Help from those in MA!

[Disney87]

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[alyssa810]

My DH and I drove down back when we were in college, and we drove down from Wareham. It was just the 2 of us driving and we left around 10 am and drove all the way through to Georgia. We stopped for food and bathroom breaks, and then at a rest area for about 3 hours so we both could sleep. We got to our 192 hotel around 11:30 am the next day.

To put into perspective, that was the one and only time we drove down.
Things to consider is that 1200 miles can be conquered in a 3 hour flight or a whole days worth of driving, and your time is valuable too. Sometimes you can fly for a song too- we've flown for as little $100 RT on southwest out of both Manchester and Providence, and now that SW is coming to Boston, you might be able to get a decent deal (they just aren't flying direct- yet)- although it's been a while since we've flown for that cheap. If you flew you could choose to not get a rental car to save costs- or get one for the convenience. If you stay on site, you don't have to pay for parking, or you could use magical express to get you to your resort and then just use WDW transportation...

 

[pyrxtc]

I think it depends on how many people are going. Our family of 6 finds it cheaper to drive than fly. We have driven once and will be doing it again in January.

 

[dizneechic]

I've driven many times, but as one of the pp's mentioned it's a matter of time vs money. Our favorite timing is leaving one day after work, essentially missing all traffic through the cities. We go straight through to Virginia (get there around 1:30-2:00 AM and crash for a few hours. We're usually back on the road by 6:00-7:00 and get to WDW around 9:00-10:00 PM depending on how many stops we make. We can check in, get a great nights sleep and be ready for opening the next day, so essentially we spend 1 full day traveling and don't arrive exhausted since we got the head start the previous day after work. On the way home we've driven straight through and we've also planned it with a few days at Virginia Beach or a 6 Flags NJ / Atlantic City stop over.

With kids I will only fly, we do mid week to mid week and get non stop tix for under 200 round trip out of Logan. We found when flying be flexible with your dates, bumping the day by one in either direction changed our flights from 188RT to 655RT, it was cheaper to stay the extra day even when adding in the expense of the extra nights hotel, tix and food!

 

[Schmeck]

When gas prices are low, it's cheaper to drive, especially if you have extra luggage you want to bring with you. It does eat 2-4 days out of your vacation time though.

With kids, it's a 1 1/2 - 2 day drive each way (about 22 hours from the MA/NH border down 495 to MA turnpike, Jersey turnpike, Tappanzee bridge, loop outside of DC, then straight down 95 to 4.) with rest stops, gas, and a motel night.

With adults, going straight through, it's just a day if everyone takes turns. Just make sure people are sleeping enough before their turn to drive!

Also, getting an insanely early (3-4AM) start helps you get through the morning city traffic hitting DC after their morning traffic.

Of course, we did this years ago, so I might be a bit off with remembering the directions/times.

 

[aidtrismommy]

I have never driven, but wanted to say hello to you MA people!!!!!!!!!! I am from Western Ma and am obssessed with Disney. I personally wouldn't drive, just because gas is still too high and the savings probably wouldn't be that significant for me. I also get car sick. I have heard that you can get cheaper flights out of Logan (Bradley is closer for us) but I never wanted to drive over there, so check Bradley and Logan and there might be a better deal at one of them. Well nice to see a Mass thread anyways/ Cheers

 

[Disney87]

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[Darcy03231]

I know someone posted on another board that Airtran had tickets on sale for $69/each way.

 

[DISNEYFOS]

It depends on when you go. We went during school vacation week in Feb. Non-stop tickets from Boston where around $500+ per.

We took two days to drive down. Driving the majority of the time in the evening i.e 6PM-12/1AM. so the kids were sleeping. We made it to Richmond VA first night...check in to a $89 a night place.. Made it to Savannah GA the next afternoon. Had a nice dinner, relaxed at a nicer Marriott...then made it to WDW around 12/1 the next day. We were very well rested and it was a great opportunity to see places we hadn't before. We really looked at it as part of our vacation rather then just doing all we could get there asap. I think that helped.

It is a lot of driving..but I think managable if you split it up. We also rented a mini-van from hertz so we didn't put the miles on our cars.

Given the airfare at the time...This was cheaper..hotel, gas and all....

 

[TKL SHOP]

We drove last year from PA, I will never do it again. We rented a mini van, between the gas and car rental we could have flown for atleat 300.00 dollars less. That was with 5 people, also with kids you will probally have to stop, I know with dd last year we starteed at like 10am, by midnight we needed to get a hotel in nc. She was miserable....

 

[ChillyWilleys]

I've gone from MA straight through to Disney 3 years in a row starting when DD was 2. The first year we intended on stopping ahead of time but we got the mentality of we've come this far why stop when we can get an extra day in. DH and I split the driving. Pretty much meaning I do a few hours at night while he sleeps and he does the rest. We go straight through only stopping for food, gas, and bathroom breaks. Gas has been at peak prices when we have done this cheapest being around the $3.11 area. We actually documented gas prices and food to compare for future trips with possibilty of flying. It costs around $600 round trip to drive with food included for the 3 of us (food being fast food nothing great). I actually enjoy the drive down although this year we'll be bringing our new DD who will be 6mos so I'm a little worried about this trip but we're still going to give it a go. The worst part is in NY by the Washington bridge. Try to plan it so your in that area during non peak traffic times. Its always somewhat congested though. I've heard the DC area can be rough but we've had no problems there. The other thing is you get really excited when you cross over the FL border thinking your almost there but you still have a few more hours. Altogether the ride is anywhere from 21-24hrs.