How to decide between driving or flying?

[ashleyasiegel]

How do you decide between driving and flying?

We live in Grand Rapids Michigan and our daughter will be 3.5 years old and 8 months old at the time we are considering going.

How do you calculate how much it costs to drive? Do you suggest staying overnight or driving straight through?

If staying where would you suggest we stop? Half way or more than half way down?

Any other tips are appreciated. We normally fly but now with 2 kids it seems it might be cheaper to drive.

Thanks in advance!
Ashley

 

[jandersonlj]

It would be a very long drive with two little ones. Money would be my decision maker. If you can afford to fly I would! To figure how much it will cost to drive, figure how much gas mileage your car gets per gallon and find out how many miles you have to drive. Also, figure in a one night stay and any extra meals that would be required for a two day trip. If there is not much difference, flying might be less stressful.

 

[Apopper74]

Try this site

http://www.befrugal.com/tools/fly-or-drive-calculator/

 

[OKW Lover]

Just to confuse the issue further here are a couple of other things to consider:

1. Flying is safer than driving
2. If you have limited vacation time, do you want to use some of those days getting to/from your actual vacation?

Everybody will weigh these points differently - only you can decide.

 

[nytimez]

I love long road trips with my daughter... and find airports to be more stressful than highways, especially these days.

However, only you know how you and your husband will handle two kids on the highway for all that time. That's the one factor no one here can really advise you on because all kids are different and handle the trips differently.

I will say that in some ways the long road trips are easier when they're still in diapers. No "I NEED TO GO RIGHT NOW!!!!" moments.

 

[maxiesmom]

Hi neighbor!!!

I have drove to Flordia many times, but never with little ones in tow. For me, I hate driving that far. Even if I were to drive, I would never drive straight thru, because I don't believe it is safe. I wouldn't dare sleep and leave the other adult alone, trying to stay awake and navigate and drive. Plus, you just arrive tired and worn out. So then we are talking 4 days wasted in the car. Days that could be spent in WDW.

I know the one time my sister drove to Florida with her 3 kids, once they returned home my youngest niece couldn't state enough how she hated being in the car. She said she would never drive to Florida again! I believe she was around 5 at the time. I think it is pretty hard keeping little ones happy and entertained in the car for that long of a drive. Especially as they are confined to car seats, and can't even shift their weight around much. Lots easier to keep them happy for an 2 1/2 hour flight.

 

[Big Kid]

We are fortunate (in some ways) to live 20 minutes from Detroit Metro Airport. Our son is four and we've flown to Orlando four times, but never driven. If we could do it one day, we would drive to avoid going through airport security and being crammed like sardines into economy seats. But looking at two long days on the road down and back, gas, road food, a night in a hotel both ways and wear and tear on our vehicle, we choose to fly.

If you haven't already, I would check fares from Detroit. We've paid from $175 to $225 per person non-stop round trip via Delta for recent and upcoming trips. We have someone drop us at the airport so we don't have to pay to park, but I'm guessing that would only add $10 a day.

Our son handles flying pretty well. The flight's only two hours in the air and we can keep him busy with a new toy and a snack or two. He's usually so pooped on the way home that he'll sleep through that flight (unless we let him fall asleep on the Magical Express bus).

We've had positive experiences with both Magical Express and Disney's on-property bus system so we don't miss having a car there.

Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[LuLuO]

We drove from St. Louis to WDW last year with DD who was 3 and DS who was 18 months. It was a long drive. Calculate your mileage at about 50mph. I've made that drive to Florida many times and it was around 15 hours with two adults. With the two kids in tow (frequent potty stops and diaper changes) and road construction and an accident delay it was close to 23 hours each way.

ETA: Should read we are FLYING next time.

 

[harrismargaret9]

All depends upon two things, cost and how long you are going to stay. We prefer going on a flight which save much of the time. But when we can drive and it’s not that heavy on the pockets. We drive to Disneyland.

 

[Pembo]

With 3 kids, we've driven and flown. When they were smaller we drove partly because of cost and partly because we could take more stuff. Our first driving trip dd was not yet 3. We took the pack-n-play, big stroller, toys, books plus all the normal luggage. We bought a carrier for the top of our van for the pnp and stroller.

I really liked being able to "take it all". Yes the drive is long. We are near Cleveland OH. We've driven in 2 and 3 days. We got up early and went at least until dinner or slightly after. Driving has always been cheaper for us. We are not big eaters so we always ate lunch on the road out of the cooler.

For me, deciding factors include airfare cost, luggage fees (unless on SW), rental car, and time. If you have the luxury of adding on driving time to your vacation (we did), driving always was more economical.

 

[CarissaDance]

We are from near Columbus OH. (waves) This is our 1st trip down & we have an 11 yr old and 5 yr old twins. When we figured up the costs of driving it would have only saved us a few hundred since we planned to have 2 night stays on the way down to break up the drive for the little ones. When we figured in my son's motion sickness on long drives it just made more sense for us to fly. We had a horrible experience with him on the way to northern GA last summer. No one wanted to repeat that. LOL Plus not having to invest as many days for travel and not having to worry about any freak snow storms in the more northern states. But all that being said, my husband was a little bummed to miss out on the road trip experience with them.

 

[ashleyasiegel]

Thanks Everyone! Right now I am not finding any good prices for flights for Jan/Feb even with driving to Detroit which we have done in the past but now SW doesn't offer nonstop flights we don't look there as often since Grand Rapids is getting more competitive. I would prefer to fly even though it is a hassle at times. I guess I'll wait until it gets closer and see what ticket prices do as I really do not want to pay more than $200/plane ticket and right now they are at 265 on Air Tran out of GRR.

Just wanted to see how people drove with little ones and how they did.

 

[Donna M]

We moved from Nebraska to New Hampshire when DD just turned 3 and DS 11 months. It took us 5 days; we told people that we could have made better time in a covered wagon! Be prepared for the unexpected. We hit a snowstorm which stopped us in the middle of the day and added a day to the trip. Luckily we were able to find a hotel easily.

We would start after breakfast and stop for the day at dinner. Our kids were good in the car, lots of sleeping. I only remember the last part of the trip being difficult, and we were only about 2 hours left. I found that having little snacks and making sure they weren't hungry was key.

Good luck on your decision. We always flew everywhere after that!

 

[kerplop]

We're driving from Houston to WDW and for us it came down to a number of factors. For one, the price was about the same. For two, we are both superly stressed out by airports and the sanity factor was a big player. Three, we both love to drive and the roadtrip is part of the vacation for us! But really with children you have to decide if all of those factors would sway you one way or the other. Personally? I would fly if you can afford it.

 

[Riverhill]

We always drive... Much cheaper than flying. Gas there and back $450 in our minivan.

We are a family of 4 and my kids love the trip. They have been doing the car trip since DD was 5 and DS 3

We drive from MI to Cleveland TN the first day and from TN to Lake City FL the second day. Lake City is about 3 hours from WDW so we arrive well rested and ready to hit the park by 9:30 am the following day. When the kids were little we drove straight thru to Lake City but now that they are the same size as adults they so not sleep in the car as well.

We have the added bonus of getting 2 full weeks off from work so there no time issue. If I only had a week I may consider flying.

 

[maxiesmom]

We always drive... Much cheaper than flying. Gas there and back $450 in our minivan.

We are a family of 4 and my kids love the trip. They have been doing the car trip since DD was 5 and DS 3

We drive from MI to Cleveland TN the first day and from TN to Lake City FL the second day. Lake City is about 3 hours from WDW so we arrive well rested and ready to hit the park by 9:30 am the following day. When the kids were little we drove straight thru to Lake City but now that they are the same size as adults they so not sleep in the car as well.

We have the added bonus of getting 2 full weeks off from work so there no time issue. If I only had a week I may consider flying.

I have to ask, but how is driving cheaper when you are spending 2 nights each way in a hotel? Then adding in food and snacks, I don't see how you can be saving money by driving.

Right now I am looking at airfare for 6 from GRR and it will around $1500 total. You are already at half of that with just gas and hotel. Not to mention adding in wear and tear on your car and the value of all of the time you are spending in the car.

If you really enjoy the drive down and back, that is something else entirely. If I could take 2 weeks off in a row and make the drive part of the vacation it would be different. But from a purely financial standpoint you are saving very little money, if any at all.

 

[mimomlile]

Allegiant just posted some non-stop flight service through MBS airport (about 2 hrs away) starting at $59 each way to SFB airport (not MCO). We just booked for Jan and there were a lot of seats available. There is extra costs for transfers then, but we are still working on that...

Airtran has some flights that are NOT non-stop for $99 each way out of Flint Bishop airport, so it ends up being about $250 round trip to MCO. Gas is still quite expensive. I say, for the the difference, if you can afford it: fly. We are from Mid-Michigan and we love road trips. But for this distance, in the winter, it is too hard on the drivers. We need a day just for recovery once we get there, so it really ends up wasting too much time for the money.

 

[tspooh]

Hi!

Try Direct Air out of Kalamazoo. We are flying nonstop to Sanford/Orlando from Kalamazoo for $188 pp the first week of April. You would have to rent a car. We got a compact from Dollar for $140. You would probably want a car with young children. We always did when our boys were young. Good luck

Teresa

 

[Pembo]

I have to ask, but how is driving cheaper when you are spending 2 nights each way in a hotel? Then adding in food and snacks, I don't see how you can be saving money by driving.

Right now I am looking at airfare for 6 from GRR and it will around $1500 total. You are already at half of that with just gas and hotel. Not to mention adding in wear and tear on your car and the value of all of the time you are spending in the car.

If you really enjoy the drive down and back, that is something else entirely. If I could take 2 weeks off in a row and make the drive part of the vacation it would be different. But from a purely financial standpoint you are saving very little money, if any at all.

We have always found it to be cheaper to drive even with the hotel. I use roomsavers coupons on the road and have stayed for as little as $59 in a room that rack rate is $200. We choose a hotel with breakfast, take lunch and snacks in the car (food from home) and eat dinner out. I budget $125 for our 2 day drive and have never gone over.

I don't count wear and tear on the car. Now the value of the time spent...we usually have the luxury of a 2 week vacation. The one year we drove to FL and back in 8 days...that wasn't fun. Too much on the road time vs vacation time.

OP I read that you are looking to go in Jan....I'd definitely fly. Too many variables with the weather for me. Look at other airports within a few hours. We live near Cleveland and have flown out of PIT, CMH, and CAK to save some $$. Even driving 2.5 hours was worth the flight savings for us.