Driving from Maine - just a tiny vent

[JoeCathyAngelina]

Joe Cathy Angelina:

When did you rest? When you arrived? I think that we could do the drive straight through, but when we get there the kids will be ready to go, we will be just exhausted. I won't drive for one reason and one reason only. That is such a long ride for only a week vacation, I would need to be there for at least two weeks if I drove.

If you drive down from New Engalnd get an EZE PASS/FAST PASS/EASY PASS for the tolls. It's a time saver and you don't have to worry about change.
My wife and I alternated driving when we stopped for gas. We started looking for a gas stop when we were down to about a quarter tank of gas. That gave us about an 80 mile cushion to look for gas.
Sometimes, We slept for a couple of hours, rested with our eyes closed, played with my daughter and yes we talked, while the other drove to the next gas stop.

I saved my gas receipts at the stops and wrote down the odometer miles on the receipts every time we stopped for gas. The place, time, gallons and miles were on the receipts. When I got home I put together the Schedule so I'd know what to expect if/when we drive down again.

The ride wasn't as bad as I thought it would be; when we got to WDW Old Key West, Saturday at noon; we parked the car at the reservation parking area, walked around Old Key West a little and took the ferry to Downtown Disney. We spent the afternoon there walking around and checking things out. We took the ferry back to Old Key West, checked into our room rested a couple of hours and went out to dinner. The rest of the week was business as usual at WDW. No Big Deal.

Last Year April 1-8, 2005, we got a good deal on American Airlines, Non-Stop round trip from Boston to Orlando; $504 total for the 3 of us. My wife bit the bullet and decided to try flying. No Problem.
This year March 31-April 7, 2006, we got a good deal on Song/Delta back in August, Non-Stop round trip from Boston to Orlando; $496 total for the 3 of us. Let's hope for an easy Flight.
Next year April 14-22, 2007, if all goes well, the creak don't rise, there ain't no melt down and we can get an Airfare rate of $500 or less for the 3 of us we'll fly, otherwise we'll drive.
Good Luck All,
Joe

 

[The_Admiral]

Im very surprised by the number of folks who willingly drive. If you have done both and like dirving, great, enjoy. If you have an RV, I get that too. If you are afraid to fly, I understand, but I got over it and I did so by flying more.

But honestly, anyone driving because: its cheaper, less hassle, driving isn't so bad, etc. Give me a break. I urge you to get on a plane.

We fly with 1 and 3 yo kids and the only hard part is lugging the excessive stuff from the car to the check in line. I'll describe the typical trip for us. Leave house at 830 for 11am flight. Get off plane at 12:45-1pm. Done, on vacation.

 

[bscs]

The plane ride is what my dh likes the most out of the entire vacation. I like flying but not as much as being at WDW. I hate being in a car. I feel very unsafe but in the air I'm fine. Funny huh?

 

[cranbiz]

Just because you drive, you are not crazy, etc.

I do both from the Cape Cod area. While flying is certainly more convenient, there are downsides to flying. If the entire family is going, driving can be much cheaper.

To fly, means getting to the airport 2 hours before your flight, either paying for a car service or finding ( and paying for) parking at the airport. If you are not close to an airport, you may need to factor in travel time just to get to and from the airport. A 3 hour flight can turn into a 12 hour marathon if you are flying out of Boston coming from a place like Washington County. If you opt for stay, park and fly, you just added the hotel expence and another day to flying. Figuring out how much can fit into your luggage as to not exceed the chosen airlines weight limit. If you want / need a car in Florida, then add the rental on that.

Driving can give you more flexability in coming and going, you will always have transportation available for off site trips. A larger family can take more stuff with them and not worry about extra charges. Driving will almost always take longer (although I had one time it took me from leaving the house to arriving at my FL house over 20 hours, I CAN and have driven there in less time).

Depending on where you are in Maine, it should take you no more than 30 hours. From Cape Cod, it will usually take me between 18 and 22 hours on average. If you have more than 1 driver, you can easily drive straight thru. You can enjoy the parks after the long drive if you are able to rest while driving. I recommend leaving so that most of your driving is at night. (this is MY opinion, others have a different one and both opinions are not wrong, it's personal preference)

In December, DS and I left MA at 4am (because he was sick the night before) and arrived in Deltona at midnight. Got up at 5am to ransom his truck out of Orlando, drove back to the house, slept for 4 hours and then went to EPCOT for NYE. While we were getting pretty tired by midnight, we were still OK and had a great time.

That trip , was pretty extreme and I don't normally do things quite like that. I do normally leave between 4 and 6pm and arrive around Noon.

Now, this does not mean that I don't like to fly, I do and fly when it works out for me timewise, budget wise and space wise. When it does not work, I drive.

 

[GrumpyC.Hook]

My mom and I drove in 2004 we took my ford focus packed it to the limit and started at 2am from CT, we stopped in Florence SC and we were beat and then the next morning left at 1 am and drove into florida arrived WDW around Noon.

We won't drive again until September but thats because we are moving to orlando. If at all possible try and reason with him and fly.

If he is adamant about driving maybe compromise and drive to VA and then take the Autotrain into Orlando. That way you only have to drive halfway!

Good Luck!

 

[disneyfan219]

Okay, you can call me sick.. but I actually look forward to our drive from MD to WDW. It's only 900 miles though, and that's probably my max. straight-through distance since my DW doesn't do any of the driving. Our DDs (9, 8 and 5) don't seem to have to much trouble with it either, so long as we keep the DVDs rolling. They know what's at the end of the drive.

Now if I can only figure out why my DW is so tired when we get there.. : Personally, I'm ready to go to the parks until they kick me out.

Anyway, good luck!

 

[pepe of ohio]

You can say what you like but I won't fly either. Since 1977, we've driven many times to WDW, 1150 miles, taken the Auto Train once, a few earlier Amtraks, flown 3 times, driven some more times and are now back to Amtrak for the last 5 years. We love Amtrak, I do, wife really doesn't care as long as we get there. I know flying is safe, quick and all that hoopla but I won't do it and there are tons of others like me. Driving just got to be a hassle, with or without kids, too much traffic and too many a....hole drivers and trucks, just wasn't the pleasant experience it was years ago. Amtrak solved our problem. Cost wise and time wise, Amtrak is about the same and sometimes even cheaper. We arrive, relaxed and pleasant and ready for our vacation and seen alot of America most people blow over at 35000 feet. Its our way, no gripes, train is not as bad as I've read on these boards and we've use it over 10 trips, no accidents, have been late, on time, shut down by hurricane Wilma but got there and back in one piece and happy. Enjoy the drive, your time together and have the best time in WDW, it's priceless !

 

[RebeccaB]

Well, he's still on the fence, but I really think he's leaning more towards flying. I've never flown before, but the idea of getting on a plane in Boston and three hours later landing at either Orlando or Tampa (whichever is cheaper), really appeals to me more than worrying about my 5yo driving us both nuts en route. I know my dd, and she will LOVE flying (she's a definite no fear type of kid). I think I might've won the war this morning when we had this conversation:
him "I'd rather not die falling from the sky in an airplane" (because that happens oh so much )
me "uh huh...and nobody ever has vehicle accidents"
him "well at least when I'm driving I can drive off the road to avoid being hit by some idiot"
me "Yep, and that worked well for ya a month ago when that idiot kid blew through a yield sign and totalled your truck" (yep, I knew I had him)
Him: silence.
His problem is that he's not in control when flying. He has to be the one to drive wherever we go, because he's in control.
Either way, we're renting a vehicle, so there's no arguing that we're spending money for that.
I hope he finally relents, because that'll mean us going two weeks earlier.

thank you all for all your input!

Rebecca

PS. Cranbiz, you really do live in the boonies, lol. Can I assume you are in the cranberry growing biz in Washington County?

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

Rebecca:

If your DH is considering flying. Check out two other airports. Pease in Portsmouth, NH is much closer to you so, check out Allegiant Air. Also another airport to consider is Manchester NH, Southwest has very attractive prices. Boston can be a hassle, but Jet Blue has some nice deals. I think for a little more money, you could fly. I know everyone has their own opinion, but I would much rather be there in 3 hours versus 24. To me, it is worth the extra money. Good Luck on your decision.

 

[RebeccaB]

our2girls, thank you! I just checked manchester and SW was just about 200 less for the same date. I think we're getting close to making the final decision. (well, I am, and he's just going to have to live with it. lol).

 

[cranbiz]

Rebecca,

I actually have a small computer business in Carver, MA called Cranberry Business Systems. That's where my screen name comes from. My inlaws live in Addison so that's how I know of Washington County and how long it takes to get there.

Allegiant from Portsmouth would be nice for you and Sanford is a nice airport but it is an hour or so from Disney and you would either need to use Allegiant's contracted transfer service or rent a car.

I personally have to have wheels when I'm in Florida, even if I'm only staying onsite.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[digskat]

from home to resort is 21 hours drive, and we have done it twice since November 2004, with DD (now 8) and DS (6). For us, the cheapest flights are out of Detroit, at $1000 for the 4 of us round trip. Add $125 for a hotel, $50 for gas, parking, etc. and flying is a $1200 option. Driving was $550, including hotels both ways, gas, and tolls. I do 99% of the driving, since DW doesn't feel comfortable driving the I75 and actually enjoy the drive.
First trip, we left at 8PM, and drove through until 6PM the following night. The kids slept about 5 hours of the trip, and everyone was exhausted. We left 7Am the next morning, and made it to Disney by noon, with breaks. Excitement allowed us to recharge quickly. Second trip, we left at 4AM, and drove through until 6PM, stopped in Dalton, Georgia for supper, a swim, and a good night sleep. Back on the road at 7AM, we were at the resort shortly after lunch, and needed no recovery time. The kids had 7 hours sleep the night before, and everyone had a full night on the way. A DVD player, and a decent plan, and the drive isn't bad. We are driving this November as well

 

[RayJay]

I agree that when you factor in the price to drive to the airport, pay for parking for a week or two, airfare, and rental car you are almost even with driving.

Ummm

For us
Airfare - $1200
Rental - $300
Parking - $150
Total - $1650

I estimate $600 this Easter to drive vs $1650 flying.

We actaully do both, this time we are driving (3rd time out of 7 trips)

RayJay

 

[Our2Girls&Disney]

RayJay:

How many people in your party that it costs $1200 to fly? If it costs me that much, I would drive too. In my case for 4 people this year:

Flight - (Southwest MHT to MCO non-stop) $541
Car - (Alamo $15 off and using WalMart discount code) $106
Parking at MHT (8 days @ $8/day) $64

That is $711. So in my case if it were a matter of $600 to drive and $711 to fly, I would fly for sure!

 

[digskat]

best deal we could find, was $250 per person plus taxes for round trip, direct flight. There are 4 of us.
Gas costs;
$225 Nov 2004
$300 Oct 2005

Another benefit was having our own vehicle to purchase and transport christmas gifts

 

[The_Admiral]

Ummm

For us
Airfare - $1200
Rental - $300
Parking - $150
Total - $1650

I estimate $600 this Easter to drive vs $1650 flying.

We actaully do both, this time we are driving (3rd time out of 7 trips)

RayJay

That is some expensive plane tix, my last two trips cost $375 and $500 for 3 RT tickets. And the most important thing to me is what my time is worth...and its worth a lot on vacation.

 

[disneydebi]

My Dad lives in Carver!
We've done the drive from SE Mass - Not sure how you got to WDW in 18 hours - our first leg of our trip took us 17 hours due to traffic, just to get to Lumberton NC! MY DH won't fly either (we've flown 2x to WDW but he finally put his foot down - doesn't like having the kids on a plane for some reason). I refuse to drive - we've done enough driving vacations lately, but WDW is just too far for me. We're trying the train this time - hoping I won't regret it. I almost split the family up (me and DD flying - DH and DS driving), but that made me too nervous to be separated.

 

[RebeccaB]

well, it's official! We're flying out of manchester on southwest. $400 for the three of us round trip. Now, here's hoping nothing happens, because I'm going to have to listen to him for the rest of eternity telling me "I told you so"....hahahaa....

 

[mainewmn]

You will be so glad you made the choice to fly and you DH will convert just like mine did.

 

[cranbiz]

Disneydebi;

18 hours is mostly driving at night with 3 drivers, minimal stops, luck and a kinda lead foot. That has been my best. 19-21 hours is more the norm.

If I leave MA at about 4pm, I usually can get right thru NYC with no slowdowns and I miss the Baltimore/DC/VA traffic. I have a GPS unit that has given me some faster routes than I used to use, like 895 thru Baltimore, 495 around DC etc.

I'm also not usually going to Disney first. I'm usually going to Deltona, which is about 45 minutes to an hour from Disney so most people here need to add an hour to my times.

I have considered the AutoTrain but by the time you pay for your fare and the truck's fare with the time it takes, I just keep on driving. (and you still have to get to Lorton!)

Rebecca;

I'm glad that you got great fares, even if you rent a car there, you are not going to do better (pricewise) driving.

Have Fun!!!