Drive or Fly?

[Mickeyhugger]

I would fly, but then again, it's just DH, DD and me.

DH and I look forward to taking car trips together when DD is older, but FL would be too far for us. (We live farther away.) Maybe 10 hours we'd do.

 

[MelanieC]

Hi Melanie,
I am also from near Philly. I think we might be on the same cruise. We are going next November. We are leaving Nov 25.

Let me know if you will be on this cruise too.

Lucinda

Hi Lucinda,
Yep we are going on the same cruise. Guess what- we live one turnpike exit from you (going the opposite direction of Philadelphia) so we are really close.
I tried to PM you but you have them turned off.

Melanie

 

[Cruella de mom]

We have done it both ways and they both have their ups and downs. We flew for our first cruise which meant we had to get up at 4 am. It was brutal with every delay an earlier poster mentioned and a mad dash to get on the ship too. I wish I was smart enough to scan the picture of us getting on the ship. It took us two days to recover from the stress. But flying home was a joy and made for two very relaxed vacationers returning to work.

The second time we drove about 10 hours but we drove down the day before and stayed at a nice hotel. We wandered to the port and were first to board. It was wonderful. But then we had to drive home. By the time we got home, we had used up all the relaxation the cruise had given us and we were once again stressed out.

Too bad you can't drive there stay overnight and then fly home....Thats the one I would pick if only it were available!

 

[cindalu]

Hi Melanie,
wow what a small world. So where exactly do you live. We should get together before the cruise.
BTW

How do I turn my PM on.

If I don't respond I will respond tomorrow morning. I am leaving right now.

Talk to you later


Lucinda

 

[MelanieC]

Hi Lucinda,

To turn on your private messages go up to User CP (its along the red bar above). Click on edit options. Go to "Messaging & Notification" and click enable private messaging. This way we can privately message back in forth. Its a great form of communication.

 

[O2BNWDW]

We always drive to WDW and it is a 12 hour drive. Sometimes we break it up and sometimes not.
I just like to have the car there to pack up with my booty!!

 

[mom2bcr]

We always drive to WDW and it is a 12 hour drive. Sometimes we break it up and sometimes not.
I just like to have the car there to pack up with my booty!!

I was wondering how long it would take us to drive to Port Canaveral. I see you are from Virginia.

We are in Va Beach. Where in VA do you drive from?

 

[tvguy]

Hi,

We drive. It takes us 22 hours from London, Canada to Orlando. For us to fly would be about $2,000. We have rented an SUV, for the fun of it and expect to spend about $300 on gas. We are saving over $1000, and driving there and seeing the sites is part of the vacation.

My rule of thumb anymore is if it takes more than 4 hours or 200 miles by car, we fly. Just not worth the wear and tear. (totally out of the question for us since were on the west coast, 3000 miles away, about a 5 day drive at 8 hours a day)
Must be an amazing SUV you're renting if it gets over 23 mpg....... I managed to squeak out 12 mpg once in my Suburban on a long trip, and my wife's much smaller Mountaineer gets about 19 or 20 mpg.
And having to burn up 2 or 3 or 4 extra vacation days (those are worth $200 a day for each my wife and I in salary) erases any savings. That's almost enough vacation time to take another cruise too.

 

[tekmnky]

I live in TX and it's a 18-20 drive for me. I prefer to drive unless I'm just going to WDW for a weekend getaway, then I'll fly. I just flew down this past weekend and found that from the time I left my house for the airport to the time I pulled onto WDW was 10 hours, going, and 9 hours coming back. If I lived a 10-hour-drive away, I'd much rather spend 10 hours behind the wheel "at my convenience" than 5-6 hours hassling with airport check-in, cramped into airline seats and waiting on delayed flights.

But it also depends on your travel party and your personal preferences. I love to hit the road for long trips, but I travel alone and, therefore, I'm the captain of my own destiny! If you add kids, spouse, dog/cat, in-laws then there are a lot of other considerations.

I just like traveling on MY schedule instead of one I'm forced into by airport/airline/weather conditions and is completely beyond my control.

 

[WDWLVR]

We live just outside of Chicago. For many of our trips we fly but every once in a while we drive down. When we head out in 3 weeks we'll be driving this trip. For one thing airport security is getting to be a royal pain. Not saying it isn't necessary just a pain. This trip we are also bringing a lot of things with us. My DH made buttons for all the DISers in our group. It is going to be near 200 buttons - wouldn't that be fun to get through airport security. We are also bringing costumes for pirate night and other things that will have us doing more luggage than we are used to. Plus since it is hurricane season we wanted a little bit of flexability. If we need to get out of town fast we can without worrying about changing flights.

We split up our days and he does almost all of the driving (we have no kids). We'll do Chicago to Murfreesboro, TN one day and then on to Disney the next. Spend one full day at WDW (to meet up with friends and attend a DVC party Saturday night) then drive over to the port. Thursday when we get off the ship we'll drive back to WDW for two days and then head home early Saturday morning again stopping in TN on the way home.

We look at the road trip as a part of the vacation. Gives us lots of time to talk and plan for future events. We get to see the country around us (even through it is sometimes miles and miles of boring flat land). We have fun with it. Nice to have the option to fly or drive.

 

[6griswolds]

We will drive. We are from northern Kentucky and are doing the land/sea package (land first). I assume we have about a 14 hour drive to Disney and then a couple hours to the boat. We have driven our kids 14 hours to New York every year for about 15 years now to stay with their grandparents. We drive straight through stopping twice to eat, and of course, any bathroom breaks. It is a piece of cake to us now. We are a family of 6 in a minivan that has a tv/vcr. That has saved us. Unless somebody has some buddy passes to give us....we will always choose to drive.

 

[kg66]

I agree with the OP who suggest arriving early and staying over at least 1 night after the cruise. We were fortunate and we arrived the day before we were due to start our 7 day land & sea, and we stayed in Cocoa Beach for a week after the cruise, just to unwind. LOL, I had such bad Disney withdrawls, I talked DH into driving to Downtown Disney 1 day to just walk around
It just makes you more relaxed for the drive home.

 

[gometros]

I assume we have about a 14 hour drive to Disney and then a couple hours to the boat.

Repeat after me, "A boat is what you put on a ship"

 

[6griswolds]

ooops......my mistake!! I am a newbie ya know!!