I think I 'm GONNA DO IT

[shortkathleen]

I think I am going to bite the bullet and pay $1400 for the four of us to fly instead of making the 22 hour drive. I hate to pay that much but I am afraid if I wait any longer the price is just going to go up. We were going to drive but now we want to be back before Christmas Eve. Flying will get us home by noon on Dec. 23rd. Am I stupid to pay that much to fly?

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Depends which board you ask on. The budget boards would say you're crazy and to just suck it up and drive. On the cruise boards they'd probably say that's not too bad for holiday travel.

Personally, we'd pay anything to not drive and it's about 20 hrs from NJ. Anything over 6 hrs and we fly. We took a long weekend last week; flew down Wed night, left home right after school and touched down at 9 pm. It's just soooo much easier.

I'd keep watching it but if you see prices are going up, I'd buy right away.

How many choices of airlines do you have?

 

[ancestry]

I don't think you are stupid. What is that - about $350 per person? That isn't outrageous for travel close to a holiday. For us that certainly is better than driving (which for us is over 24 hours in a car).

Like the PP the longest we can make it in a car is about 8-12 hours. Anything over that we fly or we don't go.

 

[Dis_Dreamin]

I'm from a different camp. 1400 dollars for the family flying vs maybe 500 (assuming $3/gal) for gas round trip. Maybe 200 for rooms if you are stopping one night each way? Still half the cost of flying.

If you want support for the drive, check out the 2000+ miler round trip drivers thread. You'll get a lot of people cheering you on and giving you ideas on where to stop and what routes to take.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2507731

Granted, I would LOVE to fly, but driving was cheaper for us and we still had a wonderful trip.

 

[Brian Noble]

It really depends on what your time is worth to you. I'd fly at $350pp, and don't think that is a horrible fare, though I wouldn't necessarily be thrilled with it.

 

[Dis_Dreamin]

Right, it all depends. I agree with you there. Like I did say, I'd love to fly, but for our family of 4 it's cost prohibitive. 350/pp + luggage fees, and extra hassle with little ones getting through the airports...Ugh...

If I'm going somewhere with just my wife or on my own, I'd fly in a heartbeat, but throw in the kiddos and it turns into a big hassle that definitely isn't worth it to me.

To each their own, and I wish OP the best with their trip. Any time spent at Disney is going to be wonderful, and doubly so during the holidays.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I guess it depends on you.
We drove for the first time from Jersey to FL this summer (we've always flown out of Newark) and I really did not mind the drive at all and we plan on doing it again next Aug. I have to say DD (5) was EXCELLENT, we stayed once over night and got to WDW early and got a room @ ASMu and got up the next morning and went to CBR. On the way home, we stopped once overnight.

 

[ccgirl]

Was that one way? Personally, I would never spend that much one way. Heck, I have yet to spend that round trip. If that is roundtrip; I would probably pay it as it is holiday travel. I have told my family that as DD gets older we will just have to wait to go to WDW in the early summer when we can drive. I refuse to pay the Spring Break airfares.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[Fabooliss]

Right, it all depends. I agree with you there. Like I did say, I'd love to fly, but for our family of 4 it's cost prohibitive. 350/pp + luggage fees, and extra hassle with little ones getting through the airports...Ugh...

If I'm going somewhere with just my wife or on my own, I'd fly in a heartbeat, but throw in the kiddos and it turns into a big hassle that definitely isn't worth it to me.

To each their own, and I wish OP the best with their trip. Any time spent at Disney is going to be wonderful, and doubly so during the holidays.

That's exactly the opposite of us! I'd drive if it was just us, but NO WAY am I going to deal with 2 kids in a car for the drive down. (Of course it is a 24 hour drive for us). We just did an 8 hour drive for this summer's vacation and that is our limit... or actually slightly past it, really!

 

[uva185]

I think I am going to bite the bullet and pay $1400 for the four of us to fly instead of making the 22 hour drive. I hate to pay that much but I am afraid if I wait any longer the price is just going to go up. We were going to drive but now we want to be back before Christmas Eve. Flying will get us home by noon on Dec. 23rd. Am I stupid to pay that much to fly?

$350 pp is a very decent price to pay to fly around the holidays. You made the right choice!

 

[wed100105]

We're paying $290 pp for spring break travel. I booked nonstops on Airtran from Bloomington, IL. I had the same debate with myself. For me, I'm a teacher and we could only go that week in March. It is worth the extra $400 we'd save to have those four days down in Florida instead of on the road.

 

[shortkathleen]

I booked it today! Not thrilled with the price especially since we don't mind the drive. For us, it was all about the dates. I am a teacher and we wanted to go in December without me missing too much work. Flying makes it possible to only miss two days instead of 3, which saves me $. I have to pay oop for my personal days. We also wanted to be back in time to spend Christmas eve with our extended family. Guess, I should have thought things through more before we booked our DVC room. We haven't tried summer time yet because we have wanted to avoid the heat but I think next time we go to DW we will have too.

Thanks for all of your insight!

 

[tripplanner2]

If it makes you feel better, one time my husband said, if you can get flights for Spring Break under $300 each we will go. Well the flights were starting at $750 and went up from there. I was like this!!! We wound up waiting a bit longer and now we only go in the summer. Teacher thing here too!

 

[2DisPrincesses]

WOW! You just made me feel much better about the $500 I spent for the 3 of us to fly in October. I was feeling sorry for myself- I could have saved $75 if I had booked a couple of hours earlier.

 

[almburr]

We fly if we drove it would be a 28hr drive. No way would we drive, the wear and tear on the vehicle, gas, food and lodging( no way would I drive straight through) We want to get there and have a vacation. we are paying around 350 per person round trip in December. Some like to drive some like to fly.