Did the math:)

[Littlemotherhaywood]

Even if gas jumps to $5 a gallon by the end of summer I'd save money by driving and staying in a hotel on the way down. With such high gas prices, that's kind of shocking to me So far airline tickets don't look too bad, but I'll never get what I had in Dec. Our tickets were $116 rt out of PGH. I'm already feeling tired thinking about driving though

 

[pepe of ohio]

no matter what the price goes to it will never go back, and sooner than later the airlines are gonna hit the consumer with the increase.

We've done the drive, 18-20 hours, straight through and stopping, and long ago, I said no more. We've been Amtrak travelers for about 8 years now, have built up tons of rail reward miles, and the only way I'll go. Its still a time consuming trip, about 27 hours, but I'm not doing the driving. We use reward miles to up grade to a roomette from Washington to Kissimmee, and it includes all meals, we can sleep in a bunk type bed and arrive at Disney, refreshed and raring to go. In the past 8 years and many trips to WDW, our tickets have never been over, round trip for 2 adults, 450.00. I usually can't get plane tickets for that price, and I will not play the ding game and from driving experiences, its about the same, money and time wise.

People have complained about Amtrak travel, but from all our experiences, we never had a problem or complaint. Yes, we've been late, but always arrived at our destination. Boarding a train, nestling in your seat, covering up with a blanket, and letting the rolling train motion lull you to sleep is better than staring out a car window and watching road maps and trucks for hours, sheer heaven. We bring our lunch and drinks, a novel, crossword books, DVD player, gameboy and tons of candy, and the wife and I just clickety clack all the way to WDW.

 

[Littlemotherhaywood]

I would love to take the train, but I must be inept. I can't find our dates or it's super expensive with the kids and trying to get a bunk. Any advice there? BTW, my father grew up in Hubbard He still lives there along with a slew of other random family members.

 

[Dorisk3]

Since this is the DIS boards, I have to give my five cents. We drove last year with our 2.5 and 5 year old daughters from NJ. We left at 2:00 a.m. and arrived at the WL at around 8:00 p.m. Before the trip I was all gung ho about driving and thinking it wouldn't be so bad. Now everyone's tolerance for sitting in a car is different, but to put it plainly, it sucked and was boring as anything I've ever experienced. The car was trashed from snacks, entertainment and we were bone exhausted upon arrival. It's one thing to think about it and contemplate it, its another to do it. If anyone tells you it is easy to drive that far, they are lying or maybe a little insane! I love to save money, but there are some things in life not worth saving money on, and this is one of them. By the time you factor in wear and tear on your car, gas, hotel rooms, extra meals and all the crap you buy to keep the kids entertained in the car- the savings will not be as much as you think. Particularly if you are staying on site and can use Disney tranportation and not rent a car- and think of your time as costing you money- you'll come out ahead taking the plane.! Good luck in your decision!

 

[TriMom]

Don't get me wrong, I love flying, but it's just not worth it. To me, there is not enough time saved to justify the cost - Even when we can get $100 RT tickets. It's a 11 hr drive for me. We can decided when we want to leave, when we want to arrive, and are on our own schedule.

When we fly, we are at the mercy of the airline, and I relized that we don't save much time:

Drive to airport - 45 min
Parking, get to terminal - 30 min
Arrive 1 1/2 hr early for security - 1 1/2 hrs
Actual flight time - 2 hours
Deplane, get to ground transportation - 30 min
Transportation to Disney Resort (estimate of time - stand in rental car line, wait for a full ME bus, might be a little faster with town car) 1 1/2 hr - 2 hrs

So flying takes me 7 - 7 1/2 hrs and costs $500 at best (SW $49 fares)
Driving only takes me 4 - 4 1/2 hrs more and costs $375 at worst ($5 gal)

Also, for me, driving is a lot less stessful

 

[Littlemotherhaywood]

Since this is the DIS boards, I have to give my five cents. We drove last year with our 2.5 and 5 year old daughters from NJ. We left at 2:00 a.m. and arrived at the WL at around 8:00 p.m. Before the trip I was all gung ho about driving and thinking it wouldn't be so bad. Now everyone's tolerance for sitting in a car is different, but to put it plainly, it sucked and was boring as anything I've ever experienced. The car was trashed from snacks, entertainment and we were bone exhausted upon arrival. It's one thing to think about it and contemplate it, its another to do it. If anyone tells you it is easy to drive that far, they are lying or maybe a little insane! I love to save money, but there are some things in life not worth saving money on, and this is one of them. By the time you factor in wear and tear on your car, gas, hotel rooms, extra meals and all the crap you buy to keep the kids entertained in the car- the savings will not be as much as you think. Particularly if you are staying on site and can use Disney tranportation and not rent a car- and think of your time as costing you money- you'll come out ahead taking the plane.! Good luck in your decision!

I see what you're saying, but we're hardy travelers. We usually make two or three 700+ mile trips (each way) a year and my kids travel really well. Now I realize that we're looking at an extra six hours of actual driving time so probably another eight hours more than we're used to, but we know how to travel well by car. Believe me, the idea is really daunting and that's a long drive, but I know we can do it. I'm still watching for low airfare and if I see a rate that agrees with me, we'll be flying. In the meantime, we'll have to rent a car anyway. After a week of bussing through the world with a toddler and a stroller and the thousand other things we seem to need to lug around, I don't want to do that again. There's nothing like waiting in line to stand on a bus with two tired kids when I could hop to the parking lot and be back at the hotel in fifteen minutes. We need more freedom this trip and we want to try some restaurants at the other hotels and I don't want to fight with Disney transportation and take three buses to get there. We're there to relax and have fun....not wait around for the bus, kwim. Thanks for your input

 

[Littlemotherhaywood]

Don't get me wrong, I love flying, but it's just not worth it. To me, there is not enough time saved to justify the cost - Even when we can get $100 RT tickets. It's a 11 hr drive for me. We can decided when we want to leave, when we want to arrive, and are on our own schedule.

When we fly, we are at the mercy of the airline, and I relized that we don't save much time:

Drive to airport - 45 min
Parking, get to terminal - 30 min
Arrive 1 1/2 hr early for security - 1 1/2 hrs
Actual flight time - 2 hours
Deplane, get to ground transportation - 30 min
Transportation to Disney Resort (estimate of time - stand in rental car line, wait for a full ME bus, might be a little faster with town car) 1 1/2 hr - 2 hrs

So flying takes me 7 - 7 1/2 hrs and costs $500 at best (SW $49 fares)
Driving only takes me 4 - 4 1/2 hrs more and costs $375 at worst ($5 gal)

Also, for me, driving is a lot less stessful

If it were only eleven hours it would be a total no brainer, lol. It did take us all day to get there flying last time. I also forgot to factor in the cost of parking at the airport and what a pain going through security was with two kids, ten bags, and a stroller. UGH

 

[pepe of ohio]

I would love to take the train, but I must be inept. I can't find our dates or it's super expensive with the kids and trying to get a bunk. Any advice there? BTW, my father grew up in Hubbard He still lives there along with a slew of other random family members.

I watch the Amtrak web site, and they usually have some promotion going, like pay for 2 and third person is free, stuff. Summer fares are higher priced than fall, winter and spring, but watch those holidays and college breaks. We board in Alliance (ALC) and switch trains in DC and on to Kissimmee. The first legs is done reserved coach and we've slept in those reclining seats just fine, mind we board at 3am, we arrive in DC around 4pm and from there to Kissimmee we do the roomette. Even paying for the up grade, about 140.00, its worth it for us, its just me and wife. Roomette holds 2, upper and lower berth, all meals, we usually snag 3, and the food is great but I wouldn't pay for a meal on a train, too expensive, thats why we bring sandwiches the first leg. We get in our little room, have dinner and come back and hit the rack and in the am have breakfast and by 11 am we're in Disney.

Even not using a sleeper, we've done the trip in the coach seats, its okay for one night, we're comfortable, its AC and heated, fairly quiet, but depends on what day you board the train, week days being less people and cheaper than Fridays and weekends. Go to the Amtrak site and play with some dates and days and see the fares, then look at the add ons for price and watch for a promotion. Only way for us to travel.

 

[maxsmom]

Just stopping in to say hi! I didn't realize you were going again. We're going in Aug before school starts and getting in on the free dining. We feel the same way about plain tickets. I just found tickets through SW out of PIT if that's an option for you. Have a nice trip!

 

[Littlemotherhaywood]

Just stopping in to say hi! I didn't realize you were going again. We're going in Aug before school starts and getting in on the free dining. We feel the same way about plain tickets. I just found tickets through SW out of PIT if that's an option for you. Have a nice trip!

Hey I just pmed you before I saw your reply, lol. This was a spur of the moment decision. Somehow it's all worked out that we'll have the money and we're taking a budget trip, lol We flew out of PIT last time. What rate did you get for SW if you don't mind me asking? We flew US last time for $116 rt. I doubt I'll see that again