Driving or flying????

[CaptainAmerica]

Vacation time is for taking a vacation. The days off don't cost me anything. I'm getting paid to travel.

I get 5 weeks, so I block off two weeks for the Disney trip. We stay 7 nights, so the trip is 10 days with the drive. We always leave home on a Monday, so we have the weekend to prepare then we return on a Wednesday, leaving before returning to work on the flowing Monday.

Do your weeks/days not roll over from year to year? If I leave my company with available vacation days, I get a payout for them. Meaning every day I use is a day I don't get paid for when I leave.

 

[yaksplat]

Do your weeks/days not roll over from year to year? If I leave my company with available vacation days, I get a payout for them. Meaning every day I use is a day I don't get paid for when I leave.

Unfortunately I can only have a maximum rolled over of 20 days. I have that 20 already banked so I have to take the full 5 weeks each year or lose the time. It can be surprisingly hard to use 5 weeks, that's why i force myself to take 10 days for the Disney trip.

 

[JamieLee18]

Growing up, we only drove (Ohio to FL, approx 2-3 days with stops). Now that I'm an adult I fly and the biggest reason is that I arrive to Disney fresh (not tired) and ready for fun. My family who drives arrive exhausted... and grumpy.

 

[Juda2515]

This April will be our third time driving. For us it is a 20 hour drive, and we always drive straight through. My wife and I take turns driving, and our two daughters are pretty good with long drives.
I just checked on cost 2 drive and if we left today it would cost $180.00 for gas, 2500 miles round trip. You also have to figure in wear and tare on the vehicle, but it still is a lot cheaper for the four of us to drive compared to flying. plus I like having my own car to drive if we want to go somewhere.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Your analysis is incomplete. There's a real dollar value of those extra two vacation days you're taking. Someone making $52,000 per year (for the sake of easy math) would need to add $200 for every additional day of work they miss. A couple making $52,000 each is "spending" about $800 in vacation time if they each miss two days of work.

He just said they enjoyed the family time in the car, so...

 

[Figgy1]

This April will be our third time driving. For us it is a 20 hour drive, and we always drive straight through. My wife and I take turns driving, and our two daughters are pretty good with long drives.
I just checked on cost 2 drive and if we left today it would cost $180.00 for gas, 2500 miles round trip. You also have to figure in wear and tare on the vehicle, but it still is a lot cheaper for the four of us to drive compared to flying. plus I like having my own car to drive if we want to go somewhere.

Welcome! I'm looking at 2400 RT and about 125 for gas, maybe less I can't buy one ticket for that

 

[Greenlawler]

Out of Nashville it's 10-12 hours depending on my kids, we are a family of five.

We drive 66% of the time. We average about 3 trips a year.

Positives for driving:
1. Having a vehicle so...
a. Driving directly to parks (except MK) to save time
b. If we forget something I can drive and simply buy it for less than an arm and a leg.
c. We can get drinks at a store without paying Disney prices.
d. If we want to go to a non-Disney park we can drive and not rely on a taxi or non dis bus.
2. We can come and go on our terms, if we decide to stay later, or another night we have complete freedom.
3. It's cheaper, even when gas was more, it costs us about $450 to drive total, compared to the average $1250 or more it costs to fly.
4. Heck we could pack the whole house if we wanted too. Snacks, strollers, clothes, coolers, etc...anything we could fit.

Positives for Flying
1. We don't kill almost 2 days of vacation driving
2. We don't have to fool with grumpy van kids.
3. No hidden costs, no wear and tear on vehicle, no tolls.
4. It's safer
5. Arrive much more rested and less stressed/sore
6. My wife is less stressed because I don't get lost driving around on property.

All in all I prefer flying but I am too cheap to do it all the time.

 

[sxeensweet]

Unless you have a job with 4 weeks vacation you have to use each year.

Exactly my hubby has 20 days he has to use each year or lose it (mine roll over but Average get about 4 weeks a year total with PTO and don't have to cash anything out until I get to 360 hours) so we take about 10 days (don't need to use them for the weekend days) for him to use for our trip which is always for 2 weeks now to WDW and we drive the 12 hours straight through overnight.

 

[yaksplat]

I did forget to mention tolls. But strange fact, from buffalo to the border of NY is a higher toll than the rest of the trip.

 

[sxeensweet]

I did forget to mention tolls. But strange fact, from buffalo to the border of NY is a higher toll than the rest of the trip.

We only have the tolls to pay before getting to WDW in Florida our whole 12 hour drive. Most of the southern states don't have any tolls or only a few of them if they do. So we only spend less than $10 bucks total on tolls the whole trip.

 

[draybook]

Unless you have a job with 4 weeks vacation you have to use each year.

Right now I get 26 days, with another 5 to be added next January. Love it. And yeah, I prefer to fly if the budget allows for it. I hate long distance driving and it makes me drowsy unless it's daylight.

 

[YozhikRoth]

Did the drive from Long Island in two days, stopping over in NC. Mentally, the drive down is so much easier than the drive back. For my trip in 2 weeks, I was tempted to drive to to the absurd air fares (I was initially seeing $450/pp out of NYC). Eventually I found a Southwest fare for $250/pp and that settled matters.

 

[YozhikRoth]

We only have the tolls to pay before getting to WDW in Florida our whole 12 hour drive. Most of the southern states don't have any tolls or only a few of them if they do. So we only spend less than $10 bucks total on tolls the whole trip.

$10 doesn't even cover the first toll for me, the Verrazano

 

[danlb_2000]

Flying or Driving? My Answer, train!

 

[SAV]

I've done both and my opinion of each changes as the circumstances of the trip change.

Pre kids, we flew because it wasn't that much more $$ to fly than drive and I had more money than time off. First trip with daughter when she was 2, we drove because the cost of the extra airfare(we wanted her to have her own seat). Then we decided to fly the rest of the trips because my DW didn't like the 2 days of driving, but went less because of cost. Then we just flew for the next 10 years because of 2 young kids and the long drive wouldn't have been a great experience. This past year we drove down because I have more time than money, older kids now and had a great trip. The kids enjoyed the drive down and back.

Just because of the cost savings, we'll probably drive down instead of fly...unless circumstances change.

 

[Stellajack]

Definitely flying! Prefer a very early morning flight so we can get there, eat lunch at the resort, go to Downtown Disney (Disney Springs now), do a resort dinner in the evening and get ready to park hop the very next day! Not sure anyone is ever entirely at ease on an aircraft, but I've seen enough insane drivers on I-95 that I'm willing to take my chances in the air.

 

[YozhikRoth]

Personally I like a 6am flight out, getting to the resort by 11. I like EPCOT for these first day arrivals, as a late arrival is not nearly as punitive as at MK or DHS.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

I have gone to Disney world 3 times now and I have always driven. I want to fly but have MAJOR anxiety, especially with flying. Which do you prefer? driving or flying? If you have this problem and can help me get over it that would be great!
thanks guys!!

I understand your predicament. My DH has generalized anxiety, flying being a huge anxiety provoker for him. Like its so bad that I still cannot believe he will even get within 100 yards of an airport, never mind that he goes on one. Funny enough, he has more anxiety about being in the car for a long time so flying is the better of the two evils.
We live in the Northeast so the car ride would be a production.

He watches the iPad the whole 2.5 hour flight and doesn't talk much. He just focuses on the shows he watches and let's the time pass. He also takes a half of a low dose of a Klonopin to fly and it helps relieve his thoughts a lot. It relaxes his mind without relaxing his body to the point of sluggishness, unlike some other anti anxiety meds (Xanax, Valium, etc). Not saying go this route, just saying this has been helpful for him.

How long would the drive be for you? If it's a day's drive or less, I'd say go for the drive. If not, flying seems more practical, and honestly good practice in managing the anxiety. But it's up to you and whatever you can handle. Remember that you want to enjoy your vacation, not go into it twitching from anxiety.

Whatever you choose, good luck and enjoy!

 

[Santa Raccoon 77]

Flying .
Tried Driving but flooded the car on leaving the harbour

 

[YozhikRoth]

One flight I had a couple next to me that seriously white-knuckled it the entire way. Literally squeezed the armrests-starting straight ahead the entire flight. Didn't even acknowledge the attendant when cabin service came around.