Fly or Drive?

[fofinia]

Ok so if driving would save you between $500 and $800 dollars would you do it?

Currently the airfare for our trip in 1/07 from Boston is approx $1000, rental car in Orlando currently about $300, Park at airport $128 for a total of $1,428.

Yet fuelcalculator.com is estimating our gas in our minivan to be about $300 roundtrip, approx $50 in tolls (not positive on this number), 1 nights hotel stay each direction $200 ($100/night), and food on the road $200? For a total of $750

A savings of approx $700.

But is the savings of $700 worth the aggravation of driving with a DH who hates to drive, a 5 and 2 year old kids for a 24 hour drive. Also it's January, so there could potentially be bad weather. Yet flying is not without problems, no juice from security till after boarding, longer security lines, potential of being patted down (I know many of you don't care, but for me it is a major concern.) But total travel from our home to our resort about 7 or 8 hours.

I don't know if it's worth it. If you've done the drive with kids was the saving in $$ worth the aggravation? I figure I can watch the airfare and rental car and if they come down then i can just make a last minute decision to fly.

What would you do?

 

[TSM1993]

Almost everytime we go to WDW we drive we live in Harrisburg,PA area about 970 miles away and drive straight thru. We leave at 5:30pm and arrive in FL about 9:30am. We started taking my son at the age of 6 and he seemed to have no problems with being in the car that long. We never rent hotel rooms to or from WDW. One sleeps the other drives althought we do pull into a rest area for awhile in GA and it is usually me I get 1-2 hours sleep and take off again. We stop maybe 2 times for gas after the intial fill up at home. We eat dinner on the way down some where. We may only be saving $500. but thats more money we have for someting else.

Yes I would drive down.

P.S. We took our 93 Dodge Caravan Minivan down to WDW several times and using cruise we still managed to only fill our van up 3 times on the way down (Intial fill up plus 2 more)

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

n/m

 

[amberdansmom]

Well, we live in Louisiana and usually we drive EVERY time we go to Florida. ( My family lives in the Tampa Bay area) It is about an 18 hour drive and yes we stop once to sleep. This trip in December we HAD planned to drive but my husband found a great ddeal on airline tickets where all 4 of us can fly round trip for a total of $688 Tax Tag and Title! SO needless to say we are flying this time.

 

[juligrl]

If I had the room to be flexible and the extra time, I'd drive. If the forecasters were predicting a snowstorm for the day I was to leave and I had the luxury of altering my travel dates, I'd do that. Also, if I could take 2 days to get there and another 2 to get back I'd do that. I really don't like flying, so I'd opt for driving.

 

[CindyKansas]

We plan on driving when we go in March. I priced airline tickets for the 3 of us and the cost was a little over $1000. Car rental when we arrived at MCO was around $300. When I calculated fuel prices it came to $400. I know we would have at least 2 nights that we would have to have a motel room, but I usually look at Hotwire or Priceline. In reality I don't mind the drive.

 

[magicmato]

You also need to consider that it will be January. Are you willing to spend longer driving or have to stop somewhere and wait if it is snowing or freezing rain and it becomes unsafe to drive?

I know that when we were first married, we always drove from CT. Now with two young children, it is just not worth it.

 

[nicolemomof4cuties]

We weighed both of those options ourselves. We decided to fly. We have 4 children ages 7,5,4, and 2. A 2.5 hour flight and Disney Magical Express to and from the airport beats out a one way 20 hour drive any day. This also helps my husband to not miss 2 of his college classes for 2 weeks instead of only one. I do not know why your tickets are so expensive, however. Their are 6 of us flying North West Air and our round-trip tickets are a total of $1122.00. We flew with all four children last year and it was not bad at all. My children behaved wonderfully! Now, if they can only continue the tradition this year!
Nicole

 

[HooKooDooKu]

If the driving could be done in one day, I'd drive (and we do because it's "only" about 12-16 hours one way).

But when you start talking about spending a total of four days driving, I'd drop the rental car and fly.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Currently the airfare for our trip in 1/07 from Boston is approx $1000, rental car in Orlando currently about $300, Park at airport $128 for a total of $1,428.

I think I'd have to take a few other factors into mind...Have you driven the route between Boston and DC recently? The traffic during peak times can be brutal. There's a big difference between rural highway and major urban traffic (especially on a holiday weekend). Even on an average weekend or weekday, the traffic can be brutal. If there's an accident somewhere, you could get stuck for a long time. You also run the risk of a car breakdown. How new is your car? Has it been reliable?

You're best bet for a drive like this is to start in the middle of the night, when the kids are asleep, but the driver can be awake. NJ Turnpike at 3am is a great road, but not so great at 5pm. Driving can be an adventure though, and your kids - at least the five year old - might appreciate how far she's going. (as opposed to flying, which gives you a weird perspective of travel).

If you are staying on property, you could do away with the rental car and use the Disney shuttle. I wouldn't do this route off property, but on, its not bad.

Parking at the airport can be eliminated if you can get a friend to drive you - you can also get a shuttle bus - it might be cheaper than parking.

Last, consider your alternative airports. Southwest flies out of both Manchester and Providence, RI. It might be considerably less expensive to drive to one of these airports, and the drive is probably closer than you think. Unless you care coming from Boston proper, one of these airports is probably less than an hour away from you. (You could also check out Hartford, another Southwest airport which would be about 2 hours from the Boston area). Right now, it's a little early to get best fare prices for that far out from Southwest, but you can keep an eye out,and if the price is right....

For me, I generally prefer flying over driving for long distances, even with the airport hassles. I've seen airport delays, but that is less stressful to me than sitting in traffic. In January, you run the risk of airport delays and cancellations if the big enough storm moves in, but then if there's a big storm, driving won't be a picnic either. Been there, done that, it wasn't fun (and that doesn't include getting into an accident)

 

[dsnymomof4]

We just got back from a trip in which we drove from NJ - took about 17-18 hours. We ended up driving home through the hurricane. Besides any unforseen circumstances, the plain truth is - the drive is simply boring! It's not so bad up North, but once you get past Baltimore, it's nothing but trees lining the highway. There's nothing to look at, especially at night, just a long, dark, boring road. Did I mention how boring the drive is! Seriously though, we flew in December and it was so great getting there and home so fast. But, I couldn't get the timing down with the flights, so we drove last week, and I told DH never again. It's so much nicer to be there in 2 hours!

 

[ncbyrne]

Another vote for FLY! I made that drive to FL twice from north Jersey and never again. My DD lives in Northern VA and that I-95 corridor between NY and DC is about all I can take. Flying saves all that time - you arrive refreshed and happy and ready to take on the mouse the same day! Driving all that way is tiring, not to mention the boring that someone else said. Driving down is bad enough, but that looooong drive home - UGH! Fly.

 

[barkley]

if i can fly over driving i always fly. my reasoning is that when we drive the kids invariably fall asleep such that when we arrive at our destination they are bouncing are rareing to go, we on the other hand are tired from the drive and wish to rest-it's never a plesant situation. i also factor in the cost of those extra days the traveling costs me re. vacation usage. if driving is going to eat up 4 days of vacation accruals it may be less expensive in the long run for me to fly.

but i'm also a big 'murphy's law' kind of person-i know that if my car is going to break down it's going to happen when we are away from home and we'll end up towed to some place where we are at the mercy of whatever outrageous repair bills they want to charge us. combine this with lodging, meals and more lost vacation days while the car is being repaired and that 'disney magic' starts fading realy fast

 

[sammielynn]

I always drive but I live in Tennessee. We have a 10 - 11 hour drive and have thought about flying but since I hate to fly I drive. If I had to face two days in a car just to ge there I would fly. Don't know what route you would take driving, but here in the south when it snows the entire place shuts down. We don't deal well with snow and ice.

 

[Stein]

I would drive to save that money.

We are in the opposite situation, I used miles for tickets and it would cost a bundle to drive from Seattle to Orlando, plus I would need another week or more of vacation!

 

[alicenwonder99]

I would FLY!!

We have driven twice to WDW from Chicago, and we all said "never again". Are you sure about the only $300 for gas? I'm not sure how many hours your driving is, but since you said you are stopping over night, I'll assume it's rather far (more than 18 hours). I'll assume (since you have little kids), that you're probably driving a minivan, which doesn't get the greatest mileage. And think about all of the luggage on your luggage rack. That will weigh down your van and it will cost even more in gas.

Anyway, we are a family of 6, and we got airfare for $54 one way from Southwest. Download DING and you'll save yourself alot of money on airfare.

Having said all that, I think a family needs to experience at least ONE long car trip with the young kids...lol. And if you do decide to drive, then do yourselves a favor and get each of the kids their own portable dvd player. Oh, and watch out for the bad weather driving there. The 2 times we drove was in winter and the snow storms scared the heck out of me!! We are used to living in Chicago where the snow is cleared off the roads IMMEDIATELY. Not all of the roads are like that. Some of the Interstates are pretty scary driving on in the snow storms. I'm not sure what you'll be driving through coming from Boston.

EDITED:
I just reread your post and saw you are driving a minivan, and it will take about 24 hours of driving. OK, then definitely DO NOT DRIVE. It will take you longer than 24 hours (trust me), because with the kids in the car seats, you have to let them out to stretch more often. We were finding ourselves stopping about every 1 - 1 1/2 hours. So, our 20 hour drive (10 hours a day), turned into about 12+ hours a day. And then I read your dh doesn't like to drive!!! Holy cow! Don't do it!! lol. I absolutely hate flying, too. But after our last 2 driving trips, flying is so much better. I flew last December to WDW and it was the best!!! Yes, it does take about 6-8 hours out of your day from the time you leave your house until the time you get to WDW, but it doesn't seem that bad because your trip is broken up for you (as opposed to sitting in a car for 10+ hours a day).

Mary

 

[flagdaytwins]

We're flying from Boston to Orlando in three weeks. I also have two toddlers.

Originally, we planned to drive. However, we knew we had at least two overnights each way (I need my rest when driving).

We just paid $758 for four on American. Our rental car is $168 for almost 7 days.

While we love to drive (and stop and see other sights along the way), we also looked at it that the four days to drive both ways would be four days less at Disney.

Most of the hotels on the way down are not clean or fun -- there's a few in Virginia that are okay. (you may know all of this already, sorry!)

I think the extra money to fly is worth the possibility of your being stuck in traffic -- all what, 1200 miles, with two kids. My kids are the best travellers but after looking at days on the road on a very long drive, we decided to eat the extra $$ and cut corners elsewhwere.

Out of curiosity, do you have any of those hotel/airline travel reward programs? (My husband does, he travels alot).

 

[carl59]

Fly, I95 in the northeast is unbelievable. I do not know if you ever drove the "Cross Bronx Expressway" in New York, but that road is packed 24/7. I live on Long Island and have to take it to go to NJ. The last time I was not it, it took 1:10 minutes to go from one end (Throgs Neck Bridge )to the other (George Washington Bridge) (appox. 10 miles). On the return trip it took another 2 hours to to just to get to the GWB before the trip on the CBE. You have the whole of the northeast traveling south and everyone traveling north trying to go across a bridge (GWB) that was built in the 30's. Fly if you can, stay away from New York. I have to drive these roads, but you can avoid them. Keep your sanity.

 

[disneysteve]

We drive every year from NJ, just over 1000 miles each way. First, let me say that you've overestimated hotel costs on the road. Along the 95 corridor, you can easily get a nice room for more like $50/nite (less if you aren't too picky - we paid $33 last year), so you can knock another $100 off the cost of driving.

We find driving to be far more convenient. We can leave exactly when we are ready and not be limited by airline schedules. We can pack anything and everything we want to bring and not have to worry about if our suitcase weighs 49 lbs. or 51 lbs. And we don't waste several hours of our trip sitting in the airport waiting for our flights to board and take-off. Everyone around here says flying takes 2 hours. It really takes 7-8 hours if everything goes smoothly. We can drive in about 17 hours.

 

[kpmdjm]

We are going in Jan. 07 also and we are driving from RI. My kids are 9 and 3. I am not driving by choice my husband dosnot want to fly. I think he is crazy. He will be the only driver and we will stop overnight once on the way there and once on the way home. We will be renting a mini van for the trip.
We did drive on your last trip my son was about 4 then. He was so good it was amazing. I don't think he will be so good this time. I still have some time to try to talk my hubby into flying.
kris