Should we drive from NW OHio?

[Rock'n Robin]

Now I'm not finding fares less than $204 from either Toledo or Detroit to Orlando. Delta is cheapest at $202, but USAir wants $363 per person! Spirit wants $218 for a nonstop, but with 5 people that adds up.
shoudl we drive? We will be there 9 nights, so that would add at least two days to our trip. DH runs a business so he's not that kean on driving. I don't know the "cost per mile" people use to figure the cost of driving. No, we would not be getting any hotels on the way, this trip costs enough as it is. DH and I would be switching off. How much time would it take? We would be stopping to eat and stretch (3 kids).
Our first night is Sunday. I am thinking leaving late Friday afternoon, driving all night, taking our time Sat., at least the kids will sleep in the car, or perhaps starting early Sat. AM.
Robin M.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Now I'm not finding fares less than $204 from either Toledo or Detroit to Orlando. Delta is cheapest at $202, but USAir wants $363 per person! Spirit wants $218 for a nonstop, but with 5 people that adds up.
shoudl we drive? We will be there 9 nights, so that would add at least two days to our trip. DH runs a business so he's not that kean on driving. I don't know the "cost per mile" people use to figure the cost of driving. No, we would not be getting any hotels on the way, this trip costs enough as it is. DH and I would be switching off. How much time would it take? We would be stopping to eat and stretch (3 kids).
Our first night is Sunday. I am thinking leaving late Friday afternoon, driving all night, taking our time Sat., at least the kids will sleep in the car, or perhaps starting early Sat. AM.
Robin M.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

sorry for the double post--tried to delete one but it wouldn't let me.
Robin M.

 

[nuthut]

I don't think a vehicle can be driven for less than .30 a mile and it is 2400 miles round trip for a total of $720 plus two days of loss wages (per worker) and two days of on the road meals and one hotel night plus grumpy kids asking "how long" and to me it's a no brainer. I would fly and be there in 2 hours and 3 minutes out of Detroit! Or Toledo if cheaper.


PS I used your lovely Toledo airport for our just finished New Years Trip becuase the tickets where just under $200 a person, and we had 15 people going, saved me about $3000 vs flying out of Detroit.

 

[ducklite]

Driving that far with three kids in the car non-stop is not a good way to start or end a vacation.

It's also dangerous to drive straight through. Every year we hear of people killed on their way to WDW because they try to drive and fall asleep behind the wheel.

$200 r/t is actually a pretty low air fare. I would fly. There's no way you can convince me that it would cost any less to drive by the time you add in the cost of gas, tolls, oil, wear and tear, and extra meals.

If you don't mind driving a little bit, why not also check fares out of Cleveland.

Anne

 

[glindamood]

You might also try Columbus.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

You know, I did find a $188 fare out of Columbus that is even nonstop on the way down. We have a cousin moving there and I may go that route. The fares out of Cleveland are higher, as are Detroit.
One of the web services on Deb's site had a lower fare, but it said once you PURCHASE it will tell you the times and airline! I don't so much care about the airlines, but I hate getting to Orlando late in the day and leaving early when I could have more park time!
I think I'll give it about another month. I'm shooting for at least $180 . I got spoiled by the $138 fares we had in December for our mini-trip!
Toledo airport is a nice one. Very intimate for an airport, close parking, and not near as a madhouse as Detroit.
Robin M.
Poly 6/2000
BWV 6/2001
Poly 12/2001
BWV/Poly/VWL 7/2002

 

[ZerasPride]

Robin, I'm faced with a similar situation and I was interested to hear what others had to say. I live in Cleveland and have flown out of Pittsburgh and Cleveland. We are planning on being at Disney over Thanksgiving week (or just keeping our Hilton Head ressies, we'll see). Anyway, I went to www.freetrip.com (we used them for our Hilton Head trip in December and their directions seemed to shave off at least an hour off anybody else's) and according to their directions, it will take 15:51 hours and its 1030 miles from Cleveland to Orlando. That's way better than I thought it would be. Of course, we are willing to stop on the way down and back up overnight. I don't want me or DH falling asleep at the wheel! Anyway, I figure we'll drive down the 12 hours or so to Savannah and stay at a Hampton Inn and do the reverse on the way home - driving about 12 hours and stopping for the night. There will be four of us (DH, me, DS who will be 15 and DB who will be 12).

I am sure flying is more direct (and I'll admit I'm spoiled by usually arriving in Orlando in just over two hours) but like DH and I both say, we don't know if we'll like the drive unless we try it. If we don't like it, we don't ever had to drive again. I didn't think I could do the 12 hours to Hilton Head but we were just fine. I am honestly not sure how our November trip will turn out (driving to Hilton Head/driving to Disney/flying to Disney). I would love to find cheap airfare over Thanksgiving week and if anyone hears of anything out of Pitt or Cleveland, I'd be obliged if you let me know!

Lisa

 

[bobcat]

Robin we usually drive from central Ohio every year. It is 1000 miles from my front door to Mickey's. With stops it usually takes us 18 hours. Since I drive solo with two kids we stop overnight at Exit 3 in GA, and then have a 3 hour trip to Orlando the next day. It costs about $100 in gas (minivan) round trip and $30 a night for hotels in route. I don't factor in wear and tear because I would be traveling at least that much around Ohio during my vacation time anyhow. Its a very easy drive.

Delta has an express shuttle out of Columbus that usually runs around $160 rt. Have used them before. I don't know if that would really save you a lot of money considering you have the trip down and parking to factor in. The flights are as early as 6am and as late as 9pm returning. We used them for a quick Thanksgiving trip and were very pleased.

 

[BusyMomof3]

Robin,

We are in the same situation. DH has refused to drive. He does not want to waste the extra days to drive, and says it will take 2 days to recover from the drive once we get there. We are going in June and will be flying out of Columbus. DH has been checking airfares regularly and we are also waiting for a price around $175-180. We have 2 vouchers and FF miles through Delta so we have mainly been watching their rates, but lately have been considering others. Delta's prices have not gone down, and they have done away with all but one of their direct flights.

 

[drusba]

You are looking at about 1200 miles each way, meaning about 17 to 21 hours depending on speed and number of stops. Not the kind of trip you usually want to do straight through without stopping overnight. If no overnight hotel stop, figure at least $260 (total both ways) for gas and food. Of course there is wear and tear on the car, the need to get another oil change sooner than expected, and an increase in total mileage decreasing its resale value. If you want to count that, add another $150. If you go for a hotel, add at least $170 to cover going and coming back. In other words, anywhere from $260 to $580.

Flying takes about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Long ago, I came to the following realization. I could drive to Orlando with my kids who would make me miserable for the 20 hours doing so, or I could fly for 3 hours and everybody on the plane gets to be miserable with my kids for only a short time. With apologies to others, I opted to fly.

 

[judi]

We drive from Cleveland to Orlando two to three times a year. We have been doing this since the kids were babies. The oldest is now 19. It takes us 17 hours. Sometimes we drive straight through, other times we don't. We don't find the drive a big deal but we are more layed back then some people. We have even driven cross country twice with the kids. You keep them busy with games, tv-vcr, game systems and they will do fine. It's a nice way to have some family time, ok we think so. It's not for everyone. Just my two cents.

 

[BelleBeautyandtheBeast]

I have been driven/driving to Florida about once a year since I was 5 or 6. My aunt & uncle live about 90 minutes from WDW and we live near Akron, OH. The trip takes us approx. 20 hours. We almost always drove straight down then stopped & got a hotel room 1/2 way home on the return trip.

I do not sleep well in a car and always feel really tired and crabby when we finally hit our destination. My parents, on the other hand, LOVE the drive. They continue to drive down to FL and have only flown a handful of times (usually at my request). I really dislike the drive and have flown down the past 6 times. Now that we have 2 kids (& 1 more arriving soon) I pretty much refuse to drive unless I cannot get plane tix for less than $300/pp. We drove down to Myrtle Beach this past summer and it was not a fun trip, 12 + hours in a car with a 2 & 3 yo who dislike sitting still for more than 5 minutes. We made many stops to accomodate them (running, bathroom brakes, eating, etc.) and it seemed to take forever to get there. I can't imagine loading up 3 kids and driving for approx. 20 hrs. to get WDW. I would ALOMST rather stay home

Okay I'm babbling on and on ... if you can afford it I would fly. The drive is a test of patience (at least for me).

 

[ncligs]

We drove to Nags Head about 3 yrs ago, we are from Northeast Ohio. It was a 10 hr drive. My wife and I both agreed after that drive, anything over 5 hrs we fly. It is not worth the time and trouble (tired, cranky, sore from sitting,etc) to drive to Florida. If you can afford it, the only way to go is to fly and be there in 2 1/2 hrs. You will be rested,fresh,and don't waste 2-3 days of your vacation in a car!!!!!!!

 

[Goofy'sFriend]

Well, I just did it...bought my air tickets online. We can fly from Baltimore non-stop for $735 for my family of 5. We planned to drive this trip (we've done it many times). We flew last year and it was so relaxing, but when this price popped up, I asked the kids and they all said FLY!
If we factored in gas, extra days for the dog in the kennel, 2 hotels down and back....it becomes just a few hundred dollars difference. For me this is worth not sitting in the car for a total of 32 hrs!

 

[ncligs]

Goofy'sFriend,

You made a very "wise decision"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[nuthut]

2400 miles round trip and $200 for car expense!! Do you good people in Ohio know something about car that us in Michigan don't? That's less than .10 a mile. Even the IRS (That's not saying much) knows it costs at least 34-1/2 cents a miles to drive a car.

 

[crazyme5kids]

We are going to drive from N.Y. with six kids ranging in age from almost one to 15. I would much rather drive whenever I can. My kids are use to being in the car. I know other people who have children that start whinning before they pull out of the driveway. You probably won't save much money. The thought of flying with my children stresses me out too much,so we drive. If flying doesn't bother you and time restaints are a factor, you probably should fly.

 

[DisOrBust]

According to AAA you should figure 10.30 per 100miles in cost plus gas to figure the "cost" of driving.

We have flown 3yrs and this year was our first driving. I could not get a decent fare out of MKE and my dates were somewhat flexible. ( I am so glad my tax dollars went to bailout the airlines, lol!)

Yes I was "scared" of driiving with my 4 and 7yo. We had planned on stopping but it was much eaiser on all of us to drive straight thru. It took away 1 day of our vacation to drive but was worthit. I lked having my own car. Not rushing around an airport to just end up "waiting" was alsp a big plus. My 7yo told me she liked driving much better believe it or not.

If you can get good airfare go for it. I will drive to WDW before I stay home because the airfares are to high, IMHO.