How much will it cost to drive to WDW if gas goes to $5/gallon?

[maxiesmom]

At $5 a gallon, it will cost approximately $640 to drive from Chicago to WDW and back !!! Definitely hope it doesn't get that high, but that's still less than it would cost for 6 of us to fly there and rent a van.

I just used the fuel price finder on AAA to check out how much a trip from Grand Rapids Michigan to Orlando would currently cost. Gas here is about 3.50 a gallon. And for a Chevy Traverse it is already $500 round trip.

 

[Ning Ning]

When we drove down around the 4th of July week in 2008, gas prices were mostly hovering just below the $4.00 per gallon rate. In fact, we had to fill up in Lake City and the price for regular was $4.07! Since then, every time we've gone, I always budget $4.00 per gallon just to give myself a big cushion and have always had quite a bit left over when we got home. Now, I'm worried that prices may top that by the time our June trip rolls around.

I paid $3.16 at Sam's this morning, but everywhere else around town, it's about $3.29. The difference between last Saturday's fill-up and today is 17 cents! (By the way, why don't they put the cents symbol on keyboards anymore???)

 

[LIFERBABE]

I purchased our 1 way tix last year on SWA to Orlando for $59 each. I was waiting for the rest of June 2011 to be released before purchasing our tix home. I was hoping to fly home on Airtran but so far the cheapest tix I found was $140 each (1 way) and that's with connections.

I booked the Hertz Drive out deal and our 1 way 14 night car rental will cost $210. It's a full size and I hope to get an Impala.


Just estimated gas for the 1200 mile trip home

Start City: Orlando
End City: Dallas

One-Way Trip: 1129 Miles
62.72 Gallons Used
$201.80 Fuel Cost

There are 4 of us, so our total cost will be about $500 (added $100 jic) for car rental and our transportation home. $800 total transportation costs for our June trip for the 4 of us. It will take 8 more hours of travel time compared to flying with the connections and airport security.

 

[Dismom55]

I just purchased a Ford Focus, 35 miles to the gal, our round trip is less than 2000 miles, I figured gas at $3 a gallon, total cost would be around $210, so right now the increase will not be that bad, certainly it will come out of my spending money since we got free DDP while there, but I can see our future trip we were hoping to have for Dec 2012 going going gone if the price of gas continues because everything else will increase along with it.

I think I have not figured it at $5 yet as I can not stand the shock, will do it soon tho. Have to be able to plan for the worse case.

 

[angwill]

1124 miles to WDW in a Toyota Corolla last year with gas in the 2.60-2.90 range cost us just under $180 round trip with gas to drive around Disney. I figure at $5 a gallon that will go up to $330 round trip which is still way cheaper than the cheapest airline tickets for us. Oops, forgot to add that the hotel we stay at each year with a coupon from the travel guide costs between $49 and $59 per night one night each way. At $5 it will still be just under $500 with gas, hotel, and food. That is still cheaper than airfare not including the ride to the airport for us.

 

[eliza61]

$5 gas would cause protests in the US similar to what's going on in the Middle East. I don't think it's going too much higher as people realize the amount of oil gathering dust at terminals all over the US and the world. Some of the increase was refiners caught off guard changing from winter blend to summer blend.

I bet we see oil drop 3-5% in the world markets this coming week as profit takers sell.

exactly who are we going to protest? We are totally dependant on foreign oil, so if Saudi arabia or Iraq decides to cut back in oil production exactly what are we going to do? it's their oil. We import ~ 68% of our oil (not all of this is from the middle east though but the other countries Veneuzla and Nigera, aint that friendly with us either.)

 

[DawnM]

I should add that we do have a smaller car we could take if we wanted to, but we would be very cramped.....three large size boys in the back of a small car for 9.5 hours each way, BUT, it would cut our cost by almost half.

Dawn

Yikes! I keep reading about gas prices shooting up and thought I would do a quick calculation to see how much it would cost us in our SUV if gas gets up to $5/gallon.

$315 just to get there and back, not including driving around town while there.

Dawn

 

[sirabe76]

have you guys tried http://gasbuddy.com/. it gives you the current gas prices on your driving route. Right now, with current prices our trip is 563.3 mi and one way cost of $58.89 for my vibe

 

[marie1203]

Yikes! I keep reading about gas prices shooting up and thought I would do a quick calculation to see how much it would cost us in our SUV if gas gets up to $5/gallon.

$315 just to get there and back, not including driving around town while there.

Dawn

I am so glad I bought tickets for our next trip that we were considering driving. We paid $207 round trip for both of us. It would of cost us $230 to drive .

 

[dhardawa]

I guess we should look at the good side. If gas goes to $5 a gallon it will destroy the US economy which will kill the tourism industry causing Disney to release all sorts of amazing discounts trying to get people to travel.

 

[LisaTC]

At $5 a gallon, it would cost me $30.37 to drive round trip to Disney from home

RUB IT IN...Make all of us Northerners feel worse than we already do!

 

[iheartdisney]

i was planning on spending $1000 on gas this summer... IF diesel stayed below $4.25. This morning it was $4.09. Guess who is pricing out airline tickets?

 

[DawnM]

Yeah, well, with 5 of us, that isn't a help.

Dawn

I am so glad I bought tickets for our next trip that we were considering driving. We paid $207 round trip for both of us. It would of cost us $230 to drive .

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Yeah, well, with 5 of us, that isn't a help.

Dawn

Same here, but 6 of us. We'll make the trip in August because our lodging is already paid for and so are our tickets, but we might reconsider future trips if gas prices remain high.

 

[cluvsdisney]

At $5 a gallon, it would cost $515 in DH's car. My car takes super so I used $5.30 per gallon which comes to $604.

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

We would need $1008 one way, or $2016 round-trip. This is based on taking our Suburban which gets about 15 mpg. The only reason we would take the Suburban is because of the available room and comfort. For us it would take us 48 hours of driving time. Driving isn't really an option for us because of how far away we live, but I thought it would be fun to calculate out.

 

[SoonerSarah]

We would need $1008 one way, or $2016 round-trip. This is based on taking our Suburban which gets about 15 mpg. The only reason we would take the Suburban is because of the available room and comfort. For us it would take us 48 hours of driving time. Driving isn't really an option for us because of how far away we live, but I thought it would be fun to calculate out.

OK, everyone thinks that we are completely nuts for deciding to drive, but I actually prefer it. Of course, we are only about 24 hours away, so it's a lot closer than you are. I think Id be flying in your situation as well.

 

[MichaelColey]

We would need about 125 gallons, so the gas cost would be $375 @ $3, $500 @ $4 or $625 @ $5.

But just looking at gas prices isn't realistic. Assuming a 150,000 mile life for our SUV (we're already at 110k and bought it new), it'll cost us a total of about $50k. That's the initial cost, maintenance, repairs, and other variable costs. That's 33 cents per mile, so add another $700.

If we drive, we spend a night each way in a hotel, plus two extra days of eating out, so add another $200.

If we fly, we usually find four tickets for under $800. A rental car is about $200 per week.

So for us, driving is about $1275 - $1525 (at $3-$5 per gallon) per trip. Flying is $1000 for a week, $1200 for two weeks, or $1400 for three weeks.

 

[SoonerSarah]

We would need about 125 gallons, so the gas cost would be $375 @ $3, $500 @ $4 or $625 @ $5.

But just looking at gas prices isn't realistic. Assuming a 150,000 mile life for our SUV (we're already at 110k and bought it new), it'll cost us a total of about $50k. That's the initial cost, maintenance, repairs, and other variable costs. That's 33 cents per mile, so add another $700.

If we drive, we spend a night each way in a hotel, plus two extra days of eating out, so add another $200.

If we fly, we usually find four tickets for under $800. A rental car is about $200 per week.

So for us, driving is about $1275 - $1525 (at $3-$5 per gallon) per trip. Flying is $1000 for a week, $1200 for two weeks, or $1400 for three weeks.

We are in Texas also and looked up flight and car prices, and of we weren't able to find anything less than $250 for tickets. Couldn't find a rental in that price range either, but we need something to fit 3 car seats.

Anyway, are you saying that over the course of 150,000 miles on a car, that you spend $50,000 on care and maintenance? How did you come up with that figure?

 

[SoonerSarah]

MichaelColey, I'm now thinking that you are including the cost of your vehicle in your $50,000. Evidently, its time for me to go to bed now.