to fly or drive with 8 of us!!!??!!!

[rxpert86]

I would love some feedback on whether to drive or fly for our family trip in may. we have already booked offsite vacation home and purchased park hopper tickets so my only expense remaining is transporation. we will be traveling from nashville so have about an 11 hr drive. we would have to rent a large van for the 8 of us which would cost about $600. with gas expense this would be about $1100 round trip. The best flight prices I can find for this time period are over $300 per person ($2500 total) what are your thoughts and experiences about spending the extra $$ and what would you do?? Thank you and love, love, love disboards

 

[GoofyIsMyHomeboy]

I would love some feedback on whether to drive or fly for our family trip in may. we have already booked offsite vacation home and purchased park hopper tickets so my only expense remaining is transporation. we will be traveling from nashville so have about an 11 hr drive. we would have to rent a large van for the 8 of us which would cost about $600. with gas expense this would be about $1100 round trip. The best flight prices I can find for this time period are over $300 per person ($2500 total) what are your thoughts and experiences about spending the extra $$ and what would you do?? Thank you and love, love, love disboards

You'll get a lot of opinions but ultimately it comes down to what works best for you. I enjoy driving so the 11 hour drive for half the price would be an easy choice for me. Drive!

Also, if you are staying offsite that rental van will come in handy the whole time you are there. I think with that many people you are going to have to rent some sort of vehicle to get around Orlando.

Unless there are some health or sanity issues that prevent you from making the drive, eleven hours isn't really that bad, especially if you can share the driving. Eleven hours is within my window to drive straight through, though. If you would have to break it into two days, eating up vacation time and costing you money for hotels and such, then flying starts to look more attractive.

 

[rxpert86]

no health issues, probably sanity issues, ( my disneymania)

thanks so much, yes the van would be very helpful from rental house to parks. plus we have a couple of harry potter fans with us who want to do universal

anyone else?

 

[dzorn]

I would not rent a van but take two smaller cars as an 8 passenger van would not have very much room for luggage. It would also make it more convient if not everyone wants to do the same thing.

Denise in MI

 

[MrEVILdrPorkchop2u]

We always drive and we have around a 20 hour drive. I just can't bring myself to pay an additional 1500.00 more to fly. Well worth it for us.

 

[danda22]

11 hrs. does not seem that bad at all considering how much money you would save! I'm trying to decide if our family of 4 will drive the 17 hrs. from Ohio or fly for $1000. Ours would take 2 days and cut into our vacation time and probably not save enough to make it worthwhile but it sounds like yours certainly will!

 

[4mykidz127]

We drive it straight through from Kansas and there are 6 of us. Our kids ages range from 6 to 17. We use to fly when we could get great deals from Southwest but now that airfare has gone up in order for us to get to continue with our Disney trips we drive. I vote to drive and we have a sienna that seats 8 so that would be an option as well to rent. Might be cheaper than the bigger van and cheaper on gas. If you take two cars as someone else suggested you would have to factor in the extra gas as well as if you have enough drivers to take two cars and share in the driving time.

 

[Pigeon]

I hate long car trips, so even though I am cheap, I'd fly.

 

[Belle & Ariel]

Look into driving to Chattanooga and flying Allegiant Air. We have flown for as low as $30 one way with fees and no more than $50 one way.

You would have to get a car there because they fly into Sanford which is a little further than MCO--about 45 minute drive to WDW,

 

[tzolkin]

I would not rent a van but take two smaller cars as an 8 passenger van would not have very much room for luggage. It would also make it more convient if not everyone wants to do the same thing.

I was thinking this as well.

I am assuming since you mention needing to rent a van for that number of people that this is not just an immediate family with kids. If there will be other adults and you are staying offsite, I would definitely prefer to have two vehicles. (If you take your own that will save you the rental costs as well)

We always drive (23hrs- straight through) so I wouldn't think twice about an 11hr drive.

Two years ago we brought my parents and all 7 of us did ride in one vehicle to FL, but we were staying onsite and we always rely on Disney transportation to get around while on vacation. We spent a lot of time doing different things, so it would have been a nightmare if we had to stick together so we could drive back and forth to offsite accomodations with only one vehicle.

 

[foreUT]

The $ is so significantly different, I would take the "drive" option. I have driven by myself w kids from middle America, so I don't think that the drive is that over-whelming. I do like the two car option mentioned, earlier, though, except for the extra parking @ WDW and gas expenses (which might result in the savings not being as large.)

 

[wishing4PA]

I can't imagine me picking flying when an 11 hour drive was an option.
I'd probably go for the 2 car setup, but the van would be fun!
Just make sure everyone bathes first, lol.

But then, I don't fly much anymore, so I tend to see flying as a hassle. I enjoyed flying to the opposite coast - which was enough of a distance to make the decision easy. But when you can hop in a car in the morning, and get there that night, why bother getting to the airport early, figuring out how much luggage everyone is allowed to take, what goes in the baggies, the carry-on, the checked luggage (if it is even worth the fee), etc. Driving is so much easier. But that's just me. Good luck! And don't forget, the journey is half the fun. Well, maybe less than 1/2 when the destination is WDW, but still it should be fun.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

Have you priced out Southwest this week? Some of there spring flights have dropped. I was looking at tickets from Pittsburgh and it is about $240 round trip.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

I would drive. Also, you didn't factor in having to get a rental in Orlando if you flew, so that is more money you would be saving.

 

[rxpert86]

Look into driving to Chattanooga and flying Allegiant Air. We have flown for as low as $30 one way with fees and no more than $50 one way.

You would have to get a car there because they fly into Sanford which is a little further than MCO--about 45 minute drive to WDW,

Belle & Ariel, I will definately check out Allegiant air.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, It's our adult kids with their significant others and we want to be together so the 2 vehicle idea probably won't work for the drive down.
We are looking at the larger vans, like 12 passenger, so there should be plenty of luggage room. After seeing how far some of you have to drive to the world, 11 hours is just right next door!!!

 

[Jenny-momof3]

Drive!!

We drive 16 hours each way with 4 kids and we do it straight through. We only stop for 10 minutes to GGG...gas up, go to the bathroom and grab drive thru food! . It's soo much easier for us to just pack up the van and be on our way whenever we choose to leave!

We make this trip 3-4 times a year. And at times I've been the only driver if DH has to fly back for work. You're going to have lots of drivers and a shorter drive.

Personally I would take 2 cars. Gives you MUCH more flexibility of coming and going to the parks while you're there! I guarantee at some point in your trip, your group of 8 will want to split up a bit. Somewant to stay later at the park, some want to chill at the vacation home. Will be much more cost effective too! Won't have to pay for car rental. Gas for our 16 hour drive in my van runs $350ish. Since you have a shorter drive, gas would be under $300 for each car.

 

[rxpert86]

Personally I would take 2 cars. Gives you MUCH more flexibility of coming and going to the parks while you're there! I guarantee at some point in your trip, your group of 8 will want to split up a bit. Somewant to stay later at the park, some want to chill at the vacation home. Will be much more cost effective too! Won't have to pay for car rental. Gas for our 16 hour drive in my van runs $350ish. Since you have a shorter drive, gas would be under $300 for each car.[/QUOTE]


Hummmmm well, as much as I ould like to think thety want to spend every moment with mom and dad, you are probably right!

 

[dzorn]

Belle & Ariel, I will definately check out Allegiant air.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, It's our adult kids with their significant others and we want to be together so the 2 vehicle idea probably won't work for the drive down.
We are looking at the larger vans, like 12 passenger, so there should be plenty of luggage room. After seeing how far some of you have to drive to the world, 11 hours is just right next door!!!

FYI they are not very comfortable for a long drive and usually you will need to buy the insurance as your regular policy will not apply. Given that they are other adults you may want to stick together but they may not want to and don't want to hurt your feelings. You can always travel together and just convoy it. It would also allow for changing vehicles and drivers at rest stops to have plenty of conversation on the way down.

Denise in MI

 

[Suz D]

I would love some feedback on whether to drive or fly for our family trip in may. we have already booked offsite vacation home and purchased park hopper tickets so my only expense remaining is transporation. we will be traveling from nashville so have about an 11 hr drive. we would have to rent a large van for the 8 of us which would cost about $600. with gas expense this would be about $1100 round trip. The best flight prices I can find for this time period are over $300 per person ($2500 total) what are your thoughts and experiences about spending the extra $$ and what would you do?? Thank you and love, love, love disboards

This has probably been mentioned but if you fly will you have to rent a car when you get to Orlando? How will you get back and forth to the parks?

 

[rxpert86]

belle and ariel,

thank you so much for the info on Allegiant Air. I actually live just as close to Chattanooga as I do to Nashville and they are soooo much cheaper, half price at least!! I am thinking we can drive to Chat, fly to Sanford/Orlando and get 2 smaller rental vehicles from there for the week. The Alamo/Allegiant agreement also saves a bunch on car rental so we could get 2 rental cars from the airport for half of the price of the big van.

flight $71 each way,= $1400, 2 rental cars $300 (plus parking at airport maybe $75 or so). That would just be $1800 transporation expense.
So, we would get 20 extra hours in Disney, seperate cars for young ones and old ones, and save over $1400 from Southwest etc.

Thank you DISBOARDS!
You guys are the greatest! Time to book those dining reservations