The heck with flying!

[bkelly65us]

We used to fly but it is just cheaper to drive and we do not have to deal with the TSA storm troopers.

http://cbs2chicago.com/investigations/xrated.security.screenings.2.777423.html

See, this is some of what I was talking about when I originally posted. This stuff isn't isolated, it happens all the time. And the utter lack of common sense and common decency is just too much to take.
When you have a minimum wage-slave all puffed up with power make my 8 yr old daughter take off her dollar a pair flip flops from WalMart and physically squeeze and visually examine them for Lord knows what then I know I've fallen down the rabbit hole to Wonderland.

 

[Hedy]

See, this is some of what I was talking about when I originally posted. This stuff isn't isolated, it happens all the time. And the utter lack of common sense and common decency is just too much to take.
When you have a minimum wage-slave all puffed up with power make my 8 yr old daughter take off her dollar a pair flip flops from WalMart and physically squeeze and visually examine them for Lord knows what then I know I've fallen down the rabbit hole to Wonderland.

I thought everyone has to take off their shoes at the airport

 

[Inkmahm]

Say Friday 3 am, Saturday 1:30 pm, layover in DC, actual train time 27 plus hours.

Wow, I would have called that a 34 1/2 hour trip. That would be even worse than driving!

 

[MomtoEmIs&Ow]

We've logged 40 trips to WDW since 1977, in the begining we drove alot, then a couple of Amtrak trips and then 3 flying excursions. I'm not a good flyer, after 9/11, no more even thinking of flying trips anymore. We're back to Amtrak, regular, Lorton's to far a drive for the Auto Train and we never rent a car or use ours when we're there. I'd say the last 10-15 trips have been by train, we're from northeastern Ohio, close to you, and its a 27 hour train trip, we enjoy the travel alot, relaxing and carefree and does not take away our Disney time, we stay 10-12 nights anyway. It cost the 2 of us, round trip 450 bucks, reasonable in my book. Now with the craziness of the airlines, security and closing, flying never will be one of our options. Nothing beats seeing the country from a train window, having dinner and a drink and napping when the urge hits. We board at 3 am, hit DC around 5, layover till 7 and we're in Kissimmee by 1:30 pm.

At what station do you get onto the train? We are considering this...

 

[Poohbug]

I do not mind driving at all. About a 20 hr drive from our house and we do it with the kids. We just cannot afford to fly everyone there anymore. The only sad thing is DH and I used to take a long weekend and go every few years. I'm afraid those days are over.

We also had DS(6 at the time) stopped by security one time. They said it was just their random search and his ticket was marked?? I really don't understand airport security at all, I don't believe it is any more secure than before 9/11, we are just subjected to more stupid rules.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

We also had DS(6 at the time) stopped by security one time. They said it was just their random search and his ticket was marked?? I really don't understand airport security at all, I don't believe it is any more secure than before 9/11, we are just subjected to more stupid rules.

Yeah because terrorists never use woman or children...

 

[OhMari]

Count me in!! I am SOOO done with flying!! We got a great deal on a really nice rental car for the two of us to drive down from WI to FL. We have driven this route 2 times and it has worked out great. Flying was the first option to get there faster, but with all the drama of the airlines lately and having my own flight cancelled- I am SOOOO done!

On a side note, I am sorry to those of you who have to also deal with messed up flights and people who are just ridiculous on them.

Amy

Which rental company did you use.

If we take our Diesel Truck it costs $110 to fill up and we can probably go 6 hours on a tank of Diesel. It takes 22 hours to get to WDW. 44 hours divided by 6 is, it would costs us over $800 in Diesel fuel. I guess for us, it is better to try and find something and fly. I still haven't rebooked after getting the boot from Midwest.

 

[mom2kayzb & jakers]

I could handle the 18 hour car ride, but I don't think my kids could! One of us would have to be drugged to survive the trip, preferably me!! Otherwise, I'll stick with flying for now, it's saves my sanity!!

 

[Poohbug]

Yeah because terrorists never use woman or children...

Why not screen the whole family then?? Obvious we are traveling together.

 

[crashbb]

Why not screen the whole family then?? Obvious we are traveling together.

Because it was random - as you were told. It is not feasible to give every traveler the 'extra screen', so travelers are chosen at random for the extra screening.

 

[aidensmom73]

Is there anyone else like us who have said "The heck with it!" and just ruled out flying altogether? I'm so sick of trying to chase down a good price for the six of us to Orlando that we're just going to drive. From Pittsburgh, PA. With 4 kids under 12.
Our last flight to/from was just a nightmare. Delays, really obnoxious fellow flyers, and airline employees who could have cared less about the whole thing. With the state of the economy and airline companies getting ready to fall like a row of dominoes I think everything is just going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
As for me, I'll be tooling down the highway in the minivan. And if you drive close enough to our back bumper, you can watch the Disney movie, too!

No, way. My husband wouldn't entertain the thought of driving from NJ to FL.
We are flying next Saturday into Tampa. I scored $138 per person, non-stop, RT tickets on Continental.

 

[BonnieA]

I've got three trips to Disney coming up in the next year. At least 2 of them will be by car. I only drove once, 20 years ago, so it may be an experience. It should take about 12 hours. Flying just isn't fun anymore. Of course, the drive may not be fun either but if I can lose my self in an audio book, time usually flies.

 

[pepe of ohio]

At what station do you get onto the train? We are considering this...

Alliance Ohio, leaves every day at 3:00-3:30 am.

 

[mgilmer]

See, this is some of what I was talking about when I originally posted. This stuff isn't isolated, it happens all the time. And the utter lack of common sense and common decency is just too much to take.
When you have a minimum wage-slave all puffed up with power make my 8 yr old daughter take off her dollar a pair flip flops from WalMart and physically squeeze and visually examine them for Lord knows what then I know I've fallen down the rabbit hole to Wonderland.

And unfortunately it will continue as long as you have Sheeple who say that anything the government and their minions want to do in the name of security is ok. They forget what Benjamin Franklin said, "Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security."

 

[KirstenB]

We made this decision 4 years ago. DH hates being in a car, but I do the bulk of the driving. It's easy for us to make this choice, because we're only driving from Va. Of course, if we ever decide to vacation someplace really far away like Calif, we'll wait til our youngest is much older, and fly then.

 

[amygirl2727]

I looked into driving when our Midwest flights were cancelled. We live just south of KC and it is about 19 hours (1200+ miles). The way I figured though, round trip it would cost us about $500 to drive - just in gas. That doesn't count the wear and tear on our car (and our nerves) after being in a car for 20 hours. Plus we'd have to stop someplace and stay one night for the sake of the kids AND we'd have food, etc. on the way down.

I managed to find delta flights for $143 pp for our travel dates. That was only $740 total inclusive of all fees. (almost a full $250 LESS than our Midwest flights that got cancelled)

I'm not a big fan of flying - I agree that it can be a hassle but this time for us it still works out to be cheaper and more time effective than driving.

Who knows what the future will hold

If we get a car with better gas milage and/or gas prices go down and/or airline prices continue to go up then I'm sure that by our next trip I'm might be headed down in the car.

 

[daisy112878]

We live in Atlanta and we still fly. Dh and I both HATE driving and will fight the whole time over who has to drive. So we fly. A lot less stress and hassle for us. But we're both use to flying for work.

 

[carolina_yankee]

We have enough vacation time that I could consider driving (2 days) but it would cost us $600 to do it the way I would want (gas avg at $4.10, nice dinner, nice hotel on the road) in order to not feel drained at the end. For the time being, the two of us can still fly for less.

TSA is a hassle, but it takes 20-30 minutes max each way. I'll put up with 60 minutes of TSA frustration in exchange for a 17 hour drive and a likely traffic jam or two.

Dirk

 

[TheLittleRoo]

I think we'll be driving unless a really fantastic Ding! comes along. It's $1000 for my family of 5, plus $80 for parking vs. $550 in r/t gas + 2nts hotel. I'd rather have that money toward WDW anyway...

One thing we are considering as an alternative this year is the Autotrain out of Lorton, VA. We could take our car and the 5 of us down to FL and back for $857, and skip the driving altogether. Dinner and breakfast are served and you can walk around, sleep, watch a movie on your DVD player, etc anytime you want to.

Either way, an added perk of having a car would be eliminating the "stink eye" we get from fellow passengers as my DH and I each struggle to break down a single stroller while holding the hand of a little on and loading them onto said bus. We could use the car to get to the parks each day, not to mention driving ourselves to our ADR's at various WDW resorts. Come to think of it, this might be our best chance to actually hotel hop and sightsee in the lobbies this time.

 

[PinkTink63]

Driving isn't even a consideration for us! I don't want to even think about how many hours it would take sitting in a car!

As much as I hate the hassle of all the airfare stuff too, we will not be driving! Ever!