Fly or Drive?

[solgent]

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.

First, I am not sure why you say 24 hours. Isn't it almost 24 hours EACH WAY, if your closest airport is Boston?

But let's say the total RT is 24 hours. Ask yourself this. Imagine a local business needed something delivered and offered to pay you $700 to drive for 24 hours with your DH and children. Would you do it? That is nearly $30 an hour. To some that seems like a good deal and to others not worth it.

Another recommendation I have for you is to look at other airports. We live in Burlington but drive about 2.5 hours each way to fly out of Manchester NH. We save at least $100 per ticket (usually more than $200) by doing this. For a family of 5, that means saving $500 to more than $1000 for 5 hours of driving. You might do better by making a shorter drive to another airport than driving all the way.

 

[dsnymomof4]

Yes, DisneySteve has some good points about driving. There are definitely some advantages. When we were packing up the minivan to drive home, we were looking at all of our bags thinking where we would put all this stuff if we were flying. However, someone else had a good point about being tired. While DH did most of the driving, I can never sleep in the car, so we were both exhausted when we arrived and actually never really caught up on our sleep all week. When we fly, I try not to do the real early flight anymore where you have to be up at 4:00am. Last trip, we did the 10:30 flight and got to the hotel around 2:00. That worked out great - everyone was ready to go when we got there.

 

[Pembo]

We've driven the last 2 years to FL. It's about 18 hours one way. We took 3 days to drive down and 2 to come home. This year the kids were 10, 7, and 3. I plan $100 for hotel and food on the road. We make lunch in the car/rest stops. We eat breakfast in the hotel. Dinner is fast food, so the kids can play.

We think it's the best for us. By taking 3 days to get there we aren't tired from driving. It's a much easier drive.

I like having my own car, taking my own food, and lots of stuff. Good luck on your decision.

 

[azgal81]

Ugh driving for 24 hours?? There is no way I would fly. I don't care how much money would be saved by driving not going to happen.

 

[ohiominnie]

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

I'm sorry, I haven't read all of the responses b/c I only have a quick minute. But I wanted to comment. (maybe it's already been said)

We've done both. We've crunched numbers both ways. But not until recently did we factor in the part about dh missing extra days at work. With driving he has to take an extra day off on each side of the vacation to allow time to drive. He's a pediatrician, so to lose two full days of seeing 40 patients a day means lost income. So it ends up, financially, being a wash for us.

Since the price is basically equal when we factor that in, we fly everytime now.....because it is a pain to drive. Driving DOWN isn't bad....everyone is excited. We leave at 5:00 in the morning and get most of the way there by evening. Driving back stinks. We usually don't leave until afternoon (after all, who wants to leave WDW at 5:00 in the morning?) which means we only get about 1/2 way home that day. Then the next day we have to drive the other half.

Now when we fly, we land in Orlando and someone will say "do you realize that if we drove we'd just now be crossing the Ohio-Kentucky border????

 

[Tiffer]

I would drive if, The extra 2-3 days off fromwork wouldn't cost you $700 anyway. That $700 canbuy lots of stuff at WDW.

We used to live in NY and would drive. stay over around Fayetville, NC and of course do the obligatory South of the Border and get bubble gum ice cream.... Cheesy..but tradition.

We would also stop at cracker barrell along the way and do a book on tape swap. Loved that!

Now live in CA and drving is not an option. Don't get me wrong, we have flown from NY to MCO as well, but something about the drving was a trip in and of itself with lots of memories.

Like DD 3, after FINALLY getting a room, b/c we didn't book one, at around 2 am exhausted, we walked in the room literally layed down an 30 second later DD vomited ALL over me and all over the bed. We just showered and left.

But now, 6 yrs later, we look back and say, OMG..remember when...

I like the experience w/in the experience.

 

[rt2dz]

We drive. With the kids (one has health issues), even prior to the new regulations, it was just too much of a hassle. I also like knowing nothing is going to get lost are damaged and knowing we have our car (safety). Besides buying gas for one car is a heck of a lot less than 5 airline tickets.

We tend to leave late afternoon/early evening. We drive a couple of hours, get out and eat dinner, and drive more. DH and I switch off driving at night (as long as we aren't both too exhausted) while the other sleeps. The kids sleep in the car through the night, so they think it is a relative short drive/easy trip. We stop often, get out & stretch so no one gets too cranky being in the car in addition to having activities for the car &, of course, a DVD player. All in all, we have fun--have a good time, not make good time (as the number one priority). And we get to skip the hotel fee too, usually--not always.

 

[Deesknee]

No. Not if your DH hates driving.

We drove from the south shore of Mass. straight thru to WDW. It took us a little over 24 hours. We planned when we were leaving in order to miss heavy traffic hours in certain areas. We got TRIPTIX thru AAA. We stopped 5 times each way, for bathroom breaks, eat and stretch.
We were traveling with three 15 year olds, DH, DD3years and myself. We also had another car following us. DH drove to fast for part of the trip (til I finally put my foot down, at which time he let his foot up ).
We all enjoyed the drive and will do it again someday, but next time we will plan one sleep over along the way with some sight seeing. We saved apprx. $1000. The worst part was after being in WDW for about 3 days we realized we didn't even remember the first couple of days. We must have been extremely sleep deprived. I know you were not planning on driving straight thru, but still if your DH hates driving it would not be worth it. IMHO

 

[fofinia]

Hi everyone, thanks for all the good points. I couldn't believe it when my post had two pages!

So it seems like in a quick count that more people think we should fly. 15 to 9 vote for flying.

I personally would always choose to fly. I've always liked flying. But it's just gotten more complicated with kids and strollers and extra security. If it wasn't for those things I wouldn't even be considering driving.

I've personally done the drive to Florida from the Northeast about 5 times- pre marriage and without my own kids. And it is wicked boring, I agree. And yes as Solgent said it is 24 hours each way, I'm sorry I wasn't clear about that.

As far as DH and I taking extra time off work for the extra two days to drive. I'm a stay at home mom, my DH is selfemployed. So he can make his own schedule. And when I factor in missed wages for those extra days the $700 savings does drop significantly. And even though he hates to drive, he is actually the one who is talking about driving more, causing me to check into it's cost.

We have a 2005 minivan and it's fine, runs great. I agree with the person who said Murphy's law you will break down on the trip. I've had two cars die on 5+ hour car drives. But they were junky cars.
I'm thinking hard about the chance of bad weather. I would not like to be in the middle of the southern states when an ice storm hits. YUCK! And the traffic too. I know Ny roads well. And we had thought about doing what some of you said and leave here in the evening to get thru NY and NJ by middle of night. But then if we drive all night we'll be exhausted and not enjoy our vacation. I know. That's why I'm getting your opinions.

As far as the cost of our airfare. Southwest doesn't have our dates available for booking yet. So the price I gave was based on Jetblue's current prices. But I just did a quick search on Expedia and Delta has dropped to $202 from $240. So I knew I would watch the airfare and decide from there if the price came down then flying would win.

Someone else mentioned that we could give up the rental car and get someone to drive us to the airport. And both of those are viable options. Not my preferred way to vacation. But if it was not go or do those things I would drop them. Currently we are just trying to be frugal as the economy is looking sketchy and my DH is in construction.

Someone else mentioned our fuel cost. I went to fuelcostcalculator.com and put in the city closest to me and that is where I came up with a round number of $300 for r/t gas cost.

As for the people who recommended it,Disney Steve I knew you'd vote for driving, I'm glad to know it's not too bad. some of you enjoy it. If we end up driving I hope we can enjoy it too! Thanks for all your help.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Our first trip to WDW was in '93. I was 11 and my brother was 14. We bought an Accord the week before the trip and got a flat tire on the way back. We've driven straight through (leaving at 8 p.m. and getting in Orlando at about 8 a.m.) every time except for our last trip. Everyone that we know that go to Disney on a regular basis couldn't believe we still drove and swore up and down how great flying was. We found great prices on airfare and decided to try it out. Never again!! We all agreed driving was so much more relaxing and it got us more excited for the trip. We flew out of Newport News at about 4 a.m., had a layover in Atlanta, and arrived in Orlando around 9 a.m. Finally found the ME area and it was a mad house there (it was the off season but we figured a lot of people get into Orlando in the morning to start their day off). After about 30-45 minutes we get on an ME bus. We arrive at WL where a shuttle van is to take us to the WDW Car Care Center where we had a car rental waiting for us (tradition to go to Sea World on our first day). We waited for 30-45 minutes for the shuttle van to arrive. The man BLARED rap music the entire trip there. He then walks around to the van door and holds out a tip bucket. We got our van after 20-30 minutes at the car rental place and were at Sea World by 1 p.m. but we were exhausted from all of the running around (we were only renting the van for one day so that kept us from renting at the airport). We left at 3 p.m. because we were so tired and weren't enjoying ourselves (we had free tickets). We had someone else's luggage waiting for us when we got to our room. After calling to get that straightened out we got our luggage around 7 p.m. that evening.

Another reason we didn't like flying and using ME was having to be picked up 3 hours (now I believe it's 4) before our flight. We were sitting around for two hours in the airport doing nothing. Our flight in Atlanta was delayed by a winter storm for two hours (at least it wasn't longer!). We arrived back in Newport News at 1 a.m. and had arrived at the Orlando airport that afternoon at 3 p.m.

Flying may be for some people but it stressed us out and made us more tired than we do when we drive. And it's cheaper. But I believe everyone should experience something for themselves first to get their own opinions. We had a lot of issues/problems that other people never have. Good luck on your decision!!

**Oh and we're driving again on our upcoming trip but we are staying overnight on our arrival night at a value and staying overnight on our way back somewhere in Georgia. We're getting too old for the driving straight through thing!!! (the second wind doesn't come as quickly as it used to )

 

[gottaluvdis]

Another vote for flying. With the rates we get on SW, it's got to be close cost-wise as driving. Being as that may, I can't stand to sit in a car for that long! I feel I'm wasting vacation days in a car. We just went at the end of August - the flight from MHT to MCO took 2.5 hours. You can't beat it! On the way home, we left our hotel room at Disney at 8:00 am and were in our own house by 3:00 pm. Even with the added security measures, we didn't encounter lines at either airport. They did lose one of my bags on the way down, but I had it 24 hours later (the first time ever SW has lost a bag - technically it wasn't lost, just sent down on the flight after ours). It was no big deal - I had to buy a toothbrush and some contact lens stuff for 1 night. We have good friends who always drove until I showed them SW's DINGs and deals. They now always fly. The time savings and being rested when arriving in Orlando is worth every penny IMO, especially if you're taking kids out of school.

 

[disneysteve]

As for the people who recommended it,Disney Steve I knew you'd vote for driving,

Apparently my reputation preceeds me.

 

[tinaluis]

We just returned from WDW last month and we flew. We got a great rate on SW for the 5 of us and found our rental car dirt cheap. We'd originally planned on driving but the low airfare convinced us to fly.

We're going again in October for two weeks and that trip we'll drive. It is a LONG drive (about 22-24 hours), and we get really exhausted, but we'll do what we have to do so we can make a second trip. We'd have to come across some INSANELY inexpensive airfare to consider flying.

Good luck in deciding!

 

[Kellyscrapbooks]

We drive. It costs us less than $300 for gas and 1 nights hotel each way. Of course I drive a 2005 Cavalier.
The kids are awesome on the drive, my butt always falls asleep, but we make it just fine!
4 people crammed into a cavalier.. if we can do it, you can do it!

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Let me start out saying I would NEVER choose to drive .....anywhere!

But the MCO airport can be really slow. Security can take forever and the lines can be very long. So if they are telling you to be there 2 hours early, they really do mean for you to be there early. Our last trip in Aug was the week of the new security threat. We left on a Monday evening and it was the best I have seen the airport out of the last 3 trips! Go figure?!

We have also driven (we are outside of StL). On one trip back from Florida over Spring Break we hit an ice storm just outside of Atlanta. I mean no offense here but these people do not have the equipment to clear the road. We ended up sitting on the hiway overnight. NOT FUN! Even DH (who prefers to drive) will not start out in the winter. There are too many variables that you could run into.

Definitly download Ding and check everyday. Hopefully you'll get lucky.

 

[sherreis]

If I could afford it, I would fly. We are going to be driving when we go in November - not sure how long it will take us. We live right outside of Baltimore and we'll be getting on 95. I am glad we'll have our own car and I don't have to worry about packing and carry-on luggage. We have DVD player for the boys. The plan right now is to leave around 7:30 PM and drive straight through and take turns driving.

If you can find some deals, consider flying. You'll get there much more rested and that is worth money as well.

 

[fofinia]

Apparently my reputation preceeds me.

It's all good!!! I always enjoy reading your budget wise advice!!

 

[fofinia]

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions and advice. I'm checking airfare. If it comes down we'll probably fly. But part of me wouldn't mind trying the drive. I don't know. At least I'm planning early, relatively.

Thanks again to all!!!

 

[misshilda1]

I say fly. We just book our flight with our package thru Disney. It was alot cheaper than driving and they got our plane tickets cheaper on Delta air. We have done this before as a matter of fact last year. We ditched the rental car and let Disney take us to and from the airport. We then just took a form of Disney transportation to and from the resort wherever we wanted to go. No dealing with driving down and back or needing to stay somewhere.We had more time to devote to Disney. Also we did not have't to worry about parking or anything. By the time you park and make it to the gates you can be let off right at the gates by Disney transportaion. Also when you leave and your tired you don't have to drive back to your resort you just sit back and relax all in all it's my way of having a vacation. I don't have't to worry about doing anything except sit back and do as I please and we are always on a budget.But we've made it work not missed out on anything ate good did plenty and had plenty of souveneirs to bring home. We plan on doing it again this year our flight leaves out Oct. 1 and we will be in Orlando by 9:30 a.m. 22 days yeah . However you decide I hope you have a wonderful safe trip with many wonderful memories for many years to come....