To Drive or Not to Drive

[granpoobah]

I am debating on if i should drive to Disney or fly. I live in Delaware and would take around 15hrs conservatively. Now my question is would i save money driving to disney with a family of 4 or would it be best to fly? I am in no rush to get there. I do plan on going to Sea World while im down there also.

 

[cuteduck223]

We drive from Illinois (17 hours-conservatively). For 3 of us (2 adults, 1 child) we still save money driving...if you can afford the time to get there and back. We usually pack a picnic dinner...and eat in the car. Sometimes driving straight through, other times stopping to rest.

The formula i always use is = 1200 (distance) x 2 + 200 (getting lost, exploring) = 2600 % mpg (again, exaggerated...usually i say 24) x $4.5 (i always add 1 dollar to current gas prices). With that--im still under $500. Anything left over i use to start our next fund. even adding in a hotel on the way down/back keeps it at about 650-700. We rarely stop on the way down.

Driving requires a bit more planning, but it gives you a few freedoms too.

 

[granpoobah]

i want to drive straight through, with the occasional rest stop and fuel, i'll have kids sleep in car. I just hope that when i arrive i am not exhausted and waste a whole day sleeping and miss some of the day. Hopefully save some money not stopping for rest.

 

[tantoria2]

We are at here now and drove 14 hours over 2 days ( we had to leave late in ghe afternoon or we would have driven straight through) I would absolutely build in a rest day after arrival from now on. I felt like we were dragging the first 2 days

 

[magicbob]

I've driven from northern VA and MD several times. I'm used to driving 8 hours and enjoy driving generally. We stop at an inexpensive but nice clean hotel in GA just before the FL state line. That way, the next morning it's just a few hours drive to get to the resort before lunch and get checked in. Then spend of the rest of the day relaxing and hit the parks the next day. I also like the freedom of having my car with me. If we fly in the future, cost of a rental car would also have to be figured in for us.

 

[disneynanacat]

We're in Kentucky so it's about a 12hr drive. I've flown mostly but drove a couple times. We're driving in October. There's 4 of us and flights are outrageous. I'm still not sure if we will drive straight thru or stop for a night and break it up. Depends on how early my DGD and her boyfriend gets off work on Friday. If early, we leave Friday afternoon. If late, early early early Saturday morning.

 

[kaybird]

When we had the kids at home we nearly always drove, and usually straight through. (for us, a 24 hour drive) Our rule of thumb is if there are more than 2 of us, it is cheaper to drive. More so now that most airlines charge for baggage. Once we get there however, the car is parked for the duration, and we enjoy having Disney drive us!

 

[MEK]

Hi fellow Delaware resident. I understand your dilemma because for the first time EVER we are supposed to drive in June. And now my DH is having second thoughts.

I do want to tell you that we just got back from a drive to the Disney's resort in HHI. It took us about 10.5 hours. We took 301 across the Bay Bridge and continued on it to just north of Richmond which is picks up 95. I have used this route before and it really avoids all potential traffic nightmares around DC. It has some lights initially, but also plenty of Wawas for a food/gas/coffee/bathroom stops. Then it actually gets pretty rural and dare I say scenic. We were able to hit the NC welcome center in 4 hours with one stop.

Good luck in your decision. I know some people drive all night. I can't do that. Our plan was to stop in Brunswick Georgia the first night and drive the rest of the way in the morning.

 

[Lbachelot]

We drives from Texas, about 14 hours! With two kids for 8 days I pack way to much to be able to fly!

 

[disney-akj]

When we drive, it is about 15 or 16 hours for us. We always leave as soon as we can the evening before (about 4 usually). Then we drive a lot that night (usually 9 or 10 hours- always through Atlanta at least to avoid morning rush hour). Then we find a motel to get a few winks. Then the next morning we do not have as long to drive and are more rested to enjoy the parks. For a family of 5 we usually save a lot of money flying (At least $1000, but usually more). When we could purchase cheaper flights and the saving was only about $500, then we would fly. We never find deals like that anymore sadly.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We live in Ohio and choose to drive, 14-15 hours for us, usually. We have flown twice, but flying is way more of a hassle for us than driving. For one thing, we are about 2-1/2 hours from the airport. If we drive, we can take whatever we want, no worries about suitcase weight, etc. however, we are fortuante to be able to take 10-12 days, so the drive doesn't take away vacation time. We usually leave in the afternoon after school and drive straight through. We also like being on our own schedule; on our last day, if we want to get up, have breakfast and hit the road, we can. If we decide we would rather hit a park for a few hours or several hours, we can.

 

[2DisPrincesses]

We drive from Michigan. We have flown a few times, but driving saves us a ton of money (there are 4 of us). We would have to also rent a car if we flew because DH doesn't like to be without one-he refuses to rely on Disney transportation only.

We drive strait through and take turns sleeping/driving while the girls sleep from about 10-6. We are renting a minivan this fall as the girls are getting bigger and we want the space, but its still a big money saver.

 

[bennifer]

We almost always drive from Western PA. My DH said no way this year, so we are flying...blah. It's too expensive and I hate that every week there is another story about flights being anti family/anti kids. I'm actually thinking about letting him fly separately and I'll drive down with DS!

 

[carly chloe]

We drive from Minnesota straight through. Takes about 24 hours. We had a 3 year old- he did fine. We have a minivan. It costs us $600 round trip for gas. BIG comparasion as to what airfare would of cost. Long drive but worth over $1,000!!!! (we had 6 ppl)

 

[Mariannekay]

I wish I could afford to fly, it just makes more sense financially to drive! It takes us about 11 hours...we leave around 5:30 am CST, grab lunch on the road, arrive around 5:30 pm EST. We check into either a DTD hotel or value for the night. Grab dinner at DTD and stretch our legs a bit, turn in early, head to CSR in the morning for early check in and then off to the parks!

 

[squirrel4569]

We drive from Texas and it takes around 20 hours. I used to drive from Michigan and it was about the same. My wife and I drive straight through and try to time it so we're arriving around the end of the day so we can get there and go straight to bed. Typically plane tickets are $300+ per person round trip and for four of us that's $1200 or more. Last November we couldn't find anything for less than $500 per person so we drove at a cost of about $450 including gas and food.

We set the kids up with iPads loaded with movies and they are content to just kick back and relax.

We're flying this year but only because I found flights for $167/person.

 

[scjo68]

We usually drive from Richmond- about 12-13 hours.
We have tried staying over somewhere on the way down, and it works OK.
But now we leave home at 4 a.m. and drive straight through. We get checked in and head to a park-usually MK, just for an attraction or two and parade. We find this works great.


On the way home, we always leave in the afternoon and stay over night somewhere. Either SC or Georgia. This way we don't have to rush out of WDW in the morning. And we do not have the excitement or energy to drive straight through on the way home.

We fly when we only have a long weekend for the trip. For Thanksgiving this year, DD and I are going and we will have to fly because driving would take too much time. I wish we could drive. Flights over Thanksgiving are not cheap and I dread being in the airport on a holiday.

 

[angbuz]

We are seriously considering driving to disney in august. we've always flown and this will be our first time driving. I am actually looking forward to it, but the rest of the family......not so much. We are in S. Jersey (about 10 miles from Del. Mem. bridge). We will be doing disney for 7 days and then universal for 2 and then visiting family for 2 days, so having a car really makes sense for us. But my DH argues that we can always rent a car. I've done the math and driving will save us at least $800 with the airfare prices right now.
Good luck with your decision!!

 

[Kat016]

We drove last year from PA. We left around 6 at night, drove until about midnight. We got a room in Emporia, Va. We got up early the next day and finished it out. We stayed with my father in law in Sebring. We took a day and than started our disney excursion. I could have gotten up the next day and started than but we figured since we were staying with my FIL, we'd spend a day with him. Coming home, we went to sea world and than left to come home around 3:30. We stopped in Georgia and got a hotel for the night. We were tired so we just stopped. Than we got up early the next day and finished the drive. It was a long drive but it saves some money. This year we are flying because we didn't want to drive again. It's VERY long. I just got tickets out of New Castle, flying Frontier to Orlando, for 4 of us for $814. If you can get a rate like that, fly. You'll probably spend close to that on lodging & gas...plus, you won't be so drained when you get to Disney.

 

[michelleiada]

We drove last year from Massachusetts, New Hampshire border, because we thought it would be fun. It was a 24 hour drive. The first day we drove around 16 hours and stopped for a night in North Carolina. It was fun driving there because we had the anticipation of "Disney" ahead of us. Driving home was not as exciting and we hit a lot of bad weather and traffic. It definitely saved a lot of money compared to flying but that isn't why we did it. I would do it again if I had the luxury of time. We are flying this year.