Drive vs. Fly Which do you prefer?

[matu8063]

I am interested in driving to WDW for the first time. The past two times I have been we flew. I now live much closer ( ) I was wondering what advantages there are to driving or advantages to flying. There are two adult and we are on a budget. I am also a teacher so going during non-peak times is not an option.

Thanks for all your advice.
Missy

 

[PrincessCandaceMarie]

We drive and fly, it all depends if we stop and see family in Marietta and Sanibel....the driving is beautiful since you can see places, visit restaurants and shop when you want to; flying gets you there faster; however, if you want the option of having a car and not renting, then driving is the way to go....

 

[sunkissed212]

I've done both...

The advantage to flying is that you get there faster. From Detroit it's about a 2 1/2 hour flight.

However, my boyfriend and I really like taking road trips so our trip to WDW this year, we drove. It was a lot of fun to do. The entire trip took us about 17 hours. We hadn't planned on stopping overnight but we had both worked a full day before we left and we ended up needing to crash for a few hours so we stopped just inside Tennessee for about a 6 hour "nap".

Just a warning...when you drive down...you usually have to drive back too and that's not half the fun!!

 

[DVC Jen]

For us it is much cheaper to drive than fly. We live just outside of Dallas. If we were JUST going to fly and not rent a car then it would just about break even (with gas, hotel and food during the drive) but we hate hate hate WDW buses and would rent a car once we got there. Well that makes it more expensive. We also LIKE taking our time especially with the drive there. We make it a part of our vacation and not just something we try to rush through to get there sooner. Now on our way home we try to get home as quickly as possible.

Maybe I am nuts.. but to me vaction and road trip just seem to go together. I actually enjoy it.

 

[Schmeck]

We drive from MA. Although it takes us 22 hours of driving to get there, we love the drive! We've just never been a flying family, especially since we bought the conversion van and drove it to Lake Powell. Now we drive just about everywhere, except to Norway, where my bil and sil live...

For two adults, I'm not sure if it saves you money to drive. The wear and tear on the car, high gas prices, time it takes to get there, etc. will probably be equal to two decently priced airline tix.

If you are planning on staying offsite, it will help to have a car. If you are onsite guests, you might not even end up using your car while you are there. We never seem to want to drive anywhere once we get there. Must be that 22 hour drive we just finished, LOL!

 

[Muffy]

We always fly. It would be 24 hrs of straight driving for us! Never happen!

 

[NCRedding]

The trip from Charlotte is probably not too bad--all interstate.

We drove for the first time in June. We left after my DD got out of school, and stopped for the night in Kingsland, GA just north of the FL border. We slept in late and then arrived at WDW by 1. It was nice. Coming back, we drove straight through, and that was a lot less fun, but still doable. We were very lucky with traffic on I-95.

The advantages to driving--it can be cheaper. We were able to take along extras that made the trip nicer, and we had lots of room for souveniers and shopping--didn't have to worry about fitting it into our luggage for flying. We always rent a car, so it was nice not to have to do that.

Flying--its quicker.

 

[sk!mom]

I prefer to fly but I would have a 26 hour drive. If I lived within 6 to 8 hours, I would save money and drive.

 

[Chicago526]

Well, for me...hmmm....2 straight days of driving versus a 2 hour 45 minute flight....hmmm....

But for you, it's a toss up. The flight itself from Charlotte to Orlando is an hour and 30 minutes. But, you need to drive from your home to the airport, arriving at least 90 minutes prior. Once you land it will take another 30 to 60 minutes to get to your hotel. Add that all up, and you just killed at least a half a day. And thats if the flight is on time.

Driving would take a full day, but you can stock up on snacks and water/soda to bring with you and then have a car while you're down there, making getting around WDW much easier.

So I guess it's a matter of a half a day at WDW being worth the conveinance of having your own car, plus airfare savings (minus fuel cost).

 

[SandrainNC]

We drive. I am not a flyer so that is not an option. Thank goodness we live close enough to drive. Even though like somebody else said, when the trip is over and I am ready to get home, the 8 or 9 hour drive takes forever. We drove straight down during the night this last trip (which we won't do again) and stopped in Savannah, GA to spend the night on the way back. We thought the night time driving would be good so our 3 year old would sleep most of the way. My child slept great almost the entire trip (so our thinking was true) but my husband and I were miserable. I am thinking too that flights out of Charlotte are more expensive than some other airports (that may be just International flights though) so there is an added expense there as well if that is the case. We also like having our car so we can go where we want and when we want.

Sandra

 

[dolphindan1]

We drive from Charleston SC I-95 to I-4 about 7 hours....not a bad drive

 

[diswedwish]

Timely thread for us! I'm trying to convince DH as to why we should drive. We've only flown before and that was with Southeast, then we'd get Tiffany once we were there, on to Disney property and stayed there the whole time. Now SEAL is gone, so I don't think we'll be able to get a cheap flight out of Allentown anymore...

Next time, probably '06, we'd like to do Universal and Sea World plus Disney so we'd at least like to get a rental car. I say we should drive from north-eastern PA since my diesel bug gets around 50 mpg, I feel comfortable driving it, and we can stay for free on the way down (and probably in Orlando as well before we move on-site) since I earn my free nights through work. Mapquest says it's around 17 hours.

DH is leery about that long of a drive. It'll be fun, right?

 

[Becky2005]

We drive for several reasons, one being with a family of 6, it's cheaper! It will take us 1 1/2 days but it will be easier to deal with traffic hassles than airport hassles. Plus with a 1 year old, we practically have to pack the entire house anyway, I can't fathom attempting to take that through the airport (plus I don't like the fact that they can randomly change your flight times, cancel them on you, etc..)

Where as with driving, true can't control traffic but we can control when we decide to leave, if we want to stay a bit longer, leave earlier or whatever.

Plus, I just figure it's part of the trip. Of course, we don't live *extremely* far away or else I might change my mind. If we ever make it out to California, I might consider flying to go that far as that would be a *much* longer drive.

But since you moved closer, I'd be driving.

 

[sunkissed212]

budget wise...for us, we did research flights and renting a car as opposed to driving because it would have given us 2 extra days in FL which sounded really nice. The flights were decent at about $185/RT per person but the car rental rates were outrageous. We were looking at a midsize vehicle and I couldn't find anything for less than $250/week. We would have been there 9 days where we would have needed a car. That plus the flights was waay more than the 2 fuel fill up's we made on the way down (bf's truck is a diesel with a 33 gallon fuel tank) so ,we were going over 500 miles each tank...nnniiiccceeee!!!!!!

 

[sweetpeakaris]

Since you're on a budget, I say Drive, it's fun to drive and see the scenery!

 

[matu8063]

We were excited to move closer to disney. We moved from way upstate NY. Almost Montreal Canada. We went two years in a row 2001 and 2002 and have been missing it every day. Renting a moving truck for almost $2000 "stole" our Disney money. Still paying back credit card debt too. So the waiting game begins. How much can I save so we could go to Disney in the summer time. I hate credit card debt.

Should we save also to buy PAP? 515 x 2 = $1030

what to to do...what to do...

Missy

 

[HollyJoy]

We drove on our recent trip... 14 hours! The drive was pretty nice. We left Maryland around 6:30 in the evening, and were in Orlando by 10am the next day!

 

[dsneygirl]

We drove in the fall of 03 and will be doing it again in May. But it's the only time we've driven in about 10 trips. Honestly it was a blast! DH and I had so much fun. We weren't in a race, stopped 2 nights on the way down (22 hour drive) and stopped for something to eat whenever we wanted.

I think it would be less enjoyable if you were on a strich time line. And I could never do it straight through. It was so nice to have our own car we brought so much stuff and didn't have to worry about room in our luggage for all our souvenirs. We're excited for our next trip since we now have an SUV and an iPod with iTrip.

 

[ashjohnson80]

Hi, I live in upstate SC and the drive is 7 1/2-8 1/2 hours. We've driven every time because I have a fear of flying but mostly because I can't afford to fly. From where we live the drive is pretty easy. It's all interstate and my DH and I take turns so it's not too bad. I would think if you were going to stay for at least a few days that driving is a pretty good option but if you were only going to stay a couple of days flying would probably be better so you don't waste all of your time on the road. I know when I went year before last it was on March 17th 2003 (the beginning of the Iraq war) and almost everyone I talked to drove. I talked to a group of college students that had come down on their spring break and they had driven 25 hours. I coulnd't have done that I don't think. Well for Disney I'd probably do anything.

 

[jennymouse]

While I much prefer to fly, we're taking my aunt & uncle this trip and my uncle refuses to fly. That's okay, we're stopping for the night in Tifton, GA on the way down and on the way home we're going to stop and spend the night a Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort. But, I'd rather be flying!