driving vs. flying suggestions?

[MickeyMommy2]

We are booked at the Pop Century Resort for Spring Break (4/5-4/10 2004). Right now we are trying to decide whether to drive or fly. We have flown down twice before, but since we are a little late in making our reservations, we are thinking we might like to save the money and drive. However, we have heard the horror stories about driving back to Indiana after break. Does anyone have any suggestions for us? We do have a van with a DVD player. Our kids are two boys, 13 and 10 years old. It's a personal decision, I know, but we are just looking for suggestions.
Thanks in advance!
Indecisive in Indiana

 

[Nebsky]

MickeyMomma2,

Hi....
Just saw your message and thought I would reply...
We usually fly ( I work for an AAirline) but this time we are driving due to the heavy loads due to Spring Break. We will be driving from Dallas and while Im not looking towards 18+ hours in a car, I dont think its going to be too bad. We have a 5 yr old Disney Fanatic and bought a DVD player for our SUV and have all sorts of games/ideas planned for the drive. The only thing that makes me cringe is my butt getting tired.
I think with the age of your kids, they wont mind at all. Does your DVD player/system have two screens. If so, think about taking a Playstation or Ninetendo with you. One could watch a movie while the other plays games.

There are some great posts about driving tips, games to play while on the way down. Popeye (Blinky/Padiddle) is the game where you either hit or keep track of points on who has seen the most 1 headlight working cars. Alphabet game, everyone knows that one. License plate poker...

Im actually kind of excited about driving as all my life I have flown to wherever I want. This time, part of the trip will be a new adventure to me.

BTW, we will be staying a Pop Century Mar 14-19.
Friend just got back and said she loved it. She usually stays with the DVC but they wanted to see PC. Said it was great and that she will stay there again..

Jeff

 

[PoohNPiglet]

MickeyMommy2,

I have flown down 3 times and driven once. (All from Cleveland) We took the drive in two days to help break things up. It was not too bad the worst part of us that we tried to save wear and tear on our vehicle and we rented a car (I got a good deal at the time -- $130 for the week for a full size car!) However, the car was uncomforatble and had bad brakes. By the time it was all said and done we had 3 different cars! We plan to drive again this year with our new DD and our own vehicle! My DH would like to do it all in one day but I don't know how DD is going to take that. I would say go for it. I am not sure how spring break will effect it, but I remember my college days -- sleeping in was top priority. So maybe if you leave early you can beat the rush home.

 

[monarchsfan16]

We drove 3 times from NH to Florida, and obviously back. The first time I was 3. The other 2 times I was 7 and 8 and my sister was 3 and 4. Both of us actually enjoyed it. Getting to see parts of the country besides where we lived was pretty exciting, even when we were so young. And at that point there weren't too many tv's or dvd players in cars either. Both of us were armed with walkmen, books, and travel games. We spent 6 days coming across the country this summer, and the DVD player in our dad's truck was great. Make sure they have lots of DVD's, snacks, and other games. It's always fun to play the license plate game: see who can spot the most out-of-state plates on the trip. Driving can be fun. And nothing beats the site of the Welcome to Florida signs and finally the Disney World signs. That was always the most exciting part of the trip and made spending 2 straight days in the car well worth it.

 

[powellrj]

Originally posted by MickeyMommy2
We are booked at the Pop Century Resort for Spring Break (4/5-4/10 2004). Right now we are trying to decide whether to drive or fly. We have flown down twice before, but since we are a little late in making our reservations, we are thinking we might like to save the money and drive. However, we have heard the horror stories about driving back to Indiana after break. Does anyone have any suggestions for us? We do have a van with a DVD player. Our kids are two boys, 13 and 10 years old. It's a personal decision, I know, but we are just looking for suggestions.
Thanks in advance!
Indecisive in Indiana

Have you tried ATA and Delta for flights? Thats who we always use to fly out of IND. They are usually about the cheapest and usually non stop. We have done the trip driving and flying and I am not sure I would ever want to drive it again. I too heard horror stories about how bad the drive was from FLA last spring.

 

[MickeyMommy2]

Thanks for all of your replies and helpful suggestions! We have decided to fly, as we found a flight out of our town instead of going to Indy.
Thanks again!
MickeyMommy2