Flying vs Driving With Kids

[brockash]

We are planning a trip in May of this year with me, my wife, and our 2 boys (age 5 & 3). Our last two trips we've driven from Oklahoma City to WDW, taking approximately two day each direction which included an overnight hotel stay each way, plus we usually hit the beach for part of a day. While at WDW we just drove to the park, instead of using the internal transportation, because I liked having the control/freedom to come & go as I pleased.

So I may be going crazy and considering flying, but I am not sure if I am comfortable with giving up that control.

I like the idea of being there in a matter of hours and if we drive down to Dallas we can fly out of there for a pretty reasonable price on Southwest...with all the various factors flying is only $250-$450 more and saves a ton of time (driving is like 19hrs + gas/food/bathroom stops + overnight stops to sleep as opposed to 3hr drive to Dallas + 3.5 hr flight + time @ the airport).

What are your thoughts...convince me that Disney transportation will work well for us. Is Magical Express good even if you take an early morning departure (7:55am)?

Anything I need to consider before choosing one way or the other? The only time I've ever flown is on a business trip to Washington DC, so I am not sure how to fly with kids; I am used to the road trip thing because that is what my family always did growing up.

As a kid we drove more than we flew. As an adult we only fly. I'm not a fan of driving long distances and my kids have never been a problem flying really at any age. We always solely use Disney transportation and although I'm a control freak myself, I love not having to drive while we're there.

 

[sapdaddy2]

My sons are 16 & 13 and have never been on an airplane. We have traveled a lot since they were infants and that is all they are use to. Pack a back pack with stuff for them to do. We own an RV and DW would have a special toy each day for them to have on our trips. Our trips to FW usually take about 26 hours one way and we can usually do the trip in 3 leisurely days. We leave every morning around 4:00am and stop at 2:00pm so the boys could play at the campground.

 

[jcjen519]

We fly everywhere pretty much with our 4 yr old. We live in atlanta area so could and have done the wdw drive but I don't like it. My husband and I agree the thought of it makes us not want to go.

We've been flying with our son since he was about 10 months old and I have been regularly flying solo with him since he was like 2. It's no big deal. I bring a few things but on short flights he is generally entertained by trips to the bathroom, looking out the window and some coloring.

Me works fine for us but u could rent a car to get there. I believe your arrival is during the normal me hours so no problem there.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[mandi1590]

Just be aware Southwest will not have direct flights out of Dallas to Orlando until October.

 

[SEA333]

We are planning a trip in May of this year with me, my wife, and our 2 boys (age 5 & 3). Our last two trips we've driven from Oklahoma City to WDW, taking approximately two day each direction which included an overnight hotel stay each way, plus we usually hit the beach for part of a day. While at WDW we just drove to the park, instead of using the internal transportation, because I liked having the control/freedom to come & go as I pleased.

So I may be going crazy and considering flying, but I am not sure if I am comfortable with giving up that control.

I like the idea of being there in a matter of hours and if we drive down to Dallas we can fly out of there for a pretty reasonable price on Southwest...with all the various factors flying is only $250-$450 more and saves a ton of time (driving is like 19hrs + gas/food/bathroom stops + overnight stops to sleep as opposed to 3hr drive to Dallas + 3.5 hr flight + time @ the airport).

What are your thoughts...convince me that Disney transportation will work well for us. Is Magical Express good even if you take an early morning departure (7:55am)?

Anything I need to consider before choosing one way or the other? The only time I've ever flown is on a business trip to Washington DC, so I am not sure how to fly with kids; I am used to the road trip thing because that is what my family always did growing up.

We have done both from Chicago. The first time, we drove. We left at 7pm on a friday night, drove through the night, the whole day and arrived at about 8pm Saturday. It was really fun, to be honest, except the part where DS11 decided to push all of his weight down on a styrofoam cup in the cupholder (he claimed it was an accident LOL), so we had a cupholder full of poweraide to clean up at the Florida border. At least we were at a gas station at the time!

On the way home, we left the following Friday afternoon around 2pm or so, drove to Nashville TN where we spent the night, then woke up at around 9am the next morning for the rest of the ride. We ended up back at home at about 5pm.

We stopped many times and took our time on the way home. No rush!

This last time, we flew out of Ohare in Chicago. We got round trip flights on Spirit for $628 out the door, including one 14x12x10" personal bag each and one prepaid 60 inch rolling suitcase, which was plently for our 5 day trip. We left at 10am on a Thursday, arrived in ORD at about 1pm and went straight to the Hertz counter for our rental (DH works for an affiliate of Hertz, so we got a deep, deep discount on a week's rental). We left for the airport at about 3:30pm the following Monday and got home by about 7:30pm.

Because we had a car both times, I would say that I love having the car. We passed the DME busses on the way to the rental car and saw the line of people waiting. We buzzed past and hopped into the car. Going home, we were able to wait at least an extra hour AND made a stop in DTD to spend our leftover snack credits before heading to the airport, which we couldn't have done with DME. Not to mention getting awesome parking spots at the parks and not having to worry about catching busses....our car was always parked right outside our door at POR.

FWIW, my kids loved the car trip and said they want to do it again over flying. It seemed like much more of an adventure to them!! Personally, I like driving, too - there is nothing more beautiful than the Kentucky hills as the sun is coming up (although you wouldn't see those from your direction...but I am sure there is something equally as awesome in your path!). I liked flying because it meant less days off of work, but to us, taking 10 days with driving just means a longer vacation since we count our vaca as beginning the second we leave the house!

 

[laughinplace199]

I think this depends on how your family is in the car. Driving time is not enjoyable vacation time for us at all. Neither DH nor I enjoy driving for long periods of time. Our kids are either really good in the car or really unbearable. We live in MA and I would never drive to FL with them. Going to VA, which we do a couple of times a year, is pushing it for us.

Fly! Use ME! Worked for us. The only downside was that we got tired of Disney food and that was all we had available to us outside of some snack and stuff that we had in the room/had shipped.

This time we get the best of both worlds: my parents are driving down and picking us up from the airport!

We aren't road trip people either. Even the 3 hr drive to Storyland kills me. I would rather poke flaming toothpicks into my eyes than drive to WDW.

We fly and rent a car when we get there. We really enjoy having dinner at other resorts and have no desire to take two buses each way to get to another resort.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We fly everywhere pretty much with our 4 yr old. We live in atlanta area so could and have done the wdw drive but I don't like it. My husband and I agree the thought of it makes us not want to go.

From Atlanta???? Shoot, you're almost there compared to most of us

Bad part about flying (to Disney, anyway) for you is you maybe gain 2 hours when it's all said and done - assuming no delays

 

[Annie78]

We are lucky - 30 min away from airport with 2 hr non-stops to MCO, which we can usually get around $200 RT. I have no idea what it would cost us to drive down, but I am willing to pay a lot extra to save 2 full days of vacation time.

 

[hawkeyesparks]

I have driven twice with my kids. I live in Texas and it's two days. My wife and I are just exhausted when we finally get home. Decided last year that would be the last time I drove.

 

[tlh0726]

The decision was so much easier when I had a minivan and horrible mpg

We can drive from south central pa (gettysburg area) to orlando, drive around for the week, and make the return trip for just over $200 in fuel it is hard to justify the price of flights for 4 and rental car (we dont do disney buses)

We leave around 2am and drive straight through getting to the hotel around 430/5 pm

The return trip we normally spend part of the day at a park until 3ish and then start the drive home. We stop around 11, sleep at a hotel, and then finish the drive the next day.

 

[Fjobe]

We are flying for the first time this June, so I do not yet know what it's like to fly with kids. Hopefully it's not too bad since I will have 3 of them and DH isn't coming. I just know that I am really looking forward to not being the only driver for 15-17 hours! Even when DH comes, I stay awake the whole time because I feel like I need to be awake to keep him company.

 

[SweetMissy]

This is such a hard decision...one that hubby and I have pondered over and over again, lol. We're from NY and have done the drive twice now...each time saying I would never do it again. But we're 90% sure we'll be driving again this year, since it does save us much more when compared to the cost of flying. We're in the same boat as you...takes us 2 days there and back, along with the frustration with it taking sooooooo long! But we do have fun driving....builds memories. Good luck deciding!

 

[snoopy5386]

I have a 7 and a 3 year old and driving that far with them sounds like absolute pure torture. I do not have good car travelers, it seems as if they are asking for something every 10 minutes or less in the car - snacks, drinks, toys, etc and then they drop those things 500 times and we have to do car gymnastics to try and reach the beloved toy that they just dropped and can't possibly go another second without and are crying loudly about (this is mostly the 3 yo). They aren't ones to play with little toys like cars or dolls while sitting in their seats and such things only last a few minutes as entertainment. Drawing or coloring - they drop the markers, crayons, stickers, etc and then can't retrieve them. They also get extremely loud in the car whether it is happy loud or sad loud, it's a lot for DH and I to take. We often wish for the limo divider window in the back seat! The only time they are quiet is when they are watching a movie and frankly being zombified in front of a screen for 18 or 20 hours is not something I want to do. The oldest gets carsick and the youngest can't read yet, it makes for a tough ride. Neither really fall asleep unless it is past 10 pm and DH and I can't do an overnight drive, neither one can sleep while the other is driving and we'd be too exhausted without any rest. The 3 yo especially gets frustrated with being strapped into a 5 point harness after a number of hours and frankly I can't blame her, I would do the same I think and just gets to a point where she loses it and cries until we stop driving. 6 hours has proved to be our limit and we are all frazzled, frustrated, grumpy and exhausted when we arrive at our destination.

Much prefer flying where they can burn off some energy at the airport and interact with them more easily on the plane. I don't mind them watching a movie on the plane for 2 hours vs 20 in the car. They can color easily on the tray tables, etc. And mom and dad can read, zone out or watch a movie ourselves, not possible in the car. Flying all the way.

 

[LaurenPlock]

Let me preface my response by saying that my DH and I are crazy, and how we do things isn't for everyone! We drive through the night. Our daughter sleeps while we drive, which cuts down on bathroom breaks (because, let's be honest, the kids take most of the bathroom breaks!). We take driving in shifts, typically start after sundown, pack a cooler with snacks and bottled water; it works out well for us. We play to our strengths: I'm a night owl, and my husband is an early riser, so he takes first shift from 6-11, I go from 11-4, he does 4-7, we break for coffee/food/stretching, and I drive from 8 to lunch (typically 1pm). This way both of us get some rest, an entire day isn't wasted with travel, and we beat the traffic when traveling through major cities. For us, I'd rather spend that extra $250-400 bucks elsewhere and tough it out driving. But like I said, what we do isn't for everyone, and it took us awhile to figure out a system that worked for us (when we were first married, DH wouldn't let me drive on long trips, said he "couldn't sleep in the car and didn't mind driving". He got over that pretty quickly, lol).

 

[2DisPrincesses]

Let me preface my response by saying that my DH and I are crazy, and how we do things isn't for everyone! We drive through the night. Our daughter sleeps while we drive, which cuts down on bathroom breaks (because, let's be honest, the kids take most of the bathroom breaks!). We take driving in shifts, typically start after sundown, pack a cooler with snacks and bottled water; it works out well for us. We play to our strengths: I'm a night owl, and my husband is an early riser, so he takes first shift from 6-11, I go from 11-4, he does 4-7, we break for coffee/food/stretching, and I drive from 8 to lunch (typically 1pm). This way both of us get some rest, an entire day isn't wasted with travel, and we beat the traffic when traveling through major cities. For us, I'd rather spend that extra $250-400 bucks elsewhere and tough it out driving. But like I said, what we do isn't for everyone, and it took us awhile to figure out a system that worked for us (when we were first married, DH wouldn't let me drive on long trips, said he "couldn't sleep in the car and didn't mind driving". He got over that pretty quickly, lol).

This is almost exactly out method too (from Michigan). Works well for us for now!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I have a 7 and a 3 year old and driving that far with them sounds like absolute pure torture. I do not have good car travelers, it seems as if they are asking for something every 10 minutes or less in the car - snacks, drinks, toys, etc and then they drop those things 500 times and we have to do car gymnastics to try and reach the beloved toy that they just dropped and can't possibly go another second without and are crying loudly about (this is mostly the 3 yo). They aren't ones to play with little toys like cars or dolls while sitting in their seats and such things only last a few minutes as entertainment. Drawing or coloring - they drop the markers, crayons, stickers, etc and then can't retrieve them. They also get extremely loud in the car whether it is happy loud or sad loud, it's a lot for DH and I to take. We often wish for the limo divider window in the back seat! The only time they are quiet is when they are watching a movie and frankly being zombified in front of a screen for 18 or 20 hours is not something I want to do. The oldest gets carsick and the youngest can't read yet, it makes for a tough ride. Neither really fall asleep unless it is past 10 pm and DH and I can't do an overnight drive, neither one can sleep while the other is driving and we'd be too exhausted without any rest. The 3 yo especially gets frustrated with being strapped into a 5 point harness after a number of hours and frankly I can't blame her, I would do the same I think and just gets to a point where she loses it and cries until we stop driving. 6 hours has proved to be our limit and we are all frazzled, frustrated, grumpy and exhausted when we arrive at our destination.

Much prefer flying where they can burn off some energy at the airport and interact with them more easily on the plane. I don't mind them watching a movie on the plane for 2 hours vs 20 in the car. They can color easily on the tray tables, etc. And mom and dad can read, zone out or watch a movie ourselves, not possible in the car. Flying all the way.

You need to ditch the crayons and get doodle boards. The stylus is attached by a string

 

[MandiC]

We live in Wisconsin, and there's no way we'd drive. It'd take up almost 4 whole days of our vacation to drive (2 days each way since with kids I am sure we'd have to make stops and stay overnight somewhere). The 4 days of travel would alone make it totally not worth a $200-300 savings...because we'd be eating and likely have to pay for a hotel on the way there and back. Plus, the stress, I don't think dh and I would like each other much once we got to Disney and dh's vacation time is very valuable. He absolutely cannot get more than a week vacation at a time, so that would leave us with 3 days in the parks, more time driving than in the parks...no thanks. We did drive to a cheaper airport, took 2.5 hours each way and that was more than enough driving for us...but we got direct flights from Southwest for a reasonable price so it was very worth it for us.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

We live in Wisconsin, and there's no way we'd drive. It'd take up almost 4 whole days of our vacation to drive (2 days each way since with kids I am sure we'd have to make stops and stay overnight somewhere). The 4 days of travel would alone make it totally not worth a $200-300 savings...because we'd be eating and likely have to pay for a hotel on the way there and back. Plus, the stress, I don't think dh and I would like each other much once we got to Disney and dh's vacation time is very valuable. He absolutely cannot get more than a week vacation at a time, so that would leave us with 3 days in the parks, more time driving than in the parks...no thanks. We did drive to a cheaper airport, took 2.5 hours each way and that was more than enough driving for us...but we got direct flights from Southwest for a reasonable price so it was very worth it for us.

I believe OP was including the cost of the hotel and food while traveling when calculating the savings. OP also doesn't have your time constraints. That said, I do get what you're saying.

For us, it's the opposite. The cost of the flights (if we even desired to fly, which we don't) would force us to take a shorter vacation. We spent 8 nights at Disney and drove. The thought that flying would have allowed 10 nights doesn't work in our case. Had we flown, we would have only had enough money left to spend 5 nights

 

[pavicich]

If the difference is $250-$450 total then I would apply that amount over the difference you will have to spend in the car. Depending on the value you place on your time per hour it may help sway your decision.

 

[J3nn78]

We've done both, but we prefer driving. We are a family of 5 and have driven with kids at 2 months, 2 years and on up. Our oldest is 9. We all prefer the drive. So much less stressful than flying. There are too many restrictions on packing, I hate tight, cramped spaces on the plane, and long security lines. To me, nothing worse than beginning a vacation stressed out from the journey.
We enjoy the journey as much as the destination. We look for something new to stop and see each trip. We live in New Jersey and usually make the drive with 2 nights hotel on the way down and one night on the return. The kids love the car ride with new games and movies. DH and I enjoy the time conversing and listening to books on CD.