Fly or drive and stay longer?

[3girlsfun]

I would not drive that far. Yuck! We flew our last trip, and we live about 8-9 hours away. We are going on a cruise in June, still trying to figure out a way to fly down instead of drive. Anyway, for me, I just don't like being in the car that long. The trip down, it is fine, then on the way home, OMG, torture! But, look at the age of my children, that definitely factors in.

 

[adventure_woman]

We are driving down from MI to FL in 1 1/2 wks. It's about 19 hrs for us. We chose to drive for 1. save money and 2. avoid the hassle of the airport. The flight is only 2 1/2 hrs, but then you drive to airport 2 1/2 hrs, arrive 2 hrs early, wait/shuttle to get to wdw...about 1 hr travel time = at least 8 hr travel time for us.

Also...I don't have to weigh my luggage!

 

[pixiedustmomma]

We will be driving down when we go in November. Unless I can find a really good price on airfair and they don't charge and arm and leg for luggage.

But I am from Ohio and then moved to Florida for a couple years and I made the drive many times alone. I have never done it with Children. The drive has never been bad alone. I have stopped and stayed over night half way through and I have done it straight through. It really isn't that bad and it is around a 16 hour drive.

This time with the kids we are going to leave after dinner and drive through the night. My husband is awesome at sleeping through the day so he will sleep all day while I get everything ready to go. Then we will leave around 5pm and drive straight through. My friend suggested doing it this way because they never fly. She said the kids sleep through the night and you don't have to worry about making stops for them to get out and run around to burn off energy. Of course on the way home we will be driving through the day so we will have to make stops for the kids to get out and run around for a little bit.

If you do plan to drive with little ones make sure you take time to stop and eat somewhere they can stretch and run around. They will have a ton of energy that they will need to burn off. Remember to have things for them to do on the road trip. Coloring, dvd, music, games, books etc. Have snacks for them too and maybe give little gifts to them every couple hours that has something to do with Disney. You can find different things at the dollar store.

Airports and Airlines are crazy these days. That is one of the reasons we want to drive. I love flying but the extra cost and scanning they are doing now is over the top. It just isn't worth it anymore. So unless we have to go across country or out of the state we plan on always driving.

Whatever you decided to do Safe Travels.

 

[disneyofcourse]

That's why I ended up doing after realizing that extra money could pay for food and an extra day and even a hotel room on the way back if I needed it. Plane travel is costly.

 

[ninecrayons]

I've driven the trip several times now and don't mind it at all. I usually go with my best friend and we switch out driving. We do the trip from NY in a straight shot, stopping only for essentials.

I'm definitely one of those people who enjoys the roadtrip experience though, so that counts for a lot.

I'm facing this same quandary for my February trip. RT airfare costs $400 or more. Driving just seems like a better option, however this time my BF will be in Florida as she's doing the DCP. I'm a little afraid of doing a solo driving trip. However, still even with figuring that I'll likely have to stay in a hotel one night during the roadtrip, it's a lot cheaper!

 

[karemore]

It depends on the people going. WHen DD was 2 and then 3 we flew. She would have been a nightmare in the car that long. This past spring we drove. We were able to spend an extra week at the beach, and stop in Savannah on the way home.

It was awesome. We all got along great and enjoyed the trip. So much that we are going again this spring. Everyone agreed without hesitation. This year we scored a free week in a relative's time share while we're down there. We could never take advantage of that if we flew.

BUT, if you have anyone who is going to whine, fight, complain for most of the trip you should fly. If you have someone who will need to stop to use the bathroom every half hour, fly.

If you have someone who gets carsick, fly.

I was scared starting out last year, but it turned out to be a fun experience for all of us.

 

[laura-k]

we live in MN and have both flown and drive -
We have made the trip every year for about 13 years now -
Like many of the previous posters have said the airport is kinda a hassle by the time it is all said and done driving and waiting about 31/2 hours to getting on the airplane 31/2 in the air and 2 hours?? getting there and checked in -and of course the extra expense now of parking and bags on top of the tickets for 4 which haven't been very reasonable in the last few years -
We usually drive strait threw now-I stay up late and finish packing -make cookies -whatever I just do stuff the night before- We leave about 1pm on a Wednesday my husband drives -I go to sleep on the road about 4 and start driving about 11:00 -I drive through the night and he picks up in the morning and we arrive somewhere between 3 and 6 (about 26-28 hours) on Thursday unpack -decompress -pool and chat about what we want to do when and then fireworks and water parade and to bed early and then 10 long days in the World-

 

[2DisPrincesses]

I would definitely drive and stay longer and I'm in Michigan!!!

We have flown and driven straight through with our girls. DH and I don't mind driving and since DH HAS to have a car while we are there, it saves us the cost of a rental car too!

We are driving for this next trip, but will fly in the fall, as we will have less time then.

 

[crisi]

We don't have the extra vacation time to drive, but if you do, it isn't a bad plan.

 

[andycat]

By my calculation you have six people plus luggage in a single vehicle. That seems like a lot (for both space and weight). You don't mention what kind of vehicle, how old it is, or what mechanical condition it's in. You also don't mention exactly when you're traveling - could weather have an impact on the trip?

If it's truly cheaper to drive, you might think about taking those two extra days and stopping overnight half-way.

 

[Pinnochio]

Drive!!!!!!!!

 

[tjs198]

I have been looking at flights for our up coming trip and although they are not to bad I just can't help but wonder if we should just drive this trip. For the 3 of us it would cost around 900 to fly (tickets,bags, parking) but for 900 I could stay an extra 2 nights (figuring in food, gas ect) if we drove.

My parents and my sister(17) would be riding with my girls and I so there would be extra drivers. It is an 18 hr drive so that is a really downer compared to a 2.5 hr flight and the cost of fuel is steadily rising. But, just the thought of having 2 extra days in the parks makes me want to do it!!!!

What would you do?

I think you need to calculate the real cost. From the $900 you would have to subtract the cost of gas in the car, the extra meals while driving, wear and tear on the car, etc. Also would you need to use 2 extra vacation days from work? We drove to vero beach last year, I won't say never again, but it was rough. This year, we're flying, got 6am flights from DC, will arrive in WDW at 9:30am - so pretty much have the whole day there, also won't leave until a 7:55pm flight on the last day so we don't "lose" a travel day also.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

Everytime we go down, we drive. It is a 23-25, but we don't really mind the drive. I will admit that going down is MUCH easier than coming home. There have been times when we have driven straight through, but more often than not, we stay in Georgia for a night. We usually get a very good rate on someplace to stay for the night--this past February we went and we stayed in a suite on an air force base for only $50 for the night. I enjoy driving because it gives me the freedom to pack whatever I want to. Plus, we enjoy sight seeing and that sort of thing.

 

[rhax07]

We've made the drive from WI before and it wasn't honestly that bad. We had 3 adults and 2 children in the vehicle so we were able to sleep at different times while someone else was driving. We managed to drive straight through and spend the money we saved on extra nights. As long as you've done the math and you're winning in the end, I'd go with the drive.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

We have driven every trip of ours. We have done it with infants (9 and 10 months old at the itme of their first trips) toddlers all the way up to teens. It's 21 hours. We acutally like the drive. We only have 2 drivers, we take turns and we drive straight though. We just can't afford to fly and like I said, we actually enjoy it. I have to say, this last trip I bought a pile of new movies for the kids and they didn't watch one either way. They played old fashioned car games and listened to music and stuff like that. It was so nice to have them getting along and having fun together. It made the trip so nice. At hoem they are often (especially DD16) going their seperate ways, but that car ride, confined to such a small space, it was get along or be miserable. I do have to admit, we reward (or bribe if yo uwill) them with spending money for not fighting. We figure we'd give them money anyway, have them earn it. They get $1 at the end of each hour if they behave and if they don't, they give us $1. At the end of the trip they can make or lose $21 or somwhere in bwtween. This trip, I am so happy to say, we paid out $63. Money well spent!!! We did it on the ride home too, then they had money to buy each other Christmas presents.

But I myself would at least give it a try, if you hate it you know for next time and if you don't, then you know that too. Either way you get 2 extra days in Disney!!!

 

[Disneycrazymom]

For figuring out travel cost this aaa site is helpful:

http://www.fuelcostcalculator.aaa.com/

I am spending the day trying to decide how much we save by driving this year. I don't like to drive but DH does. I figure the trip with driving and then we set a % up we will go to fly. Then I watch for a good air fare. Some years I get lucky some we drive. Either way we get to go to Disney so life is good.

 

[wrightmom]

We're flying!! I think I would drive if time was not a constraint, but I'm taking my oldest out of school for this trip. There are down sides to both. If you fly, you can go no where else without renting a car, but if you drive, you have all that travel time. We are about 24 hrs away driving. That's 2 days down and 2 days back. Plus the cost of a hotel 2 extra nights.

 

[Disneymaniacs]

I have done both. Drive and fly. Driving is fun going down, because your vacation is just starting, but coming home is a chore in my eyes. The vacation is over, and the drive seems so much longer.

I totally agree. Fly if you can or you will need a vacation when you get home from your vacation. Have a great time whatever you choose!