Because of Slappy

[Montyboy]

I live in PA and have a few airport options. Since there are two of us, when we go to Disney, we fly. I'm not so sure what we would do if we were a family of four.

Is it a tough decision for you to fly or drive? What's the deal breaker: time, money...?

Members from the UK don't have to answer, but can if you want.

 

[Nemo14]

Ok - I'll try to tackle this one. We are a family of 4 from RI and live about 5 minutes from the airport. My husband is a teacher, and we used to go to FL for 3 weeks every summer after his summer classes were over. The kids were young and we'd visit family there and do various theme parks. Gas was considerably cheaper then, and airfare for 4 was pretty much out of the question. We'd usually take 2 days to drive it, stopping at a friend's in VA on the way down or back or sometimes both. We saved up to fly once, but had a miserable experience with AA and also Alamo, and swore we'd never do it again.

Then, in February of 2000, we planned a big family party to celebrate my mom's 80th/20th birthday (she's a leap year baby) in Florida. Schools here have a 1 week Winter break, so we looked into flying again, considering unpredictable weather and time restraints. Thanks to Southwest, we found it to be affordable to do, even factoring in the cost of renting a car down there. We rented a big house for all of us coming in from all over, and had a really delightful time. It was then that we decided that FL was soooo much more enjoyable in February, and we've never gone back in the summer! We've gone every February since then, and generally we fly. DH, though, misses the drive down there, so every once in a while we drive it for his sake. With the kids older now, they help with the driving, so we do it all in one 22 -23 hour stretch. Personally I much prefer to fly and be there in 2 1/2 hours!

 

[sbkline]

We've always drove and anytime I mention the possibility of flying, my wife will have none of it. But to be totally honest, I'm not sure I'm totally comfortable with the thought either.

But speaking for myself (my wife disagrees, LOL), I enjoy the road trip...except for the usual traffic grinding to a screeching halt every friggin time due to road work.

But it's kind of fun to see the usual sights along the way, and talk about previous drives down, point out places we've stopped before, make fun of "Cafe Risque", etc. :lol:

 

[I-4Warrior]

I drive... because as expensive as gas is, it's still less than plan fare for us... plus a Tampa to Orlando flight seems to be a bit ridiculous. :ROFLOL:

 

[mbly]

We're a family of 5. We're flying. We live in Pa near Pittsburgh, close to the airport. It is more expensive than driving but 17 hours to get there with 3 young children in the back didn't sound like fun. Plus with driving I would lose 2 days in the park. The extra exspense seemed worth it.

 

[DisneyMusician2]

I live about a half hour from JFK Airport, and flights out tend to be inexpensive. Driving to Orlando through the city is quite a thing, and my wife can't ever grab any sleep in the car.

It is worth whatever the airfare is to simply get there faster and not have to deal with the traffic and having my wife grumpy as all heck when we get there.

 

[kstella]

We always fly. It's cheaper for us to fly out of Chicago, but easier to fly out of Milwaukee. There are 3-4 of us depending on whether or not my husband is with us. I wouldn't consider driving. I'm not much of a car trip person. Six to 8 hours in a car at a time is my limit. A car trip to Florida would be a nightmare for us. If you have multiple drivers, it can be split up, but my husband is NOT a good passenger and would require duct tape to not drive me crazy. So stress, time, etc... Easier just to get on a plane!

 

[Ms. Tinkerbell]

When we lived in Alabama we drove, because it was only about 9 hours, but now that we are in Virginia, we fly. It ends up being just as inexpensive for us to fly as to drive and we get there so much faster

 

[WDWEric]

I am torn on this topic. I would much rather fly. a 2 1/2 hour flight compared to an 18 hour drive. I wil have 3 children at the time of our next trip (Dec. 08) their ages will be 1,2, and 4. When we went this past April it cost us almost $700 for three seats (wife and youngest shared, myself, and my oldest). I don't know if I want to drive but I think it will save us money so we may be able to stay a little longer. After our last trip we said we would never have a lap baby again, to much trouble. Maybe I can talk my wife into though next year to get there faster!

 

[Jessie&Buzz]

We too live near Pittsburgh. We've also driven with our kids when they were rather young. Our last trip was in Dec so we couldn't depend on good weather so we flew. With Southwest it wasn't that expensive. It probably cost less than renting a car (don't want to put the miles on ours plus they aren't roomy enough for a long trip) and the gas to get there. When we finally plan our next trip I think I have my hubby talked into flying no matter what time of year it is. He's not big on it but will probably do it when I run the #'s for him.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

What is a slappy? Isn't that the thing that looks like a turd on Press Your Luck?

 

[macsmom]

I'm going solo this year. I had my trip all planned out, was going to get off work earlier than normal, drive all the way to Nashville the first night (6 hours). Well, I decided to take a short flight instead since I don't have anyone to share the fuel costs this year. I figure it is cheaper to fly than drive all that way, stop at a hotel, etc., both ways And, I now have a couple of days at the end of my vacation to rest up before I have to go back to work. Maybe I'll sit down and formally plan my next trip!

danna

 

[BRER DAD]

I live in NY.......I have driven and flown to WDW. We drove down many times with 15 people crammed in a suburban. I started flying down about 10 years ago, it is much better. We talked about driving down (5 of us) but flying is so fast.

 

[Montyboy]

What is a slappy? Isn't that the thing that looks like a turd on Press Your Luck?

Slappy Magoo started a thread, "Sayonara, suckers" where he is driving 20 hours from NJ to Disney.

 

[mousefan1972]

We are about a 40 minute drive from either Logan (Boston) or Manchester, NH airports. So we are fortunate enough to have JetBlue, Airtran, Southwest, and Delta all flying nonstops to Orlando. As such, we can get some pretty good fares. I've never paid more than $170 R/T each person. As longs as flights stay reasonable we would NEVER drive!! It's about 24 hours driving time and I don't know who would go nuts first, me or the kids.:lol:
2 1/2 hours in a plane or 24 hours in a car? No brainer.

 

[Monty]

I drove in June from Ottawa. Going down, we left Friday after DS finished school as far as Scranton, PA. Got a motel for the night and headed to Lorton, VA Saturday Morning and took the Auto-Train to Sanford. Arrived WDW before 1PM Sunday. Returning, we left DTD around 11AM Friday and made it to NC, got a motel and then drove through to Ottawa Saturday.

It was rough going, not because of the driving [I love driving], but lack of sleep... I can rarely sleep the first and sometimes second night in a different bed and motels near I-95 are not exactly quiet. The Auto-Train bounced around so much sleep was impossible. In eight nights on the trip, I slept for three. :snore:

From PA, I could do the trip in a single [albeit long] day each way, leaving early enough. I'd probably drive.

 

[janni518]

I live in PA and have a few airport options. Since there are two of us, when we go to Disney, we fly. I'm not so sure what we would do if we were a family of four.

Is it a tough decision for you to fly or drive? What's the deal breaker: time, money...?

Members from the UK don't have to answer, but can if you want.

This is an easy one for me. We are a family of 4 from NJ (at the moment) and we always fly when we go to Florida. I can't waste days of my vacation sitting in a car when I could be at WDW!!! Also, with the price of gas it's not really even a bargain.

That being said...there are of course exceptions. We've driven to North Carolina to visit family. I just think you need weigh your reasons and expectations for choosing one over the other.:animwink:

 

[ConstanceIrene]

I live about a half hour from JFK Airport, and flights out tend to be inexpensive. Driving to Orlando through the city is quite a thing, and my wife can't ever grab any sleep in the car.

It is worth whatever the airfare is to simply get there faster and not have to deal with the traffic and having my wife grumpy as all heck when we get there.

Have you ever flown out of MacArthur in Islip? It's fabulous.

We're four in our family and, for us, flying is the only way to go.

 

[msk0879]

My Parents And 3 Kids Always Drove 18 Hours When I Started Goin With My Wife It Turned Into What Do We Wanna Save Time Or Money For Us Its The Time We Would Rather Have It In The The Parks Then In My Truck Or Her Car



Goin Back Dec 1 To The 9th

 

[unkadug]

What is a slappy? Isn't that the thing that looks like a turd on Press Your Luck?

I don't recall a "turd" on Press Your Luck, I remember the whammy, which looked kinda like the Tasmanian Devil.

Or is this somekind of back handed put down against a forum member? :lookaroun