For those who drive to Disney, WHY???

[coachv]

With the VCR/TV go to radio shack and buy a 3 way splitter (Radio Shack) for headphones and buy each kid a set of earphones. I recommend the cover the ear kind instead of the smaller walkman types. Let the kids have their Barney noises and you can enjoy the radio or cd player. We also hook up the Nintendo system as well. Get a power inverter at Wal-mart fairly cheap. We drive from Ft. Worth, Texas to WDW in two days. It is much easier with kids to stay 1 night with kids than drive straight through. I always find a stopping point on the map and decide this is where we are going to stay and then get on Priceline and bid on a 2.5 star hotel for $25 dollars(I have been successful everytime with hotels like Fairfield Inn and Holiday Inn Express). Do this also for the return trip.

 

[cbrfan]

There have been really good points made on the pros and cons of driving vs. flying. We've done both and two words sum up why we choose to fly: CAR TROUBLE!!!!! It puts a whole new prospective on how much you're willing to pay to make the potential hassles someone else's problem.

 

[sheryl0521]

First..... Married2Grumpy - LOVE your screen name!! I am married to an occasional grumpy guy too!

We have always flown to WDW, and we are trying our first shot at driving in Feb. Mainly because it is a last minute trip over school vacation time and the flight cost for 4 seats would start at $1200.

We just joined DVC and we could take advantage of our membership more if we could eliminate the cost of flying.

We have family who have done the drive and they have had good things to say. Although they don't do it with 2 kids, so that will add a new flavor to it!

 

[Mskanga]

We have done the drive before with two small children and we are doing it again next week, I have a VCR in a bag with a few TV taped shows from Cartoons to shows that my kids can't watch during the day , they also take their games and books and dh and I share the drive , somewhere midway we get a hotel room and the next day we keep going again , this time we are taking three days to travel and our travel times is only supposed to be 17 hours. we stop every 3 hours for a potty break and stretch our legs , we usually have food and drinks with us. For us this is the way to see other things in the country which is part of our vacation fun. The reason why we are driving this time is because we just started planning this trip 5 weeks ago and I just came back from WDW 7 weeks ago, the girls and I are going back in December and we will be flying or even taking the train I don't know.

 

[married2grumpy]

I'm starting to think maybe it would be better to stop over somewhere instead of driving straight through. I like the Priceline idea for a cheap hotel room. We do have relatives in Virginia we can stay with but that's only 5-6 hours into our trip. That might be an option for the trip home. I think headphones for the VCR are a must. I also like the books on tape idea. I know frequent potty breaks are unavoidable as well as stopping for gas and to eat. I'm sure we can find a place to stop where we can do all 3. My husband has a long commute to and from work, sometimes it's been as long as 2-3 hours coming home. He also was a truck driver many years back where he had to drive all day long. I don't think the drive will be a problem for him as much as it will be for the kids and myself. If we flew, we would have to travel on weekdays rather than on a weekend to get the best fares. If we drive, we could actually extend our trip by 2 nights because we can start the drive down on a Friday evening. We are thinking of purchasing AP's this time around. The Disney resorts are reasonable with the AP discounts and if you don't have to pay for admission again, the only big expense if flying. If we try the drive and like it, we may be able to go again once or twice more before our AP's expire. For now we will plan on doing the drive this May and keep an eye out for any airfares that we just can't pass up. I'm willing to try the drive at least once!

 

[erikthewise]

I understand people attempting to save money by driving as it cuts down on immediate out of pocket expenses. But it doesn't seem to add up to me.

Apparently they don't believe in operating costs. Even if you believe that your car will last a certain length of time regardless of how many miles you drive it, the operating costs are in the range of 10-15 cents per mile, which works out to $200-$300 for a 2000 mile round-trip (from where I live).

If you believe that your car will last a certain fixed number of miles, which seems more reasonable to me, then the proper figure is more like 35 cents per mile. (AAA figures for total ownership costs are in the neighborhood of 50 cents a mile, of which 15 cents are fixed ownership costs, like insurance, registration, etc.) Now we're talking $700 for a 2000 mile round-trip! If you now add in $100-150 a day for two extra days of meals and lodging (family of four), we're talking nearly $900-$1000 to drive!

I have not even attempted to put a dollar figure on the value of 2 extra days spent traveling that could have been spent at WDW, or the fact that flying is much, much safer than driving that distance.

Last year our family of four flew for under $600. Airfare would have to be twice that before I'd even start thinking about driving.

 

[barbeml]

Thumbs up for driving. We have flown to WDW three times previously. To get earliest flight, we would stay over at Philly Airport Hilton. So when we added up the flight cost & hours, hotel cost and hours, driving seemd worth a try last fall. We LOVED it!! (We do not have kids). We left at 5AM on a Friday, breezed down 295 to Delaware, took 301 to bypass traffic, stayed overnight at Hampton Inn Richmond Hill ($69 for a clean, comfy room and a darn good free breakfast). Left next AM at 8, arrived in WDW less than 5 hours later relaxed, refreshed and ready to go. My Cavalier gets great mileage, so gas was a reasonable expense.

I hate to fly for many reasons--sardine can seating, dry air, germs (I almost always get sick after flying), cost, hassles, limits on luggage, and the fact that I do not enjoy being treated like garbage and paying for it. In the car, we listened to books on CD, tracked our progress with our portable GPS unit, stopped when we needed to. I packed a foam cooler with sandwiches, snacks, and tons of beverages, and this served as our in-room mini bar at the Poly. Also, we were able to buy some art and bring in home without worrying about the airline wrecking it or stealing it.

We saved money and aggravation, and are planning to drive for our next WDW trip.

I have a friend who used to be a flight attendant with a major US carrier. After listening to her stories, I may never fly again. (She is unwilling to fly any domestic airline).

Driving may not be for everyone, but you'll never know unless you try it. Those Starbucks Double Shots are a big help, too!

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by erikthewise
I understand people attempting to save money by driving as it cuts down on immediate out of pocket expenses. But it doesn't seem to add up to me.

Apparently they don't believe in operating costs. Even if you believe that your car will last a certain length of time regardless of how many miles you drive it, the operating costs are in the range of 10-15 cents per mile, which works out to $200-$300 for a 2000 mile round-trip (from where I live).

If you believe that your car will last a certain fixed number of miles, which seems more reasonable to me, then the proper figure is more like 35 cents per mile. (AAA figures for total ownership costs are in the neighborhood of 50 cents a mile, of which 15 cents are fixed ownership costs, like insurance, registration, etc.) Now we're talking $700 for a 2000 mile round-trip! If you now add in $100-150 a day for two extra days of meals and lodging (family of four), we're talking nearly $900-$1000 to drive!

I have not even attempted to put a dollar figure on the value of 2 extra days spent traveling that could have been spent at WDW, or the fact that flying is much, much safer than driving that distance.

Last year our family of four flew for under $600. Airfare would have to be twice that before I'd even start thinking about driving.

Not everyone that drives does it to save money. We do it because we like it! It costs us much more driving then flying. As far as cutting time off the trip that doesn't happen for us. We decide ahead of time how long we want to stay at WDW. Then we add travel time on to that. We can stay at WDW for a month if we want but feel that 9 days is plenty. Especially since we go 3 times a year.

 

[clkelley]

The reason we drive is it almost takes about the same amount of time to drive as it does to fly and we also feel it saves us money.

It takes us about 11 hours to drive the 700 miles to WDW, but we do break it up.

It takes about 8 hours from our house to our WDW resort to fly if there are no delays in Atlanta. (We have NO direct flights)

We usually leave at 1:30 on Friday and drive to Ocala and stay at a cheap Super 8 at $45 a night with taxes, then get up early the next morning and head on to WDW. We arrive at our resort early in the morning and have the best choice of rooms.

If we flew, we would be leaving the house around 4pm on Friday and getting to WDW about midnite, so we don't lose any park time there.

A week later Saturday, we leave WDW about 10pm and drive back up to Ocala and stay at the same Super 8 and then head back home Sunday.

If we flew we would have to meet our town car on Sunday about 3pm, so we do lose Sunday morning by driving.

The comparison is as follows:
Two adults, two teenage boys

Airline tickets - $640
Parking at home - $55
Towncar - $100
Two expensive meals at Atlanta airport - $120
First and last night at All-Stars - $160.00

Total $1075

Driving

Gas - $144.00
Tolls - $2.00
Less expensive meals on the road - $60
First and last night at Super 8 - $90

Total $296.00

And if you want to play the mileage game - 1400 miles round trip at 35 cents a mile is $490.00. Still well below the cost of flying.

So for us, it makes a lot more sense to drive.

 

[MM1102]

If you're a Yankee like me, and you've never driven, give it a try next time and consider it part of the adventure. We've driven and flown and each have their own special aggravations, but on our last drive down and back we: stayed in Nashville and checked out the original Grand Ole Opry; got stuck in traffic on 95 and jumped off on a highway that ran through cotton fields and pecan groves (yeah, we picked cotton for the kids' show-and-tell); had to stop in the middle of a street to avoid running over an elderly black guy in the middle of some little Georgia town because he was riding his lawn mower down the middle of the street like he was the emperor of the place (maybe he was--it was a priceless Americana moment); ate grits; stayed in Savannah on the way back and took in a brief bit of the place's immense charm.

Having said all that, we're flying next time...dang it takes a long time to drive down there and back.

 

[jh123]

We've driven down twice from Central Jersey and would do it again. It took us about 16 hours. We leave at 8:00pm and drive straight through. My kids fall asleep by 11:00 and sleep until about 7:00am. (Although this last time we stopped at a few gas stations with the brightest overhead lighting I have ever seen! The kids woke up, used the restrooms, and went right back to sleep as soon as we started driving again.) My husband and I switch off driving and sleeping. It works pretty well for us. You also have to remember that the speed limit goes up to 70 or 75 when you get down to the Carolinas I think. Driving overnight, you miss almost all of the traffic on the roads. There were stretches of I-95 where we didn't see another car for miles! We arrived in Orlando at 11:00am, went to an early lunch, then checked into our hotel early and sat by the pool the rest of the day. Went to bed early and were ready to hit the parks the next morning.
We did stop overnight on the way home. It made for a more relaxing trip home.
Good luck whatever you choose.
Joan

 

[dcfromva]

First of all, Driving is way more expensive for us.

Aug 2002. Planned dates: Aug 25-Sept1.

2 weeks before the trip--Honey, I can get an extra day off from work and we can leave a day early and get to WDW a day early!

New planned dates: Aug24th-Sept1. To the budget add $200 for 1 more night at the Polynesian. Add $150 for dinner at Bistro De Paris.... (Since we already had annual passes, there is more of an urge to go early, too!)

3 days before the trip--"Honey, why don't we see if there is availability at Disney's Hilton Head Island resort on points (for tommorrow!) and see if we can get another day at the Polynesian.... Wouldn't it be great if we could leave tommorrow instead of waiting for 3 more days?" Add $200. for 1 more night at Polynesian (and all the other expenses associated with more days).....New planned dates HHI Aug 22, WDW 23Aug-Sept!


Dec 2002. Planned dates: 30Dec -3 Jan.
..well, on this occasion, we only left one day early and stayed at Portofino Bay Hotel so that we could take a look at the Christmas decorations at Universal....(add Universal Annual passes to the budget, et'c et'ct)


Long story short. We like to drive so that we can alter our plans, but we have found it's not the most economical . We also like to make stops along the way. (There are a lot of National Parks to see along the way!)

-DC

 

[deb305]

We just got back from WDW, 1000 mile drive each way. InJ uly 2001 we flew. Left house at 6:30 in morning, with delays, weather, etc got to POR at 11:30 at night, exhausted. Spent over $300 (with tax, insur etc) on rental car.This time left 6:30 morning, stopped at 5PM at Hampton Inn in Macon, GA, got to GF at 12:30 afternoon next day. Rested and ready to go.

With the money we saved on air fare, we upgraded to concierge. Drove this time with 4.5 yr DD, and almost 13 month DS. Drive made easier by having hand held portable DVD.

Next time, provided we have the vacation days, we'll probably drive again. Less stressful for us than flying.

 

[bobcat]

I also like the convienience of being able to change my plans. We have arrived earlier than planned, stayed later then planned and been able to have a relaxing vacation.

erik it's going to cost me the same amount of operating costs over the life of my car if I drive to WDW or not. If I didn't drive to WDW we would take other trips in the car, thus putting the same amount of miles on the car anyway. I bought my car to drive it, not let it sit while I pay it off. It's like buying art but not wanting to display it because the sun and dirt will damage it over time.

 

[campingcorgi]

Originally posted by married2grumpy


Why do you all drive?

We drive because the motorhome is too big to be used as a carryon!

No, seriously, I just prefer driving--flying is okay, but the drive is part of the vacation. Planning the route, packing treats and prizes for the kids, 'collecting' license plates, it's all fun to us!

 

[Jacksmom99]

Here's another vote for driving. WDW is about 22 hours from home. We make the trip in two days with one overnight stop. The kids are fine and this year we are going to get DS his own set of headphones so DH can listen to sports radio in everystate we pass through Last year I borrowed Toystorymom's TV/VCR combo and that worked out so well, I'm getting one of our own. There are several reasons why we drive. 1) $$$ It only cost us around $350 for the round trip drive. Can you buy airline tickets for 4 and get a rental car that cheaply? 2) I would rather have dental surgery than sit like a sardine in the airplane seats. In fact, last November I could've performed dental surgery on the woman infront of me when she reclined her seat into my lap I totally understand BUT NOT CONDONE air rage!!! 3) Side trips are fun. On our first trip we took 3 days to drive down and spent one night in Washington DC letting DS run around the Washington Monument. 4) At this point in our financial lives, we can only stay at WDW for 6 days, so adding days onto our trip at WDW really isn't an option. 5) Flying is such a hassle, security, getting to the airport sooo early, trying to find parking or a ride to the airport, it really isn't worth it. DH and I have gotten into an argument everytime we've been in the Orlando airport from travel stress. What a way to start a vacation. 6) Quality time with DH. We have 24 hours to really talk with each other fairly uniterrupted. We spend the trip home planning the next trip!! We really enjoy the drive probably wouldn't fly unless it were free in 1st class

 

[pw2pp]

I would rather have dental surgery than sit like a sardine in the airplane seats. In fact, last November I could've performed dental surgery on the woman infront of me when she reclined her seat into my lap

LOL! I am cracking up over here. That is hilarious. LOL!

 

[colleen costello]

I am terrified of flying. I have done lots of research and I know it is safer than 15 hours on the highway, but there is no accounting for phobias. Looking forward to the flight home would ruin all my time with Mickey. So we drive. We make it "part of the adventure" and we have a nice Honda minivan and a tv/vcr. We make lots of little stops and try to be HAPPY -- we are on vacation! We do the majority of driving the first day and finish up (5 hours) the second.

It is usually cheaper to drive if you have the time. We'll stay in a Holiday Inn Express or a Fairfield for $70 and breakfast for 4 is included. It is also wonderful to have your own vehicle at WDW -- you get spoiled! We went to Sea World last year too and having the van was great. I also can pack tons of junk like pool toys and snacks because I am not limited to airline rules.

If I was deciding about flying, I would only fly if I could get nonstop. Connections are too "iffy" nowadays, and with all the security and weirdness, once up and down is enough. I would also insist on JETS, not puddle-jumpers. Just thinking of those gives me goosebumps.

 

[Pig Pen]

DH loves to drive. To him it's not a vacation unless he can drive for 2 days straight

When the kids were little and we had the van, it wasn't so bad. We would take 2 days going down, sleeping in the cheapest motels we could find along the interstate and eating out of a cooler. We didn't have any money so it was either drive or not go.

Now, kids are grown and after the last "road-trip" I put my foot down and we are flying in May. I have flown down several times and it cannot be beat. We leave Vermont at 6:00 am and are in Orlando at 11:00.

However, my brother and his family (wife and 2 sons ages 3 and 1) are flying down at the end of Feb and it sounds like it's going to be a nightmare. They are worried about being on a plane for so long with 2 little ones and then they are renting a car and have to rent car seats and they are dragging strollers (I told them not to, but they've never been before and don't understand).

My SIL is one of those types that has every kid gadget known to mankind and she's bringing it all with her....

In that case, I think I would pick a van over flying!

 

[WINTER]

When we drive, which we have done many, many times is because it saves money. This year, because we need to be in Florida on 2 Saturdays, we are flying and looking forward to it. It is probably costing us about $400 more to fly than drive.