Fly or drive and stay longer?

[hsembrick]

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?

 

[Brer Shay]

We had the same issue for our last trip. We chose to drive and stay for 10 days. While I wouldn't say the drive was fun, it was better than I expected, and it will likely be our plan for future family trips. The extra days were well worth it. FWIW, we were 17 hours.

 

[mousetravel]

I would drive, ESPECIALLY since you will have extra drivers! I have always driven by myself - for about 9 hours each way. So I know you can do it with some extra drivers!

You can also pack whatever you want to, and not worry about the airline regulations. This helps me be a little more budget-minded, because I can take food/snacks to carry into the park or enjoy in the room.

 

[kacaju]

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 just booked flights this summer for the 5 of us $200 round trip out of NJ.
$1000 total
Does anyone in your family really WANT to make that drive??

DH has done it when he was younger and also while in college and refuses to drive down. DD is 17 and when I mentioned her helping with the driving she was not happy. We are flying!!

On the other hand my brother, SIL (who live near us) both WANT to make the drive this summer with their dd9 and ds6. more power to them!!

To make a long drive I really thinks it depends on who is driving and do they WANT to make that drive.

 

[Yoshi]

We have always driven since 2000, it's about 19 hours but we had 2 drivers back then and 3 drivers since our trip last year and isn't so bad with a DVD player and iPhone (for internet and games and music). It's nice to have the freedom on the last day to spend as much time as you want in the park without having to worry about missing a flight (we just got home a couple of hours later the next day) and being able to drive to the parks and not deal with the bus service.

 

[Carina]

We have always driven to DL (ok always being twice)

We are 24 hours of driving from DL ( Vancouver Island BC to Southern Cali) EACH WAY. ( and a 2 hour ferry ride)

Of the two trips down and two back we have done one direction of each trip in 2 1/2 days, and the other direction in 2 days.


My entire trip (food, hotel, gas, disney tickets, ect) both times cost less than the flights for the 5 of us from Vancouver would have cost.

For us it was drive or dont go so it was a no brainer to drive.

We also did 18 1/2 hours from Yellowstone home in one day this summer. My kids are excellent passengers.

I would drive to save money any chance I got.

Wish I could drive to Florida but thats a bit far even for us

 

[FINFAN]

drive and stay longer, but heres the thing...FORCE yourself to use 1 of those extra days as a down day, swimmimg, maybe check out resorts...as yu will be driving back and tired if you go commando. Just my opinion, but it is so easy to stay all day every day in the parks and if you are used to flying vs driving it will hit you. Have a GREAT trip!
ETA: don't forget to factor in the cost of the hotel each direction if you are planning to stop. Personally, we view that as an overall part of our trip as we are together/away from home-work...but some may not view it the same

 

[figment3258]

We are talking about the same thing right now we live in Massachusetts so it is about a 22hr drive or 3 hr flight. The way we figure it is if southwest comes out with air for 800$ or under we fly we have 4 people if not we drive. This way we have a car and can do more off property if we want and we do t need to depend on bus service. We shall see.

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

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.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

We drove last June.... about 16 hours, and I said that if we can't afford to fly from now on, we won't be going. When we go to the beach it is a 10-12 hour drive, and that doesn't bother us at all. Adding in those extra 4-6 hours was too much, though. Funny thing is, the boys were fine. Dh and I hated it. We got roundtrip tickets through Southwest for less than $200 per person, and we cut our trip time down to 2 hours!

 

[snowywhite89]

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?

We do drive but not always. Can everybody get the extra 4 days off to do the drive and stay 2 more days?

When we can have extra time off we drive but we fly when time is limited.

 

[louey]

I don't like to fly therefore we drive and have done so (3) times now. We have done it with two drivers and have driven straight through and also have stayed over one night in GA. Our next trip I think we will drive to Jacksonville stay the night then we will only be 3/4 hours away from Disney and well rested. I personally like driving because I tend to overpack but I also like having transportation when were there. Take your time and maybe stay the night somewhere on the way and stay an extra day or two I believe we got there in 15 hrs

 

[Reddy]

We drive - thought about flying but oldest son is the main reason not - he hates crowds in a small spot/room - I would have to give him something to keep him calm then if there was any delay it might wear off mid-flight
then I would have to worry about his siezure med (mixing the calm med with it & how do I carry that much liquid med on a plane??)
also luggage - I don't want to have to wash clothes while there
We usually stop for the night going & coming & that helps alot

 

[Nik's Mom]

I used to always fly to WDW because we were coming from California. When we moved to Kansas, we saw it as a perfect opportunity to do a road trip to WDW. We had a lot of fun taking the trip. Even though air fare was cheap at that time, we decided to drive just for the experience. And we were so glad that we did. In fact, we would drive again.

If you do decide to drive, check out the long drive thread over on the transportation board. I learned a lot by reading on that thread. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2507731

Also, if you belong to AAA, you can get free guide books and maps to route your trip. If you plan on stopping for the night, check trip advisor for reviews on hotels where you plan to stay.

Have a great trip!

 

[ChrisinNJ]

We drove from NJ for the 2nd time this fall, and I would not hesitate to drive again.

My kids are great in the car & my hubby & I switch off driving. We drove straight through this trip. We always allow a day or 2 of down time during the trip. I think it was 19 hours there & 18 hours back with stops.

For us this last trip was sort of a last minute. The cheapest I could find flights was about $1500.00 plus luggage. I could not justify that extra expense, plus the cost of car rental down there. We spent about $350.00 on fuel & had our own car to get around. We brought many items from home reducing the amount we would have to spend when we got there.

If the people you are traveling with are up for the drive, then go for it! I know friends who can't stand being in the car for 3 or 4 hours so driving to FL would be torture for them.

 

[CSI007]

We drove to Florida twice, 2008 and 2009 from MD. It was about 16 1/2 hours. The first trip we took 81 down and stayed the night in SC and had about another 7 hours to drive to get to Disney. On the trip back we left Windsor Hills at 4:15am and drove straight through with just food and bathroom breaks. Arrived back home that evening about 9pm.

The second trip we took 95 down...Left at 5:30am I believe and drove straight through and arrived at around 11:00pm. On the way home we left at around 9am and got home around 1:30am.

It's a long trip but if you get it in your mind that you WILL be in the car for the travel days it is manageable. Our kids do great in the car on these trips so it's not too bad from that end. My wife and I pretty much split the driving up.

BTW, on our second trip home I got the H1N1 virus in Disney about half way through the trip and had to drive home coughing and sneezing...I kinda put a damper on the trip home. LOL.

When flying from our area, even though the flight *may* be 1 hour and 50 minutes, it is not that quick.

It takes us about 1 hour 15 minutes to get to the airport, then there is the wait time there, waiting to get luggage at the destination airport, get rental etc. a 2 hour trip winds up being close to 5 hours by the time you add it all up I suppose.

 

[sam_gordon]

Something to keep in mind is vacation days. While you can stay longer if you drive, you're adding a day on either side of the trip for travel.

So it may be (driving)...
Saturday... drive
Sunday... arrive
Monday-Sat midday... parks
Saturday... leave
Sunday... arrive home
Monday... back at work.

If you Fly however...
Saturday... fly/arrive
Sunday-Saturday afternoon... Parks
Saturday evening... fly home
Sunday... decompress/laundry/etc.
Monday... back to work.

I'm not saying you SHOULD fly, just that it's not always money that factors in to it.

 

[2disneyboys]

IMHO, this is a hard question to have "strangers" give you the answer to. Each persons answer is going to fit them. My sister HATES being in a car for any lenght of time. She does everything in her power to not have to drive any more than 5 hours anytime. DH & I However, thrive on road trips. we love them and so do our boys. Different strokes for different folks! Money is not always a factor either. We just prefer to spend the time in the car together than hustling around airports etc. It's just a preference thing. It annoys me sometimes when people assume we drive cuz it's cheaper.. um.. no, we drive, cuz we consider the act of getting to the vacation PART of the vacation, not just transportation TO the vacation. With this said, if you don't enjoy car rides (even just short few hour ones) you most likly would not enjoy the road trip. Still does not mean you shouldn't drive it, but factor that into your decision. We also drive from the Virginia Cost to the Mn/Canadian border every other year for a family reunion. That trip comes much closer to breaking even on cost than our Virginia - Florida trips (2 days each way, gas, food, etc vs. flying) but we still CHOSE to drive it. It just works for us.

Factors to take into consideration -
- the family temperments (as far as time locked into car together and things of that nature) and ways to entertain the persons in the car!
-reliability of the vehicle.
-Time - yes it's cheaper to drive (in most cases) however, you do have to take into consideration if you consider the drive a waste of time (meaning its just a way to get to the vacation or if you consider it part of the vacation) .. the answer to this question is most likly the strongest indicator on if you should fly or try driving as if you are going to resent the "time" driving, it defeats the whole purpose)


We are truly a driving family, and we recoginize the other families may not be, however, the point is for everyone to enjoy the time Together away from home and work as a family. so figure out which your family would enjoy more and use that to make your choice. (sure some people would prefer to drive, but that would mean not going at all, but for the average family money is really less of a factor to the decesion then most people think)

 

[Kycha]

When flying from our area, even though the flight *may* be 1 hour and 50 minutes, it is not that quick.

It takes us about 1 hour 15 minutes to get to the airport, then there is the wait time there, waiting to get luggage at the destination airport, get rental etc. a 2 hour trip winds up being close to 5 hours by the time you add it all up I suppose.

This is what I was going to say. For us, our flight is roughly 2 hours. But when you factor in travel time to airport(2 hrs), parking/shuttle to airport(30 min), checking luggage, security, etc(1 1/2 hrs), getting rental car or catching Magical Express(30 min), drive to resort(30 min) our 2 hour flight really takes 7 hours.

Personally, I can't stand the Disney bus system. DH and I were trying to save money one trip and decided to forgo a rental car and use their transportation. ME was great. But I hated taking the bus to the theme parks. The 2nd day we were there, we broke down and rented a car for the rest of the trip. It just gave us more freedom, caused fewer headaches and a lot less stress. So if it were me, I would only fly if I could rent a car as well.

 

[tkitty]

If we could get the time off, I would try driving. About 10 days off in a row is our limit, and that could dip into our stay. We're in Az, so it's quite a drive. Some day I'd like to try it. We can always swing a quick trip to DL though.