Why do you drive instead of fly?

[Kitty 34]

Is it to save $$ mostly or maybe someone in your family fears flying?

For me, we fly to save time mostly.

Just wondering.

 

[Disneyof3]

If we don't drive we don't go. We are a family of 5 and the amount to fly would cost us a bundle. It only costs us about 200.00 to drive. It would cost us about 2000 to fly, and then that would leave us without a car. So we would have to rent a car on top of that expense.
We leave at night and drive for 22 hrs and make it there and waste no time. It is actually nice seeing the different states and surroundings.

 

[cranbiz]

I do both.

I drive when we all are going as airfare for 5 is expensive and then to rent a car there adds to the bill.

I fly when it's just a couple of us. The $$$ work out the same.

This upcoming trip, DS, DD(23) and I are driving down and DW and DD(16) are flying. This way we don't have 5 in the pickup for 23 hours and we still have wheels there. It still works out less than flying 5 down and renting a car for 10 days.

 

[Deb & Bill]

It usually takes us about 14 hours to drive. We either leave after work, stop for the night, then get there in the early afternoon.

We flew one time and it took nearly as long and we didn't have the car. It's more convenient to have our car with us, plus we can bring all sorts of unnecessary stuff along with us.

We usually stay about 8 nights, so the two nights on the road are not a problem. When we leave, we leave shortly after lunch (around 1 or 2), drive to where we spent the night coming down, then get home early in the afternoon the next day.

 

[zurgswife]

We fly cause I feel time is money...

Philly is 1050 miles about 17 hrs

Gas cost is $240 RT
hotel room $200RT (Staying over night adds about another 14hrs total)

Plus meals about 5 total RT about $120
snacks we bring our own

Cost estimate $570
Time total 48hrs RT


If we fly total for 6 tickets...$1060 time 6hrs RT

Transportion there $250

Cost Total Flying $1310
Time Total 5 hrs RT

So for $740 I gain 43hrs of vacation time or I'm working for an addtional 2 work days rather then taking vacation time to travel.

 

[Uncleromulus]

We drive. Always been "uncomfortable" with flying anyway. Now add the hassles at the airport and the decision to drive is easy. PLus--when you get to WDW you have a car, so no need to rent. And if you are inclined to stop somewhere else on the way down (or home) you can do that.

 

[Becky2005]

Originally posted by Uncleromulus
We drive. Always been "uncomfortable" with flying anyway. Now add the hassles at the airport and the decision to drive is easy. PLus--when you get to WDW you have a car, so no need to rent. And if you are inclined to stop somewhere else on the way down (or home) you can do that.

That's part of my reasoning, plus since we have a family of 6, it will work out cheaper! (Even with the raised toll fares in Illinois next year "OUCH!" and gas prices!) (Very few airlines give you a discount on 1 year olds - if any - so figure full fare there too - plus the fact that there is the possibility that my 1 year old may have to sit by himself on a 2 hour flight??? No thank you! I don't even want to take the possibility (and/or the fact that they could change the flight on you without you even knowing it and/or the airline might not exist when it's time for you to go with all the bankruptcies lately ) among lots of other issues.

And we have been known to do unplanned side track trips and usually end up enjoying those.

 

[cdntourguide]

I like to drive to WDW and DL for a variety of reasons: but the best reason is "control", I know when and where I am going and do not have to wait for late passenges, bad food, crowded conditions, possible planned/unplanned delays.
Also cost is a factor, not usually a large factor.
I have the ability to stay longer if I so desire (that is if I can extend me ressie at the resort). And the ability to shop and buy "BIG" items that it is expensive to bring home on the plane
Plus: I know all the controls and settings on my own vehicle, it does not take me two days to figure out the rental.
However, saying all this, sometimes I just have to fly because of winter weather, or a real good flight sale.

 

[Snowysmom]

We drive bacause we don't really like to fly. We had alot of fun driving down and hopefully will be able to do it again in 2 years if DH can find a job. (Easier said than done!)

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

My wife hates, hates, hates to fly. Last March we, (me, dw, dd) packed up the car and at 1:30 in the afternoon began our trip from Boston to WDW. We stopped every 3 or 4 hours for Gas, bathroom stops and switched drivers. Noon the next day, 23 hours and 1350 miles later, we were walking around downtown Disney. No Big Deal !!!
This year we're flying down. It cost a couple hundred bucks more and pushs the envelope for my wife's fear of flying, but it's an extra day in paridise. No Big Deal !!!
Driving is the same as flying only different.

 

[FOTM_Ring_Bearer]

Being a family of five, we drive because it's cheaper. It takes around 16 hours and we usually drive straight through. So our cost is basically gas and food along the way.

We only fly when it's a special trip for a couple people. Like the one my dd and I just took.

 

[skiwee1]

My first reason to drive is because we enjoy it. We add an additional 4 days to our trip so we can drive and that way it doesn't take away from our trip. My second reason is that I really do not like to fly though I do that too. If I have enough time to be able to spend 10-12 days at WDW and still add another 4 to drive then I will. We have the best time driving. It is just my mom and DD, now 5 that go to WDW and we really like to hit all the Cracker Barrels going down and all the hotels. DD loves tacky South of the Border so that is always a stop. Driving for us is definitely more expensive then flying though because of the 4 additional nights in hotels, food, and shopping!

 

[Kristi1357]

We do a little bit of both. If we are going for more than a week, we like to drive. We save money, have our own car (not a strange rental), can bring whatever things we want, etc. We also enjoy stopping at the Disney catalog outlet in MD, and the outlets in NC, or anywhere else we can think of. In fact, we leave in one week for WDW via our minivan!

I do fly too - but am a very, very nervous flier. That does not stop me, however. We are flying down for the marathon in January. Can't resist those SW $49 fares.

 

[mom2rb]

We are flying this time and driving next time. I wish we were driving this time. I home school and my boys are obsessed with other states right now. So next year my MIL will drive with me and we will add some educational stops along the way. DH will fly in and meet us for the cruise. MIL will fly home and we will go to Disney World. Then DH will drive back with us so that I never have to drive with the boys alone.

 

[sm4987]

We have done bot. The very first year we drove and we enjoyed it. Then the next couple of trips we flew. We wanted to know the difference and to see if hurrying up and getting there would make a differnece and it didn't. So, for our Christmas trip we're driving again. It does save money, but we see it as more family time that we can spend together. Plus I like having a car, something we've missed the last couple of times we were there.

 

[disneydebi]

We've done both driving and flying...
while I don't like to fly (and my DH really hates it these days), the drive is just soooo long with 2 kids.

My question for those of you who have driven from Boston area...
what time do you leave, and how hard is it to drive straight through (given you have 2 drivers and can switch off?).

the last time we drove, we left really early in the morning (like 3am), and hit a lot of traffic south of Washington. We had a planned stop over in NC, but it took us until late evening to get there...

I hate wasting 2 days in the car, and i'm wondering if its easier to leave in the evening so kids can sleep, and you miss traffic.... but I don't know how realistic it is to drive straight through without an overnight stop at a hotel..

thoughts?

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

My question for those of you who have driven from Boston area...
what time do you leave, and how hard is it to drive straight through (given you have 2 drivers and can switch off?).
QUOTE]

Me, dw and 3 yr old dd drove down to Disney from Boston last March stopping only for gas, bathroom breaks and switching drivers every 3-4 hours. It was easier than I thought it would be for such a long ride. I found that stopping for short breaks and keeping the trip going from one stop to the next made it go by really fast. Below are the miles and times of our stops along the way.

Boston to Walt Disney World 1:30 pm
Boston to New Jersey 212 6:00 pm
N J to Aberdeen MD 395 9:07 pm
MD to Rocky Mt NC 661 1:36 am
NC to Florence SC 870 4:40 am
SC to S Newport GA 1,080 7:58 am
GA to WDW 1,331 12:00 pm

Started, Friday, 3/26 1 pm
Finished, Saturday, 3/27 12pm
A 23 hr trip with 5 stops
76 gallons $131 17.51 mpg

Walt Disney World to Boston 11:00 am
WDW to St Augustine FL 116 12:44 pm
FL to Savanah GA 294 3:55 pm
GA to Florence SC 468 6:22 pm
SC to Battleboro NC 649 9:30 pm
NC to Aberdeen MD 944 2:17 am
MD to Bloomfield NJ 1125 5:30 am
NJ to Quincy MA 1362 9:30 am

Started, Friday, 4/02 11 am
Finished, Sat, 4/03 9:30 am
A 22 1/2 hr trip with 6 stops
81 gallons $126 17.58 mpg

 

[disneydebi]

wow... you really kept track!
how hard were the overnight hours and how did your DD do?
What kind of shape were you in when you arrived at WDW?

Quincy, huh? I work in Braintree....

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

wow... you really kept track!
how hard were the overnight hours and how did your DD do?
What kind of shape were you in when you arrived at WDW?

Quincy, huh? I work in Braintree....

When we stopped for gas I wrote the miles we traveled on the gas receipt. The rest of the information, time, place, gallons and $ was on the receipts. I checked the gas receipts when we got back to Quincy and put together the schedule for future use. It was no big deal.
We started at the Hancock Tower at 1:30 and I drove till 1:30 am, Rocky Point NC, stopping twice for gas and bathroom breaks while DW and DD slept. Then I slept till the next stop and traded every 3-4 hours till we got to OKW at about 12 noon. We parked the car at OKW, checked-in and took the boat to Downtown Disney. We felt pretty good walking around DTD for the rest of the afternoon.
No taxis to Logan
No hanging around Logan
No Plane reservations.
No waiting for luggage.
No Car reservations.
No Taxis anywhere.
No Big deal.

 

[jeancbpugh]

In the past we've always flown.

This time we are driving. We are going to WDW for 5 nights, then on to the Naples area for 4 nights, then 4 more nights on the east coast. We'll see if we like driving......