Drive or Fly?

[JenniJ]

We are planning on going to Disney after Thanksiving this year. we are a family of four, me, DH, DD-17 and DS-3. We would be traveling from the Chicago area.
What are your thoughts on flying veruses driving. We are not sure yet if we will be staying one site. It depends on whether we are blessed by the PIN code fairy. If we don't get a discount PIN then we probably be using my parents timeshare.

If we do drive, I was thinking of renting a minivan or SUV since we have a full size car and my need the extra room. But would that be saving money with the cost of the car and gas, then not to mention paying for parking, if we are off site.
If we fly then we would be paying full fare now for my 3 year old. Plus, shuttles to/from the hotel and Disney if we stay off site.

Not to mention all the time it would take to drive there...... And that my DH is not much of the road trip fan.... I love them. At least driving there... going home is another story...

All of these options give me a

 

[2DisPrincesses]

We are struggling with many of the same questions for a last-minute trip we have decided to go on in June.

From the information you provided in your post, the fact that your DH is not a fan of road trips would probably be enough for me to fly. Have you ever driven that far with your 3-year-old? How is your DH going to handle being in the car that long with your 3-year-old if he/she doesn't handle the drive well given that your DH doesn't like road trips .

We have decided to drive, but my DH loves road trips and is excited to drive straight through from Michigan and we don't have to pay to rent a car.

I would start looking at airfare now and see what kind of rates you can come up with. Last year around May, I booked very good rates for November ($432 round trip for 3 of us through Air Tran).

I was stresses out for 2 weeks over the drive/fly decision. Making a final decision helped a little- now I'm just trying to tell myself we'll have fun no matter how the drive goes and atleast we'll know if we should ever consider it again!

 

[Jdougherty]

I grew up in Michigan/Chicago area, as a family we drove a few times down to the keys and Disney. WOW it was a LONG drive. 24 hours to Marthon Key, and that's driving straight threw.

I live in colorado now and we frequently drive to St. Louis for family (18hrs). Luckly I have been blessed with a nice SUV/Truck and Child who likes to watch movies/talk. Your 17yrold should also be able to help with the drive. We frequently leave right around bedtime so as to not disturb her routine and so that she's sleeping a majority of the drive. Not sure how DS will handle his frist long trip to STL but we shall see this summer!

Personally with ORD and MDW right there I would look in to Southwest along with Airtran if you don't want to drive.

 

[swmmom]

Since I am not a fan of driving to FL from the Chicago area, especially the drive home, I would fly. If you can be flexible with your dates & time of day you can usually get some decent airfare.

I got airfare for three of us for our trip in May for $500.00. I started checking about 5 months before our trip, and just about three months before I booked at $74.00 each way.

Gas alone could cost you $300.00 - 2400 miles divided by 25 miles per gal times $3.25 per gallon is $312.00. And who knows what gas will cost in seven months?!?!? Since your husband is not big on road trips, I would assume you would be staying in a hotel one night each way, which would be probably at least $150.00. And if you were to rent a van for a week, you are probably looking at $500.00 or more if you add insurance.

Driving would be cheaper if you don't rent a van and even less if you drive straight through. Once you start adding the van rental & nights in hotels, flying starts to look real good!!!!

 

[JenniJ]

Wow! I didn't calculate thye price of gas. I also didn't think airfares could be so cheep! About the cost of renting a car.

I will defionately be flying down. That is also four days we can add to our trip.

If I can convince my DH....

 

[JenniJ]

How far in advance do airlines post there flights?? I just checked Southwwest and AirTran to no avail...

 

[swmmom]

How far in advance do airlines post there flights?? I just checked Southwwest and AirTran to no avail...

Not sure about Southwest & AirTran, but American, United & others have flights available 300 plus days in advance. However, you wouldn't be able to find any cheap flights yet it's too far in advance. I got the cheapest airfare at almost exactly 3 months before our trip with American flying out of Ohare, which I prefer to Midway. We are also flying out on a Tuesday & returning on a Wednesday.

 

[RumpleMom]

Does DD17 have a driver's license?

DH had our DD drive the Washington, DC beltway on one of our vacations.

It was a great learning experience for her. I was a nervous wreck in the back seat, but she did great! The only way to learn to do it, is to do.

 

[JenniJ]

Does DD17 have a driver's license?QUOTE]

she is in Drivers ed now. I have a "rule" that all my kids cannot get their licence until 17. It was a rule in my family growing up. Yep, it sucked back then, but looking back on it now, I relalize why my parents had the rule.

Anyways, she will have her license by then. She is a very nervous driver. I am more calm than she is respectively speaking. She has been in drivers Ed since January and she will NOT drive on the highways here. So, I am not sure how she will feel once she has her license.

 

[julezdisney]

We drove in Oct'08 from Rockford area. It was ok. We took shifts and one of us sat in the back w/the kids during the day to work on homework, talk, watch movies together, look at magazines & books. The kids had video games too. If you rent a van I'd suggest getting one with a tv (we had one-borrowed from my parents) for movies and video game systems.

It really wasn't too bad- we stopped every 3 hours and every time someone had to go "again".

Good luck!

 

[meg_twittles]

I would check out Allegiant Air. We are planning a trip in December and that is who we plan on flying with. They only fly to Florida, but the prices are really reasonable . If you book soon enough you can get flight for $49.99 one way, and sometimes they have $9.99 one way deals. They only fly on certain days so it will have to fit your schedule. They only have their flights posted until Sept. 30th as of now, but I called the other day and was told that the rest of the year should be available within the next month.

 

[cmusschoot]

I live in the Chicago area too...FAR North West Suburbs...and we travel to Disney fairly frequently...I am not big on road trips (I hate to drive). I can always find a great deal on air fare through Southwest.

I just recently booked flights for 79.00 each way for our family of 4. Keep in mind also that Southwest doesn't charge for checked bags and that cost can really add up. You do have to travel from Midway, but in Naperville you are not too far.

Southwest usually books 6 months out, and I watch the website daily to ensure I am getting the best deal.

I also always stay on property and rely on Disney transportation, which can be slow at times...but free!!!

The long drive and loss of a vacation day due to driving and being exhausted from the drive is not with it to me, I would rather pay to fly, and have a relaxing first day there....

Hope you are able to decide...just my 2 cents worth...
Carrie

 

[MidgeD79]

I also consider the freedom of packing when deciding on driving or flying. When we drive each of us gets a personalized pillow, a beach towel that doubles as a blanket, a huge wheeled cooler, Pepsi (at a reasonable price), pool toys, and not having to worry about luggage limitations.

 

[Perditamarie]

We are doing both!! We got decent prices to fly down to Orlando and will rent a minivan to drive home to NH in. The price for the minivan is fabulous -- $40 for 48 hours. I guess they are desperate to move some cars out of Orlando. Anyway, it will kind of be a test roadtrip for us....if it is too long, we only have to drive 1 way and will know never to do it again!!! We are a bit nervous about this, but you never know 'til you try...and we expect to be thru DC on the weekend so hopefully can avoid the worst of the traffic.

 

[starsweeper]

Our rule is this: Any destination over 8 hours means we fly.

If you can afford airfare, I'd suggest flying. Traveling with a toddler, especially, can be challenging. I used to drive from GA to KY to visit family with two infants/toddlers by myself every 6-8 weeks for 2 years. A 6-hour drive for an adult could stretch to 8 to 9.5 hours when accounting for rest stops, gas stops, and food stops with small children.

 

[Lidian]

Personally, I'd look at my options and decide my ultimate reason to pick one. Is it to save money? To save time?

We're a bit closer to the World than you guys ... and we did drive last year (party of 8, 2 cars, 13 hour trip - including stops). While it wasn't exactly a "fun" drive (yay for motion sickness ) ... we all got there in one piece and with most of our sanity.

This year, its just a party of 4 ... and we weighed out cost versus time. Neither of our cars would survive such a trip, so we weighed out renting a car and flying. We needed to get to the World on as little money as possible ... so when my dad offered up his new SUV and we checked the prices of airfare (it was going to be around $400, plus luggage), DH didn't want to shell out the money. So, he'll be driving us there. I'm kind of glad ... because I've never flown before, so that would have been the ultimate thrill ride for me.

And the dramamine will be taken before we even leave the house. Best of luck in your decision!