HELP!!!! Need advice on to fly or drive!!

[RN01]

I thought I'd had it all figured out. We finally decided to drive to save the money of flying. We have an approx. 15 hour drive with a DD2, DD9 and DD12. DD2 hates being in the car and there is no way she will be good for an entire 15 hour drive but we had decided to leave 1 or 2 in the am and drive for a while while she is sleeping. That still leaves 10 hours of driving while she is awake and I don't think she'll beable to handle it. She gets fussy on a 1 hour drive. Plane tickets will be $1470 for the 5 of us. What does everyone think??? I know there are pros and cons to both driving and flying and I just DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. HEEEEELLLLPPPPP!!!!! Any advice with be greatly appreciated!!

 

[zurgswife]

If you can afford it I'd fly....I really hate to drive and my kiddos are older....I much prefer to be rested when I arrive.

 

[OKW Lover]

You're the best judge of what your children can stand. A couple of other things to consider:
Flying is statistically safer than driving
If you drive, you are likely to be worn out/tired when you arrive; this will cost you two days (down and back) of vacation.

 

[cranbiz]

I tend to be an advocate of driving, but in your case, driving may not be in your best interest. If DD2 can't ride for longer than an hour, and you can't keep her sleeping or entertained, then the ride will be miserable.

If you have to drive due to costs then you will have to carefully plan your trip and your stops out. You will most likely need to stop in the middle for a sleepover.

On the other hand, how will DD2 do on the plane? Will she be able to sit for the duration on the flight?

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

If you have to drive.... A portable DVD player or two can be a life saver(make sure they have car adapters). Also pack a cooler with some easy snacks and drinks. Stop at rest areas when you can since they usualy have grassy areas the kids can run around and stretch out. Some other things we did when my kids were younger were things like magnadoodles, veiwmasters, and read along books. Meals at palces like Cracker Barrel are a good break to the monotony of driving.

 

[mlwear]

I was in your position last week and decided to fly. Our trip is 12 hours driving time, but one DS is autistic and will scream most of the trip or need to go to the bathroom every hour. It would definitely end up being at least a 15 hour drive. But, we were going to do it to save $. We planned to drive through the night to get there. I was uneasy about the whole thing, but DH was determined to drive.
Our flight is a non-stop 2 hour flight. Awesome.
I kept watching fares and thanks to a heads up from this board saw a big drop in the Delta fare. DH agreed -- whew. I think it is partly because he will have to take less time off of work. Flying will end up costing us about $150 more than driving! Well worth it. Two hours and some time in the airport vs. 15 hours of misery.
I figure the drive would result in the first day of Disney being a wash due to being tired. Plus, everyone would start out vacation grouchy because we would have to get on the kids the whole drive down (who wants to start a Disney vacation yelling at your kids -- not saying you would yell, but I figure by about hour 10, I couldn't take it anymore). Same thing the trip back. Keep the memories happy. If everyone rides well in the car, it is a complete different story. If it were just my older DS it would be fine and maybe fun.
Maybe you can find a cheaper fare? Good luck.