Driving vs. Flying from NC

[ArmyWife3-4]

When DH and I go in August 08, we will be meeting up with the rest of our relatives from Michigan. Every other trip I have taken to the World, I was living in Michigan and we flew.
I have been looking at flights out of Raleigh, and many of them route us up north (from RDU to Detroit, Chicago or Indy) and then back to MCO. Total trip time would be around 6 hours, and I think the drive would be 8 hours. If you include airport arrival time, it seems the length of time would be early equal.

Any other North Carolinians have any advice??? DH loves to drive, but I love to fly.

 

[dodgeman]

Easy answer to your question is Southwest out of Raleigh. Wouldn't consider driving with southwest's direct flights to Orlando.

 

[A&CsMom]

I'm obviously not from NC, but we have a similar situation where DH does not like to fly. We agreed we would drive unless we were able to get nonstop flights from the closest airport at a certain price.

However, this is a budget related decision, if the cost of flying doesn't bother you, I say fly!

 

[Melissa_E]

My personal line is usually 10 hours. If I can drive it under 10 hours, I'll drive, if it takes more than 10 hours, I'll fly.

Since many of the flights you are looking at take the same amount of time as flying, I'd just drive and not have to pay airfare and worry about making your connections, security, etc... But that is me. Of course, that goes out the window if there happens to be a cheap direct flight.

 

[Cookie5nupe]

I flew from raleigh last year.....using southwest. The flight was only about 2 hrs if that. Their rates prob are not out yet......so I'd say wait on them.

~cookie

 

[NCRedding]

We fly out of RDU almost every trip. SW has 3-5 non-stops each day both ways, starting from early morning to evening. Usually the cost is around $188, although sometimes, you might be lucky enough to get a ding, or reduced rate. Our January trip is about $140 per person.

Delta also has non-stops 3 times a day. These are on delta connection flights, so they are the CRJs or Embraers; smaller jets for about 40-50 passengers. The price for delta is usually around $225 per flight, although lately they've been running a bit higher than that. I flew last year on Delta from RDU for $115.

In air time for both flights is about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Gate to gate is less than 2 hours. Most of the time, you can arrive at RDU about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes in advance and still have ample time to make your flight; The security area for SW is almost all SW flights, not many others. Its a fairly easy airport to navigate.

We also have the option of flying out of Greensboro which has just recently gotten Skybus and Allegiant which offer cheap flights to Florida.

We've driven once to WDW, but we much prefer to fly.

 

[DISNEYmooner2008]

I live in SC about 30 minutes from the NC state line. DF and I will be flying out of Charlotte in just a few days. We have never been to WDW, so I can't comment on Flying VS Driving. We are flying US Air down and Delta back. Round trip our flight was $224 per person. Our flight down is non-stop but we have a layover in Atlanta on the way home. We booked air MONTHS ago and I should have waited and looked elsewhere for a better deal because now they are EVERYWHERE!!!

 

[evenpar4me]

there is nowhere in North Carolina that you can possibly drive to WDW in 6 hours,double that

 

[dodgeman]

there is nowhere in North Carolina that you can possibly drive to WDW in 6 hours,double that

She said total flight time would be 6 hours. Driving around 8 hours which is correct from Raleigh

 

[DVC Grammy]

Another "Tarheel" here...............
Both SW and Delta have NS flights from RDU-MCO. The flights are short (one and a half hours) and the fares are reasonable, especially if you get SW "Dings".

IMHO, it's just not worth driving, both in wear-and-tear and in expense.

 

[Robert P]

You have a good problem, in that you have two choices.

I'd hold on awhile, and keep a keen watch on SouthWest prices and other specials from RDU. If you can snag a rate you like, book it. If not, the drive isn't bad at all.

I would agree that Raleigh is around an 8 hour drive, with no bad traffic areas until you hit the Jacksonville zone. With good timing, even that can be a breeze.

 

[boBQuincy]

Raleigh to WDW is about 616 miles. At 8 hours that's an average of 77 mph! That will not be easy to maintain, including stops.

 

[ccw]

From Raleigh, we have flown to MCO and rented a car, flown to MCO and used Magical Express, and driven to MCO---straight thru a couple of times and over two days other times. I would not fly unless I had a direct flight and, as others have mentioned, those are plentiful and fairly cheap from RDU. If you have more than a couple of travelers, driving might be more economical, especially if you are staying onsite and do not need the expense of renting a car. If you drive and want to break up the trip, we like driving to the ST. Augustine FL area before stopping for the night (about 7 hours from Raleigh, taking it easy). We are then past all the Jacksonville morning traffic (and usually miss the evening rush because we are getting to Jville around 7 or 8 at night) and are just two hours from WDW so can get up and out by 8 and be in the parks well before lunchtime. There is a nice Comfort Suites near the World Golf area...easy access back to the interstate, spacious rooms, decent free breakfast.

Hard to beat those 1 1/2 hour flights but driving is not so bad either. Keep in mind that, if you use Magical Express for your return to Raleigh, you might be picked up 2 1/2 hours or more from your flight time so add that to your calculations of travel time. Have fun.

 

[blessedby3]

We flew SWA out of Raleigh in 2005 (we had to drive 3 1/2 hours to get to RDU), but got a GREAT ding of $28 each way
I havent seen dings like that in a while, but I would definately go the SWA route if I lived there. I wish we could fly them more often, but with having to drive 3 1/2 hours to get there we just go ahead and fly Allegiant out of our home airport now. I LOVED SWA, though and its a very short direct flight. Keep your eyes posted for a great rate through them.

 

[Slakk]

Raleigh to WDW is about 616 miles. At 8 hours that's an average of 77 mph! That will not be easy to maintain, including stops.

I am in Charlotte and with stops we do 8.5 hours. When you add 2 hours before the flight then 2 hours of fight then 2 hours to the resort so unless we get a GREAT flight we drive...that way we have a car as well.

 

[ashef]

I'm on Topsail Island & go to Orlando every couple of months. We've driven, flown USAIR (from Wilmington via Charlotte) and flown Allegiant Air out of Kinston, and much prefer flying Allegiant Air. We found driving to be exhausting and very expensive given the current price of gasoline. We prefer Allegiant Air because it is non-stop and super cheap. Allegiant doesn't fly into MCO, the Orlando Airport, it flies into Sanford Airport, which is about 20 miles outside Orlando, so you can't use ME. Also, it only flies on Mondays and Fridays. But current advance prices from Kinston to Sanford are $19 --with taxes about $38. And it is free to park at the Kinston Airport. We rent a car at the Sanford Airport to get back and forth to the airport.

 

[BigTigger]

We have one daughter at college in central NC (Elon) and another who just graduated from college near Orlando (Deland). Over the last four years I've done driving and flying between many of those points and DisneyWorld as we gathered at Disney for family breaks and dropped and picked them up from school (with side trips to Disney thrown in). Flying is definitely quicker amd cheaper if you aren't renting a car and staying onsite. If you add a minivan rental for a larger group plus airfares for a larger group, the economics sway to driving. If you have very young children, driving is always more flexible than flying, although RDU seldom seems to have delays to MCO or TPA. SWA has frequent Dings starting about 2.5 months ahead of departure time and I've never paid more than $89 each way for RDU to MCO and return. TPA Dings were even cheaper. If you drive and don't want to do the 10 hours in one day, consider doing 4 hours or so the first night and staying in lower SC or northern GA along I-95. There are tons of traveler hotels right off the interstate and you can get a nice room for under $50 with some shopping on AAA or similar or using the coupon books you can get at any rest area. This leaves about six hours to WDW the next day which means you can checkin and head to the parks. One other option is to fly down and rent a car with a different return airport option and then drive home and drop the car at RDU. I often fly to Orlando and rent the car and return it at RDU after dropping both girls back to college on the way. There is seldom a premium for the different dropoff location and I can get a minivan or midsize ute like the Chevy Equinox to drive on vacation. Best of luck!!

 

[Ham Ham]

I if lived as close to WDW as you folks... I'd have an annual pass.

WDW by car for us is 24 hours of driving time.

 

[torinsmom]

Well, the OP lives in Fayetteville, which means about an hour to RDU(I think). That adds an hour to travel time each way. From Fayetteville-8 hours driving is a good estimate if you don't get stuck in traffic. I'd say 9 hours to account for traffic and a few stops along the way. You're probably talking 6 hours at least for flying to account for getting to the airport early, collecting bags, etc.

I live in Hillsborough, and it takes us 9-9 1/2 hours to drive. I don't care for flying and I like to have my car. And really, highway miles do not put that much wear and tear on a car, IMHO. When you drive, you can bring more stuff, choose where and what you eat, etc.

I'd say if you can drive, go for it. Last time we went, we left at 3pm,missed all the traffic and got to WDW at midnight. You don't want to get caught in Jacksonville or Orlando during rush hours!

Marsha

 

[Uncleromulus]

From NC I'd certainly drive!!! Weather in August won't be a problem AND you'll have a car when you are at WDW!!! Plus you can pack more and take along exactly what you want w/o fear of TSA ripping open the luggage just to see what's inside (as they did to us a few trips ago).