To drive or not to Drive ?

[disney_me]

We are leaving for Disney on Dec.13. Tickets are booked and we are just going for a long weekend. coming home on Sunday Dec. 16th. Here is the question, should we drive to Fl. ? We live in Delaware and know this drive would take us like 16 hours to get there. DH said its up to me on what we want to do.

This will be our last trip to Disney for a long time and I thought maybe driving would be fun. drive like 8 hours and take a break, stay the night in SC then wake -up and drive the rest of the way. I know, I know. what is she crazy!!

If we drive down, we would leave on Dec. 12 and arrive home on Dec. 17. Yes, plane tickets are already bought but with SWA we can credit them back into our acct.
Ok, to fly or drive what to do!!

 

[bzzymom]

For a short trip, I would be more inclined to fly. That way, you aren't so tired when you get there. We fly most of the time, it takes about 24 hours of driving time to get there from where we live. The only time I would even consider it is if we had a long vacation planned.

 

[mdoc]

I think it depends on how much you like to drive/hate to fly, how many people will be sharing the drive, and who is going. For a trip that short, I'd probably fly, even though I prefer to drive and don't really like flying. For a weeklong trip, we drive (20 hours). There are 7 of us, so gas is cheaper than 7 plane tickets. My kids have fun on the drive - they watch TV and movies, do activity books, play Nintendo and road games, etc.

 

[bgirl29]

I would vote to fly. In December you never know what the weather will be like either. The drive could end up taking alot longer, and for a short trip I would want to be able to spend as much time in Florida as possible.

 

[Darcy03231]

Since there is absolutely no way I would spend that much time in the car without serious drugs - I vote to fly!

 

[MinnieTink]

You have your flight already and it is a short trip, so I would fly.

That being said, driving was not as bad as I thought it would be. It added to the adventure. Maybe next time!

 

[Momof2princess]

I agree, since you already have booked the flights I would fly. Plus a drive that long can leave you tired and stressed.

Have a great trip.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

How much would it cost you in gas money to drive? We have a 19 hour drive from where we are and when added up it costs us $650 rt in gas. So with that figured in it's better for us to fly.

 

[ObsessedwiththeMouse]

We live in Wisconsin and are going Dec. 16th-Dec.25th. Originally, we had planned to fly and our plane tickets were going to be our Christmas gift from my parents.

Now, my mom waited too long to purchase the tickets and they are ridiculously expensive, so we are opting to drive. The money from the plane tickets will be used for gas. Our gas won't be cheap because we drive a Cadillac Escalade, but it will still be cheaper than the ticket prices.

I haven't driven to WDW in a long time, so it will be interesting to do it again with 2 kiddos this time.

Have a great trip!

 

[Mandychelle79]

We are driving from PA to FLA in two and a half weeks. We are driving until we get to Jacksonville and then finish the trip in the next day. We have driven it every other year for as long as I can remember.

 

[disney_me]

We did not pay for our tickets. I have to thank DH for all the flights he take during the week for our plane tickets. South West has the best rewards program. Any way, we are going to fly to Fl. It really is a short stay and why not get as much time in as we can. Both DD (11) and DH did not want to drive. As for me, I'm not a big fan of the plane so I'll be flying with my friend Zanex!!

DH said maybe next trip we will drive to the big mouse house!!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Good choice! I would not drive if Walt Disney himself was commandeering my minivan!!!!

 

[minnierocks]

We love driving!
It takes us about 16 hours to get to WDW and we are driving again for our upcoming trip. If plane tickets were cheaper, I would fly...but they never are. For us, it is cheaper to drive and we really don't mind it. Our kids are used to road trips and they travel great...
We have learned over the years that the "drive it in less time than Mapquest says, or die" mentality, just STRESSES everyone OUT! So we go, and enjoy the ride...Believe it or not, we actually have conversations about things other than "which kid needs picked up from which activity at what time" and it's really wonderful. I watch my husband begin to unwind the second we hit the highway...and it's worth every mile that we have traveled over the years to hear my kids talk about "Do you remember when we saw...?"
Those memories will give them a common bond long after I'm gone...

 

[Dawn68PA]

We drove from PA both of our previous trips. Hubby is afraid to fly. Driving is fine though. We drive at night so there's far less traffic. We woud leave about 6pm and drive straight through taking turns sleeping and get there about 9 or 10am the next morning. It's great! We're both feeling rested and full of excitement for the full day. We plan to do this again next year. Only decision to make yet is that they'll be 6 of us and we either need to take 2 cars or rent a mini-van!

 

[disney_5]

I would vote to fly but I wanted to ask does anyone know how to estimate the cost of driving a long distance? For us it would be a 20 hour drive according to mapquest. I would love to know the cost of gas for that kind of a trip. If its realy expensive than I would feel so much better about our plane ticket costs.

I also read in a guide book that there is an Antrack train you can drive your car onto in Virginia that stops in Orlando. It costs about $500 for the car and 2 adults and 2 kids. THis was something we considered as you could then stay off site and have your car there too without actualy doing the driving.

Jessica.

 

[Jedi Master Gonzo]

My vote would be to drive. Road trips for our family is a great time for conversation considering we are only all together at the same time on Sundays due to all the activities we are involved in.
6 plane ticket would really strain our budget. Besides, it's only a 10 hour drive for us. We normaly stop in Valdosta before we cross the Florida line to fill up and eat.

 

[DisNeeFans]

Since it's a short trip and plane tickets are already paid for I would say fly.

We just got back from our trip. We took 2 week trip and drove from Boston, MA. Trip said it would take 21 hrs. But only took us 20 hrs (not including 1hr stop for breakfast). We left at 9:45pm, kids slept till morning, stopped at 9am for Breakfast in SC and Drove straight through to Florida arriving at 6:22 pm. Wasn't as bad as we thought it would be with me, dh, MIL and 5 kids! I would do it again if we went for a week or more.

P.S. Ride home was longer lol.. guess we weren't as excited about going home.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I would vote to fly but I wanted to ask does anyone know how to estimate the cost of driving a long distance? For us it would be a 20 hour drive according to mapquest. I would love to know the cost of gas for that kind of a trip. If its realy expensive than I would feel so much better about our plane ticket costs.

I also read in a guide book that there is an Antrack train you can drive your car onto in Virginia that stops in Orlando. It costs about $500 for the car and 2 adults and 2 kids. THis was something we considered as you could then stay off site and have your car there too without actualy doing the driving.

Jessica.

Well it is roughly 20-24 hours for us to drive. The amount of therapy I would need coupled with the co-payments, gas etc. would cost more than a week in WDW!!!!

 

[minnierocks]

I would vote to fly but I wanted to ask does anyone know how to estimate the cost of driving a long distance? For us it would be a 20 hour drive according to mapquest. I would love to know the cost of gas for that kind of a trip. If its realy expensive than I would feel so much better about our plane ticket costs.

I also read in a guide book that there is an Antrack train you can drive your car onto in Virginia that stops in Orlando. It costs about $500 for the car and 2 adults and 2 kids. THis was something we considered as you could then stay off site and have your car there too without actualy doing the driving.

Jessica.

Here is a gas trip calculator...
http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/

 

[Phibbles]

To figure gaas price you need to know two things:
1. how many miles do you have to travel?
2. how many miles per gallon does your car get?

For us, we have to drive 1100 miles and my car gets roughly 17 mpg. That is just shy of 65 gallons of gas (1100 / 17). 65 g x $3.00 per gallon = $195. Perhaps factor another 10% for gas wasted sitting in possible traffic. And don't forget you need same amount of gas (and time) to drive home too.

My family loves to drive to WDW. Before I had a toddler, we would drive straight thru the night. Would take about 18 hours with stops. We are going to drive again in Aug08, but since we have a child with us, I am going to do drive in two days. This way nobody is super-duper cranky when we get there.