But I don't want to drive!!!!

[bucklepants]

Okay, so we live in MN, 26 hrs from Orlando. Our next trip isn't until next August, but I'm already looking at airfare prices. About $400+/ person (for 3 of us). Plus, if we fly, we will need to rent a car because we will be visiting family the first couple days down there (and we wanted to see if we liked having a car vs using the Disney buses).
Anyways, my DH is pushing again for driving due to cost. The idea just depresses me. 26 hrs in the car! UGH! We would need to tack on or take off days of our planned trip. I don't know if our 5 yr old (or me) could handle it, and another variable is my Dad would need to meet up with us in FL after we are already there and get back to MN when we leave, so we would probably need to offer to have him ride back with us, AND... DH's mom will probably want to drive down if we do (it's her family we are seeing). We certainly can't fit 5 in the car. UGH!!!! Thoughts. This seems to be kicking down my planning high.

 

[coleandrachel]

My wife and I are driving from Fort Worth, Texas to DW with our 3 year old daughter. Roughly 18-19 hours, but I love to drive! but dang, 26 hours? I don't know about that! GOOD LUCK!!

 

[SJFPKT]

I don't know where in MN you live, but if you are near Minneapolis sign up for Southwest Deals. For instance if they have the sale going on they have now for your time frame, you could fly round trip with free baggage for $210 per person.

 

[draybook]

If you add up the gas, food, wear & tear on car, hotel stays for there and back, extra time off work because the trip will be longer, etc. flying may look more attractive to your dh.

One more option is taking a train. We've never done this, but I have friends from Delaware that travel to WDW via Amtrak and love it. I'm not sure what the cost would be in comparison to flying.

I just did a Priceline check on airfare only, from Memphis to Orlando, and it's $375 per person. That's $1500 just for the flight. Our rental car was $276, and gas was about $160. I didn't have to take any extra days off because of the way I plan our days. For some of us it's way cheaper to drive. Then again, Memphis is the most expensive airport for fliers in the US, or at least it was as of earlier this year.

 

[Mikester71]

I'm one of those exceptions who actually LOVES driving to WDW, and that's from way up here in Canada too! It's a bit shorter than your time actually, usually between 18-21 hours one way for us, but we split it up over 2 days. We always leave early on the Friday morning (5-6am) and try to make it to the Florida border before stopping for the night (usually between 9-11pm) where we get a cheap hotel. Next day, we wake up and try to hit the road no later than 8-9am and usually always pull into Pop Century parking just after lunch (1-3pm). For some stupid reason, and although I vow each trip I will NEVER do it again, we drive straight through when returning home.

I know most people think this sounds like a HUGE waste of time and that you aren't really saving any money in the long run, but let me tell you, we did. On our last trip last March (2011), we spent just over $500 for gas there and back, $100 on the hotel for the night on the way down, and maybe just over $100 for meals for the 4 of us on the way down and back. Considering what it would have costed our family of 4 to fly during Spring Break, we still made out WAY better in the long run!

Heck, our first 3 trips, we went down with 5-6 people in the van and not one person complained about the accommodations, including our two children who are 16 and 21 today. We all look at the drive as part of the actual vacation and enjoy taking in the sights and surroundings on the way down and make the best of the time spent together. Wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

 

[buseegal]

have had some problems flying with young children also. having to stay in seat for 3 hour is a long time. plus one trip had to have seatbelt sign on most of trip, could not take 4 year old to bathroom. we drive from Pa with anywhere between 3 and 6 boys under 12 years old. love being able to stop and let them run when needed. i was blessed with the crying little who needed bathroom and could not get up and go.

 

[disneygirl76]

Okay, so we live in MN, 26 hrs from Orlando. Our next trip isn't until next August, but I'm already looking at airfare prices. About $400+/ person (for 3 of us). Plus, if we fly, we will need to rent a car because we will be visiting family the first couple days down there (and we wanted to see if we liked having a car vs using the Disney buses).
Anyways, my DH is pushing again for driving due to cost. The idea just depresses me. 26 hrs in the car! UGH! We would need to tack on or take off days of our planned trip. I don't know if our 5 yr old (or me) could handle it, and another variable is my Dad would need to meet up with us in FL after we are already there and get back to MN when we leave, so we would probably need to offer to have him ride back with us, AND... DH's mom will probably want to drive down if we do (it's her family we are seeing). We certainly can't fit 5 in the car. UGH!!!! Thoughts. This seems to be kicking down my planning high.

Keep tracking the prices b/c we bought higher then I anticipated and the airfare prices dropped so much I ended up with a free ticket based on credits from Air Tran. You have a lot of time so just keep looking at the prices. You will see a trend of what is a good price for you. Also, with the price of gas and the cost of an over night hotel, you might find it ends up being cheaper to fly. As for the rental car, if you are only visiting family for a couple of days, you can just rent a car for the time you need it and then turn the car in and use WDW transportation. If you do drive, there are loads of fun games and books on CD that you can listen to! I love a good car trip so that is exciting for me! Also, you don't have to worry about how much you bring and luggage fees! I ran into that this year for the first time! UGH!

 

[jdnetone]

Look out for a deal on your airline tickets. DW and I are flying from Memphis on Delta nonstop for $243 each but I was checking the price all most daily, the next day they were $408 each. I hate to drive, for me that would spoil the vacation just dreading the drive back.

 

[bucklepants]

I don't know where in MN you live, but if you are near Minneapolis sign up for Southwest Deals. For instance if they have the sale going on they have now for your time frame, you could fly round trip with free baggage for $210 per person.

I'll have to look into this. We only live about 20min from the airport. Thanks.

 

[bucklepants]

I'm actually torn on this now. Obviously if flights come down some it's an easy decision.
I hate driving, my husband likes it. There are negatives, the 26hrs, the wear and tear on the car, perhaps car sickness (although I may have grown out of it, and there's always Dramamine). There are pluses to it too though, like the baggage and having our own car and saving some money. I could also log some serious movie time on a portable DVD player or the Nexus, which as a parent I have missed lots of movies in the past few years.

We will keep checking prices on airlines as we do have lots of time to decide really. I also suggested we forgo the entire car rental and rely on family for transportation to their house and then to Disney the first day, from there Disney has it covered really. That's a big savings if we skip the car rental. I just liked the idea of the convenience it might be. Thanks for all the input.