Would you drive it or fly it?

[Karlzmom]

you didn't mention if you are within range of an Amtrak line..that's always my 1st choice! None of the security stuff from the airports..get to see the scenery, move around and even eat restaurant style on the go, but noone is stuck driving. Bathroom break is at will and easy. We are amtraking it to WDW in Dec.

 

[dman11]

We drove this past November. With 5 of us (DW, DS13, DD12, DD5 and myself) it was way too expensive to fly. We saved well over $1,000 by driving. We left home (Pittsburgh) around 1pm on Friday drove until just before the FLA border and stayed the night. We arrived at WDW around 12:30 Saturday. We kept the sanity by bribing (and a little threatening) the older ones and kept them all occupied with lots of new stuff to do including small toys, books, coloring books and movies. We brought 3 new movies with us. It's amazing how fast the trip will go with them watching 3 movies twice on the ride down.

For the ride back we decided to play it by ear and not rush or worry about it. We left Epcot about 9:30 and ended up driving the entire night through. We were prepared to stop but decided not to once we were on the road.

EVerything worked out fine since we were able to keep them occupied most of the trip down and they slept most of the trip back. We will be driving again when we go again next year.

I guess it all depends on your kids and your ability to keep them calm. I'd definitley fly if the prices for the 5 of us were reasonable but I don't think that will ever be the case again. I'm not saying we didn't have a few breakdowns but we all enjoyed ourselves so much more with the other parts of the drive that none of us remember the breakdowns much.

 

[Whosemom]

We drive about 1000 miles, and I will admit it if you promise not to send the doctors...the trip is as fun as the stay. My kids were 12, 9 and 7 last trip (they still are ). The trip down we drove after work and school one day, the next full day, and another half day. We listen to books on tape, and its not unusual at the end of a 13hr in the car day for us to hear, "oh no, drive around the block a few times" because the book is at a good part. I also pass out a treat of some kind at each state line crossing. The real winner last time was those little weaving things that use cotton hoops and make "potholders." Wow...they were quiet for a long time.

 

[wlwilliams9]

We live in Michigan too and I would definately fly! Flights from here are cheaper than spending the gas money to drive. We are flying in May (4th-10th) and our flights were only $129/per person. My DH had miles, but the flight was so cheap we decided to use those for another vac. We even bought a seat for our DD (she'll be 22 months).

What I am trying to say is....FLY!!!

 

[ajh88]

I'm a fan of driving myself - though I agree with a PP that the drive home is brutal! We have about a 1000 mile (1 way) trip also - from MO. We usually leave insanely early in the morning and drive to Valdosta, GA area - takes about 12 hours to get there (give or take). The 2nd day we only have about 3 more hours and we're so excited it flies by.


The kids are great with Gameboys, coloring books, and the DVD player and there are plenty of spots to stop and chill out if things get too tense.

Of course, as someone who grew up in the rural midwest, I had to drive 20 miles just to get to "town" and 150 miles to get to the nearest "real" airport - a 300 mile road trip is nothing to my family, so perhaps my perspective is skewed!

 

[zoomouse]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. I'll admit that DW and I are strongly leaning toward....flying. We've done both, but haven't driven since the kids came along. Last year (buying 3 tickets and one lap child) we thought this would be the last time we'd fly - the fly:drive $ ratio was an even wash. So far this year with the flights we've found (buying 4 tickets and one lap child) the ratio is high on the fly side, but I sure like the time difference - plus the big kids LOVE planes and airports.

I do enjoy road trips, but I'm not a drive through the night kind of person. I've done the late night bob and weave too many times driving solo - doing it with the whole family along doesn't turn me on. Too many amateurs on the road (me included). I'm much more comfortable at 33,000 feet with a professional at the wheel.

We'll see. 8 months to go!

 

[RMulieri]

Driven from Pa and Nj.....I needed a liquor store when we got there

 

[karliebug]

Another big benefit of flying is that you are refreshed and ready to hit the parks when you arrive. If you drive, you will be toatlly wiped out and ready for a nap but your kids (who probably slept for hours in the car) will want to get going!

 

[stopher1]

We've never driven to WDW, but have considered it. We always end up with C - you can FLY, you can FLY, you can FLY!!!!

We lived for a couple of years in MI back in the 90's and took a couple of long road trips to visit some family in AL one time and to D.C. another - the Alabama trip was supposed to be a 14 hr trip (almost as long as we would have now to WDW)... and the D.C. trip was supposed to be 10 hrs. With 2 small kids in tow, one being potty trained and multiple stops later it took us 18 hours to get to our desitnation in AL, and 13.5 to get to D.C. DW said NEVER AGAIN.

I don't know about your area, but we are able to use Southwest, and by really watching their pricing, especially the DING fares, we can usually get a decent price. It may be a little more than driving, but I retain my sanity...not from my kids, but from DW's complaining. Like another poster said - we could arrive in 2 days, or after lunch! I choose after lunch!

 

[dizneykid1125]

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.

C. I get really bored if my d.s. and labtop run out of power and you don't want to see me bored.

 

[teresajoy]

We use to drive from Michigan every year with our three kids. I really liked the drive. We drive straight through, it is so much easier for us that way! It's about a 19 hour drive.

But, last year, the van broke down the week before we were going to leave, so we flew. We got a great deal on Southwest Ding. This year, we are flying down again, because there is just no way our van would make it there and back. So, that's cheaper than getting stuck!

Check out http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/TripGasprice.aspx to figure out about how much the gas will cost you, then figure in the wear and tear on your car. Check out Southwest Ding for some great fares along with Allegiantair and Spirit. You might be suprised how cheap you can fly.

 

[stinkerbelle's mom]

We drove. We packed the van up the night before. I kept the kids up to about their regular time. Then I woke them up at 3:30 to leave at 4:30-- we didn't quite make it-- we left at 5:10. It worked out great they fell back asleep and we got almost got through VA before they woke up.

We took I95, and there is a link on here that shows every exit in every state. We stopped at all the "Welcome to _____" places. We drove until we were too tired to drive then looked at the exits to see which ones had the best places to stop. Worked for us coming and going.

Also we packed the portable dvd player-- the kids watched 1-2 movies going and none coming back. I also made activity bags for them and they played with them coming and going. Also we put 1-2 of the seats down and put a cooler with food, drinks, and snacks in the back & the kids were able to eat when they wanted until we stopped for meals. I made them run around at the Welcome stations. It was a really great drive.

 

[taitai]

One more thing to think about in your calculations is the cost of taking more days of vacation to do the drive. If you are in a job where you get any unused vacation as cash at the end of the year, that is real money you are giving up to take the time to drive. So, the cost is gas, tolls, wear and tear on the car, hotels, sanity and salary forfeited.

Taitai

 

[powellrj]

We just got back 17 hours ago so I am giving you a fresh perspective.... FLY.

We didn't take any kids with us this trip, our middle DS was performing with Show Stoppers which was why we were making the trip. He rode down on a bus with his group.

We had planned to leave on Saturday and drive all day, but because there was bad weather coming, we left early. We had freezing rain, sleet, white out conditions, snow. It took us 9 hours to get to Knoxville and the only reason we stopped then was because the fog was so bad we couldn't see.

We finally got there and our nerves were shot!!!

We had a wonderful trip and our kids won showstoppers! We left yesterday morning at 7:30 and started driving. We only stopped for gas and bathrooms because we had snacks in the car. We were driving through Atlanta in the afternoon and while it was dark and raining, we didn't think anything about it. The tornado sirens were blowing, but my DH told me it was probably just a test. We had been listening to XM radio and books on tape so we had do idea it was a real tornado until our oldest DS called later in the day to make sure we were OK. He was watching TV and heard about the tornadoes.

We stopped once for a meal around 5:30 and made it home at 12:35 am, beat and worn out. If we would have taken the kids with us, there is no way I would have driven that far without stopping more often which means we would have been home much later than we were and would have been that much more tired.

The perfect world was when the kids were younger and ATA flew out of Indy. There was an 8 am flight which put you in Orlando at 10am, we would then take a 7pm flight home and get back in Indy around 9pm. Those were the perfect vacations because started the vacation relaxed and refreshed and you ended it not exhausted!

While we are also much older than we were then, I know it will take me a week to recover this time!