Drive or Fly?

[Ginka83]

We are gearing up for our first trip to Disney with our 2 girls, aged 3 & 5. We are going at the end of May (Postponed from May 2020). We are debating drive vs fly. We live in the Atlanta area so travel time driving is not that much longer if you consider getting to the airport, security, flight time, then ME to our resort. Also, my husband works for the airline so cost to us is minimal to fly. We will be staying at AOA and we plan to spend 2 days at MK and 1 at AK plus at least one meal at DS. Everything else we plan to do will be via skyliner. I'm wondering if the convenience of having a car is worth it to skip the busses or if having a car ends up being unnecessary. I would love to have any and all thoughts on this!

 

[macraven]

I fly out of Atlanta
I have driven to Orlando 5 times
Hate the traffic ....and always watched other drivers make poor decisions on that drive

Switched to flying and use car service to the hotel and parks

 

[CarolynFH]

We like having our car and often drive to the parks (except to MK!) because it seems more convenient to us. (Of course, nowadays with no parking trams, when we leave the park and have to walk past the Disney buses to get to our car, I regret it.) It also gives us flexibility to drive from resort to resort or from a park to DS for dinner. That said, we've enjoyed many trips without a car.

 

[boomchip]

From Atlanta, I'd consider driving, but we are way further out in the Chicagoland area so I'd pick flying. I've done both and the driving was very tough (on the return trip specifically, after having done all the walking while at WDW. I'd almost prefer driving from a shorter distance overall. To me, Atlanta seems like a hop, skip, and a jump away from Mickey-land!

 

[LadyBeBop]

My daughter used to work for the airlines, so we flew a lot for free or low cost. However, it's been over a decade.

Would you be flying on buddy passes? If so, are you sure you're be able to fly that day? I'd take the first flight out that day. That way, in case you get bumped, you should be able to fly later in the day.

I once spent the night in LAX after losing out on the last flight of the night. Hard, sleeping on the floor.

Based on that, I may drive. As you said, timewise, there isn't much difference. The advantages: you have a car, in case you want to leave the Disney bubble; you'll probably have more park time; you don't have to rely on the busses and you don't have to worry about getting bumped off your flight. The disadvantages: it's probably more expensive with the cost of gas and parking; you're still driving for six hours, and that takes something out of you.

 

[kdonnel]

The trip from Gwinnett to Orlando is right at the threshold where we struggle to decide between driving and flying.

We generally draw the line at $200 per person round trip. If the airfare is $200 or less per person we definitely fly. If it is more we look really hard at the budget to see if we can still fly.

In 2020 we were able to fly for $34 a person round trip.

We arrive so much more refreshed on the travel day when we fly versus driving.

 

[sam_gordon]

It's an interesting question. The normal pros & cons aren't really in play.

The "pro" for flying is usually saving time. Since, as you accurately said, by the time you get to the airport two hours before the flight, it's about an hour flight (let's say 90 minutes), then you're looking at an hour from deplane to getting to resort (no DME, so assuming Uber, rental car, or other transportation that doesn't stop at other resorts), you only save a couple of hours.

The "con" for flying is generally cost. But, if you drive your own car, you need to pay for gas, wear and tear on the car, and parking fees. Flying cost is minimal, but you do have to arrange transportation between MCO & WDW (again, no DME).

I think I would come down on the side of driving.
1) You're on your own schedule, you don't need to worry about getting to the airport at a certain time.
2) You have the option to exit the bubble (shopping, food, sight seeing, whatever). You may not use the option, but at least it's there.
3) If you don't like Disney transportation, you have another option.

However, I don't think there's anything wrong with flying.

 

[Erica Ladd]

Fly

 

[olive]

With younger kids, we really appreciated having a car. We have driven when we lived farther south, and we rented a car when flying down. When our younger kids needed a break from the parks, waiting for what sometimes turned out to be an hour for a Disney bus was a nightmare, especially when they then had to stand on the bus ride back to the hotel. It was also much more efficient to return to parks after a break, at least for those parks that were limited to bus only transportation.

AIrports and planes also weren't always great with our kids when they were younger. Delays and unexpected travel challenges were easier in the car. Cranky kid? Tired? Hungry? Not happy about the mask? Less of a problem, especially if the trip becomes longer because of a delay.

We also really appreciated the car for being able to bring what we needed (or just what we wanted - the nice but not necessary items - that make it a bit easier when traveling with kids).

Good luck with your choice!

 

[loves to dive]

We live in Athens (about 45 min. to a hour north of Atlanta) and drive down. Of course, we don't have to go through Atlanta so that makes a huge difference but we would have to go to Atlanta to fly and that time and expense is not worth it to us. It takes us between 7 and 8 hours to drive down (depending on if I'm driving or my son is driving). We usually stop twice, once at a rest stop for potty and once to get gas and maybe go potty again. It's a pretty easy drive. For us it's 441 to Macon then hit 75 then hit the Turnpike. I've been doing the drive since my son was 3 so did it a number of times with a little one (just me and him). When I drive down solo, I might stop 3 times just to get out and stretch my old legs and back. I will say, I park the car and never get in it again until we leave unless it's a split stay then it's just to move to the next resort. It's nice to be able to pack as much as you want into your car and go on your own schedule and have your own food instead of herding littles through airports. We have driven to the parks twice, both times were on a resort move day and we were just up so early we said why not, both times were to AK and we were there before rope drop and left before noon to go check into resort #2. I don't like driving on Disney property, that is just us though (plus my son and I like to have a refreshing adult beverage or two and don't want to drive - he's 40 so I think that qualifies as an adult).