Need Help: Drive Or Fly??

[princesscrazydaughte]

My husband and I can't seem to decide whether to drive or fly. It is about an 11 1/2 hour drive for us or a 2 hour plane ride, that with the traveling to and from will add up to about a 5 1/2 hour excursion.

We have a DS 2 and a DD 4. We are staying at the Poly. If we drive we will drive through the night while the kids sleep. We do have a VHS/DVD player in the van.

I thought having the van would be helpful for going to MGM, AK and Downtown Disney, and for getting all our stuff there. We are staying 7 nights. However, my husband is really starting to think the drive might ruin our vacation.

PLEASE HELP US DECIDE. Obviously it saves $$ to drive, but puting that aside, please give me the pluses and minuses and some opinions as to what some of you Disney vets would do. I have never done WDW with the kids before.

 

[Candice30]

i went to disney with my whole family last year and my sister decided that to save her money, she, her husband and their 3 kids (ages 5, 9, 11) would drive down. we live in philly and if i remember correctly, it took about 11-12 hours. they left us during the middle of the night so the kids would sleep most of the ride. they do not have a tv/vcr in their van so they were concerned about the kids getting on each other's nerves. her 9 and 11 year old slept most of the time and had on their headphones. for the 5 yearold, i printed a bunch of car games off of the internet for his age and that kept him busy. she and her husband split the drive up and planned on stopping and staying in a road side hotel. but what they found was that they were so excited to get to disney and didn't want to go to sleep and have to do more driving that they continued until they got there. they actually called us about 3 hours before we were to leave for the airport.

she said though the trip was long, she would definitely do it again. it allowed her to pack whatever they needed in the van and they packed a cooler with food and beverages for the car and the room which saved them money since they didn't have to get a refrigerator at the resort. as far as using the car at the resort. we only used their van once to go to dinner off of property but i am a big fan of leaving the car in the parking lot and using disney transportation. it is so easy and convenient and when you return from the parks late, it is nice to be able to take a nap before you reach your resort. all in all, she said that it is a definite do again.

 

[CamColt]

Weve driven, 24 hours, 3 times now. Its really not as bad as I thought it would be(obviously if Ive done it again and again). Besides the pluses youve mentioned, I find it makes packing easier too because you dont have to worry about whats in what bag(carryon, checked), and weight limits, etc... The tv/vcr we use is a life saver and the kids favorite snacks help too. We are actually flying on our next 2 trips, and Im almost thinking I might miss the ride.

 

[motaei]

We have driven down to DL lots of time...both when I was a kid & now with my own kids. The drive is 8-9 hours (not quite as long as yours). We have flown once & decided it's not for us for that length. One is price. But the other, is when we are in the car, we can stop when the kids are restless, eat where & when we want, have our own car. Now granted, at DL, we have never stayed "on site", but the hotel situation is different there, as you can actually walk to the park from many nearby hotels & they all have shuttles.

The time we flew, we just found it chaotic with the kids...drive to the airport...wait in a boring, uncomfortable place...get on the airplane...sit where there is no view & no movie....get to the airport and wait for luggage....go to the car rental place to get the car....drive to the hotel. And then have to do it all over again on the way back. We just found driving that distance easier.

Also, note, that I could not imagine driving through the night. I would be afraid of exhaustion & falling asleep at the wheel. But I have know other families that leave at 3am so that they can drive down & go straight into the park.

 

[MosMom]

We will be driving. We enjoy it and it allows us to pack anything and everything we may need. No worrying about weight/size limits for the luggage, needing to ship things down or back, missing the plane/delayed flights/overbooking, etc. Flying to us is such a pain in the rear and we really enjoy road trips so why not? Of course, we do have the TV/VCR combo and I always buy plenty of "surprises" to pull out along the way when the kids get fidgety. We love to drive so I say try it. If you hate it, you can avoid it next time.

The minus is not getting there as fast but to us, that is about it.

 

[rngclick]

Take it from me - If your husband is dreading the drive THEN FLY!!! We live 12 hours away and DH hates long car trips. He wouldn't go if he had to drive.

And you have to wonder how much money your actually saving when you have to tack on the extra time at the beginning and end of the vacation. (We're both self-employed so would not save any money at all). Remember its his vacation too and if he hates the drive there he'll spend the rest of the vacation dreading the drive home.

We have an 1 1/2 hour flight from New Orleans to Orlando so once we're there we're good to go and not worn out from a long trip.

Just my Humble Opinion (take it from someone whose married to your husband

 

[princesscrazydaughte]

Thanks everyone. I was feeling pretty good about driving until the last post. Anymore thoughts, anyone???? Thanks so much to all of you that have taken the time to help me out. I really agree that packing for two little ones would be so-o-o much easier without worrying about flying!!!!

 

[motaei]

Originally posted by rngclick
And you have to wonder how much money your actually saving when you have to tack on the extra time at the beginning and end of the vacation. (We're both self-employed so would not save any money at all).

We are also self employed. But my DH uses the extra car time to make tons of business calls on his cell with his laptop in front of him! (That's how he survives the long drive.) & yes, I am the one driving.

 

[TerriBelle]

We will be flying again in Jan. with two 5 year olds and a 10 year old. For all of our past trips with the kids we have flown. We have never rented a car and have always stayed on-site. Part of the vacation experience for us is to leave the car at the airport and use other modes of transportation. There have been very few times that we have wanted a car.

We did drive to Hilton Head this summer with the kids and it wasn't that bad. But for Disney we don't want to waste the time driving when we could be there! If we drive at night, then one or both of us will be exhausted when we get there. That is not a vacation to us!

 

[TarraLee]

We drove when my family went with us... two cars, four drivers, six people (all adults, DBro was 14), fourteen hours, straight through.....

no fun. Well, that's not true-- I thought it was fun but my DH hated it! He won't go again unless we fly, or stop overnight on the way. I liked having the care because:
you can pack what you want,
have lots of room to bring home goodies,
DH, DDad and DBro can get dropped of at IOA while mom, sis and I head to the outlet malls!
I really like to eat at Cracker Barrell, and that is the only place my parents will stop on a road trip,
I really like playing battleship between two cars via the 2-way radios,
I really liked listening to Michael J. Fox's autobiography,
I loved the sign at a Georgia gas station that read: "SUpport local education, buy local brands." (with pics of local cigarettes)
My DH loves our Disney song sing-along, and countless converstaions that start with, "The first thing I am going to do when I get to Disney World is..." and "Only X hours, X minutes, and X seconds until I see the castle again..."
I love Atlanta at rush hour....
I love brushing my teeth at 3 am in a gas station washroom (kidding)....
But the number one reason to drive: ON THE LAST DAY OF YOUR TRIP, YOU CAN JUST DECIDE TO STAY ANOTHER DAY!!

Seriously, driving is only fun with people who like to road-trip, if DH is dreading it, just fly! Hope you have a great trip!

 

[3for Me]

We have done both and I used to use the "it's cheaper to drive" excuse and the "my husband likes to drive" excuse - which he really does.

At the end of the day, as much as I HATE to fly - I do it, because for us, with three small kids, it is much less stressful.

Our drive is approximately 10 hours and yes we had the DVD thing too, but I say FLY!!!!!

If it is a matter of bringing what you want, ship a box to your hotel before you leave and you will have all your extras waiting for you when you get there.

 

[Jen S]

My husband and I did the drive from Tennessee to the World this past October. It really wasn't bad. We left Johnson City at 5:00am, made a few stops along the way, stopped for 2-3 hours in Daytona Beach, and was at Disney World at 6:00pm. I've always flown previously, but now I think we're hooked on driving. Personally, I hate the long lines at Orlando airport coming home, and I hate trying to shove all my clothes and everything I buy into one or two suitcases.

I think you'll be fine on the drive, especially with the DVD player for the kids. Either way, hope you have a great trip!

 

[sherry8253]

HI - My DH and I just drove from PA. We left around 1:30 am and were here at the Swan by about 6:00 pm. We took the time to stop for sit down breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and dinner at Sonny's BBQ. The trip was not bad at all. My DH plays golf 4 times and it costs about $50 per club rental or we would have to tote his clubs on the plane (yuck) and then rent a car large enough to hold his huge golf travel bag. Driving saves us several hundred dollars each trip. Have fun whichever you decide.

 

[princesscrazydaughte]

It is so interesting to hear everyone's opinions on this. I am also looking at the added advantage of being able to leave Fri night and arrive early Saturday. If we fly, the earliest we will be able to make it to the resort after the drive to the airport, the wait, the flight, getting the kids into a towncar van (we need 2 carseats) and getting to the resort would be about 1:30pm.

I just can't decide. I also have the added concern of the kids safety on the road at night, but my husband is a good driver (not that that always matters). Thanks everyone.

I would be interested in any other views that anyone would like to share. If I weren't travelling with the kids, I would drive hands down because it gives two working parents some much needed alone time to talk. (that is if the kids sleep).

 

[CarolA]

I posted on your other thread, but.... I can't keep out when I know I should

I think it is irresponsible to work all day and then drive all night. Maybe it is just me, but it is my understanding that the average human NEEDS sleep to function effectively. I cannot imagine that your are fully awake and functional at 2 in the morning after a full days work. They have limits on truck drivers for a reason!!!

I know I will get "flamed" with stories of people who think they were fine. I just don't believe it..... unless you are a night shift worker your body is not used to this and you are not fully alert.

All it takes is for you to doze off, slip off the sholder, wake up and overreact and the results could be tragic.

 

[judi]

We drive 90% of the time and fly the other 10%. If we leave after work we drive until about midnight and then stop at a hotel, get some sleep and then were back on the road early the following morning. We have also started at 5am and driven the 16 hrs. straight through. When the kids were small we took the tv and nintendo and now that they are much older (21, 16, 14) they bring along what they want to do. I like driving so I can take what ever I want and not worry about the weight etc.. plus we happen to like to drive. We use our car to go to all the parks except MK (I'm just not a bus person). For four/five of us depending on who goes it is also cheaper to drive.

 

[magsmom]

We went last August and drove. When we go in the winter we fly.

 

[crazelion]

I live in Chattanooga it's a 10 hour drive. I say drive it's cheaper. I leave at 7:00 am and be there by 9:00pm. it depends on traffic. I don't have kids. But iIhave been on many trips with my cousins and little kids need time to run around.

I also that driving through the night is not worth it to risk your life to get WDW. It's just not safe. Your body is not use to staying up all night.

Also did I mention the real reason I like to drive is the outlet malls on the WDW.

 

[sue1013]

When my kids were young we drove all the time due to cost. The ride down wasn't bad everyone's excited. Leaving is another story the drive seems 10 times longer than on the way down. I would definately fly.

 

[shelleyz]

I say fly also. It's so much faster. We flew in October with DS2 and DS4. They slept the whole way there and on the way back they slept for the first half and were awake the 2nd half. It can be a pain with the luggage and strollers but it beats driving for that length of time.