Fly or Drive? Opinions please?

[TEK224]

Just got back from WDW last week. Will be going again in late August. Taking my teenage great-niece & nephew before school starts. I'll be covering the cost for most of the trip (kids are saving their own spending money).

Right now airfare prices from Philly are crazy. Looking at some websites, I estimated the cost for 3 airfares and a rental car w/gas & tolls to be about $1200. According to mapquest, if I drove it would take about 16.5 hours each way and cost approx. $300 in gas ($150 each way). I'm allowing an extra $100 for additional gas and tolls and $200 for an overnight room and stopping for meals down and back. So, that would be about $600 if I drive, saving about $600 from the current costs.

It's been about 15 years since I've driven to FLA. I actually like long distance driving though and would actually consider driving straight through coming home. Going down I would stay overnight somewhere, so as not be exhausted upon arrival. I realize "time is money" and getting there in 2 1/2 hours is nicer than a 16 hour drive, but I keep thinking that additional $600 could pay for a big portion of the trip. I think the drive could be part of the experience fo the trip (haven't been to "South of the Border" in years!

Of course I'll keep checking airfares and if I can book the airfare for anything close to the drive costs, I will do that. But if they don't come down, driving could be the choice this year. Just wanted to get others opinions if they think the drive is worth it.

Thanks!

 

[dryvithome]

We normally drive it and it is a 16 hour drive for our family as well. The only thing I'd double check is having two routes to get there, cause getting stuck in traffic does happen at times. If you have the time to spend driving, then getting there is part of the fun and allows for some different memories to be made. We've had bad luck memories (vehicle broke down) and good memories made from the drives as well. Found quite a few new places that we would like to check out just by passing through. (Bonifay, FL for one!) We would never have seen these by just flying. It would be nice to get there quickly. The other upside to having a vehicle is being able to eat offsite if you wanted to. We like to hit Giordano's pizza at least once.

We also typically drive straight through on the way back and spend a night on the way there to be "fresh" upon arrival.

It's tough to beat having $600 extra, especially if you have the time free to spend driving. If you were in a rush and had less time available, then spending the money might be a better option to load up on time at WDW. As for us, we will probably continue to drive. It also allows us to take just about whatever we want without having to pay baggage fees.

No matter what you decide, hope you all have a great trip!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I would keep checking flight prices. I just booked a long weekend trip on SWA for Sept Jewish holidays. It was $114 each way (paid with RR points.)
About a week later, all the prices jumped up. It had been going up & down all spring so I jumped when it was low. If you don't mind long drives & airfare prices don't drop again, you always have plan B.

Did you try Frontier Airlines? They fly non-stop out of Trenton & Wilmington. It's about the same amount of driving to get to either for me (in Cherry Hill) but Wil is almost immediately over the Delaware Mem Bridge from NJ. Looks easy peasy!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I just looked at their website. If you don't mind flying on Tuesdays, you could leave on 8/20 for $94 then return on the 27th for just $79. There's only 1 seat left at these prices so I'd book 1 person for $173 then 2 more at $114 down & $109 home for $447.

Total for 3: $620

Why not just use ME & skip the rental car?

 

[livsmom04]

I would keep checking the flights. My daughter and I flew down our first time to DW in 2010 but got a really good deal about a month before our planned trip! As for the driving you will be able to see more things that you would have never been able to see if you flew. My husband drives down but this year it will be different since my mom is going with us. We will have 3 drivers and we are driving down which for us is about a 8-9 hour drive. We enjoy it as long as we make it through Jacksonville after rush hour. Lol

 

[Patience]

We were planning to drive for our September WDW trip as it's only 9-10 hours for us. However, I ran across roundtrip, nonstop airfare for only $138 per person on Southwest Airlines and that was cheap enough for us to decide to fly. I had to move our trip up by one day to take advantage of the rate though. I would plan to drive if driving was going to save me $600 but I would also keep checking airfare. You just might run across a deal.

 

[robin09]

We usually drive down twice a year from upstate NY. Reasons:
1) on our own time schedule.... DD14 always runs late, we call it Jennatime!
2) could pack anything and everything we want
3) 2 hour trip to the airport and arriving 1-2 hours early, adds 3 -4 hours anyway
4) Driving is always a part of our vacation... We've been known to make side stops on the way home... Cabbage patch in Georgia, Seeing where the Wright brothers took off in North Carolina... South of the Border!

 

[HayGan]

We love the drive from SW PA. In fact we will be doing it twice this year and leaving on our next adventure in just 5 days

We make the drive a fun part of the trip itself. We stop different places along the way to break up the drive. (We ususally stop at either Carowinds or gem mining near Hickory, NC - both of which wouldn't be on your way home.) We also play some games along the way to make the whole drive interesting (like license plate lotto). I get a Disney gift card for the trip down to give to the winner and another gift card for a place around home for the way back. I wouldn't recommend anyone driving straight thru unless you have another capable driver in the car. Even the most experienced driver can get road weary with that many hours of driving. It just isn't safe!

Plus it is so much of an added bonus to have your own vehicle in Orlando. You can venture off-site to eat, play or whatever. We even go over to Clearwater for a day or two on longer trips. Its even nice to drive to the parks instead of waiting for the bus sometimes!

If you like driving long distances, I would strongly recommend it. Just make sure everyone has some entertainment and snacks & you will be good to go

 

[TEK224]

Thanks for he replies. Kids are 14 & 16 so they'll probably be tuned in to their iPods or sleep most of the trip.

I thought about magical express, but we'ds doing 2 days at USF/IOA (they want to see Harry Potter) before going to Disney. I'll also be making a stop at Publix for drinks/snacks to keep in the room, so either having my own car or renting makes more sense.

Frontier only flies to MCO on Tues. & Sat. I may be able to adjust our schedule, but not sure yet. With the start of school approaching and my job schedule, I had already picked out the dates that would work best. Guess I'll be checking airfares daily (or more)

Terri

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I would never consider flying, just not our thing.

That said, I'm a little unclear why you need the rental car down there. Are you planning to stay offsite (not that there's anything wrong with that; it's what we do)?

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Have to looking into airfare from Baltimore I see flights in Aug are as low as $129 from BWI on SWA. It would save wear and tear on your car and avoid 16-17 hours each way in the car.

 

[vicki_c]

We normally drive from Annapolis. We don't really mind it. I'm always looking for flights though, every time I get those notices from SW or AirTran or Orbitz. I'm usually checking some set of dates a few times a month. I haven't seen RT airfare for us from BWI to MCO for under about $1000 for my family of 4 for any dates I have looked at from now until the furthest out fates the have released. It's just not cheap fares like we could get a few years ago (we flew for under $600 a few years ago).

The times we flew, we always rented a car because we just like to have a car all the time. We drive ourselves to all the parks except MK.

 

[dmoore718]

We drove from Philly in January this year. We are a family of 5 and the money it saved allowed us to upgrade from POR to AOA family suite. We thought it was great!! We drove straight through down and back, and our kids are 7,6 and 3. We left at 7pm on a friday night so we could avoid any rush hour traffic and get through the often unpredictable Washington, DC traffic before sunrise. Once we arrived in Orlando, we stayed one night at Clarion Suites Maingate, $52 on priceline (not bidding). It was clean with a really cool pool and only a 7 minute drive to AOA the next day. We are planning on driving again in 2 years.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

I am about 13 hrs away, and while I do check the prices for flights, we always drive. We stay in a 2BR condo offsite and usually visit multiple places during our trips. We also grocery shop, so having a car is a must.

We settle the boys (now 14 and 12) in with videos, ipods, dsi's, and just get on the road. We do stop every 2.5-3 hrs (which would drive my dad crazy if he was with us) b/c one of the boys has a kidney issue which means regular bathroom breaks, so no one gets all that tired.

We generally stop overnight on the way to FL, and sometimes don't on the return. It depends on when we leave the last day and how tired the adults are. Stopping on the way means getting to the condo before lunch. We can drop the luggage and refresh at the pool before the room is ready, get a quick trip to Walmart in, and be in a park for dinner and fireworks if we want. Last year we did USO/IOA, and since it was a bit rainy, we walked onto FJ 2x before dinner.

 

[purpledisneyprncess]

In my opinion, I would drive. We drive each year (Sept. will be our 4th trip in three years) and it's 19 hour drive each way. We like to drive, it's cheaper, and you can pack more and also have the convenience of having your vehicle with you in case you want to stop at a local pharmacy, grocer, etc.

Also, take a look at your local grocery store's weekly ad to see if they are having any gift card promotions on gas cards. Mine just had one where if you spend $50 in participating g/c's, you got $10 coupon for groceries. That came in really handy for us, as we bought up $350 worth of Shell gas g/cs and we got back $70 for free food.

 

[Whyowhy116]

We are a family of 4, also from Philly area, also headed down late aug. The kids are 9 and 6. We are driving - flights are really high- and I've driven straight thru several times and I cant justify the cost of the flights vs. the easy drive. We are locked into our dates due to work constraints, so we would need the more expensive weekend flights. There are several websites where you can estimate gas costs etc, and I'm expecting my round trip travel costs to come in WELL under $400. That includes gas, lodging and road food. ( we pack meals for the drive down, and leave snacks in car for ride back) We will drive straight thru on the way down, and stop for 1 overnight on the way back. We look at the drive as part of the adventure. My eldest gets a kick out of tracking our progress on the trip-tix that I get him fromAAA, and I bring a beach ball to blow up at rest stops to play soccer and get the wiggles out at rest stops.

 

[Dsnyfireman]

We are a family of four and man I really went back and forth over this for our last trip this past February . We live in maine and as a kid we drove every year and I think it is worth the drive even just once for that experience. I too like South of the Border!!! I priced both flights and drive, we have a Jeep and gas mileage isn't very good. $550 at least for gas and two nights hotel each way with little ones, food, tolls and all I came up to about $1200. Airfare was about $1365 in feb. one blown tire and I didn't save a thing! That said I do want to drive with the kids so they can see more of the country. Have a great trip!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Have to looking into airfare from Baltimore I see flights in Aug are as low as $129 from BWI on SWA. It would save wear and tear on your car and avoid 16-17 hours each way in the car.

Every time I check BWI I'm amazed at their prices with SWA. I just saw $108 pp incl tax for a Sat night return in Aug. My gosh it's $80 for dh to fill the tank in his truck. Unless one has to pay for 6 kids, this is a bargain.
$112 to fly down on a Sat am. Not to mention a choice of around 10 non-stops per day. Awesome.

It wouldn't be worth the extra drive (imo) to add 4 hrs of driving when we live less than 30 mins from PHL but I have to admit I do believe BWI fliers have it way better than PHL fliers.

 

[vicki_c]

Every time I check BWI I'm amazed at their prices with SWA. I just saw $108 pp incl tax for a Sat night return in Aug. My gosh it's $80 for dh to fill the tank in his truck. Unless one has to pay for 6 kids, this is a bargain.
$112 to fly down on a Sat am. Not to mention a choice of around 10 non-stops per day. Awesome.

It wouldn't be worth the extra drive (imo) to add 4 hrs of driving when we live less than 30 mins from PHL but I have to admit I do believe BWI fliers have it way better than PHL fliers.

BWI is generally great to MCO, our problem is that we are not very flexible in our departure/return times, driving prices up over the lowest fares.

 

[Racemom17]

For me driving vrs flying depends on how long of a trip we have. We have only driven once....when we could leave and drive half way and arrive to Disney property early on Saturday...and we stayed through the following Monday. Oftentimes I can't get as much time off, so we fly so not to take up the time in the car. We are in VA with about a 12-14 hour drive.