Should we fly or drive from Philly?

[billwendy]

Hi - trying to decide if we should drive or fly down. We live right outside of Philly - bout 5 minutes from the airport. We have driven before as well.

We are going on a trip to Disney 4/17-4/25. We havent purchased airline tickets as we were waiting for the other part of our family that we are travelling with to get their flight info from Make a Wish. Well, as time ticks by they havent received their confirmed info on flights yet. So, at this point airfare is awful!!!! We would most likely rent a car down there so we can be as helpful to our family as possible as they have 5 kids ranging in age from 2-15 and it is the 12 year old who is on his make a wish trip.

We would drive down through the night ( just DH and I) and drive back staying over 1 night someplace on the way home ( the ride home always stinks). We have a Hyundai Santa Fe.

What do you guys think????? Thanks for any insight you have!!!

Wendy

 

[bookwormde]

I do both depending on ticket prices (if it gets over $150/person/rt I drive)

I leave some time before midnight and arrive mid afternoon. You get past Richmond before the city traffic picks up and you get 6+ hours with the kids asleep.

bookwormde

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

We've driven down and back from Boston 2 times.
It's a 1300 mile trip, stopping every 200 miles for gas, bathhroom breaks and switching drivers.
It takes us about 22 hours, costs about $400 round trip in our Chevy trailblazer for gas and tolls driving straight through the night from Boston to WDW.
It's No big Deal! It's a lot easier than I thought it would be the first time we drove down when my daughter was 3 years old.
If it costs us more than $1,400 to fly non-stop, rent a car at WDW, transfer to and from the airport in Boston then we Drive to WDW.
I wouldn't think twice about driving down from Philly.
It's 6 hours shorter, No New York City traffic easier, no Mass/New Jersey tolls and less gas cheaper drive for you to WDW.
Good luck all,
Joe

 

[eliza61]

We've been driving down more and more. I live in South Jersey maybe 5 miles over the Walt Whitman bridge. I think our reason are more than we love to have a car. When my kids were little I hated having to deal with strollers and bags on Disney transportation so we would fly down and rent a car. Now we love the convenience of having one.

The drive down is really easy, straight down I-95 to Florida. We leave really early in the morning, definitely try to be pass Washington DC by the 7:00 am rush hour. We make it easily to the Florida/Georgia state line by late afternoon. I think it's exit 38 Brunswick Ga. When we start out the next day I think we have 4 hours tops left to go. We stop both ways going down and coming back. tons of really cheap but nice motels along the way.

 

[MrBill64]

Here is a suggestion, fly down but drive back. This is how to do this. National rental car has a deal for oneway rentals out of Florida for the dates you will be in Florida. $10/day for a midsize, $12/day full size, or $15/day mini van. Pick up your vehicle at the airport when you arrive use it while you are in Florida then drive that vehicle back to PHL, drop it off and you are done. Checkout the National car rental web site for more info.

Bill

 

[Missytara]

Friends of mine have done it from DE, and use the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel, thus avoiding the entire MD/DC traffic. From Dover, they drive straight through and have made it in about 16-1/2 hours or so.

 

[sharadoc]

Friends of mine have done it from DE, and use the Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel, thus avoiding the entire MD/DC traffic. From Dover, they drive straight through and have made it in about 16-1/2 hours or so.

I wonder how that route would work in the summer with beach traffic? We're looking to avoid 95 from PA to Virginia, so the tunnel route looks good, but not if it backs up worse than 95. Do you know what it's like in summertime?

 

[supersuperwendy]

As a kid we always drove down from South Jersey and my brother and I loved the south of the border billboards! We also were always hoping to run into Bo and Luke Duke along the way! hahahahaha

Now my family always flies because it's my husband's preference. I am willing to drive or fly! Plus when you get to Florida is exciting to stop and get the juice!

 

[3darlings]

I wonder how that route would work in the summer with beach traffic? We're looking to avoid 95 from PA to Virginia, so the tunnel route looks good, but not if it backs up worse than 95. Do you know what it's like in summertime?

The tunnel should be fine but it is the area up to and thru the DE and MD beaches that you have to worry about. The same goes for VA but we don't think that is quite as bad. If you are going at a time when there isn't beach traffic, you will be fine. If it is beach traffic time (Fri evening/Sat, Sun on way back), it probably will be terrible. The Chesapeake Bay tunnel route is longer but, as long as you are avoiding beach traffic time, it does take the VA I-95 mess out of the mix.

 

[jnadelman]

There are other "non-obvious" costs of driving, so make sure you consider everything.

Besides gas and tolls, don't forget about the wear and tear plus the mileage you are adding to your car (oil changes, tires). The car rental idea to drive might be worth looking into.

Tickets, tickets and tickets. About half of the people I speak to speed at one point or another during the trip and wind up getting a speeding ticket for about $100. Sure, you might not get one of these, but odds are if you have a man driving, he will speed and be pleased about how far you got each hour or two. "Honey, we are making great time"

You might have an extra night at a hotel if you don't drive straight through. If you haven't planned ahead, and just want to stop when you are tired, you might pay a bit more than you were planning for that hotel.

If you extend your trip by a day on each side, don't forget the cost of extra meals and snacks.

You might purchase other little items for the kids such as a new DVD or Video game to help keep them occupied.

When you get there, you might be very tired and it could effect a day of touring in the parks (who wants to be exhausted on a vacation?)

Extra souvenirs? People stop at some interesting places along the way, you might get something.

Sure, under "most" situations, driving will be cheaper. But don't just add up gas and tolls and think you are saving hundreds of dollars. We flew last time for $600. Adding up these things were about $400. So I didn't look at it as wow, flying cost me $600, I said flying cost me $200. For $200, flying is a LOT more appealing than driving.

 

[taitai]

There is also the cost of vacation days. If you and/or your spouse/other people on the trip have to take vacation days to go how many more do you need to take to drive vs. fly? Vacation days have value. Unused vacation days can be converted to cash when you leave your job. So, factor in the cost of blowing a vacation day(s) on driving vs. flying.

It still might sense for you to drive but the math is more than gas, hotels, tolls.

 

[saintstickets]

Another factor to consider...national average gas prices for the spring and summer are expected to be between $3 and $3.50 per gallon. That is an increase of $.35-.85 per gallon for where I live. I don't know what the gas mileage on a Hyundai Santa Fe is but plan accordingly for the price increase.

 

[ChrisAlli]

Have you looked at flights out of A/C? I love the A/C airport, super easy to get to and not crowded at all.

 

[Gary Pinkos]

I also live outside Philly, We have gone to Disney about 20 times since 1993. We drove for years maily because I wanted a car while in Fla. and we would shop at publix.......saving money on food as well. Now that my girls are old enough to help drive......now we fly?

But we now stay in smaller accommodations, we do the Disney dining plan, and spend more of our vacation.....on vacation.

I didn't mind the drive, but now I am glad not to be doing it.

Try looking at Allentown airport as well.

 

[SilverMickey]

Here is a suggestion, fly down but drive back. This is how to do this. National rental car has a deal for oneway rentals out of Florida for the dates you will be in Florida. $10/day for a midsize, $12/day full size, or $15/day mini van. Pick up your vehicle at the airport when you arrive use it while you are in Florida then drive that vehicle back to PHL, drop it off and you are done. Checkout the National car rental web site for more info.

Bill

Great suggestion! (I think) We did this last year! We had a HHR for 11 days for 168.00 (all inclusive) and drove it home to NH.

 

[richmo]

Interesting replies and I like the comments from taitai and MrBill. I would definitely take a look at the fly down, drive back option (although I don't mind the drive down, I always hate the drive back).

And taitai is right -- you have to add in the cost of either extending your vacation to keep the same number of Disney days or reducing the number of Disney days. I hate sacrificing those Disney days to sit in the car.

Since you're about a month away, my guess is you won't see too much improvement in air fares, but keep looking. In addition to Allentown, you might want to look at Spirit out of Atlantic City. They've been running some good sales lately (but be sure to read the fine print!)