For those who drive...

[Greenfield1984]

how long does your trip have to be to make driving worth it? I am planning our trip for end of January, and am looking at driving vs. flying. Driving would probably save us about $500, BUT of course it eats up a lot more time!

Either way we do it, we'd be at Disneyworld for 7 nights (if we drive we'll taken an extra day off of work). So do you find the 24 hour drive worth it for a week's vacation?

We're in Ottawa btw, so either driving from Ottawa, or flying out of Syracuse.

Thanks!

 

[iluveeyore]

We only drive if it's worth the money and time taken away from vacation - also, since you are driving in January, please keep the weather in mind. We drove home at the end of December about 18 years ago and got caught in a blizzard - it was horrible and scary, and we'll never drive in the winter again. We wanted to drive for our upcoming trip, but we need to rent a car to keep the wear and tear on our own down, and with the gas, staying over one night down and back and eating out on the road, it was just too much extra money. So we're flying out of Buffalo and renting a car for a couple of days when we get to Disney for grocery run.
Happy planning!

 

[disneydivermom]

We have always opted to fly. We try to get direct out of Buffalo for about $100 per person direct. Recently we went out of Detroit for just over $100 per person but could only get direct home.

We are planning on driving for the first time in January and making a couple day stop at Hilton Head then at Vero Beach before going to WDW for 5 days. On the way home we are stopping again to break up the trip.

Don't think I could do 24 hours direct.

Have a safe and fun trip.

 

[Csaks]

7 days would not be worth it for us. We go for 12 days so it is worth it then. 24 hrs straight is tough. Good luck.

 

[candygirlIRE]

We listed the figures for both driving and flying (to the best of our knowledge and estimates) and figured out that it was only $250-300 cheaper to drive --- not worth the arguing in the car with the kids

so we are flying this time.... Last time we drove and it was not so bad, but if the flight is a good price it's totally worth it!!

 

[iamadisneynut]

We always drive, but there are seven of us, so it's always much cheaper. We don't find the drive that bad, and we do a straight drive there and back (DH and I share the driving). For us it saves a couple thousand dollars to drive, so it's worth the time spent! And it's kind of become part of the family fun/tradition of the trip too!

 

[Debbie]

We always drive, but there are seven of us, so it's always much cheaper. We don't find the drive that bad, and we do a straight drive there and back (DH and I share the driving). For us it saves a couple thousand dollars to drive, so it's worth the time spent! And it's kind of become part of the family fun/tradition of the trip too!

This, when our kids were smaller. The other thing was, as a teacher, we always (but once) went in the summertime. So the drive was a treat....with lots of side trips.

The last trip we took with the youngest two, we flew, and at the end of the trip, both asked that we drive the next time. They missed stopping at Cracker Barrel and Waffle House. CB is an easy fix, with one just over an hour away, but WH? They were only in the southern states. (although I just checked and we could go to Toledo. Shhhh don't tell them! )

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

When driving down I-75 South from Toronto my family and I like to take our time and don't rush. These are a list of the cities we plan to stay in this coming December when we drive down.

1st Day we stay in Lexington, Kentucky.

2nd Day we stay in Cleveland, Tennessee.

3rd Day we stay in Valdosta, Georgia.

So the next day once we leave Valdosta we are around 4 hours away from Walt Disney World.

 

[canadianmom2three]

I think the shortest that we have had when driving is 7 days. We don't generally bother going for less than that unless we have a cheap flight. We usually always drive down to our in-laws in South Florida - which is 24 hours straight through for us. We are a family of 5 so flights are $$ and then adding a rental car is even more $$, plus we like our own car, and we don't mind the drive at all. Compared to their place, Disney seems like a short trip, we did it one year in l18 hours. We don't tend to do straight thru anymore (that was when the kids were babies), and they have kind of grown to like the trip. The kids know all the milestones now (the giant tire at Detroit, the giant cross, the dinosaur by all the fireworks places, the FLA border) and they love to read along in the "Along I75" book, so its generally not bad, except for in the case of bad weather. Lately we leave super early (like 4:00 a.m.) and do a really long driving day on the first day, stopping around 9 or 10:00 at night. We make it to Georgia (and the farther in the better!) on the first day, then do a short day the following day.

 

[dancin Disney style]

For it to be worth while the question is more of a how many people....not how long. We have done both....fly and drive....many times. If we are all going...family of 4...it can be a savings to drive but often we are able to get flights for about the same amount as the cost of the drive. Our oldest child now rarely comes with us on vacation so we fly more often as we can almost always get a flight for less than the cost of the drive.

As far as needing a car while on vacation...some times we need one and some times we don't but either way we feel that the cost of a rental is a fair trade for saving the wear to our own car.

 

[nokidz]

We always drive. We drive straight through. My wife and I share the duties, plus all our kids have D/L's so they can and have driven occasionally too. I usually drive until we get out of the winter weather conditions.
Usually there are 5 or 6 of us driving down, so flying is too expensive. We usually drive down anytime between the beginning of Jan to the end of Feb. And we are down there for roughly 9 or 10 days. This year we are leaving about 26 Jan and heading north about 4 Feb or so.
I start checking the weather a few days before we leave. I watch the Toronto, Buffalo, Erie and Pittsburgh reports and plan on a departure window of about 12 hours. Make sure you have plenty of wiper fluid and newer wiperblades. Also, snow tires are a must. On our return trip, occasionally, we spend the night at a half way point.
It takes my wife and I about 21 hours, add the kids in, we are 23/24 hours. Bathroom breaks never seem to co-ordinate!!!

 

[DisneyFairytale]

how long does your trip have to be to make driving worth it? I am planning our trip for end of January, and am looking at driving vs. flying. Driving would probably save us about $500, BUT of course it eats up a lot more time!

Either way we do it, we'd be at Disneyworld for 7 nights (if we drive we'll taken an extra day off of work). So do you find the 24 hour drive worth it for a week's vacation?

We're in Ottawa btw, so either driving from Ottawa, or flying out of Syracuse.

Thanks!

Absolutely worth it. We discovered how much money we saved by driving instead of flying. We are in Calgary, and found between the 2 of us even with "cheap" tickets we were looking at $1100-1200 for flights, and we still had to pay for the shutttle bus to the hotel, and were stuck to the park-nothing extra like universal studios etc because we wouldnt have a vehicle.

With the car you're looking at only about $400 on gas, a car in the states to do as we please AND because we have a vehicle, it also allowed us to save even more money by getting groceries at the local grocery store AND a vehicle to go to other parks AND spend that money saved from flights, into the trip.

Driving also allows us to make extra stops along the way, we've stopped in Las Vegas for dinner, and will be driving through san francisco this time.

We always take our vehicle as well. When we go on a trip tho, we typically stay for 10-14 days. I would do the drive if we stayed a minimum of the days. Don't think I would bother going at all, for any less than that.

I find driving far outweighs the cost and lack of freedom of a flight.

 

[3pletprincesses]

We drive from Ottawa most trips unless I'm travelling alone with the girls. It usually takes us 27 hours to drive none stop including stops to eat meals. To put it in perspective to fill up my van tank in Syracuse cost me $59 and here cost me $89. We usually leave on friday right after dinner (around 6pm) dh drive until 2-3am while I sleep then I take over until breakfast time. We stop for breakfast around 9am. Dh drives until mid- late afternoon ( late lunch meal) while I sleep and then I take over until Disney. We normally get there around 11pm. Our first night is neveer at Disney as we are never sure if we will encounter problems.

IMO if you intend to stop to sleep, then it's less worth it then if you are flying. flying out of Syracuse can be cheap. Last month's flight was $187 each plus our bags and I have paid as low $160 including bags. Also I got a super car rental deal where I paid $192( including all taxes) for 8 days for a Toyota Sienna from MCO and dropping it off at disney car care centre.

 

[DisneyFairytale]

IMO if you intend to stop to sleep, then it's less worth it then if you are flying.

I couldn't agree more. We drove straight down to Disney on the way in, but we stopped at a motel on the way back, and then realized after the fact how much time we had wasted. I was absolutely exhausted which is why I had decided to stop-but wish we hadn't.

I can't express the importance of driving straight to the park, unless making stops is your plan to begin with.

 

[nokidz]

First major stop is the outlet mall in St.Augustine. On the east side of the interstate. The Disney outlet there is amazing. Two years ago we stopped there on our way to the Disney Magic cruise ship. We bought DCL hoodies for $15. The exact same hoodies were $45 on the ship!

 

[DisneyFairytale]

First major stop is the outlet mall in St.Augustine. On the east side of the interstate. The Disney outlet there is amazing. Two years ago we stopped there on our way to the Disney Magic cruise ship. We bought DCL hoodies for $15. The exact same hoodies were $45 on the ship!

There is a really nice outlet store near anaheim. it's a bit of a drive, but we always stop there first before we go to Disney in case we see what we want there first. Gotta love outlet stores.

 

[Tanooki]

We started driving because we wanted to go more often and it does make a big difference for a family of 6
Even with an overnight stay (we are definitely not able to do it straight thru ), the whole trip costs around 600-700$, depending of gas price and it's at least double that for 6 plane tickets... when we get lucky!

And we must be in the minority here but we actually drove 2 days down and 2 days back for a 5-day stay last March break but we were going to US/IOA so it was the most relaxing vacation ever and it turned out just fine.
Could have done without the snowstorm in the Adirondacks coming back though...

 

[Disney-Chick]

We flew the first year back in 2006. We have gone every year now (between Dec-Feb) with an extra trip in February 2011. We do the drive usually in 2 days but then again we are 36 hours away & my DH does all the driving. To us we save more by driving & it allows us to go every year. We never go down less than 10 days minus the first year where we flew & stayed for 7 days. I enjoy the drive. You have to watch the weather & make sure you plan accordingly. We always end up leaving a day or two early so that we can stay in Old Town Kissimmee for a few nights. Plus we were able to stop in other places like NY, South of the Border etc. Next year our BIG drive to Disneyland!!! 62 days till we leave!!!

 

[Daisy-J&D]

We just flew for the first time and I have to say that although I had fun, it was expensive and frustrating so I think I prefer driving. Especially since we can pack and buy as much as we want and even bring balloons home!

Here is what I worke out for our flight vs driving.

-Airfare for 3 from Toronto : $1200 return, tax incl.

-Airport Limo $120 return
-Hotel when we arrived late at night $150 (Hyatt MCO)
-Rental Car 13 nights $230
-Stroller Rental $140
Gas $40
FLYING = $1880

Driving..
Gas $400
Hotel $200
Food $200
DRIVING = $800

GA

 

[Daisy-J&D]

ETA (on iPhone and can't scroll down further)
When we drive we take 6 days vacation and 2 weekends. We leave on Friday and arrive mid-Day Sunday and depart Disney Saturday morning. 6 nights has always felt pretty good but now that we've flown, despite liking the money saved, amount we can pack in our car and liking the drive it is VERY NICE to have extra time.