Drive or Fly?

[916chipndale]

were from edison NJ and drive everyyear. we take 95 the whole way down till daytona then hop on i4. the drive isnt that bad we leave around 3 am and arrive at jacksonville at 5-6 and stop to eat dinner and sleep. we then leave the next day around 7-9 and arrive at disney at 1-1:30

 

[Commando2319]

Drive all the way!!!

I live just north of Minneapolis Minnesota. And I drive every trip. For me with several children, it ends up being way cheaper.

Good luck! And I know you'll have fun either way.

 

[trickiwoo]

We always fly! We figure less driving time means more time at WDW! And what we love about WDW is that there is absolutely no reason at all to rent a car! We love taking the Magical Express to and from the airport, and we love using Disney transportation our whole trip!

 

[rotlex]

Used to always fly, until a year or so ago, and when we did our first drive. We did it as I had time for an extended vacation, two weeks, and our son was only 6 months old. (Didn't want to deal with the airport and plane stuff with an infant). We will probably never fly again, LOL.

We come down from NE PA, just above Philly, and frankly, enjoy the drive more than we ever thought we would. It gives us, me in particular, time to unwind for probably a year of work, and actually get into "vacation" mode. It also allows for a longer stay in Disney, 11-12 days vs 7, due to the savings on not flying. Round trip driving, gas, hotel for one night and food stops, runs us around $250, as compared to $7-$900 for the family to fly. I now spend that extra money on extra nights, LOL. Our 8 year old stays occupied with an iPod, DVD player, and a map of the country for the most part.

Anyway, I would say try it once....you might actually like it.

 

[MN_Cruz'n]

We always drive...Yes, from Minnesota. Reasons:

1) The cost of the flight for a family of four is still more than a couple of extra nights in a hotel and the extra fuel

2) My DW had a very bad experience on a flight (involved a loss of cabin pressure and an emergency dive), and will only fly if there is NO other option.

3) We have a car on property with us and have more flexibility; we would likely rent a car anyway if we did fly.

We don't do a straight shot; usually no more than 12 hours, and then a planned overnight.

Hey, it does take some extra time, but it's part of the adventure, and we really enjoy seeing the country.

To each his own...

 

[DCTooTall]

i'm just south of you (York), and I've done both. 2008 I flew out of BWI. Last November I drove. (I-95 from Baltimore down). They both have their advantages.


My primary deciding factor on driving last year was I was supposed to go with 2 other friends, so it was cheaper to drive than fly all 3 of us. It also gave me more wiggle room if they ended up deciding last minute not to go (which they did).

I enjoyed the Drive. I got to check out South of the Border for the first time, and stopped overnight in Savannah to see my younger brother. (no hotel stay since I crashed with him). It actually wasn't that bad a drive for me on a Saturday down Monday back. Saturday Traffic thru DC and Richmond wasn't too bad. Monday was a bit worse, but that was also my fault for slacking on my departure time.

The Flight trip of course was easier and quicker, but as tall as I am, the cramped seats can be a bit of an issue.

Depending on where you stay while at Disney, there are also definate advantages to having a car while down there. You can go offsite to eat if you get the urge, or even check out other area attractions. (Including all those wonderful tourist traps off I-Drive). Even if you don't venture outside Disney's borders, Having a car to get to/from the parks or DTD can be advantageous over Disney transportation. With a car you can park hop quicker than taking a bus, easily resort hop for ADR's or just exploring different resorts, or get from your room to the park gates quicker. You also don't need to deal with the crowds that can come from some parks on the busses for RD or closing. Onsite hotels give you free parking at the hotel and park lots, so you don't have to worry about paying for parking.

Another nice perk in driving is you don't have to be so careful while packing, or buying stuff in Florida. Since you dont need to worry about checking bags, you can be a bit more relaxed in your packing and purchase decisions. You could even decide to bring food/drink from home instead of buying it while down there. (Case of water for the parks maybe? or a favorite local snack/drink that you can't get in Florida?)



Another possibility for you that would combine the best of both worlds....The AutoTrain. The Train departs nightly just south of DC and arrives just north of Orlando the next AM around 9am. You could drive to the train, load your car, then relax on the train overnight, get some sleep, and have your car with you for the time you are in Florida.

 

[disneysteve]

there is absolutely no reason at all to rent a car! We love taking the Magical Express to and from the airport, and we love using Disney transportation our whole trip!

This is one of those "different strokes" areas. If I had to use Disney transportation my whole trip, I would go out of my mind. Honestly, I think I would rather stay home than go to Disney and have to depend on their transportation. Maybe for a couple of days it would be okay, but definitely not for a week or longer. Even when we have stayed onsite, we always had a car (either we drove or we rented one). We drive everywhere we go on or off property.

 

[pal-mickey]

I want to drive down but my husband is saying 'no'. The car we would use has about 130,000 and change miles on it and he says it's too much of a risk. That something could happen to the car. I tried to tell him that I can't imagine everyone who drives has a brand new car. Has anyone made the trip with a high milage car?

 

[POOHsie]

We always drive. Time isn't really an issue for us. I have a mobility scooter and lift in my van, and we enjoy the road trip as the beautiful scenery rolls by. Plus having my own scooter transport at WDW is more convenient than Disney Buses. (I do take the Disney Bus to MK; that is faster than taking my own van.) Driving straight through would be 16-1/2 hours + stops. We usually stop overnight, after 10-1/2 hours, in Walterboro, SC on I-95. Lots of hotels there, and a nice Cracker Barrel and other restaurant choices. Then it is only 6 hours to Disney the next day.

This year we will drive to Virginia and take the Autotrain round-trip. We have done this before, and it is an real adventure. If reserved early enough, I can get a handicapped room for 2, with bath, with a disabled discount and it doesn't cost much more than driving all that way. Comes with a nice dinner and wine, and continental breakfast, too. I could have just booked coach seats and saved even more, but the room was priced right because I booked so far in advance. The Autotrain saves wear & tear on family and van.

 

[disneysteve]

I want to drive down but my husband is saying 'no'. The car we would use has about 130,000 and change miles on it and he says it's too much of a risk. That something could happen to the car. I tried to tell him that I can't imagine everyone who drives has a brand new car. Has anyone made the trip with a high milage car?

We're at Disney now. Drove from NJ with our 2000 Toyota Sienna. We've got a little over 127,000 miles.

 

[The 4 "Quay"balleros]

If you have the money, FLY

 

[jacstangler]

We live in St. Louis which is 17 hour trip. We drive and have not had problems.

We do stay over 1 night about 2/3 of the way. The next morning I like to arrive before noon for checkin. It usually costs us a little under $100 to stay at Hampton Inn.

Benefits of driving.
can take whatever fits in the car.
flexibility of car - drive to parks or offsite if needed. If you need something from the drugstore or elsewhere it is easy. The busses are so unreliable at Disney.

If there are just 2 of you and you like to drive it isn't too bad. However with kids if possible I would fly. We don't have kids and are retired so it makes it easy.

good luck on whatever you decide.

John

 

[disneysteve]

If you have the money, FLY

We have the money to fly but we'd rather spend it AT Disney than on getting TO Disney.

 

[Marty Joe]

For me, coming from Indiana (north/west) it would be around 17 to 18 hours.
1) 36 hours I will never get back.
2) I will feel like hell when I get there.
3) I will be in a confined space with 2 teen aged girls for 36 hours.
4) I will be in a confined space with my wife for 36 hours (and she with me).
5) The first two or three hours will be exciting, then we hit Kentucky.
6) Driving through Georgia BLOWS (big/nothing to look at).
7) Wear and tear on the car (and me).
8) The last couple of days at WDW are ruined because of the dread of
driving home (see #'s 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7).
9) Something WILL happen to the the car alone the way (not Mr. Lucky).

When we fly, we're there in 2 hours (in the air). Once I'm at MCO, I'm on vacation. Once I'm on Magical Express, it's official - I'm at Disney and on my way to the Poly. I don't drive, I don't park, I don't worry about car keys, I don't worry about gas or having a fender bender or getting lost or having road-rage or wiping bug goo off the windshield or showing ID at the Poly gate every time I come "home".

 

[CastawayJP]

We prefer to drive from Northern VA (about 11 hours). We have 2 toddlers and an 11 year old, and we drive through the night so they sleep for almost the entire trip.

The plus side is that we get there very early and have a full first day. The downside is we get there early and our room is almost never ready.

We find that with two small children it is easier to drive through the night rather then have to go through the hassle of airports.

 

[shmedly123]

we(me the wife and 2dd's age 5&3 at the time) live in N.H. and drove down this past Feb. for the first time. (23 hrs nonstop)
a couple of reasons why we drove
1) cost: we saved almost $1500 between flight and rental car
2) the experience: we wanted to experience the drive down.
It was very interesting the first 12hrs. not so much once we hit VA and the Carolina's.
3) The last time we flew it took a whole day anyway...leave 3hrs early to arrive at the airport 2hrs early, 3 hr flight that turned into almost 4hrs bc of bad weather in Orlando. Once we got there there was literally a 2 hr wait at the rental car booth (everyone getting there at the same time). Got our car and drove the 30mins or so to the resort. In all that was almost 10 hrs. granted the rental car wait was an aberration but still...

Would I do it again? Absolutely. But like other posters said, it can wear on you. On the way down we drove 17 hrs slept and drove the last 6 or so hrs the next day. On the way back I drove right through...24hrs from the Caribbean Beach resort to my house with a 1 hour dinner break.


reasons I wouldn't drive next time
1) if i could secure a cheap flight
2) I had no intentions of venturing off property and wouldn't need a rental car
3) I was taking a shorter trip and didn't have the time.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Again I say - most posters are NOT including all the cost when they are giving prces on driving. You can't drive 12hours for $250 - unless the car is one you got for $500. Most cars (at least the kind you'd like for a road trip) are more like $20,000 to $30,000min. If youaren't factoring the cost of the car over the life mileage of the car, you aren't really pricing fairly.

No, I would not drive that long in a car of that age.

DH is correct. If something goes wrong, there's a good chance it's going to be something MAJOR. Not only that, but even though you're mostly on major highways- you are kind of at the mercy of whereever you get stuck, and the amenities available there. Getting a repair can be very timeconsuming- especially if the place you get stuck doesn't have the part youy need in stock. Not to mention the unexpected costs. That's assuming nobody winds up in an emergency room. I would only drive with a reliable car.

 

[shmedly123]

Again I say - most posters are NOT including all the cost when they are giving prces on driving. You can't drive 12hours for $250 - unless the car is one you got for $500.

using this analogy half of the total cost of your car will be spent on this trip....

wear and tear on a car is only an extremely small fraction of the car's worth especially if it is a car with higher mileage like the one i used...I had already put over 80k miles on my car before i took that trip. Cars today aren't built like they were years ago...you can get 150-200k miles out of a vehicle EASY.


That's like saying do you use luggage when you fly? Ok then how much did you spend on your luggage because you have to factor that into the cost because if you drove you could use garbage bags to hold your clothes. Did you drive to the airport? Ok then add that wear and tear on your car to the cost of your flight.


the fairest comparison you can give is if you rent a car at home and drive the rental to disney or you rent when you get down there the rental price is going to pretty much be a push. So, then you are only paying for gas and tolls ...no wear and tear on YOUR car. So subtract that total for the "savings" and we still would have been way ahead in our price comparison.

I'm not trying to get into a flame war over this, just giving my take.

 

[katscradle]

Hi Jim! Sorry we didn't talk much in Hershey.

If it's just my husband and me, we fly. Usually we have no desire to go offsite to other attractions so having our car wasn't important to us.

Last June we decided to drive (we live in northern Delaware). 2 reasons.... the main one being cost. Airfare for 5 is insane. We were able to stay at a hotel going down and comimg back, including gas, and still paid less then we would have flying. The second reason was having room for all we needed because of the kids.

You just have to decide what is important to you. The packing space, cost, time lost, etc.

Good luck!

I was going to say the same thing!
We drive from Ontario,Canada and find the drive fun!

 

[Funky Chicken]

We are about 650 miles from WDW. I can drive it in 9 1/2 hours with a couple of quick stops. The car we drive gets about 28 mpg on the trip. About $75 in gas each way. Flights for the three of us typically run $200 to $250 round trip. So-$150 in gas round trip versus $650 in airfares saves $500.
If I were to fly I would leave my house 2 hours before the flight (we are pretty close to the airport). With no delays the flight time is 1:40 and once we land at MCO you have to leave at least 1:30 to get to WDW from the time you step off the plane. That 1:40 flight actually takes over 5 hours to complete.
I prefer to have access to a car when I am there so if I flew I would likely rent a car. Figure $25 per day for about the cheapest car I could rent.
Driving works better for us. If I were much further away I would probably not drive-vacation time is way to precious to spend two days in transit.
I look at it this way-in September 2009 my trip (5 days at a value resort, 5 days of one day one park admission, free regular dining plan with a PIN, 2 adults and 1 child) cost $1183. If we had flown the trip would have cost at least 50% more adjusting for gas expense. I got to WDW at 4PM on our arrival day (Sunday), only about 3-4 hours later than I would have had I flown. On departure day we pulled out at 10 am after breakfast at Poly and we were home before dark. If I had a 1PM flight home I would have had to leave WDW at the same time and with no delays would have gotten home around 4PM.
I only lost 8 hours total (4 on each end of the trip) but saved over $700. This also assumes that there are no flight delays which is not always the case.