Fly or drive?

[cassandraYL]

We're coming from Indiana. Staying in All Star Music Suite Feb 8-14. 3 adults, 1 teenager, 2 toddlers, one newborn who will be nursing every 3 hours. It's a 14+ hour drive or a 2 hour flight. I will be taking a double stroller to all the parks. We have ADRs every morning before the parks open at Chef Mickey, Akershus, and Hollywood and Vine. Considering all this would you fly or drive?

 

[caselaw3]

We're coming from Indiana. Staying in All Star Music Suite Feb 8-14. 3 adults, 1 teenager, 2 toddlers, one newborn who will be nursing every 3 hours. It's a 14+ hour drive or a 2 hour flight. I will be taking a double stroller to all the parks. We have ADRs every morning before the parks open at Chef Mickey, Akershus, and Hollywood and Vine. Considering all this would you fly or drive?

up until yesterday - we were driving - 24 hours - but we ended up getting a great deal on flights and now I am super excited to fly - and the airline checks strollers and car seats for free - my only thoughts now are whether to rent a car because we will be off site two days - and I thought it would be convenient to have a car when we were at the parks -

 

[Nicnic]

We're coming from Indiana. Staying in All Star Music Suite Feb 8-14. 3 adults, 1 teenager, 2 toddlers, one newborn who will be nursing every 3 hours. It's a 14+ hour drive or a 2 hour flight. I will be taking a double stroller to all the parks. We have ADRs every morning before the parks open at Chef Mickey, Akershus, and Hollywood and Vine. Considering all this would you fly or drive?

Last time we drove a long distance, 12 hours, my youngest was 15 months and did fine in the car with minimal stops, in fact we got almost 7 hours before we got out the car.
Now, she is 25 months and is a nightmare in her car seat, she gets out her harness, is very fidgety and if we have to stop the car for any reason, she wants to be out.

It depends on how your kids would cope in the car, if you have to stop every 3 hours, is everyone getting out? (My DD2 would fight to get back in her seat).

Do you have a lot to bring with you, I know driving, you can pack what you want, that's what I liked about driving but I would still prefer to fly. The airline will take the stroller and you can always get baby/ food items sent to your hotel. And the busses run before park opening so you have no trouble getting to your breakfast ADR's.

If it's only a 2 hour flight, depending on cost, I would fly. But that's me.

 

[cassandraYL]

So if we're always riding disney transportation do we need a car seat? 3yo, 2 yo, or 3 week old?

 

[epsmith921]

Disney transportation does not allow for car seats. As in, magical express you can't use it, on the buses from resorts to parks, no child seats.

We just went with our two year old and part of the reason we switched to staying on site was not having to bring the car seat (both we have at this point are monsters!).

It was great to not have to deal with any of it. Just walked off the plane, through the airport and onto our bus.

 

[madatmama]

We have been planning our trip for over a year and leave in three weeks. All along our plan was to drive the 11 hours from NC with our 6,4 and 1 yo. I booked airfare yesterday. I think the older two would sleep if we drove overnight but the first time my toddler woke up we'd hear about it the rest if the way to FL. For $1,000 it was worth it to me.

 

[SweetMissy]

We're from NY and drove this year and a couple years ago....horrible, lol. We flew last year when our little one was 4 months old (also nursing, which was easier to fly, no need to stop every few hours). We'll be flying next year. I would definitely do the 14 hour drive....that's nothing compared to the 2 day trip it takes us (we don't drive straight through). However it depends on how much money it's saving you to drive. For us it saves about $500-$700 driving....IMO, considering we've done the drive twice...it's not worth it. Next year whether we do a disney cruise or disneyworld again, we'll drive the 4 hours to NYC and take a non stop 2.5 hour flight to FL. Yes it saves a bit of money but you have to factor in everything that goes along with driving....being stuck in a vehicle for 14 hours, gas, traffic, deer, crappy drivers, etc etc. Anyway...good luck!

 

[MSSANDRA]

That is right on the dividing line for us. WDW is about 11 hours and really an easy drive for us most trips. I would really look at budget. That is a lot of tickets to fly. If cost is not a factor and the airport fairly close to home, I would fly. Having a 3rd adult would make it easier to switch off drivers and kid entertainers if driving makes more economical sense to you.

 

[Surfinpiratee]

We're coming from north of Chicago, it will be like 17 hours. If you drive with a newborn...i'd definitely stop over night

 

[Fivesacharm]

With 6 people in our family, flying is just too $$$$. We've been going to Disney for nearly two decades and we always drive. It's about 20 ish hours for us and we divide the trip into two days (majority of it on day one). For us, it almost wouldn't feel the same if we didn't drive...part of the experience!

 

[Tortuga Rob]

With 6 people in our family, flying is just too $$$$. We've been going to Disney for nearly two decades and we always drive. It's about 20 ish hours for us and we divide the trip into two days (majority of it on day one). For us, it almost wouldn't feel the same if we didn't drive...part of the experience!

Well said! It is a 24 hour drive for us which can be grueling but we love seeing the landscape changes and going through Atlanta and Cincinnati. The vacation starts for us when the van door closes in our driveway.

Rob

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

We're coming from Indiana. Staying in All Star Music Suite Feb 8-14. 3 adults, 1 teenager, 2 toddlers, one newborn who will be nursing every 3 hours. It's a 14+ hour drive or a 2 hour flight. I will be taking a double stroller to all the parks. We have ADRs every morning before the parks open at Chef Mickey, Akershus, and Hollywood and Vine. Considering all this would you fly or drive?

I'm in KY and fly every time. Have you priced it out? Are there straight flights offered? If not I would get on that and see what the price difference is. Unless of course cost isn't an issue then my opinion would be to fly for the convenience. Especially if you can score a straight flight.

 

[maxiesmom]

What kind of vehicle do you have? Will everyone fit comfortably, or will there be non stop grumping about being smushed together, or having to sit in the back? Will all of the luggage fit without it being packed all around everyone?

When you say it is a 14 hour drive, have you factored in stops? Will you have to stop to breastfeed, or will your baby feed in a moving car?

In general I think 14 hours is do-able, especially if you break it down over 2 days. All in one shot with the number of little ones may not work that well.

 

[aprilchem]

Personally I'd drive if you're trying to be frugal. We are a family of 5 and we always drive (~15 hours) because it's about $1000 cheaper to drive than fly. It's not a big deal (even with 3 small kids), and we save a lot of money.

 

[happymommy]

I have driven once from the DC area (about 12 hours - but now that there is construction on the beltway south of DC I wouldn't do it anytime soon again).

That being said, my kids were 2 and 4, and we left after lunch, and they were asleep by 8pm, so it was pretty smooth sailing. We were gone for 2 weeks (11 nights at Disney, then went down to Naples to see my folks, then a two day drive home, which sucked royally). We were loaded down in our minivan, had movies to watch, and it was really comfortable.

Our reason for driving was that we had just gotten our first minivan, and it was great, and it was after 9/11 so we were not feeling like flying that trip. It wasn't financial, just wanted to do it (and brought all our food and drinks since we were staying at the Boardwalk Villas, as well as double stroller and stuff, so it was nice to fill the back of the van, matter of fact no more than 4 would have squeezed in with all our stuff!).

I would say if you were going for two weeks or so it may make more sense to drive, but for a week and trying to have the energy to make early breakfast reservations after such a long drive, you may be wiped out at first. Plus, will you have enough room for all your stuff in one car?

My kids have flown a lot since they were babies, and it is work to fly, but once they were 5 or so they could pull their own carry on bags in the airport so it got easier to travel with them! It's hard with babies and seats and all, but it shouldn't stop anyone!

I would price out flights. It's such a difference to spend just the morning traveling (of course getting to the airport in time, we have breakfast once through security, waiting for the flight, etc... but still then in two hours you're in Orlando). That versus 14 hours plus stopping in a car.

We've driven to St. Louis several times - also 12 hours. If it's all 4 of us we can do it in one LONG day. I did it alone with my kids a few years ago, but took two days (and it was still LONG). Stayed two weeks or so.

Only you know your budget, but I would look into flying. If you do drive, plan plan plan. Take breaks. Stop and have bathroom breaks, let everyone run around to stretch their legs, then eat in the car to save that time. It is doable but takes some planning!

Good luck with your decision.

 

[luvmy3]

3 adults, 1 teenager, 2 toddlers and a newborn all in the same vehicle for that long. No way would I do that, its not just the amount of people, we have 5 in our family and no way would we drive that long. Driving to WDW for us is never an option, but that is just us. If you guys are all right with it, then go for it!

 

[scrapquitler]

We're coming from Indiana. Staying in All Star Music Suite Feb 8-14. 3 adults, 1 teenager, 2 toddlers, one newborn who will be nursing every 3 hours. It's a 14+ hour drive or a 2 hour flight. I will be taking a double stroller to all the parks. We have ADRs every morning before the parks open at Chef Mickey, Akershus, and Hollywood and Vine. Considering all this would you fly or drive?

Hands down, FLY. That many people, plus all their luggage and a double stroller in one vehicle (otherwise you'd have to take two if you don't have a big van) would be a recipe for misery for us. And it's 14 hours on the trip home, too. We'd rather have more time on our vacation that spending all that extra time getting there.

 

[Juliet25]

We're coming from Indiana. Staying in All Star Music Suite Feb 8-14. 3 adults, 1 teenager, 2 toddlers, one newborn who will be nursing every 3 hours. It's a 14+ hour drive or a 2 hour flight. I will be taking a double stroller to all the parks. We have ADRs every morning before the parks open at Chef Mickey, Akershus, and Hollywood and Vine. Considering all this would you fly or drive?

We always drive. I have a lot of anxiety about flying, so it's not worth it to me. That obviously influences my view. That said, there's advantages to having a car; you don't have to worry about weight limits on luggage, having a car at your disposal can prove invaluable (or it might just sit in the resort parking lot all week!), overall it's just cheaper the more people you are flying with.

We have a 15 hour drive and we usually break it up into two days. The first day we usually stop close to GA/FL border then take our time driving to Orlando. The ride back does suck, I won't lie.

 

[kam1011]

I like driving. Especially when my kids were that little, I liked having the freedom to stop whenever, bring whatever, spread out in the car and be as loud as we want without offending anyone, etc. It works for us. Plus, we have the car when we're there to do whatever we want. We flew twice and I thought it was a huge pain. Now that my kids are a little bit older (4, 5, 7) I would consider flying if we got a great deal, otherwise, we're happy with what we've been doing.

 

[makclair]

Fly