Driving from the Northeast???

[MikeyUVM]

Hey all,

My girlfriend and I are planning a trip for January (I'm absolutely dying for these rates to come out so I can begin planning more seriously). Unfortunately the both of us are on student budgets and barring a winning powerball ticket, are going to stay that way for awhile. Thought I'd ask all of you, have any of you ever driven down From the Northeast (I'm up in Burlington, VT). Is it more economical to fly or drive (even with gas prices) about how long does it take? Can you do it in one swift motion? Basically all of the usual questions.

Any input is absolutely appreciated.

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

We drive down every year from Stratford NJ. We are about 20 minutes outside philadelphia. We have tried both ways, driving straight thru and stopping overnight to regroup and re-energize. As you can see, we prefer to stay overnight. We just found it to be too much driving straight thru. We needed to be out of the car doing something else besides looking at road. Driving straight thru took us about 17 hours and we stopped for lunch and dinner.

We are going again February 2008 and also cant wait for the 2008 rates!!

As far as the price goes, gas cost us about 300.00 round trip. Much less than flying. Even when gas prices were almost $3.00 a gallon

 

[vanillarum]

We are from northern Mass. We have never driven to WDW (sorry, I won't do it ), but the people that we camp with every Aug. for the last 10 years did it last year. They drove from the Mass/NH border, and he said it took them just about 19 hours. I think driving nonstop is the only way that it would be less expensive than flying, because if you stop, you need to take into account the price of a hotel. We got airfare out of Boston for 199.00 RT. Good luck !

 

[MikeyUVM]

Thanks a lot for your input. 19 from the MA/NH border doesn't sound too bad, I'm sure it's a completely different story when you're actually doing it!

Vanillarum: what airline did you get 199 from? That's an awesome rate, and I'd be interested in doing a little more research on it.

Oh, if you're wondering, I called Disney today and they are accepting reservations for the 08 season...they just haven't cemented rates yet. As always, you can pretty much cancel at any time if they are too much.

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

Hey there,

We have driven a few times and we did it with small children (the last time we drove was 2005 with a 6yr old and a 2yr old.). We even did it with an infant and 3 yr old. We always stop at the same hotel everytime on the way there and the way back. For us (burbs of Philly), we found a Days Inn just off of 95 (like not even 1 mile off 95). We also always book it online. Last time we got an internet rate like $55/night with a continental breakfast included. I think it is in South Carolina just over the border from North Carolina. On our way back we stay in one that is in North Carolina. For us it cuts our trip right about in half. With kids it works for us. Plus, my husband and I just can't drive more than like 4 hours each at a time. So we would eat or potty break every 4 hours and switch drivers. It would take us about 10-12 hours per day to get to WDW but we got there in one piece and not grumpy. Hope that gives you some Idea about splitting the drive up.

 

[vanillarum]

MIKEYUVM . We got our rate with Jet Blue, but we did book on March 30 for our Aug. trip. Also, remember if you do drive, you may need some down time when you get there to reccuperate !! Good luck !

 

[MikeyUVM]

Thanks so much everyone! Vanillarum: I haven't found that good of prices for jetblue yet. I'll keep on looking, maybe they'll have some holiday sales or something of the sort.

 

[englishteacha]

Hmm...I'd fly. I grew up driving Maine to Florida. We always took 3 days to get there because my dad wouldn't drive for more than 8 hours in a day. My DH and I have gone on road trips but we really don't like driving more than 10-12 hours. It's very tiring (especially when someone is a chauvinist and won't let me drive!). I bet you can find some good airfare. If you're willing to drive to other airports, you might find some real bargains. Sign up for airfare alerts like airfarewatchdog.com, and on Travelocity and Orbitz.

Will you need a rental car if you fly? That could be a tough one if you're not 25 (I assume you're not since you're at UVM ). Most companies charge an extra $25+ a day for "underage" drivers. Last year we were so excited because we were 25 and were able to rent a car cheaply!! If you're doing ME and will rely on WDW transportation, then you shouldn't have a problem. I haven't yet been able to justify the prices of WDW hotels, so we always stay offsite and have saved a lot. But if you have to spend $300+ on a rental car, staying onsite could be a LOT cheaper for you!

Good luck in your planning!

 

[MikeyUVM]

englishteacha

thanks for your words of advice. I'm 23 now (recent graduate from UVM, but still in Burlington). See, I always stay on property; there's a level of convenience that puts this anxious travellers mind at ease (I hate worrying about strict schedules and the resorts allow me some flexibility mainly through transportation). I'm no chauvinist so my gf would get her fair share of the driving, especially on a long trip like that.

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

I just booked our flights about 10 days ago for our 8/23 trip to WDW and we are going southwest air from Philly to Orlando for $475.20 roundtrip for 4 people. We are also using ME. Those flights are non-stop to and from. Thought that might help to look at other options. We are staying at Pop.

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

I just booked our flights about 10 days ago for our 8/23 trip to WDW and we are going southwest air from Philly to Orlando for $475.20 roundtrip for 4 people. We are also using ME. Those flights are non-stop to and from. Thought that might help to look at other options. We are staying at Pop.

$475.20 round trip?? WOW!!!! How did you get such a good rate. I thought the cheapest we could get for 4 people round trip - nonstop would be about 820.00

 

[Flyerfan]

We live in Eastern PA , 5 minutes from I-81. We drove twice and flew once. In January we're probably driving again. Something about germs on airplanes in middle of winter that freaks me out. However, we take the 81-77-26-95 route. It's rather nice. We stop over one night down, one night back. We figured with parking at Phila airport and the airfare, it would be slightly more than what it would take to drive, even considering our stops. It's really not a bad drive.

 

[goofybob]

I have driven and flown in the past.... in the past year I have driven with DW, DD (10) and DS(4). There are always adventures and mishaps.... its part of being a family and doing big travel. In this most recent trip my DS came down with a throat/stomach virus in the first 15 minutes of the trip!.... Luckily he slept most of the way. I recommend stopping overnight... we are on Staten Island, NY... so we go as far as Santee S.C. and at times northern Georgia. The overnight planned stopped helped us reorganize as a family and reenergize my DS. In any case, we always try to make the second leg of the trip shorter than the first.

This year we are flying due to getting very lucky with Airfare rates.. so its cheaper for us to fly than to drive (even with renting a car for 11 days)... When considering cost, please remember to include lodging, meals and a certain % for "just in case $$". This year of course Gas prices have much to do with cost.

 

[WildGrits]

We have done both out of Albany, NY. I really don't see a difference in price either way. BUT...... When we have driven, I usually spend my last day or two distracted by the thought of the drive home.

I would check flights out of your bigger cities. We got 157pp for our up coming trip in September. That's SW. But then again you have to remember you will be spending roughly ten dollars a day on parking your car at the airport.

I don't know anyone, except a fried who is a truck driver, who has driven straight through. And it is a boring ride. Especially with less Pedro's signs now.

 

[shellbelle11]

Hi!
I'm from MA, just south of Boston.
My fiance and I went down in February, we looked at flights but ended up driving down. We didn't decide to take the trip until right after New Year's, so because it was so close to the time, and because it's February vacation up here the prices to fly down- even on JetBlue- were $700+ (in the summer we can get flights MUCH MUCH cheaper than that). I'm a teacher, so that's my vacation too, so we didn't have any flexibility with the week we were going, so we decided to drive.

We took his Expedition, which was great, very roomy, able to fit in lots of stuff, we bought water and other things up here, instead of down there. We packed a cooler filled with things for the ride. We left at 8pm Thursday night and drove straight through, stopping only to use restrooms and pick up food. We stopped every couple of hrs at rest areas, but never for that long, long enough to use the facilities and stretch our legs. We got to the Boardwalk by 5:30pm Friday night. That was including sitting in about 90 minutes of heavy traffic. So it took us somewhere around 20-21 hrs.

Going home was tougher, I was useless driving most of the time going home, I could not stay awake for the life of me! We left about 3:30pm and ended up having to pull over at night a few times for a couple of hr to sleep and then hit some snowy weather from VA-Baltimore. We didn't get home until 6:30pm the next day.

We both said that we would do it again, but when we have more time to drive down. Next time we drive down we would spread each drive out, stop somewhere for the night, probably around Virginia.

 

[Flyerfan]

so we go as far as Santee S.C. and at times northern Georgia. The overnight planned stopped helped us reorganize as a family and reenergize my DS. In any case, we always try to make the second leg of the trip shorter than the first.

Where in Santee did you stay? We usually stay at Hamptons and saw one in that area we would probably stay at. Is it a nice area?

 

[eliza61]

We drive down every year from Stratford NJ. We are about 20 minutes outside philadelphia. We have tried both ways, driving straight thru and stopping overnight to regroup and re-energize. As you can see, we prefer to stay overnight. We just found it to be too much driving straight thru. We needed to be out of the car doing something else besides looking at road. Driving straight thru took us about 17 hours and we stopped for lunch and dinner.

We are going again February 2008 and also cant wait for the 2008 rates!!

As far as the price goes, gas cost us about 300.00 round trip. Much less than flying. Even when gas prices were almost $3.00 a gallon

Hey neighbor,
We're in blackwood, NJ (blackwood/clementon rd).
OP, We too stop overnight. We do try to make it to the Georgia/Florida state line. The exit for Brunswick has quite a number of motels right off of I-95.

 

[tarabl]

Where in Santee did you stay? We usually stay at Hamptons and saw one in that area we would probably stay at. Is it a nice area?

We stayed at a County Inn and Suites in Santee. I know there was a restaurant or two right in the area, I think one being Cracker Barrel right in the same parking lot. It seemed like a decent area. This was about two years ago.

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

Hey neighbor,
We're in blackwood, NJ (blackwood/clementon rd).
OP, We too stop overnight. We do try to make it to the Georgia/Florida state line. The exit for Brunswick has quite a number of motels right off of I-95.

Well Hello Neighbor!!!

We are just off the white horse pike in Stratford.

 

[stitch1094]

19 hrs from upstate MA?! Were they driving MACH 3?

I have driven a few times from Hartford CT area and it takes us approx 20 to 23 hours, depending on traffic and number of stops.

Going down is definitely better than coming home, but either way, spending that much time in a car really stinks (especially when you discover that one of the kids gets car sick ). The times we have driven, it took us at least a whole day to recover.

If you can afford airfare do it. Don't forget to check multiple airports (Providence, Boston, Hartford, Manchester)