Would you drive or Fly to FL this Summer?

[Pooh2]

We are also in NH and have done 3 road trips over the past year, averaging over 4,000 miles each (destinations were SD, TX, FL).
I cannot do a mask for very long so flying was not an option the past two years.

With all the craziness going on with the airlines and rental cars, we will continue our road trips until things are more settled.
We have two drivers so that makes it easier to take a break while someone takes a nap.

If you do the drive, I would recommend going the 77/81 route instead of 95.
We recently did 95 on the way down, 81 on the way back. 81 was much less stressful and much prettier.
We do two overnights in each direction so we can stop and do touristy/historic sites for a break.

We did the autotrain once, arriving in VA the night before the train. It felt like the next day was pretty much wasted hanging out waiting to get on the train in the afternoon.
If we do the autotrain again, I would only do it on the return trip. We spent the morning in Magic Kingdom, left about 11:30 am to get over to Sanford early afternoon for boarding.

Have a great trip!

 

[debjk4]

We're driving this year! We want to see all the sights on the way. I love the convenience of flying but ready for the road trip adventure! 1,000+ miles.

 

[herdtoDisney]

Tried to look into the auto train but couldn't find where it leaves outta CT.

It goes from Lorton, VA to Sanford FL. Lorton is about 6 hours from central CT, without traffic.

 

[Donald Duck888]

If you do the drive, I would recommend going the 77/81 route instead of 95.
We recently did 95 on the way down, 81 on the way back. 81 was much less stressful and much prettier.

This is 100% the route I will be taking if we drive. I have done both this route and the classic I 95 route and even though this one is a bit longer it is way less stressful.

 

[Donald Duck888]

We're driving this year! We want to see all the sights on the way. I love the convenience of flying but ready for the road trip adventure! 1,000+ miles.

Nice, My trip would be about 1350miles each way.

Have fun on your trip.

 

[happily single]

That is a tough question. I’ve been the solo driver (with my three kids) from Rhode Island. First trip was great. We stopped in Lumberton, NC for the night. Second trip we got caught in a tornado with caused huge, huge traffic nightmares. Hotels for miles and miles were sold out. People camped on the side of the highway. We had to sleep in a gas station parking lot with about 15 other families. The kids refuse to drive that far with me again, but my kids are soft and spoiled. I love a good car trip.

Last summer I decided to take a solo 2 day trip to Disney. My Southwest flight was supposed to leave Providence at 6am with a 9:30am arrival. As we boarded the plane the front windshield cracked. Flight was cancelled. Long story-I ended up getting an American Airline connecting flight. Flew to Baltimore. Weather delayed us. I didn’t get to the hotel till after 10pm. More than 12 hours late. My return flight was so ridiculous I couldn’t believe it. Cancelled as I went threw security. Rescheduled, rerouted. I got stuck in Chicago for a few hours as my flight changed times at least 8x.

so. If your up for an adventure and don’t have obligations-fly. If you want an adventure that your teen will remember-road-trip.

 

[paults]

I say fly if you cab get your non-stops flights. I f not some lay overs could be 2 plus hours. I been checking SW and on days with no non-stops there shortest flight for us would be 6 plus hours, crazy.

 

[Donald Duck888]

so. If your up for an adventure and don’t have obligations-fly. If you want an adventure that your teen will remember-road-trip.

This is kind of the way I am thinking of it right now actually. The more time goes by the more i think of choosing to drive. Still have lots of time to decide though as the airline tickets I have are reserved with points so since those are fully refundable I have until the day before we leave to make the decision.

My daughter likes the idea of driving for the fact that she will not be limited on what she can bring (wants to bring a lot of her Minnie ear collection) and even more what it means she can bring home

 

[lockets]

If you do the cost analysis don’t forget to add nightly parking fees (if any) on Orlando side

 

[DeeBee3]

My preference would be to fly although I think there are so many variables in that. Gas is astronomical where I live and I assume as you go around things are up in price regardless. Flights are expensive too, but when I look up flights for this summer they are not that bad at all. I was pleasantly surprised.

For me, I have 2 little kids and we would go insane. It would take too long for me to go with all the bathroom stops and staying overnight. I'm a "just get there" type of person.

So, with the price of gas and the inconvenience/fatigue of driving, I would vote flying.

 

[Capt_BJ]

For those saying "do a cost analysis", it would be unusual for a flight to be cheaper than driving,

Son is heading to us for inaugural cruise on WISH. Crunched the numbers with current gas prices and fly is just about equal to drive without factoring in car wear - time savings makes FLY a winner (and he has us to pickup from airport etc etc)

Your conditions may vary

<only one person so it changes a lot if there are multiple car occupants>

 

[Suzabella]

We're driving later this summer but there are 4 of us to help with the driving. It would be $1000 for us to fly so there's that.

Our drive is 13 hours so not too terrible. We'll get into Orlando the night before our reservation starts, stay someplace less expensive and get to our resort late morning to take full advantage of being in WDW.

 

[Lisa_lvspplmvr]

After all of this talk we’ve decided to fly to Orlando for my daughter’s dance nationals ! We leave in 18 days ! Got $420 a person on United!So lucky ! It has been over 500 for a long time . We are so relieved

 

[Donald Duck888]

After all of this talk we’ve decided to fly to Orlando for my daughter’s dance nationals ! We leave in 18 days ! Got $420 a person on United!So lucky ! It has been over 500 for a long time . We are so relieved

I am happy to hear that you were able to get a better price on your airline tickets. Eighteen days, that is right around the corner. I hope you have a great trip.

 

[Donald Duck888]

If you do the cost analysis don’t forget to add nightly parking fees (if any) on Orlando side

Good point. I am figuring that in to my calculations. For the most part it will be offset by not needing transport between the Airport and the Hotel although it will probably end up being a little higher than that.

 

[marissa1320]

We are flying out of Manchester end of July. Our first time flying from Manchester. We booked the 5:30 am flight. We usually fly from Providence. We thought about driving and autotrain but getting there in 3 hours is better option for us.

 

[msjprincess]

As of now we are flying from NY. The cheapest air is $350 roundtrip and there are 5 of us. I'm keeping an eye on airfare, if it drops we'll fly. My husband and I flew last month. Even though air was $400 RT it was cheaper than driving.

I would do the math, ad compare the two. For me if it's close it's worth the extra expense to fly.

 

[Donald Duck888]

Well, still not 100% sure on if we will fly or drive but i did just make a small change to the trip that may make me feel a bit better about flying if we choose that method. With a small change to our travel days I was able to get flights that are much earlier in the day than the ones we had originally. As has been well documented the later your flight time the more it seems you are at risk for issues. All I had been able to find for our flights had been very late in the day (after 3pm for both). Now both will be before 10am and both non stop so while I know there are no guarantees at least i feel the risk of issues will be a bit less with earlier flights.

 

[Donald Duck888]

We are flying out of Manchester end of July.

I think you will like MHT. It is the only airport i fly out of now. So much better than trying to go in to Logan.

 

[Mikey15]

I'll be making the whole drive later this year (done the individual legs enough times, but this'll be my first time driving a full 20h with a one-night stop midway).

In our case a couple of things pushed us towards driving:
1. We're going for two weeks this time.
2. Avoiding airport headaches, of which it sounds like there's a lot these days.
3. Avoiding rental car availability headaches. If we get stuck with something uncomfortable, DW would not be a happy camper.
4. Cost savings. Even at $5/gal gas, the roundtrip is less than airfare for two. And we don't have to park at the airport. And we don't have to pay for a two week car rental.

By my math we'll spend $675 round trip on gas, even at $5/gal. And actually we already have to drive 100 miles of that to the airport even if we were flying, plus pay to park, so the incremental gas is more like $625. The more I talk it out the more I like it... we'd leave work early on Friday and start to drive, which actually beats trying to fall asleep early to wake up at 2:30am to make it to the airport for the direct flight and then being exhausted on Saturday anyway. Check-out on Saturday so while we won't be in our own bed late Saturday night like with flying, it's not that bad in the grand scheme of things.

Will report back in October/November!