To Drive or Fly?

[Hokie4lyf]

We have 3 adults, a 17 year old, 13 year old and 6 month old making the trip in August from Virginia. Any advice on whether you would fly or drive considering the size of the group and ages involved? Anybody here made this drive before? Any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

[la79al]

I would think the adults and teens would all be fine but you could not have paid me enough to drive that far with DD when she was 6 months old. We did the drive when she was 10 months old (from PA) and that was fine but the 3 hour trip to the beach when she was 6 months old made me want to never leave my house again.

 

[purplepixiedust]

How long would your drive be? We live in PA and we had a serious drive ahead of us so we opted to fly and use the extra time for vacation. DH says he would never drive to Florida again, it was so nice to have a two hour flight and walk off the plane fresh and ready to go to the parks rather than waste days of driving and hotel stays. Just what we would do. We usually drive every year to the ocean in North Carolina and it is about a 10 hour trip. When my children were smaller (they are 18, 9 and 7 now) it was easier, but the older they get the less tolerant they are of the ride.

 

[Hokie4lyf]

According to mapquest, it would be about a 13 hour drive. Add in the stops to change diapers, stretch, eat lunch, etc, and I'm guessing it turns into about a 15 hour drive. We've never flown with a baby however and are a little anxious about that and not having a vehicle on premises.

 

[billybobblockhead]

I'm in NC and our first trip driving will be this summer. I'm looking forward to the drive, mainly just having the opportunity to see different places that I've never seen before. However, we've flown 5X from Charlotte and done the Magical Express to our hotel. LOVE it, and if our $$ wasn't so tight, we would fly again. We just can't find the discounted airline tix in the summer that we can in the fall and winter.

 

[pooh4brains]

We did a six hour drive with my DS at 7 mos - it was not fun. However, it was during the day. I know that some people start driving around 5 or 6 at night, and drive through the night so that the little ones will sleep. Obviously one adult has to sleep, too so that someone is in a state to watch the baby when you arrive bright and early the next morning! It seems to work for some people...

Flying with an infant from VA wouldn't be bad at all though - esp since you have lots of help. It's a quick trip, and you have others to help you lug all the necessities!

 

[JEWLSVERN]

We just drove from VA for our trip the 1st week of March. DS was 7 months old. He loves his car seat and sleeps all the time. We did a lot of late night/early morning driving. We also stopped overnight in Savannah on the way down.

It was not a bad trip. In fact it was quite easy and way cheaper than flying.

I think it would really depend on how well your little one does in the car.

 

[momto2js]

We make the 12 hour drive from northern AL each time we go. By driving and staying off property we are able to go twice a year instead of once. I also perfer to drive over fly because of the hassle flying has become. In the car I can take everything I need for my kids and I don't have to pay for the extra bags.

I currently drive with a 3 and 1 year old. Our last trip our youngest was 6m. The older kids can help entertain the baby in the car. Our drive really wasn't all that bad.

 

[scrapquitler]

We have 3 adults, a 17 year old, 13 year old and 6 month old making the trip in August from Virginia. Any advice on whether you would fly or drive considering the size of the group and ages involved? Anybody here made this drive before? Any help is appreciated. Thanks

Well I think that first you have to think about how comfortably all those people can sit in whatever vehicle you are planning to drive. In a mini van, you'll probably fit comfortably. An SUV, I suppose it depends on how the seats are configured and how you have to arrange the seating so that the 6 month old's car seat is not cramping anyone else's leg room.

The bigger issue then becomes: is there enough room in the vehicle for everyones luggage? Remember to count the stroller or pack n play and any other baby gear you might be bringing.

You'll have to plan around how you might acomodate the baby's eating/sleeping schedule and don't forget that you'll likely have to stop a couple extra times for diaper changes as well.

 

[Ericandjenng]

We live in Tennessee and it's about a 10 hour drive. We frequently do a combination of fly/drive. Much of the time flights from our area are $$$ but we can drive 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours (Nashville or Atlanta) and get better prices on air.

We do usually drive to the Air city the night before because we like the first am flight to get to Disney bright and early. We could take later flights and drive down the same day...it's another give and take choice.

Good Luck planning!

 

[RooRach0906]

I have driven and flown many times for this trip from Richmond, Va.
Flying~ If you can get a AirTran Direct flight it only takes about 2 hours to from RIC to Orlando so not bad at all plus AirTran is normally cheaper than other airlines for this flight. If you do an early flight(6 or 7am) than you can be in the parks by 12:30- 1pm (this includes going to the resort on DME, checking in, putting extra things in the room(everytime we have lucked out with a room ready when we get there) and then traveling to the park.
Driving~ We always leave at like 2am-ish this is with just me and DH or if we go with extended family (including kids)(one time was with a 5 month old). We leave at 2 that way the person driving can go lay down around 7 pm and get some sleep before we leave. The kids and most of the adults sleep on the way down. We also always take the first day when we drive not to do much of anything, normally just hang out at the resort and do things there. Typically we get there at about 4pm. We stop for fast food breakfast and lunch and normally two other rest stops.
Hope this helps you decided. If you have any question about ages or anything just ask.

 

[daleswife]

According to mapquest, it would be about a 13 hour drive. Add in the stops to change diapers, stretch, eat lunch, etc, and I'm guessing it turns into about a 15 hour drive. We've never flown with a baby however and are a little anxious about that and not having a vehicle on premises.

We drive from West Virginia every time we go and it takes us about 13 hours. We leave early in the morning and travel about 4 hours, stop and feed the kids who are 7 and 3 now but were 6 and 2 last trip, then we drive a while longer, usually another 4 to 6 hours or longer if the kids are sleeping, then we stop again for a stretch, lunch, potty, ect... then drive the remaining way down. That last leg of the trip isnt that bad cause we are "almost there" and the kids get excited.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Well, not sure but IMHO, I'd much rather fly and Be There , but if it is financial strain. you should do what you think is best....If I were driving though, I'd get in that car literally at like 3am, and drive till dinner and then sleep over...and drive straight next early am....it is exhausting but atleast you'll get there sooner, driving straight thru with switching drivers works too...personally, I'd say FLY and relax.....save the energy, time and wear/tear on vehicle
Good Luck deciding and have a safe trip whatever you decide.

 

[MamaJessie]

We drive and my youngest dd was 6 months when we went in the fall. It took 22 hours (after the stops for food,potty breaks and stretching) and she was surprisingly fine.

Whatever you decide, have fun!

 

[RachChamb]

We drove to Tampa from PA in Jan 2006 with a 1 and 3 year old and it was not bad. We stopped over in SC for a night. We were surprised at how well it actually went!

If you are in VA, have you thought about taking the auto train from Lorton? Or just the regular train. It's not as fast as flying, but would be easier than driving yourself and you could rest.

We're taking the auto train for our trip in Oct and getting a family bedroom.

 

[Mommy2JulietJocelyn]

we drove when DDs were 9 months, 3 & 4 - they did fine. We drove from south Jersey. We left at like 5ish, drove for a while, stopped for dinner & potty, then drove for a while with movies playing in the car, then stopped for potty & pj change, then drove through the night (i work nights so I started driving at like 11pm.) We drove til breakfast around 8am.

However - you could also do what we did our last trip. DH drove with FIL and the rest of us flew the next day. - me, 3DDs, SIL & MIL we met at the hotel - they beat us by about an hr. This way I did not have DD#3 who was 21months sitting in a car for 19 hrs. It was less money than flying everyone and we had our car while we were there. And we only had a carry on for me & our DDs, no checked bags - they were in the car as was the stroller.