based on time that I work, so vacation time costs me anywhere from $6-10/hr to take. If I add in an additional 4 days, which is roughly 40 hours of billable time, it would cost me an extra $240-$400 depending on how things have been going that quarter. If taking the time causes me to go under the threshold and get NO bonus, then that vacation effectively cost me several thousand dollars.

And I do understand this. For me, I've been on continuous overtime for many months. Each week that I take even 1 day off, I lose money because I only get OT for hours WORKED in excess of 40 per week. If I were to say work 36 hours Mon-Wed, and then use 16 hours of vacation time for Thur-Fri, my check ends up as 52 hours of straight time. For this reason, I've deliberately taken my vacation time in lumps this year rather than a "day here, day there".

That's just for me, it doesn't count the value of the lost time that could be spent actually on vacation, or more likely for us, taking some well deserved time off for the holidays.

Again, this depends on the kind of trip you're taking. If you have a specific destination & limited time to get there, you could be "losing" time on the road. OTOH, if you treat the road as PART OF your vacation, you're not losing anything. And as previously mentioned, different "destinations" lend themselves to this better than others.

Sometimes, it's not even a matter of "drive OR fly". DW & I cashed in some free flight credits to fly to Reno, then rented a car & took a multi-day road trip to CA, OR, and ID before returning to Reno for a convention, and then flying home from there.

So when you add in that flights are about $180/ea from where we are, I can't offset the cost just in the $$ value of the time I don't work. Never mind having to actually spend 2 full days in the car.

Again, every situation is different. The cheaper the flights & the fewer people in your group, the more attractive flying becomes - assuming it's even practical for the destination.

 

[Kasper1014]

My family of 5 are seasoned drivers. We've driven to Vegas, Washington DC, Branson, MO, Memphis TN and of course Orlando.

Two years ago due to time constraints flew to Disney. While my kids loved how fast we got there, they hated how limited we were to packing and souvenirs we could buy. That was the last time we flew.

Last month we went to Washington DC from Texas. We stopped in Nashville and on the return drive we stopped in Atlanta, Georgia and New Orleans. My kids loved the extended vacation.

In March we are going back to Disney and Universal Studios. And we'll be driving with our stops a long the way. I just love the quality time with my family.

 

[dissupermom]

I love road trips, but the drive from Phila is a killer! 95S is like watching paint dry in one room and the grass growing outside! my time is my own, and I have as much time as I care to take on vacation. I am fortunate to have a job that affords me the opportunity to take as much as as I have accrued. my girls are college aged and can fend for themselves so I am not tied to school scheduled!! this October, mom and I are going, but taking a different route to see something different. 13-17-95! I am looking forward to this trip. flying was not even an option for us. but lest not judge who make decisions that are right for them!

 

[ssawka]

I love road trips, but the drive from Phila is a killer! 95S is like watching paint dry in one room and the grass growing outside! my time is my own, and I have as much time as I care to take on vacation. I am fortunate to have a job that affords me the opportunity to take as much as as I have accrued. my girls are college aged and can fend for themselves so I am not tied to school scheduled!! this October, mom and I are going, but taking a different route to see something different. 13-17-95! I am looking forward to this trip. flying was not even an option for us. but lest not judge who make decisions that are right for them!

That should be a nice trip as it crosses over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel.

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Let us know how the different route is..13. 17. 95. It will avoid the bad parts of 95

 

[Nixie]

Saving money and the planet by driving my big ol' Yukon down to Disney ROFL. Saving around $1,100 driving down. C02 impact from flying: 8877lbs. C02 impact from driving my Yukon: 2,954lbs.

We make a two day process out of driving as well. Actually my kiddos are pretty used to being in the car. We do a lot of camping and such. We are kinda luckily because my dad's cabin is 5 hours from us. We use that as our starting point by leaving here the night before and leaving from there the next morning. That shaves off a little bit. If we don't have tooo many stops, we can make it all the way to Orlando in one shot the next day. We do the reverse on the way back. Worked out well last time, except we got too late of a start on the way back. No more Chef Mickey's on departure day!

 

[beck02]

Didn't even bother to price out flying when I was planning our trip--just used the website & a low $1480 to fly or a high $718 to drive--close enough to what I was expecting. 22 hours one way plus whatever for stops. We break it up over 3 days--leave friday after school, drive for about 6 hours, stop & sightsee (this year zoo stops), then arrive sunday evening more relaxed than if we'd flown. I'd prefer it if the drive were much shorter, but I just hate the hassle of flying. With driving, we can set our own schedule--sleep in a little bit, enjoy lunch a bit more or just grab fast food, etc. Comfy car seats beat airline seats ANY day, plus I have my car (which I love) vs. some unknown rental car or trying to do without.

Like others have said, it would take all day for us to fly to Fl, so driving is more like 2 days more for the round trip. Not bad as a way to save some money. We can pack however many suitcases we want, don't worry about the size besides if we can lift it, don't worry about taking the full sized stroller if we want it, etc. Honestly--even if flying saved us some money, I'd probably still drive. My sister travels for her job, so with all her frequent flyer miles I think it was like $200 for the 3 of them to fly--that would have been sweet! But for me, unless it's international it's wide open road for us!

 

[2disneyboys]

My Vote - save the $1000 and drive - if you WANT to. It's all about what you as a family enjoy.


We are about 12 hours away for WDW and also go on vacations to many other places as well -- we have flown just as many times as we have driven. My husband really enjoys driving and I really enjoy reading & thankfully, I can read just fine in the car While Driving vs Flying usually is pretty close for us, we still prefer the driving option. Honestly, TO ME, I am more stressed dealing with the airport then the drive. (getting up early to GET to the airport/parking & its costs, weight of bags, # of bags, security lines, check in lines, tiny seats, crying babies, smelly passengers and then reversing the whole process to come home!) honestly, it's less stressful for us to drive. Add in that (it just seems) every time we have flown somewhere as a family for vacation, at least one of the 4 of us has come down with something about 2 days into the trip, as well as added headaches of lost or delayed baggage.

And yes, Vacation time is a tight commodity to our family and is highly valued. But we find that we interact more as a family on the car ride then we do when we fly (and isnt that what vacations really about?) Thats just us though. I've had some awesome talks with my (now) 10 and 13 year old's and even my DH while the kids are sleeping. Yes it takes away from time in the parks, but as my boys are getting older, I enjoy those quiet times more than anything WDW or any vacation destanation has to offer.

Good Luck whichever you choose and remember that the time together is the point, not the mode of transportation to the destination!