Do Most of You Fly to WDW?

[rie'smom]

We've always flown. My daughter really doesn't like flying and has asked me to drive for our May trip. It's about 9.5 hours from our home is south Louisiana. I have a feeling that after the drive, she'll want to fly the next time. We have a 10 day trip scheduled for WDW and Universal but I think that on the way back, we'll stop in Destin for a few days to break up the drive.

 

[Tozzie]

I always fly, I don't have the patience to drive that long I am not a big fan of long rides in the car and to me anything over an hour is a long car ride. I am lucky I have never really had any flight delay to speak of going down and the only ones comming home have been once because of a storm and the other there was a mechanical problem with the plane. I usually take the first flight of the day so any air traffic delays are minimal if at all.

 

[Muhlenberg]

We've driven down, but mostly fly down. The best airlines, IMHO, is Southwest, and from what I've heard, JetBlue. We've found many fewer problems with Southwest than with our other choices out of Philly. My son flies several times a year...on Southwest.

Anyway...driving...you're either going to do straight through and be tired when you get there, or spend two days driving each way. We've done the two days down and two days back, and what I think works best for us is no more than 12 hours of driving in one day. For us, it would also be $300 to $400 in gas, plus hotel and food. I try to use reward points for the hotel to minimize cost. We've also gone straight through...in an effort to beat Fay this past August. (We succeeded. )

I would rather fly. It takes much less time...about a 2 1/2 hr flight + 2 hours ahead + 1 1/2 - 2 hrs to/from airport...MUCH less than the 17 hours of driving. And our sitters don't get as tired.

 

[bonybroad]

I fly. I don't give up precious Mouse time to be in a car with two excited boys!
Also, I get carsick BAD after about 15 minutes of riding, and there is NO WAY I would be doing the driving.
The prices of flights aren't that bad for us. The stress and aggravation saved is worth it!

 

[skylynx]

Hi, Famsen

We're in Chicago too and fly Southwest all the time to WDW. Because it's at Midway rather than O'Hare there are WAY fewer delays with ground and air traffic.

After driving to Florida pre-Disney (anyone remember Parrot Jungle, Silver Springs and Six Gun Territory?) and then to Disney from Long Island for many years with my parents in the family Buick I don't do long road trips any more.

If you work up a bit of skill with being your own travel agent, you can get the Southwest fares as soon as they are released and then watch if they drop. They often do, and you can rebook the flights yourself online at the lower rate with no penalty or fees. Your confirmation number doesn't even change. The excess funds sit in a credit account which you can draw on to pay for other flights and are good for a year (never a problem for us to use them up!) We've flown quite a lot this year and have about $500 sitting in our usable SW funds, all of it due to rebooking our own flights when the prices came down. We book our round trips as one-way flights so we have more flexibility to change just one segment if the price for just the outbound drops. One way and round trip fares on SW are the same, so no disadvantage to booking separately. It helps if you work on a computer all day and can take a quick peek at the fares every day or every other to watch them fall.

The same works with cars...we will not be at WDW without a car. Cannot do the wait around for the bus thing...our time there is too precious. Plus boarding crowded buses seems to bring out the worst in people and I'd just rather avoid the whole thing. We book on Budget usually as soon as we know our travel details and then use codes we find or just keep trying once a week. They always come down. Our upcoming car for the Magic trip went from $111 to $79 for the exact same car, pickup/dropoff times, etc. It is a good skill to develop...snoop around that Internet!

 

[TyRy]

famsen - I'm also from the Chicago area and I also am absolutely scared to death of flying. When we flew in 2004 I actually scared a flight attendant with my silent meltdown on takoff (cracked my dad up and mortified my husband who were with me!)

Due to DH having very little vacation time, he somehow talked me into flying for our trip two weeks ago. I think I tried everything I could think of to drive but he was adament, it was that or cut the trip by four days.

We ended up booking Southwest, (which then threw me into another tizzy about not having a certain seat) because we wanted to try flying out of Midway instead of O'Hare and the flights were cheaper. However, I was online 24 hours before and got great boarding passes coming and going. We took the first flight of the day out (which I think helps me big time...less time to think about it and less lines or delays likely). We left our house at 4am, was at the airport and all through security by 4:40ish. Our flight was at 6:05am. Was I pretrified - yep, but I must say the valium I had taken (took for 48 hours before flight) really did help.

We were picking up our rental by 8:30am CST and on our way. We also really paid attention to car rentals and paid about 15 bucks a day for our mid-size.

Good luck with whatever you decide..I know this is long, but if you want even more details give a glance at my trip report...It really details my level of scaredness, but I made it through. It's a tough decision, but I must say, leaving my house and being at WDW four and half hours later was pretty nice.

Ty

 

[DVC Jen]

It is actually cheaper for us to drive than for us to fly 4 people to and from Disney. The fact that we would be flying from Dallas/Ft.Worth has a lot to do with that.

We have only flown to WDW once and then rented a car.

I am one of those strange people - I do NOT like WDW busses - and since we usually go to Vero we like to have our car.

Take flying 4 people - luggage costs now - renting a car versus just driving - eating sandwiches we have packed and breakfasts we have packed (eating dinner out) - using frequent flyer miles for hotel rooms - it works for us.

Our kids will be 16 and 20 next time we go and have been doing this yearly since they were 4 and 9 with the exception of the one year we flew.

 

[rie'smom]

It will be cheaper for us to drive because my daughter always invites a friend, so I pay for 3 of us to fly and then I rent a car too.

 

[hockeyprincess]

For what it's worth: We always fly and probably would never drive. We travel alot, and always have. Our children were on an airplane at a very early age, our son was 4 and our daughter barely 1 year old. (However, I was flying at an early age also--My first flight to Germany was at 5 years old, and again at 14, with many flights in between.) We've flown to Florida, Boston, Texas, Hawaii just to name a few. I could not, and would not travel with my kids and husband in a car for 16-18 hours to Florida and keep my sanity! No thanks, we fly, get there in 2-4 hours and always fly a direct flight. I shop around for cheap fares, in fact got roundtrip from Detroit to MCO for $70 PP for our upcoming trip. I could not have driven to Orlando for that amount of money, and when I get there, I'm still semi-sane! Anyway, point is, the kids now ask "When are we going on the big plane again?" They don't mind flying at all. We take some activities for them and snacks and they are happy campers.

In all seriousness though, I would dread driving and would only do that if the airline tickets go completely thru the roof where I could not ever find a good deal. And THAT alone would probably change our vacations enough that we might go every other year for example. I'm just not a "road trip" kind of person. I will add that I have driven to Florida before, Naples in fact, and swore after that trip I would never do it again. It's not so much going DOWN that gets you, it's after the vacation and the drive HOME that really is a bummer!

My husband sleeps the entire time we're in the air, in fact the last trip, we waited 45 min on the runway waiting for clearance, he was out like a light the minute he sat down, so he missed it all! Take something to help you sleep and just snooze away, when you get there it's Mickey time! Good luck with your decision!

 

[janni518]

My dh used to be very afraid of flying but he's since gotten over it. Good thing, it's a big part of his job now, and he even flies on small planes. So it is possible to overcome it.

You are much more likely to get killed driving. It's the loss of control that people are really afraid of. I think most people convince themselves that they are a good enough driver to avoid/survive a crash but they don't feel the same way about flying because it's out of their hands.

Statistically driving is way more dangerous. You are much more likely to die in a traffic accident, be murdered or even die from the common flu than you are to die in an airline accident.

 

[Moparlar]

We also are from Chicago, we always fly out of Midway on Southwest. They usually have a lot of choices on flights and reasonable prices. I also have a Southwest Visa that I use for work so I can also get free flights throughout the year.

Larry

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

On the other side of the argument:

Flight delays, cancellations, checked bag fees, having to arrive at the airport 2 hrs before a flight..... Those are the reasons I don't fly much anymore.

After a trip to MI, where our 90 minute layover in Philadelphia turned into 6+ hours and then 2 more hours sitting on the plane on the tarmac, with nothing to drink, no a/c (it was July) and no bathrooms No Thank You!
Of course, not all flights will be that bad.

For our Disney trips, we drive. It's 8-8 1/2 hours. If we flew, it would mean 2 hours at the airport, 2 1/2 hour flt, and at least an hour for luggage, car and drive to Disney for a total of 5 1/2 hours if everything goes on time. Add to that 4 tickets, and a lot of checked baggage, not worth it for us.

OP, no matter what you decide about flying for time & money, I hope that you do find a way to get past your fear of flying

We are in the same boat.

2 1/2 hours to get to Atlanta
2 hours at the airport
1 1/2 hour flight
1 hour from landing to check-in.

7 hours to fly IF everything goes well or a 10 hour drive.

After years of trying Dh finally got me to fly for our last trip. Because of connections and high fares, it doesn't make sense to fly out of Montgomery. Anyway, we scheduled a 6 am flight out of Atlanta and stayed at an airport hotel the night before. We drove to Atlanta in the late-afternoon, had a good meal, and checked-in to our hotel to try to get some sleep. (I tend to go to bed late so this was a huge problem for me.) After 2 hours sleep, the wake up call came at 3am, (2am central time). We were up and out of the hotel at 3:30 a.m. Yada yada we were checked in at Boardwalk and in Epcot by 11am.

The good - we didn't have that sore feeling that we have when we drive. We were sleepy, but not tired. It really did make a better trip.

The bad - I kept wondering...isn't this same as driving to Tallahassee and then getting up at 3:30 in the morning and driving to Disney? What's the difference? Why can I get dh to leave at 3:30 for a flight but not for a drive? Flying still seems so impractical to me.

For our next trip I want to either...take an evening flight out of Birmingham and get to my hotel between 9pm and midnight OR drive to Tallahassee and get up at 3:30 and drive the rest of the way down.

 

[Golden Rose]

We're in Texas, and its about a 15 hour drive for us. My family almost always flew to Florida (and then rented a car) when I was growing up, and as an adult, I followed that pattern until a few years ago. Now we generally drive because of the hassle factor of flying. It takes longer to fly, of course, but we can fill up the minivan with anything and everything we might need and our son loves long car trips with his dvd player.

We've worked out a pattern we're happy with that works either leaving after a half day of work on Friday or first thing in the morning on Saturday. Both of them get us a delicious cajun meal in Louisiana for our first break, which is added incentive to drive.

We will certainly fly if we're trying to do a short trip, but we like being able to go at our own pace, with our stuff. We'll see if this changes now that we're going more often, but my guess is that we'll continue to drive.

 

[stitchineeyore]

We are in New Hampshire, and always fly. & the older I get, the more nervous I get. But-the time and exhaustion factors, plus dealing with school vacations limiting time, are key. If you decide to do it,since you are in Chicago, read the previous info on Southwest carefully. I have no association with SW other than I LOVE THIS AIRLINE! If you haven't flown much, these are the folks you want. They are helpful, their fares are cheap, and most of all, they are RELIABLE! We were booked on another airline for our wdw halloween trip this year, because our college kid is coming and we are flying out of new york state instead of our usual home airport. after Airtran cancelled our flight twice, i said something naughty and decided to drive 90 minutes from her school in order to get a southwest flight. our own plans have changed twice since then, and i have been able to move my southwest flight around with no penalty fee. also, last summer we were flying home out of midway on SW and got stuck due to bad weather. flight left two hours late-SW sent a letter of apology and a $100 voucher for each person in our party! Six altogether! this airline rocks.

 

[Spear3909]

Still cheaper for the 4 of us to drive. It is only about 11 hours for us and we leave the evening before our check in day. We drive about 5 hours, stop and spend the night and then 6 hours the next morning. It works well for us!

 

[alldiz]

Haven't driven yet....from LI Macarthur aiport...from my house to WDW hotel check in desk 5.25 hrs...Can't beat it.
Kerri

 

[OlderMan]

....one of the local Orlando newscasts did a comparison a year or two ago of flying vs. driving from Orlando to Atlanta.

The reporters left from the same local location and went to the same distination in Atlanta.

After leaving in time to get to the airport two hours before the flight, flying to ATL, renting a car and, finally, driving to the Atlanta location, the reporter who flew beat the one who drove from Orlando by a whopping 15 - 30 minutes.

The moral: if its less than 400 - 500 miles--and no layovers are involved--it's essentially a toss-up.

At the time, I don't think anything was said about the relative costs of driving vs. flying. Today, those costs should be factored into the comparison.

FWIW............

 

[Anal Annie]

The only time we were nervous about flying was on a trip DH and I took the month after 911. Our fears have subsided now tho. So far we have only flown to Orlando. We live just north of DC and I think the drive would probably be close to 13 or 14 hours so that would add an extra day to either end of our trip. Driving an SUV, I figure at roughly $75 / tank x 3 tanks each way...$450 or so for gas. We would stop overnight so we'd have hotel expense added each way too. We're only a family of 3 so if I can find flights for the 3 of us for somewhere between $500-600 flying wins! Now if airfare keeps going up and we start looking at $700+ then we may consider driving it one day. I just really don't want to add more days or loose days at The World...

OK, but so now, last summer we left Port Canaveral at 9:15...got to MCO around 10:30. Our flight was orig. at 1:00 but had been changed to 3:30. So we had to sit around MCO for awhile...then there were weather delays at BWI so we couldn't take off. Then there were weather delays in Orlando. We finally got to BWI around maybe I don't even know 9:00 or something. Then there was a delay unloading the luggage. By the time we got HOME, it was like 11:00. Almost a 14 hour trip for a 2 hour flight. We could've driven it!! But who would know.

 

[lanand3]

I live in Mass which is also a verrrry long drive,esp w/kids. I am also terrified to fly.I have such a feeling of impending doom. I took xanax for my flights and is does help.(I have NEVER taken it before so I was a little nervous the first time)It doesn't take the worry away but it does keep me from feeling like I am going to have a panic attack.However w/that said,we may end up driving for our next trip if we can't get reasonable airfare

 

[D&R love Disney]

We always fly, I love to fly and I love being there in 2 1/2 hours. When I was a kid my parents always drove to florida but we'd be on a 2 week vacation. When DH and I travel it's usually short 4 or 5 night trips so no wasting precious Disney time in a car!