Driving for the first time????

[HayGan]

We have made the drive a number of times from the South Hills of Pittsburgh. We always drive straight thru to Orlando. It is only on the ride home when we stay somewhere to break up the trip. In previous trips we would leave in the afternoon/evening and then get into Orlando mid-day. This past trip, we decided to leave about 7 in the morning. I (yes - I) drove the whole way and we got into Orlando at about midnight. Honestly, I prefer driving this way as opposed to more night driving.

To calculate your gas, use the AA trip calculator http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/ to get a better indicator of what your gas costs will be.

Since Southwest squeezed US Airways out of the Pittsburgh - Orlando route and then bumped up their fares, it really is more affordable for us to drive. Plus we have the luxury of taking along what we want to take and having our vehicle with us during our entire trip. Not only does that save money on the transportation aspect of the trip, it also is a big help in our food budget while we are there. We use are car to get to groceries as well as to go to some great restaurants offsite! Use restaurants.com to get some vouchers for some really good eats in Orlando at fantastic prices (remeber to always use a discount code for restaurant.com to get 70% or more off the vouchers!) During our two week trip this year, we spent less than $800 to feed 7 people (and that includes 1 dinner at Boma!)

Have fun! We do enjoy the drive but I agree that the drive thru West Virginia is sooooo boring!!!

 

[HayGan]

Thank you all for the info! I am looking at driving becasue there will be 4 of us going, myself, my 2 boys 17 and 9, and a friend. Just for the boys and I it was going to be $800 for tickets at least at this point.... yuck! I am trying to keep my options open and know it will be time wise a far cry from the 2 hour and 15 minute plane ride from Pittsburgh to Orlando. I am looking for any savings we can have
We can make a stop in Atlanta if we can make it that far the first day becasuemy sister lives there and will be joinging us on the trip so we are looking at just meeting there.

Atlanta is a good distance out of your way! It will add quite a bit to both your time and costs. If your sister isn't driving down with you (meaning in the same vehicle), I would really recommend meeting in Orlando.

 

[maxiesmom]

I disagree with this. We come from halfway up the state of Wisconsin and it only takes us about a day and a half of driving. My husband only gets a certain amount of vacation as well but with the weekends in there, we make it with ease.

How can you disagree with someone else's experience? Maybe you stop less frequently then we do. Maybe you drive faster. Who knows? I have made the drive many times from Michigan to Florida. For us, it takes almost 4 days of being on the road to make it there and back.

Maybe for you that amount of driving is easy to do, and you don't mind being stuck in the car for hours on end. I don't like it, and will only drive that far with frequent stops.