Driving vs. Flying

[4tinkerbe]

Not all of us are so lucky to where we can just drive a few miles and be at the entrance of the Magic Kingdom. And for those of you that aren't that lucky, how do you get to the most magical place on earth? Some people like to fly just to get there as quick as possible, and some like to drive and do a little sight-seeing along the way (or maybe you have a fear of flying?).
So here is my question to you -

DRIVING? ~or~ FLYING? and WHY?


Personally, I'd rather fly. If I were to drive, it would be a loooooong 12 hour journey from Louisiana and I can't take being in a car for that long.

 

[Smile&Nod]

Or the third option for those of us in the Mid-Atlantic - Auto Train! Definitely my favorite - flying is such a hassle, prone to weather delays and just not that enjoyable to me. The Auto Train is great - drive to Lorton, VA, give them your car - check in (usually only a few people in line to wait for). Get on the train, leave the station about 4:00 in the afternoon and arrive about 9 the next morning in Sanford. You can get up, move around, have decent food, watch a movie and sleep. If you can afford to get a sleeping compartment it is even better.

You can take the train both ways or just one way. We've been doing round trip lately but used to drive down - the excitement of going made even 15 hours on 95 fun, and then we'd take the train home - gave us something to look forward to as we left Disney.

 

[maxiesmom]

Flying. It is over a 20hr drive from my home to WDW. It is only 2/12 hours by airplane, if I get a non-stop flight. And usually less than 5 hours if I have a stop.

The only time I would even consider driving is if I had 2 weeks vacation. Otherwise too much time is eaten up by driving.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

We have flown twice and driven once-our next trip we will be driving.

I liked the convenience of being able to pack whatever I wanted without worrying about weight limits or lost luggage. And while in WDW we drove to almost all of the parks and it was so much faster than the bus system-especially since we really did a lot of park hopping. It was cheaper for the 4 of us to drive rather than fly, and if we needed to move our dates due to weather we could do that and it was not a problem.

Our drive is about 14+ hours. We stop overnight in GA and thenhead to WDW our 2nd day.

 

[Lumiere Lover]

I'm not fond of flying, but it's the only way to go when going to WDW. You get there quicker, and can stay longer with Mickey before having to fly home again.

I don't think there has ever been a time that I was at Orlando International Airport, flying out, and not crying. I hate leaving Florida.

 

[taylor3297]

Growing up we drove every where! I now hate long car trips. Even though WDW is about 10 hours from my house, I will only fly.

We do drive 12 hours to go to the beach in Alabama instead of the 2 hours to beach closests to our house. I just prefer going to the Gulf instead of the Atlantic. Now if I could figure out how to get all our beach gear to Gulf Shores by flying, I would do it in a heartbeat.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

In the past we would drive down from Toronto during the month of August and fly down during the month of December. However we like driving down a lot better for these reasons. We can pack as much as we want and don't need to worry about the weight of our luggage, so that means we can also purchase a lot more things. We also find driving less stressfull compared to dealing with check-in lines at the Airports, security lines and Customs lines. In fact during our most recent trip to WDW in December 2010 we made the decision to drive down and to not fly during that month. With the exception of a snow storm in London, Ontario and it being really cold in Lexington, Kentucky the rest of the drive was great. So when it comes to WDW we will only drive there and no longer fly to Orlando International Airport.

 

[skelooch]

For a typical 1 week trip, flying is my only logical option.
It would cost me as much in gas and tolls to drive as it does to fly and I'm there at my resort in 5.5 hours from home to check in vs. a minimum 20 hours driving.
For me that's a no brainer.
For my last trip 3 weeks ago, I left my home at 5am and checked in at OKW at 10:30 am.

 

[dis_guy]

From here in western Canada, it's 40+ hours to drive, so flying down is really the only option for our vacations. However, once we're retired I'd love to take several days to drive down and really see the countryside on the way! Of course we'd take a different route on the way back.

 

[danceintherain]

I prefer flying. If we drove, DH would likely want to drive the whole way, which would make both of us cranky.

Granted, at some point our budget might force us to drive. I just realized today that the next time we go, DS will be 2, so we would have to buy him his own seat. Though, I suppose I have no idea where we'll live, so maybe we'll end up being close enough that driving wouldn't be so painful.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We've flown 3 times long ago and have driven too back in the day but have been using regular Amtrak for alot of years and trips.....I won't fly any more and driving (1100 miles one way) has become a hassle and stress I don't need being in our early 60's.......years ago, driving was fun, didn't mind the drive, always drove straight thru and no regrets....

We can't seem to handle that any more....made a drive a bunch of years ago, just the wife and I and when the sun went down and a few hours of dark driving, we decided to stop over and resume the next day....too hectic and boredom sets in....we tried another trip by car this past December...with our daughter, son-in-law and 11 month baby.....cured me of car trips for good....we drove straight thru, more so they drove, and being cramped up and only stretching at gas stops was awful...baby was great the whole way...

We decided to go back to the train....it's long but time is of no importance to us....we still have our 9-12 nights in Disney, train travel doesn't cut into our Disney stay....we like the relaxing motion and freedom the train offers...we sit back, relax, munch our lunch, enjoy music and reading and being together watching the countryside roll along.....we can get up and move around, use the restrooms at anytime and have food options near at hand....we usually do coach the whole trip, sleepers are quite expensive and the roomettes (sleeps only 2) quite small and claustrophic....and coach seat recline for a nights sleep manageable....not for some but it's the option we prefer out of the 3 offered, car, plane, train....and we don't use nor want a car in WDW, never used one yet.......

 

[ssawka]

For a family of three living in an area with cheap airfare (even now we pay less than $200 RT to MCO), flying makes a lot more sense. Besides the fact that our cars are small and not that comfortable for long trips, gas would be about $300. Add to that at least $200 dollars for hotel rooms, and you are talking about $500. I'd much rather pay $600 and be there in 4 hours (2 hrs at the airport plus 2 hrs for the flight) versus 16 hours in the car.

We've thought about taking the autotrain since we live 5 miles from the Lorton station, but not sure DD would handle the long train ride very well and a sleeper car is way too expensive. We might try driving some year if we ever buy DVC at Hilton Head.

 

[SaraJayne]

We fly. Driving isn't an option.

 

[Vickis3js]

We drive and we love it. With a family of 5 the price to fly is crazy. I think the last time I looked it would have been over $1500 before luggage and picking seat fees were included. Last year, thanks to some shopping sites, gas was free and I even earned enough to cover a meal on the road. This year with the price of gas it may cost us some $$$ but I am already at $250 in gas cards and our estimate is $440 and we don't leave until Dec. We are a little over 1000 miles and we stop for one night on the road so no one is tired or worn out when we get to WDW. When we drive we are not taking vacation time away we schedule the trip depending on the DVC points we have and then we schedule the drive. We would still be going the same amount of days if we drove or flew.

 

[CPT Tripss]

When time is not an issue, we drive. That's really my preference - no worries about packing too much, no rental car hassle and expense, most of the time cheaper and no TSA hassles.

Now if the Texas approach pans out, I might think more about flying.

 

[Brian Noble]

I live about 19 hours and change, drive time, from WDW, and I'm way too old/lazy to drive through the night. There are three different airlines that have non-stop flights to MCO, at a variety of times. So, I can spend four days in transit to get there and back, or two half-days. That's a no-brainer. Flights would have to be several times their current costs for me to consider driving, and I'd want to do it for less frequent but longer trips---every other year for two weeks, rather than every year for one.

 

[Shir Kahn]

We fly during spring break trips and drive in the summer. It's a 32 hour drive each way, but we love driving. We always make sure to hit at least one or two Cracker Barrels on the way down! Having your own car at WDW is fantastic! I have no problems with the Disney bus system, but never having to wait for the bus, especially at the end of a very long day, is wonderful! We also like to head off to Checkers every now and then, as we don't have any at home and it's one of our favorite fast food places. We also like to head to a beach on at least one of our days. It's also much cheaper to drive than to fly from here, ticket prices are ridiculous out of Winnipeg. When we do fly, we drive to Grand Forks or Fargo, ND.