Would you drive from SLC, UT?

[DisneyMomma81]

We're about 45 min. north of SLC and wonder about driving to Disneyland for our next trip. I can fly as cheap as $69 each way into Long Beach (love that airport) I'd have to buy 3 airfares, I figure driving I'd have to stay at least 1 maybe 2 extra nights at hotels, miss 2 extra days of work/school ~ we've flown there early in the morning spent a 1st full day, a full 2nd day and flown home in the evening of the 3rd day ~ which allowed us to spend most of the 3rd day there ~ for example flying in Mon. morning, leaving Wed. evening.

 

[Judy from Boise]

as a family of 3 no way ! If I had 5 or more maybe.

 

[CandCMommy]

We are actually AP holders and live in Salt Lake. We try to go down about every other month or sometimes more during the summer and drive every time. Here is what we do: leave SLC between 2 and 5 pm and drive three hours to Cedar City, stop and gas up and let the kids stretch. Drive another two hours and stay in Primm, NV at Buffalo Bills--cheap cheap rooms like 25.00. Get up early the next morning and drive the rest of the 3 hours there.

On the way home we stay at the park until between 4 and 8 and then head out and drive to either Vegas or just last time to St George. Stop and spend the night and drive the rest of the way in the AM. The kids are so tuckered out by this point they usually sleep most of the way home.

My inlaws also drive down but they drive straight through both ways without the hotel stays. They've found it easier to leave early early in the AM both ways.

Any other questions, we're driving vets and would love to help out.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

We've driven from Tooele, UT to DL for the past 2 summers. We actually live in WA but dh has family there. We send ds on a plane to visit grandma while dh, dd and i drive down. We spend a week and then take ds along with us to DL and back home. We'll be doing it again this summer but shortening our stay in UT and spending 2 days at the Grand Canyon. We've driven UT-DL once straight through and we've done once spending the night in Vegas. We tend to take 9-16 days for our road trips so time isn't of the essence.

If you only have 5 days of vacation or less, I'd fly. If it's not a concern, I'd drive. Although since there are only 3 of you. I'd probably fly anyways and maximize my time in the park.

 

[Dobie]

Fly already. It would probably be cheaper, even without the hotels.

 

[disneydreamerbelle]

As a family of three from SLC my DH has me run the numbers for every trip we take including the transfers to and from the airport. It has always been cheaper for us to fly into LB rather than driving (my car gets about 18mpg) that doesn't include any hotels if you were to split the drive. For us it is cheaper and it is so much more convenient to fly. The only reason I would consider driving is if we were going to be going visiting other sites and needed a car. For us it's all Disney so that isn't an issue!

 

[jennilouwho]

We've done it, but we are in Utah County. We've gone straight through and also have stayed in Mesquite for $30 a night at Oasis or Virgin River. Do you rent a car once you get there? That's why we decided to drive from now on. By the time you pay for the flights and the car it's much cheaper for us to drive, anyway. If money isn't a problem, then flying is always more enjoyable than a road trip, in my opinion. Also, keep an eye on Southwest Dings. I once got dinged for $25 each way to LAX.

 

[tinkerbellmom1]

We live in Northern Nevada and have done yearly DL trips since 2000 when our kids were 6 and 7. For the first time a couple of years ago I took my youngest down for a mom/son trip and we flew. Between the cost of the flights ($99 each way - $430 total for 2 of us) and the time savings I thought it would be fun to fly.

Sadly, it wasn't. The flight down was fine. We had perfect weather in mid-February all during our trip, but just before the flight out it began to pour! Our flight was delayed 4+ hours and then we missed our connecting flight in SFO. We would have been home quicker had we driven.

I would take the other poster's advice and drive part way, get an inexpensive hotel, then finish the trip and enjoy the time spent with your family!

I wish you a safe and happy trip no matter which way you travel!

 

[Brady's Mom]

We live in Utah County and drove in 2006 to DLR with 4 boys ages 18, 10, 4, and 2. We drove straight through, no hotel stays. Going to CA wasn't bad, just long and somewhat boring for our 2 youngest. Portable DVD players are the best. However, coming home was the worst. We were all tired and cranky from too many late nights, too much junk food and hotel beds that aren't our beds. My poor little boys were sleeping in car seats and were bent almost double. It was really sad. Also we hit a big snow storm around Cedar City and it wasn't pretty!
My DH and I flew to DLR for my birthday in Sept. 2007. Talk about a breeze! It was so nice to go to the airport, wait for a little while, hop on the plane and get to SNA. We weren't tired, we weren't cranky and it was soooo fast.
We have also driven in that same time frame (Oct. 2006 to Oct. 2007) to San Francisco and Seattle. I wouldn't do it again until my littles are at least 8. Then they could handle the car ride without booster car seats or bending half way over when they fall asleep.
We are flying to Burbank in 3 weeks! With all 4 boys and grandparents and best friends. We got a deal on Delta for 139 round trip in to Burbank and we always rent a car anyway, so the drive to DLR is no big deal. Our oldest son is leaving for Taiwan for 2 years in April, so we are using our DLR time as some good family bonding before he leaves. It also helps that his best friends are our best friends children.
My ten cents. FLY, FLY, FLY. It is so fast and easy and so much less stressful for the body than being in a car for 9-11 hours.
Hope you have a really great trip. We plan on it!!

 

[tink2dw]

I vote to Fly, Go for it!!

 

[S. S. Columbia]

Would I drive from SLC, UT?

JMHO, short answer: usually, No.

From OP's location, it's at least 11 hours of driving.

Last August I drove to DL from the Ogden area (25 miles north of SLC). Based on my experience, it's an easy equation:

Gas = $213 (round-trip)
Add Hotel (1 or 2 nights)
Add the checking-in and checking-out of said hotel(s)
Add 22 hours of driving time (round-trip)
Add your and your DC's lost energy during all this driving
Add the lost days of school
Add some wear and tear on your car
Add the fact that you don't need your car at the DLR

Does it equal $477 (airfare) + taxi/shuttle? (If you bought the $69 tickets, with taxes, your total airfare would be $159 x 3 tickets.)

That said, it isn't too bad of a drive, and the northwest corner of Arizona is actually a pretty sight to see – it's feels like you're driving through the Grand Canyon. If I had the extra time, and if I were going to see some other sights in California, then I really might think about driving. But based on the OP's post, IMHO, it looks like an easy decision.

Fly and have Fun!

HTH!

 

[Lillybelly]

We live barely over county line in UT County (about 20 min. South of Downtown SLC). Last year we drove to Primm with 2 girls with the stomach flu stayed over and then the extra time to Anahiem. And I'd still rather drive then fly. This year we are driving the whole way in 1 day for our April trip. The extra night hotel/hassle of getting everything in & out of the hotel just isn't worth it this year.

I would love to fly but just can't justify the cost

Here's how the money works with no hotel
Gas - $240- $300 (there and back) In our Chrylser Town & Country w/ 18-21 mpg we still do the trip on only 4 tanks of gas.
Food brought from home - Free
Lots of movies for DVD from home - Free

To Fly it's $159 X 6 = $954 + $100 in tranfers to/from the hotel.

For us the convenience of flying is not worth the extra $700+ it would cost to fly. Plus taking 2 year old twins and entertaining them at the airport sounds almost as bad as the car And we'd have to take 4 car seats with us. Yuck.

We plan to leave really early (think 4am) and let the kids sleep part of the way. Grandparents are staying in Primm overnight so we'll pick them up and then find a park to run around in and eat lunch brought from home. Then we'll drive the rest of the way. Santa brought us a dual DVD for Christmas that will hopefully keep the kids occupied.

Plus we like the freedom of being able to bring whatever we want and not worry about room in suitcases.

 

[dLandCory]

I live in Springville and we've done both. I prefer to fly but now that I have four kids, that isn't an option anymore. We've driven down a couple of times using different approaches. That is, once, we drove to Vegas, spent the night, and then continued the next morning. And another time, last October, we left around 5:00am and drove straight through. Of the two choices, I'll drive straight through every time. It goes fast, especially if you leave early. We arrived mid-afternoon and had time to swim at the hotel and go to the park for a couple of hours. Good luck and have fun!!

 

[ShawnaF]

Fly, fly, fly! Lol...we gave up the drive from north of Sacramento after we had a baby. With kids, I just don't like the inactivity for long car periods. As an adult, the leg cramps are tiring from that much sitting and I don't feel up to the walking you need for DL. I wouldn't have it any other way!

 

[blackjackdelta]

With the 6 of us we always wind up driving and saving money over airfare even though it probably would be easier. The approx. 2400 mile RT has become old hat and we always find something we have never seen before.

Jack

 

[lillybug]

I'm 2.5 hours north of SLC, and we drove in November. We are a family of 5 on a budget, otherwise we would have flown. If you can afford it I would fly, but driving is very doable. We left at the kids' bedtime and took turns driving through the night. That way we wouldn't have deal deal with bored/restless little ones (they are 5, 3,1). They slept the whole way.

 

[MVBowers111]

We live in Utah county and drive everytime we go...there are six of us in my family and then eight in my sisters family. When we went in May 07, we left at 5 am and made it to DL by 3 pm...drove straight through with only a couple stops for gas. We did the same thing driving home. With our big group, flying isn't an option and the drive isn't too bad. Our kids are a little older ages 6-17 so they are pretty good about being in the car that long. We always switch kids around into different cars so that helps as well.

 

[4inPink]

We just came back from our first trip to DL and we drove from just south of SLC. I have to say that the drive is not that bad, but we had a very interesting experience on the way there. We were caught in a sand storm in the middle of the Mohave Desert. The wind was blowing at us and sandblasted our winshield and front of our car. Now we have to get our windshield replaced because there are so many rock chips it looks like it is always dirty. I also have to get some touch up paint for all the chips it took out of the hood. I know the sandstorms don't happen all the time, but it stunk for us. BUT, it didn't ruin the trip.

 

[utahkennedys]

We are trying to make this same decision. We have always flown, love Long Beach and SNA, easy airports. Now we have to buy 4 tickets (dd turns 2 today!) and we just bought 4 tix to WDW for next week (that was a big OUCH!!! -- $1700 just for airfare, and cars are over $500/wk to rent!) so now we are considering driving in October. We are staying 7 nights at Marriott Newport Coast Villas so we have a long time to be in Cali.

When we flew to Long Beach in October for our trip to Palm Springs, it was 9 hours from the time we left our house to head to the airport to the time we arrived at Marriott Shadow Ridge. We could have driven in 10-11, and this was a huge hassle with kids, luggage, etc.. We decided next time to just get in the Odyssey and GO! Plus, then we can bring pool toys, etc. So...we are torn...I guess we'll watch fares and if we can get our usual $180/pp we may just fly per usual.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Meant to post a new post!