Drive or fly from Ohio... pros and cons

[Jenny-momof3]

Since we're in the early stages of planning our very first trip.... we're trying to decide how we're going to get down there.

Trying to figure out how much it would be to drive from Dayton, Ohio. We would drive straight through, stay at a cheapie hotel and then check into our resort the following day. Also...how long is the drive?

If flying... I would need flights for 5. And then possibly a rental car ( and how much is that by the way?).

Pros and cons of driving vs. flying?

 

[curiouser]

We're from Cleveland and we've done both. It takes us about 17hrs to drive and we break it up in 1.5 day segments. We stop in Brunswick, GA on the way down and we stop in Berkeley, WV on the way back.

Personally, I prefer to fly - because then you are only using 3/4hrs of vacation time for travel vs. 1.5 days of vacation time - both there and back. With Disney's Magical Express getting from MCO to your Disney resort and back to MCO is a breeze and we have no other needs for a rental car. When we do drive down we never use the car the entire trip anyway. If you are staying on-site Disney provides all the transportation we need.

Good luck planning!

 

[Momof-3]

We are from Michigan....just outside of Detroit. We are also debating on whether to fly or drive. I have done both..(but only drove to Disney without the kids!) Its about a 24 hour drive from here. (Just about 45 min North of Ohio...if that helps)

I personally would fly. A 2 1/2 hour flight over 24 hours anyday for me. Its more money to fly...right now about $197 roundtrip non-stop on Northwest for us. It's alot of money for the 5 of us.....but worth it to me. If you stay on Disney property you won't need to rent a car. That is what we are doing for the first time.

To drive...we did some investigating and looks like around $500.00 round trip with the gas and hotels there and back and that doesn't include the wear on the car! My kids are 14, 13 and 8. We have taken long road trips with them before (South Carolina and Virginia last year) and they did great....but all that time in the car...is rough. Its not so bad going...but coming home in the car for 24 hours.....SCARY!!!!!!!

So for us...it looks like its about an extra $500.00 or so to fly. That is really not all that bad....to us anyway. Keep checking all the airline carriers.....I do everyday, looking for a deal!!! Good luck....let us know what you decide!

 

[jenseib]

I live West of Toledo and have done both ways. Driving is over 20 hours. When I drove my kids down, we left at night and had them sleep most of the trip and drove into the afternoon of the next day. We stopped off a few hours before Disney and slept, and the next morning continued on. It was a long ways, and very tiresome. The cost isn't cheap, but at the time it was cheaper than flying for me. My mom went with me and split the cost of gas and hotel. The last day of our trip, I got really sick, and was in bed al lday. When we left the next day I felt better ,but still not up to par ,and my mom did most of the driving as I couldn't stay awake for very long. After that experience we have flown each time.
If you stay on property and fly inot MCO, then you won't have to worry about a car rental. If you fly inot Sanford, the nyou will most likely want one.

 

[Mousema]

Driven one time...never again. Being from Dayton, you can check out Columbus and maybe Indianapolis airport too to find cheaper rates. We're from the Akron area and we check Akron/Canton, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

 

[themudd4]

We are from Good Ole Indiana and since God didn't give my husband wings yet he still wont fly, so we are driving again. It is roughly a 14 hour drive for us. We pack up lots of games and DVD's and it is not to bad. We stop if we get to tired, but we are usually within a 1-2 hour drive before we dare think about that.

If you do decide to fly you can avoid having to rent a car if you are staying on Disney property. ME will take you from Orlando Int. airport straight to your resort. If you plan on using Disney transportation you will not need to worry about a car a all!

 

[mumom95]

We are from Michigan....just outside of Detroit. We are also debating on whether to fly or drive. I have done both..(but only drove to Disney without the kids!) Its about a 24 hour drive from here. (Just about 45 min North of Ohio...if that helps)

I personally would fly. A 2 1/2 hour flight over 24 hours anyday for me. Its more money to fly...right now about $197 roundtrip non-stop on Northwest for us. It's alot of money for the 5 of us.....but worth it to me. If you stay on Disney property you won't need to rent a car. That is what we are doing for the first time.

To drive...we did some investigating and looks like around $500.00 round trip with the gas and hotels there and back and that doesn't include the wear on the car! My kids are 14, 13 and 8. We have taken long road trips with them before (South Carolina and Virginia last year) and they did great....but all that time in the car...is rough. Its not so bad going...but coming home in the car for 24 hours.....SCARY!!!!!!!

So for us...it looks like its about an extra $500.00 or so to fly. That is really not all that bad....to us anyway. Keep checking all the airline carriers.....I do everyday, looking for a deal!!! Good luck....let us know what you decide!

We are from Cincinnati (just north of Cincy actually) and are going for Thanksgiving this year. We had originally planned on driving. But after reading your post, I'm starting to think flying may not be that much more expensive (there are only 4 of us). I guess once we take in to consideration the cost of gas, hotel, plus the food for the day and a half we would be driving, the extra cost to fly probably isn't that bad. Especially if we could get a cheap flight on JetBlue out of Columbus (they don't have their flights for that far out yet). Plus, I figure the price of my sanity (which could be severely tested with a 6 and 8 year old on a 15 hour drive) is at least worth a few hundred dollars

 

[mumom95]

We are from Cincinnati (just north of Cincy actually) and are going for Thanksgiving this year. We had originally planned on driving. But after reading your post, I'm starting to think flying may not be that much more expensive (there are only 4 of us). I guess once we take in to consideration the cost of gas, hotel, plus the food for the day and a half we would be driving, the extra cost to fly probably isn't that bad. Especially if we could get a cheap flight on JetBlue out of Columbus (they don't have their flights for that far out yet). Plus, I figure the price of my sanity (which could be severely tested with a 6 and 8 year old on a 15 hour drive) is at least worth a few hundred dollars

Oh, I just realized a problem with the flying idea. I've already purchased a bunch of stuff to make gift baskets for the kids for when they get there (I've been buying things on clearance). With us driving, it was going to be easy to get them there (put it in a black garbage bag, and have one of us distract the kids when we get there while the other takes it to the room.) But with flying, it could be much more difficult. Can I have something shipped to the resort before I get there? (I know I could order gift baskets from some different people down there, but I've already bought a bunch of stuff for it).

 

[disneydreamin-gang]

We have done both. Driving was a long trip for us from Pomeroy, Ohio on the river. We pulled a camper twice and that was even longer, but we had a 12 passenger van with 8 of us in it.
My husband and I flew this last trip for our anniversary. It was great.
We are planning a trip for 2008 and also considering the cost of flying us vs. driving. I would love to fly but cant seem to get past the cost for all of us.

Either way you will have an awesome trip and the memories will be for a life time. The memories of driving in that van with all of us are some of the best.

 

[willowdell]

Other options - if you're not staying on Disney property, a lot of the off-site hotels/condos provide a FREE shuttle to disney. The condo we stay at will give us the option to tell the driver when to pick us up or we can call 1/2 hr before we're ready. They'll also drive us to go pick up groceries and/or anywhere we want to go.

If you aren't keen on flying, you could always rent a vehicle to drive - this would save on the wear & mileage on your own vehicle. One time we rented a mini-van because we were taking others with us and we got an awesome discount thru DH's work from Hertz which is the rental company that they use.

Oh, and if you do fly you can always ship things that you don't want to bring with you and have them delivered to the hotel. We've done this - just call ahead and have the manager alerted to the situation.

Hope that this helps!!

 

[bits-n-pieces]

We have driven from Central Ohio 3 times now and we don't mind a bit. It takes about 17 hours total but, we split that up and drive about 12 hours the first day. We have the advantage of staying with my SIL for free so, we stop in SC and spend one night there and then the next day we are up and have a short 5 hour drive to our resort.

When we went last spring gas was at it's highest, about $3.00 a gallon and the trip still only cost about $350 (Round trip) in gas. (We drive a mini van). Add in a few meals and our cost of driving was about $500. So, as far as cost, I don't think we could get 4 round trip tickets for that.

I also like the fact that I don't have to worry about packing too much. there is pleanty of room for our luggage on the way down and still room for all those extras that seem to come home with us.

We then have a car to use while we are there. I am a bit of a control freak so, although Disney transportation is great I still like to have my own.

So, I guess the bottom line is do you like to drive? DH and I take turns driving and the DD's watch DVD's and play games the whole way. We also have tried driving at night and they sleep the whole way.

Like others have said you do have an advantage living in Dayton. You have several Airports as option so the chance of getting a great rate is pretty good.

We did fly once and we did not have a rental car but, stayed on property. Disney transportation is very good and I would say a rental is not absolutley necessary if you do choose to fly.

Good luck and have a great trip!!

 

[TaylorsDad]

We are from Southern WV and have both flown and driven. Personally, I would prefer driving, even though its a 15hr drive. Driving is a little cheaper even if we stop for the night. However, the reason I enjoyed driving was because when I was a child my family and I would drive to Tampa to visit grandparents. This was always an adventure and some of the greatest childhood memories I have. "Getting there" truly was half the fun. Even today, we have some of the most comical and memorable times while driving on a long trip.
That being said, this trip we will be flying.Due to work I wasnt able to start my vacation the same time as some of my family I will be meeting up with and do not wish to lose 2 to 3 days vacation time with them driving to and from the resort.

 

[JerJan]

Let's see the way I look at it I get in my car and drive 30 minutes South to Akron. I get on a plane for 2 hrs and 15 mins and I'm in Orlando. Get off of the plane get on Magical Express and within an hour I'm at my resort, my luggage is brought to me.

OR.................Drive in a car for 18 hours with my DH (who snores like crazy) DD 15 and DD 7 who FIGHT (bicker, let's say) alot!

NO BRAINER for me.....FLYING WINS everytime!

Good luck with you decision and have FUN!!!!

 

[KHubbs94]

We too are from just north of Cincinnati. We flew Delta from Cincy for our 2006 and spent $375 per ticket for 6 of us! We will NEVER pay that kind of fare again. Our next trip will be in 2008 and we will price flights from Dayton, Indianapolis, and Louisville before we decide to fly or drive. The Northwest flights from Indy for $200(ish) seem like a good deal, hopefully they will be around in 2008 for us. If you are driving, we think what you are driving makes a difference. If we were driving a nice conversion van or luxury full size SUV the drive may not be so bad. Who you are driving with as well, we will be with my DFIL(66) who may require frequent stops. If the 4 of you can fly for $1000 vs drive with a stop both ways for about $500 flying is only costing you $125 per person, You save almost 2 whole days on your trip too. My thoughts are if you can make flying possible, FLY, but if the only way you can get to WDW is to drive, then buckle up!

 

[jenseib]

Oh, I just realized a problem with the flying idea. I've already purchased a bunch of stuff to make gift baskets for the kids for when they get there (I've been buying things on clearance). With us driving, it was going to be easy to get them there (put it in a black garbage bag, and have one of us distract the kids when we get there while the other takes it to the room.) But with flying, it could be much more difficult. Can I have something shipped to the resort before I get there? (I know I could order gift baskets from some different people down there, but I've already bought a bunch of stuff for it).

I'm not sure at what hotel you are staying at, but you can ship to any of the Diseny hotels. I assume you could to others as well.

 

[Dossgang]

Well we drive from the Canton area. It takes 16 hours and we have driven straight through and also split the trip. If we drive straight through we leave around 3am to let the kids sleep. That gives me a long peaceful drive for the morning. Between game boys, dvd's, and talking about what we want to do and see the trip isn't so bad. Of course we have been making the trip for quite a few years and my family travels well. If your family is not used to traveling it will not only get on your nerves but take that nerve and torture it like a kid that has caught a fly. You know rip its wings off and see how long it will suffer Happly traveling!!!!!!!

 

[David 1980]

I live in Indiana and with 5 kids I am going to fly. I went on Orbitz and found round trip air fare for each of us at about $159.00 each. I want to enjoy the vacation also and not dread that long drive. Dave

 

[Scot-n-Michelle]

We are leaving in a little over 24 hours for DW. We are driving from Cleveland Ohio with two kids ages 3 and 5. This is the second time that we will be doing this. Were loaded up on DVD's - they were excellent last year and hoping it goes the same way this year. Would love to fly but don't think my kids would like it and i like the cost of driving alot better.

 

[minnierocks]

For us, driving is more cost effective. It takes about 18 hours and we break that up with an overnight stay somewhere. Both of our kids are great "roadies" because that has always been our mode of transportation! Both of them have great memories from our numerous trips.
It runs us about $300/gas, $90 each way/hotel, plus food on the road.

Having said that...

Last October, for our "Keys to the Kingdom" trip, we were flown down at Disney's expense. It was SO nice to be there in two hours!
My opinion is...if you can swing it financially...fly down. We are going again for Thanksgiving this year and I am waiting to see what kind of prices I can get. If I get a great deal, then we are flying. I would spend a little more just for the convenience of getting there quicker!

 

[Disney8704]

For those who are getting expensive airlines, consider flying with AirTran. You can get VERY cheap tickets on there. For me and DH to fly from BWI (Baltimore, MD) to Orlando, non-stop, round trip, we are getting $82.00 tickets and the grand total will be $366.60 including taxes. At least I think we will be getting $82.00 tickets. A lot of times they have even cheaper tickets between $50 and $77.00 tickets. They dont fly from every airport to Orlando, so you'll have to check to see if your airport is available and if it is, check to see if they fly to Orlando. If it isnt but another airport thats near you does offer airtran and they do fly to Orlando, then I would fly from that airport. AirTran is a fantastic airline company to fly with. I've flown with them several times, and never had any problems.