Would you drive it or fly it?

[zoomouse]

Hypothetically: 3 kids (lets say 5,3 and1) - 1 minivan - 1000 miles (one way). 2ish hours by plane. 16 hours by family truckster. What would you do?

A. Drive it in one long day (drug 'em with bendryl and videos)
B. Drive it in two shorter days (with the obligatory enroute stay at an Un-comfort Inn)
C. Empty the penny jar, promise less help with college and buy the darn plane tickets.

 

[Thats_for_Shore]

We always drive. We enjoy the road trip part of the vacation. We have certain things that we do every time, it's a tradition.

We leave in the afternoon/early evening. This way, the kids sleep most of the time. You can have some peace while you're driving.

We also just stop at the rest stop at the Florida line to get a couple of hours sleep before we continue on.

But I know it's not for everyone. My hubby drives for a living, and he wouldn't be anywhere without a vehicle. So, for us, that would mean airplane tickets PLUS a rental car.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

I've driven from Michigan to WDW with a 5yo and 3yo and wouldn't do again unless someone would drug me

With gas price as high as they are, you might do just as well or at least come close with flying. I would calculate the cost of both (airfare and possible rental car vs gas money, added milage on your vehicle, hotel cost and your sanity)

 

[Thats_for_Shore]

Michigan really is far away. If I lived that far north, I'd definitely be flying.

I'm in Maryland, and the way my hubby drives, it's about 12 - 13 hours, plus we stop for a couple of hours to rest.

 

[mapmakerj]

We did the 2 day drive twice. About 15 hrs on the first day, 9 on the next. We have only one DS8 (4 and 6 at the time of our last trips) to deal with though. He is a pretty good traveler and only got on our nerves once or twice during the drive. It wasn't too bad, however, we are flying on our next trip. While it was fun to see new stuff along the way, DH said "Been there, Done that" and that we were going to fly this time. The current cost of gas and hotel stays on the way down and back (not to mention wear and tear on our vehicle) came out to be a very tiny savings over flying this time around. My DH cleared up any conflicting feelings we had about driving vs v flying by asking, "Do you want to be at DW in two days after we leave or be there by lunch?"

 

[Tam1067]

We drove once, in two days--the first really long and the second slightly shorter. We had about the same length drive as you're describing.

If you get good airfare, you'll end up spending not much more than driving will cost, when you take into account meals on the road, gas, and hotel expenses. And then once you fly, you will wonder, "Why in the heck did we ever drive????" The drive there is tough; the drive home is brutal.

 

[holly7347]

DH and I are having this very debate except in our case it is 2 DD's who will be either 5 1/2 and 3 1/2 if we make the trip in Oct or 6 and 4 if we make the trip in March.

DH wants to drive to save money. I want to fly to save sanity. The longest car trip we have taken with our 2 was about 5 hours and even with the DVD player going I thought I would go insane. I guess alot depends on the kids but mine argue over everything so even though the DVD player helped some there were many fights over what to watch and whos turn it was to pick.

Our drive would be similar. Mapquest says 18 hours, DH has talked to people that say it is only 14 hours, and once he told me it was only 12 hours. Funny the more times we discuss the shorter and shorter the drive gets I really don't think we are going to drive but if we have to in the end we will leave after dinner one night and drive through the night (hoping the kids sleep most of the way). It just seems easier on the kids since they could sleep through most of the drive. And certainly easier on me so I wouldn't have to listen to them argue and whine all the way.

I think the 1 year old could be a lap child (on the plane) and not need a ticket if you are comfortable with that. Of course that can be a long time to hold a child that might not want to be held. But it could save a bit of money>

 

[coolbeans]

we are in NC and are driving. I like to be able to bring things without having to lug everything and everyone thru an airport! we will leave close to midnite for the drive, bringing pillows, blankets, loved animals, dvd player, and whatever else will entertain the kids. I don't think we could scale down enough to ever actually fly.

 

[karliebug]

I would rather stick a needle in my eye than drive anywhere over 100 miles with my 3 kids. "She's breathing on me", " Her feet stink" . You get the idea.

 

[pigletof4]

We drove straight through from NW PA last Feb. We left Saturday night around 5pm and arrived on property at about 11 AM. My husband says never again. Although next years trip is in discussions right now, if we drive, it will be halfway spend the night and continue on the next day. The talks right now are flying. Our kids next year will be 9, 7, and 2.

 

[annie1995]

Definately choice 3 and fly it!!!

 

[tami82]

We too have about a 17/18 hour drive and deciding the same thing with 3 kids for next year. I put in the same month for this as we would be going next year to get a feel for plane tickets and it all depends on the price. We could leave later in the day 5/6 p.m. for a flight which is under $100 and then the return flight would be very early 7 or 8 a.m. for a cheap flight. Again depending on the prices for next year if they are similar and if we want to leave that late the first day which Im not sure my husband would want to do. Than again if we drive we leave early in the morning around 3:00 a.m. and make it a longer drive to maybe 5:00 and then a shorter drive the second day. Also depends on gas prices at the time. All in all if you get a get price for flying go for it, if not then it looks like driving may be the way to go.

 

[Aliceacc]

Change the ages of the kids and you have my family.

I hunted and hunted and found airfare I could live with.

The money we're spending is far less than the legal fees I would face if I killed whichever child asked "are we almost home?" for the 300th time in hour #10.

 

[JoanieS]

Fly! Fly!! Fly!!!

 

[katie111]

I'd also say fly. I can't be in the car for more than 3 hours with my 4 & 5 year olds, and when you add in my 1 month old I think I would just kill myself before we even left the house. Plus if you drive through the night, when do you sleep? I'd be such a mess by the time we got there, I'd need a couple days just to recover. We fly all the time with our 3 kids, its really not that hard to scale back all he stuff you need to fit into a couple of suitcases. If the kids want to bring something extra I just tell them that means less room for souveniers & they usually change their minds immediately. Just keep looking for cheap flights, eventually something will turn up.

 

[doodlesmommy]

Mmmm sit in a car for 13 hours with two anxious children, fight traffic, hear she's/he's touching me, breathing my air, etc most of the trip or fly 2.5 hours while both are reading a book or fascinated by what is out of the window next to them and keep my sanity. Easy choice, we'll be flying.

Some families enjoy roadtrips. We are not one of those families. Gas prices as high as they are, driving would almost be as much as a plane ticket for us.

 

[The Lion King]

We're driving from OH and leaving one week from tonight. There are 6 of us going so flying was out of the question. The kids and I have been to Myrtle Beach so they are getting used to long car rides. We are going to leave late at night. One tip I heard was to save the DVD/movies as the last option. Each of the kids have some type of handheld game and/or iPod. I have printed off some games/coloring pages for the trip also.

 

[Juliet25]

We drove from St. Louis to Orlando in December (1000 miles) with one 4 year old. It wasn't too bad, but it sure wasn't fun! Given the price of plane tickets for 5, I'd be inclined to drive.

We stopped overnight on the way down, but drove straight thru on the drive back.

Admittedly, it's nice to have the car when we're down there. Disney transport can be a bit annoying.

 

[Harley-Mouse]

with the 5 of us we will drive this time. We have made the trip to Hilton head island 3 times ok. We fly to disney all the time so we will drive all the way in one shot. Looking to hit the road at 8-9:00 pm and drive all night. This is the best way to go. DD 11, DS 7, DD 4 on the 13 hr trip to SC kids were sleeping for about 9 /2 hrs. got to love that.

 

[hammie59]

Well, with the ages of kids you listed, I say fly. I think I'd need to be medicated if it were me and we were driving that far with kids that age. Like many have already posted, for what you'd be paying is gas these days, food, hotel, etc... basically equals some plane tickets. I've driven to Florida from Michigan and the drive down was always exciting, but the drive back was the pits.