Would you drive or Fly to FL this Summer?

[oceanmarina]

I would say definitely drive - even if you chunk it into 10 hour segments , that's still a looong time to drive (especially since you are the only one driving.)

Plus, the way people drive nowadays, I feel a lot safer in the sky than on the road!

 

[Donald Duck888]

Plus, the way people drive nowadays, I feel a lot safer in the sky than on the road!

This is actually one of the things that keeps me from just deciding to drive. Also not sure how thrilled I am with leaving by dark colored truck sitting for a week in a parking lot in the bright hot FL sun. I am sure that has possible issues it can cause.

 

[Donald Duck888]

Also I was wondering about what happens if your flight gets cancelled and you end up on another flight (with Southwest). Where do they board you? Do you end up boarding last? What if you had early bird or if you bought the full fare ticket for your flight? I ask as I am traveling with my daughter and would hate to be boarded last and then somehow end up separated in two middle seats. I know this is a small issue in comparison to what others have been going through but it is actually a semi big deal to me in the process of deciding fly vs drive.

Any info fro those who may have experience in this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[maxiesmom]

Fly. It is a 21 hour drive each way, not including stops. Only have to plan on 6 hours to fly there, including airport time and flight time. I much prefer flying.

 

[Stratman50th]

Also not sure how thrilled I am with leaving by dark colored truck sitting for a week in a parking lot in the bright hot FL sun. I am sure that has possible issues it can cause.

I had a black 2003 pickup that made the trip a bunch and sat in the lot all week. Never a problem. My daughter now has that truck and just moved here to Florida about six weeks ago. It's been out since she moved. Still no problems. 19 years old now.

 

[Donald Duck888]

I had a black 2003 pickup that made the trip a bunch and sat in the lot all week. Never a problem.

That is good to hear. My truck is black as well. I was mostly worried about things like the dash and how it would handle the sun all day with it being black and thus absorbing more of the suns rays. The more i think about it though i figure it gets almost that hot sometimes when it is parked in the parking lot at y work over the summer. Glad to hear though that your truck was no worse for wear afterwards.

 

[npatellye]

Also not sure how thrilled I am with leaving by dark colored truck sitting for a week in a parking lot in the bright hot FL sun. I am sure that has possible issues it can cause.

We had a black on black rental vehicle last May and it sat in the sun for 9 days at WDW with no issues. We did drive it around to parks and the only time it was in a shaded spot was when we headed over to Disney Springs for a few hours. It really wasn’t any hotter or worse getting into the car in FL than it is getting into our own cars here in CT in the summer when they’ve been outdoors.

 

[georgina]

Also I was wondering about what happens if your flight gets cancelled and you end up on another flight (with Southwest). Where do they board you? Do you end up boarding last? What if you had early bird or if you bought the full fare ticket for your flight? I ask as I am traveling with my daughter and would hate to be boarded last and then somehow end up separated in two middle seats. I know this is a small issue in comparison to what others have been going through but it is actually a semi big deal to me in the process of deciding fly vs drive.

Any info fro those who may have experience in this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Unfortunately yes, you end up at the bottom. This happened to DH recently with SW, his flight was cancelled, he was put on another flight with a low C pass. I told him to buy the upgrade at the gate to seats 1-15. I think it's $30/person? Worth it.

Correction - it was $40 for his upgrade. I think it is variable.

 

[Donald Duck888]

So I did a basic calculation comparing costs between flying and driving.

Driving,
Gas $575 (at 25MPG which is basically what my truck gets for mileage)
Parking $224
Lodging on trip 2 hotel rooms $0 as I have vouchers
Food on trip $100
tolls $20
Total $919

Flying,
Two Tickets $1300 (never spent this much to fly to FL before in my life)
Airport transport $200 (taxi from airport to hotel and back)
total $1500

So driving would be cheaper but not by a huge amount. I guess it really will come down to how we feel about the mode of travel. WE have pretty early nonstop flights (around 5am down and then around 8am leaving Orlando for return home) so I would guess that would help possible issues with flight delays but I guess who really knows these days. With an 8am flight is it still advisable to get to the airport in Orlando at like 5am to be sure to get through Security etc. or is Orlando not super busy until after 6 or 7 am?

Have also thought about flying down and driving back and that would probably fall between the two prices as the cost of a rental car would have to be figured in.

Oh well at least all options are still possible I guess.

 

[leebee]

I'd fly. My brother drove from York Beach, ME once and it took a full 24 hours. I can't imagine looking at 3 long days down, and worse, 3 long driving days home when you are exhausted from Disney and sad about leaving!

Do you have your airfare yet? If it's on SW and prices drop (they have a sale), you can get a fare refund (as travel credits) or if you booked with Rapid Rewards you can get your points back. Also, if you have Early Bird boarding and your flight cancels, you will be in C boarding on whatever flight you are rebooked on, but they'll refund the EB. I know that doesn't help with wanting to sit with your daughter, though. If you can fly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays the fare is somewhat cheaper, and SW has been advertising a "Tuesday/Wednesday" fare sale for a while now.

Also, what hotel are you staying at when you get to FL? Mears Connect and Sunshine Flyer are $32 round trip between MCO and Disney area hotels. They go to more hotels than just those on-property.

Not sure if this is where I read it, but YES you should leave your Disney hotel about 3 hours before flight time. Having 2 hours at the airport can be cutting it close; the lines to check bags and get through security can be crazy, even at the crack of dawn. People might not choose that flight time, but with cancellations and rebooking, most flights are full these days.

 

[LAX]

Not going this year, but would still drive. The math is pretty easy for a family of 5.

LAX

 

[sam_gordon]

So I did a basic calculation comparing costs between flying and driving.

Driving,
Gas $575 (at 25MPG which is basically what my truck gets for mileage)
Parking $224
Lodging on trip 2 hotel rooms $0 as I have vouchers
Food on trip $100
tolls $20
Total $919

Flying,
Two Tickets $1300 (never spent this much to fly to FL before in my life)
Airport transport $200 (taxi from airport to hotel and back)
total $1500

So driving would be cheaper but not by a huge amount. I guess it really will come down to how we feel about the mode of travel. WE have pretty early nonstop flights (around 5am down and then around 8am leaving Orlando for return home) so I would guess that would help possible issues with flight delays but I guess who really knows these days. With an 8am flight is it still advisable to get to the airport in Orlando at like 5am to be sure to get through Security etc. or is Orlando not super busy until after 6 or 7 am?

Have also thought about flying down and driving back and that would probably fall between the two prices as the cost of a rental car would have to be figured in.

Oh well at least all options are still possible I guess.

If you didn't have hotel vouchers, driving would probably be at $1200+ (assuming $150/night x2). However, the number of people traveling greatly affects the numbers and will depend on the travelling party.

Yes, everyone should do the math, but the great unknown is "time". Flying for us cuts the travel time roughly in half (even allowing for showing up early, connections, baggage claim, etc). How much are those hours worth to you (general)?

 

[Donald Duck888]

if you have Early Bird boarding and your flight cancels, you will be in C boarding on whatever flight you are rebooked on, but they'll refund the EB.

Does anyone know if this holds true for Business Select fares as well?

Basically I purchased Business Select so I could have full refundability and also in hopes that if flight was cancelled and we were put on another flight it would carry over.

If it does not carry over then I will not fly on whatever they offer to rebook and will have to find another way to travel. I am guessing i can get a refund if they cancel flight vs letting them rebook us?

I am pretty tall 6'4" so I just cant do a middle seat. Sitting next to my smallish daughter in the window or aisle seat allows me to use some of her leg room to be able to move my legs a bit. That will not work in a middle seat between 2 other passengers. There is no way I am going to be crammed into a middle seat for a 3 hour flight separated from my daughter. Many years ago I suffered a pulmonary embolism while down at Disney and I am pretty sure it was from sitting in a middle seat on the flight down. Got to spend the last couple days (and then an additional week) at Celebration Hospital (great Hospital by the way at least it was way back then).

I think I might just reserve a one way rental for the day after the scheduled flight home. Then if all goes well with the flight I will cancel it as soon as I get home but if the flight gets cancelled I will drive home the next day in the rental.

 

[kittylady1972]

We have been flying the last few times...via SWA or Spirit...so cost for 4 or 5 of us hasn't been over the top. HOWEVER...with the way airlines are now cancelling flights I'm more than a little concerned about our upcoming end of July trip. Right now booked on SWA on points on a connecting flight (BWI-MCO via Fort Lauderdale connection) because it was cheapest. We always rent a car and I have ours down to $315 now for a mid-size with a return Thursday evening.

I definitely won't risk doing the UCT pre-paid car this time around because I fear potential flight cancellation.

Since this is only a 4 night trip...I'm really concerned flights could be an issue. We are seriously considering now leaving Saturday night, driving all night (we have 4 very capable drivers) and just arriving Sunday. My older son (22yo) has booked last minute to join us so we could still potentially get him at the airport (he is on Spirit on a direct flight Sun morning and leaving Thur afternoon) and then he'd have to get his way back to the airport on Thursday.

We just did a 7-8 hour one-way drive each way to visit my family in NC (we live in MD) and that was fine. I think we can easily handle the drive to FLA even though it's been about a year since we've done it...plus we would have our own car there. Our large SUV is a bit of a gas guzzler though...but we have a mid-size that gets 24-25mpg highway that wouldn't be quite as bad.

It's definitely something to think about for us right now. Good luck!

 

[sam_gordon]

BTW, for those of you with confirmed flights already, you can go to https://flightaware.com/ and search for your flight (put in "United 1234" or "Southwest 567") and see the past flights going back a couple of weeks. I've been watching the one we're scheduled on and except for a diversion to ATL for some reason, they've all been flown and pretty much on time.

 

[Donald Duck888]

BTW, for those of you with confirmed flights already, you can go to https://flightaware.com/ and search for your flight (put in "United 1234" or "Southwest 567") and see the past flights going back a couple of weeks. I've been watching the one we're scheduled on and except for a diversion to ATL for some reason, they've all been flown and pretty much on time.

Thank you for this info. Looks like the flights I am scheduled on have been on time with the exception of one 25 minute delay on one a couple weeks back.

Also on a side note it is crazy how airline tickets change price every day. I bought the fully refundable tickets so they were the most expensive. They actually went down in price after a couple of weeks and then a couple of days after that they doubled in price (glad I bought when I did). the lower tier tickets though went down in price while my tier doubled. It truly seems like the old quote about everyone on a plane having paid a different amount for the same seats is really kind of true.

 

[DVCjj]

For us, out of the question to drive.
Definitely fly.
(Midwest)

 

[Donald Duck888]

For us, out of the question to drive.
Definitely fly.
(Midwest)

Sounds like you have a similar distance to us (Northeast). It is about 1300 miles each way for us, so it is around a 22-24 hour long drive. We usually split it into 2 or 3 days and thus only consider driving when we can take off enough time to be able to do that.

I really wish we lived about 500 miles closer and then it would be a trip we would pretty much always drive, especially as that 500 miles would put us past what I consider the worst part of the trip between central MA and DC. From DC south (and also from MA north to where we live) is pretty easy. but the drive in between is white knuckle driving most times.

 

[npatellye]

I really wish we lived about 500 miles closer and then it would be a trip we would pretty much always drive, especially as that 500 miles would put us past what I consider the worst part of the trip between central MA and DC. From DC south (and also from MA north to where we live) is pretty easy. but the drive in between is white knuckle driving most times.

Lol, we live in that white knuckle area in CT just a few miles north of the 95 corridor. When we drive to VA, the only parts I dislike driving through are from Co-op City to the GWB, though I find it much worst going northbound due to the toll plaza in NJ. I would rather take 87 to the Tappan Zee and cut into NJ that way but my husband prefers the direct 95 route so he has to make that stretch of drive. That is the one stretch I prefer to avoid if I have to drive.

We keep talking about driving down to FL but we haven’t done it yet.

 

[DVCjj]

Sounds like you have a similar distance to us (Northeast). It is about 1300 miles each way for us, so it is around a 22-24 hour long drive. We usually split it into 2 or 3 days and thus only consider driving when we can take off enough time to be able to do that.

I really wish we lived about 500 miles closer and then it would be a trip we would pretty much always drive, especially as that 500 miles would put us past what I consider the worst part of the trip between central MA and DC. From DC south (and also from MA north to where we live) is pretty easy. but the drive in between is white knuckle driving most times.

Yes. 1200+ miles vs flying 2 hours 10 min. Easy choice for us for our numerous trips a year.
Daughter/Son in law have driven couple times this year (condo 55 min from Disney) as they have a sweet old cat they will not subject to flying.
Weather problems/traffic through Indiana and Atlanta are the white knuckling problems for them. Then there's those Florida storms. WOW.