Would you drive to save $500?

[C&G'sMama]

Heck No! The only way I'd ever consider driving, anything over 8 hrs. or so, instead of flying would be if it were the ONLY way we could go. QUOTE]

That's the only we'd fly. it's funny 'cause we all have different tolerance. I don't mind taking 2 days to drive down and spend all that time in a car. I'd rather poke my eyes out then fly, especially with my Aspie son. If he perseverates in a car I'm okay but I'd be a nervous wreck with other people around.

We also have a bit of a control issue, so while statistically I'm safer in a plane, in my head I feel safer when one of us is driving.

But if we ever decide to go to Disneyland Paris....

 

[piglet33]

Nope. Way too long in a car for a little savings.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

$500 "savings" versus a 6, 8 year old, and TWENTY hours in a car ,
for me
a no brainer
FLY :t
Arrive quickly and Relaxed

My sanity is worth far more than that!

 

[jodifla]

$500 isn't that much money when I factor in losing 4 days worth of vacation time!

If I were driving for two or more weeks, then I might do it.

 

[realhousewife]

Heck No! The only way I'd ever consider driving, anything over 8 hrs. or so, instead of flying would be if it were the ONLY way we could go. QUOTE]

That's the only we'd fly. it's funny 'cause we all have different tolerance. I don't mind taking 2 days to drive down and spend all that time in a car. I'd rather poke my eyes out then fly, especially with my Aspie son. If he perseverates in a car I'm okay but I'd be a nervous wreck with other people around.

We also have a bit of a control issue, so while statistically I'm safer in a plane, in my head I feel safer when one of us is driving.

But if we ever decide to go to Disneyland Paris....

With child issue like that, then I could see why you'd want the privacy of your own car and the ability to take breaks. Sounds like the right choice for you. Have a safe trip!

 

[Dallas_Lady]

We are die hard drivers (1,250 miles each way) for a bunch of reasons including we love the drive. We love the family time. We take 2 nights each way, stay in hotels and it's part of our vacation.

That being said, if you love to drive, drive. If the $500 savings is huge to you, drive. If you can afford the extra time, drive.
If you don't love to drive, don't have the time, the $500 is no big deal to you and you like flying (I don't for a bunch of reasons including I think it's a big hassle and not worth the money) then fly.

Ditto to everything. We drive (1150 miles from Dallas) because we enjoy road trips, we have the time and our kids do fine in the car. My commute to work is only 8 miles roundrip, so even with long road trips the mileage on my van is still low. But if you don't like to drive, trying to convince you it's a good idea is pointless.

That said, next year we are flying for our cruise, it fits the schedule better.

A "2.5 hour" flight to Orlando actually takes us close to 8 hours once you factor in driving to the airport, parking, going thru security, waiting to board, sitting on the runway, the actual flight, waiting for luggage, waiting for rental car, and finally driving to WDW.

That's a very good point. When we fly, we usually get the 7 am CST flight out. Which means we are out the door by 4am. Plane lands around 10-11 EST and ME gets us to our resort by noon-ish. So flying is 7-8 hours door to door. It takes us half a day to fly to WDW, and a day and a half to drive. So driving adds a full day on either side of our trip, not two.

 

[Pikester]

We've driven 3 times to Orlando from NH. Two times to visit Disney and one time to visit Universal. The first time my kids were 7 and 10 and the trip was great. We had a dual DVD player that can play the same movie or two different movies at the same time. We stop every two hours to stretch or get gas and we have lunch and dinner breaks. We usually leave at 3:30am and get to our first stopping point in South Carolina by the Georgia border at 8p or 9p. We stay at a inexpensive hotel and the next morning are on the road by 7:30a. We then drive to Daytona Beach to spend a few hours and then from there drive to Orlando. Now this we have done two different ways. The 1st trip we arrived at Disney in the late afternoon. We settled into our room and had dinner out. No park time. The second time we drove we followed the same driving pattern but spent a second night at a hotel after leaving Daytona and didn't check into Disney until the next day. We did so really early and got to Magic Kingsom for 8am opening.

Now the drive home is a different story. One of our trips we drove as far as Virgina and spent the night. We got back later then we liked, around 4p or 5p. The other two times we just drove straight through. Left Orlando around 7a or 8a and arrived home in NH around 5am or 6am. That time included stopping every couple of hours with lunch and dinner stops.

We enjoyed the trip, my husband had me drive some this year so that was a better trip for him.

 

[Promomx2]

Don't know if this point has been posted but we also rather fly now than drive to save all the extra miles on our vechicles.

 

[mlnbabies]

We are going to WDW in Dec. and we were thinking of driving from central TX. It will be about a 21 hr. drive one way. We have always drove on previous trips to Orlando and have drove to NM and CO several times. So driving on long trips isn't hard on us. But on this trip I will have to drive by myself with my dd's who are 11 and 8. They do fine with DVD's books and etc. My dh called me this am and said to think of flying.

We would fly out of Dallas or Austin. I have to figure out how much to fly, parking, and etc. Jetblue will cost us $838 for 3 to MCO and then renting a car as we will stay off site. I just looked a renting a car and most places are charging $250. I may fly Spirit Airlines for $466 to Ft. Lauderdale and then rent a car to drive to Orlando. With flying I have to be carefull on packing due to luggage fees.

Lots of decisions to make and trying to figure out the expenses. We have time to figure it out.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We are going to WDW in Dec. and we were thinking of driving from central TX. It will be about a 21 hr. drive one way. We have always drove on previous trips to Orlando and have drove to NM and CO several times. So driving on long trips isn't hard on us. But on this trip I will have to drive by myself with my dd's who are 11 and 8. They do fine with DVD's books and etc. My dh called me this am and said to think of flying.

We would fly out of Dallas or Austin. I have to figure out how much to fly, parking, and etc. Jetblue will cost us $838 for 3 to MCO and then renting a car as we will stay off site. I just looked a renting a car and most places are charging $250. I may fly Spirit Airlines for $466 to Ft. Lauderdale and then rent a car to drive to Orlando. With flying I have to be carefull on packing due to luggage fees.

Lots of decisions to make and trying to figure out the expenses. We have time to figure it out.

An easy search engine to see flights for different airlines is kayak.com. Did you check mousesavers.com for rental car discount codes & coupons? We never pay full price. We usually find Costco discount best but if we belong to BJ's at the time, we go through them. I always bring it, but have never been asked to show ID card.
http://travel.bjs.com/promotion/bjs/carrental/default.asp
http://www.costcotravel.com/#11_rentalCars
Also for rental cars I book the best price I can find now. Then occasional recheck as my date gets closer. Most often it goes down but on those occasions when price only goes up, I'm glad to have booked at the lower price. It's easy to book again and cancel the old res with no cc required.
hth