Fly or drive?

[momof2intx]

We have been planning to drive from Texas to WDW which will take us about 2 total hours. Me and DH switching off and driving straight through to save money on stopping at a hotel. That will cost us about $460 I figure r/t with fill ups, snacks, meals etc.

We can fly standby on my father's AA passes for about $560. Only $100 more. The thing is, if I spend the additional $100 on passes and we fly, I will have to go down to the 4 day hopper instead of the 5 day to make up for the difference.

BUT -- I am a Homemade Gourmet Distributor and I have 3 homeshows the weekend before we leave and I could probably make at least $300 to take with us from them.

If I can swing it, do you think it is worth it to fly instead of drive? The flights look ok, have to do the early morning ones but at least we will make it on.

Then we have the question about a rental car. Do we need one? I found a towncar for $90 ($80 plus tip) r/t from the airport. Is that good deal? We are staying at the Wyndham Palace for the first 3 nights and then the ASMO for the other 3.

Thanks so much!!

 

[BethR]

The answer for us would be a no-brainer. We would have about the same length of a drive as you would (I am assuming that you mean 20 hours, not 2, with your costs being about $400. )

I would say FLY!!! But you have to understand - I can't stand being in a car to go across town. But even if I COULD, just THINKING about spending an entire day in our van with my DH and 4 DDs AND all of our paraphenalia make me break out in a cold sweat. I say work a few more shows and make your vacation a little more comfortable.

And I also recommend having a rental car. Many people disagree with me on this one, but for OUR family, having our own transportation is a must. DH does not mind driving, we just are not patient enough and we have just never been happy with WDW transportation (except the monorails). But as I said, there are MANY who feel the opposite. So you have to go with what YOU will feel comfortable.

Good Luck with your decisions!

 

[jilljill]

We do both, fly or drive. I am like BethR and have to have a car when we are there, I can't stand to wait for the buses. A lot of times the airfare is decent but the car rentals are expensive, so you have to look at all costs involved. We flew down Feb. '02 and then last summer I flew down once and then we drove down twice within a 3 week period - talk about Disney crazy. We also like the idea of eating and shopping off property.

 

[Kaa]

I live in Texas and have driven to WDW more times than I care to think about. It is SOOOO much better to fly than to drive!!! It only takes us 18 hours to drive, but then I need another day to recover! I can handle a 3 - 4 hour flight and still visit the parks in the same day.

I don't rent a car. It totally defeats the purpose of flying to begin with. I can say there are times I wish I had a vehicle, but the budget rules! The Disney transportation is sufficient for us.

That towncar deal is good. You will find that just about all the towncar companies charge the same for round-trip transfers from the airport.

Have Fun!

 

[Magic2000]

We live in La so its about a 12 hour drive for us; about 1.5 hrs to fly. We have flown a few times, but most of the time, we drive - again, budget rules! Although it is definitely more convenient to fly, we're a family of 5 so it costs a lot to fly, but only costs us approx $100 round trip to drive. We try to get most of our driving done at night so its easier for the kids.

When we do fly, we use the towncar service. We've never really had a problem with the Disney buses, they're very convenient for us.

Good luck!!

 

[SeaWitch]

I also live in TX and I am STILL looking for an airfare below $200... we ALWAYS fly - but if they don't come down in $$, we will be driving for the 1st time (and I'm really not looking foward to it!). Sure, it might be somewhat exciting on the way TO Florida (afterall, you would be going on vacation!) - but what about the drive back? YUCH!!!
....if only someone in my family worked for an airline!!!

I say - FLY!

 

[deirdrefitch]

It looks like we are going to be driving to Florida from Texas this June. So far, ticket prices have not been in the range we bought last summer. The drive to Orlando is not too bad. We are all really hyped up, and times passes fairly quickly. The ride home is a different story. We feel really drug out by the trip home. Flying is alot easier on the nerves. We rented a mini-van last summer, and found the convenience a plus. This was a lot easier than waiting for a bus, or to make a quick run to Wal-mart. I WILL BE PRAYING FOR CHEAPER AIRLINE TICKETS!

 

[MinnieGi]

We live in DE and have about a 17 hour drive to WDW. We drove for the first time this Feb. and actually found it quite RELAXING! And we have a 2 1/2 yo! Although flying is faster to get there I am always wiped out by the time we get to our WDW hotel that I need alot of recouperation time. With driving we pulled into AKL a noon of our second day of driving and I was very relaxed and ready to head to the parks, we all were! Plus it was very nice to have our own car down there. The drive home wasn't as exciting but it was not bad. We had lots of souveniers to keep us occupied and oh we also had a DVD player that was really great.

Price in airfare will determine whether we fly or drive in October. But now that we've driven we know that is a really great option and definetly a money saver.