Driving vs. Flying

[HoneyMnShawnee]

DH and I have booked our 6th anniversary trip for May 2012 and our 3.5 year old (at the time) will be travelling with us for her first trip to the world. We have been trying to figure out ways to conserve some money and have been debating driving vs. flying. Flights at this moment in time are running around $900 for the three of us (which is a bit more once you consider the exchange rate to Canadian dollars). We have just purchased a new Grand Caravan and wonder if we could survive driving that distance from Windsor (across the river, about 1 mile, from Detroit) or if the convenience of flying is worth the extra money. Has anyone done this distance with a 3 year old and what was it like? I know we have a bit of time to decide what we are going to do, but I'd like to go into that decision educated. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[NYwdwfan]

I would definitely opt for flying over driving from Canada. Once you factor in gas, tolls, a hotel/motel if you are not driving straight and the fatigue from starting your trip with 2 days in a car, the $900 seems like an excellent price and convenience over driving.

 

[NewfieFan]

I did a long distance with a 2 year old before. Myself, I would fly! Our son was actually pretty good (better than we thought he would be) and he slept a lot in the car. But when it was stressful, it was stressful. We had to stop a lot and b/c of this we spent more money. We would always stop at a coffee shop or restaurant so we'd always get something to eat. We also did a lot of eating in the car and this stressed me out b/c I'm a neat freak and can't stand a messy car with food spills. I felt like we were wore out before we got there and the vacation was only starting in a sense. I also hate packing and unpacking so of course every time you stop or stay somewhere for the night you're pulling everything out of the car and then putting it back in.

Don't get me wrong, I still like road trips and we do more of them now that the kids are older. But long distance road trips with young kids certainly weren't our "cup of tea"!

 

[HoneyMnShawnee]

If we were to drive, we would try to do a straight shot, with DH and I taking turns driving. We wouldn't be spending the night anywhere, but I guess that could be a possibility if our DD can't take the long ride.

 

[NYwdwfan]

If we were to drive, we would try to do a straight shot, with DH and I taking turns driving. We wouldn't be spending the night anywhere, but I guess that could be a possibility if our DD can't take the long ride.

I just looked on a map (I'm geographically challenged) and it's not much further than driving from Long Island, which we did every year growing up. It's a long drive - and with a 3 year old you are going to have to stop for plenty of bathroom breaks - so while it might be 18 hours straight it would probably be more like 20, realistically. I only get 2 weeks vacation currently, so for me, I'd rather spend the time ON my vacation than GETTING TO my vacation. There are a lot of people that are loyal drivers (my parents are) and for them, it's the road trip aspect that is quite enjoyable.

 

[SAV]

I drove from Northern Illinois with a 2 y.o. and while it wasn't a bad trip, I would definitely rather just cough up the money and fly. It is definitely more stressful driving down. That is a lot of time in a vehicle for you and your passengers. As it was mentioned, you will be making plenty of stops so the drive will be longer than you expect. And take into account if extra potty stops that you won't plan for. And think about the trip home too. After a trip to the world, you will then have to drive back all that way which seems to take longer than the ride down.

For us, flying down is worth the cost.

 

[BelleofDE]

I'm debating the same thing for when we take our daughter to WDW for the first time. It would cost us $900 round trip to fly from Philly to Orlando, and it is actually cheaper to drive from DE than fly.

I would think it depends on how your child reacts to being the in car for extended periods. I remember growing up driving everywhere and it just seemed to take an extra 3 hrs on to every trip because of us kids. No child has to use the restroom at the same time lol.

 

[RickEff]

Lots of pros and cons to this one. If I go for 2 weeks or more, I typically drive. I'm from the Toronto area, so the distance is very much the same. I don't find it worth driving for one week trips though, as it takes at least a day to recover from driving that far.

One other thing to consider is saving money on the car rental by driving. If you are just staying on Disney property and don't plan on having to go to grocery (or ABC liquor) or whatever, you may want to bite the bullet and fly. The actual cost savings in that case would probably be about $400 or less depending on how many nights it takes you.

If, however, you plan on renting a car you may want to consider driving as the savings will really add up then!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

While we have not driven from Canada or that area, we did make the nearly 1000 mile drive from south of Houston to WDW over the summer. Our girls were 2 and 4 at the time of travel. We flew to WDW about 8 mos earlier. While the flight took far less time, the kids were sooooooo much better on the drive and we had more at our disposal to entertain them since space and security weren't the issue like it is when flying. I don't know if your van came with an entertainment system, but if you drive...I would HIGHLY recommend using some kind of portable DVD player during travel. We traveled with like 24 movies and it was a life saver...along with the magna doodles and the Leapsters. In any event, I think driving could totally be an option if you're well equipped with entertainment options, snacks, and keep a good eye out for places to stop for potty breaks.

 

[kstella]

If you are going on a cost to cost decision only, given the price of gas you are probably talking about pretty equal costs. You have to consider not only how your child would handle it, but also how long would it take the drivers to recover from the drive. You wouldn't want that cutting into your time. You can't count on resting while not driving because that is not truly restful sleep and what if your child is acting up? It will be up to the non-driver to deal with that.

 

[mickeysshoes]

We use to drive when our kids were younger (13.5 hours for us). We started out leaving early in the am and never stoping (except for gas and bathroom breaks). We where tired and cranking when we got there and hated the drive home. Then we chagned it leaving a day early and stopping over night and doing the same thing going home...but unless you have the leave to extend the vacation your taking away from your vacation doign it this way. It became more a hastle to drive and we started flying...we will never look back now. I will work a little more and save what is needed...to arrive fresh and relaxed. With the price of gas, time and stress of sitting I think the cost of the flight is well worth it. Good luck.....either way I am sure you all will make the best of your family vacation!!!

 

[britdaw]

If you can afford to fly, then I would fly. You think you're going to be saving money by driving, but onve you factor in the gas and hotel costs on the way down, as well as how many times you'll need to stop to let your 3-year-old let off some steam or use the potty or whatever, it's worth it to just pay the money for plane tickets.
I've never done Disney with my kids before, but while my husband was in basic training and AIT for the Army, we drove a lot to see him at the posts he was stationed at (since he didn't go for long enough to allow us to move with him). Driving long distances with kids SUCKS.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

We just did a very similar trip with a 4YO and a 2YO (from Buffalo). We left after I got out of work on Friday; we were on the road at about 6 P.M. I stayed up late the night before so that I would be tired right away and I slept first a took over driving from my wife about 1-2 AM. We had snacks and sandwiches in the car, and stopped for potty breaks of course. We were at Pop Century at about 3 PM on Saturday, and we all had enough energy to go the Magic Kingdom for a few hours. I'm not sure what the border crossings are like in your area on Friday night, but I'd recommend you follow my itinerary if you drive. Our plan was to drive straight through on the way down, and then book a hotel room for the way back if we wanted to. My wife and I agreed that the ONLY thing that made the drive bearable was the 10-12 hours of them sleeping in the car at night. 99% of our problems came during the half of the trip that the kids were awake. Buy a GPS if you don't have one so that if someone needs to go to the bathroom, you can get off at any old exit and find a gas station. You'll still probably spend about half the cost of flying.

 

[Katnthemouse]

Fly! You would probably survive the drive there because you GOING to Disney and are excited but the long drive home would be awful! A few hours of travel by flight or 20 hours by car.....FLY! :sohappy:

 

[Cosmic Commando]

Fly! You would probably survive the drive there because you GOING to Disney and are excited but the long drive home would be awful! A few hours of travel by flight or 20 hours by car.....FLY! :sohappy:

I forgot to add in my earlier post that you might end up really liking the drive. My wife had already told me point-blank before the trip "I'm blaming you when something goes wrong" since the drive was my idea to save money. She ended up being anti-plane by the time the trip was over! She was all ready to have a bad time going in and now she only wants to drive! So I say try it now while you have a new car; you might really like it! We got a chance to go to one of the theme park outlets and drove through Celebration while the kids were sleeping. Never coulda done that if we flew. Even if you don't like driving, you can buy a couple of table service meals for your family with the money you save to make yourself feel better.

 

[polymissy]

I suggest flying if you can afford it. When we book our air travel(I have a 5 year old and a 2 year old), we always pick whatever option will get us from our driveway to WDW the fastest. Sometimes it's a close airport with a layover somewhere else. Sometimes we will drive two hours to an airport to be able to fly on a direct flight to Orlando. (We are in Pennsylvania) It all comes down to time.

A WDW vacation can be so rewarding to young children, but it can also be overstimulating. We try to arrive as relaxed and rested as possible to be able to enjoy the actual vacation as much as we can.

Whatever you decide to do, just try to remember that it should be fun. Try not to have too strict of a schedule, but have a plan, too!

Take time to relax, and Enjoy!

 

[HoneyMnShawnee]

Thanks everyone for the thoughts. I think my hubby and I (well I am for sure) leaning towards flying. I have driven to Orlando before and it wasn't a fun experience and that was with all adults. I'm thinking that flying will be worth the extra money just for sanity's sake. :lol:

 

[tonynull]

Flying gets your vacation started much sooner. We have three children and have flown for the past 7 years. I couldn't imagine driving from Chicago but we have friends who do, so. . . I guess the moral here is "Different Vacations for Different Families."

 

[nicolepitts]

I would look at this way, driving your going to spend roughly $400-$500 on gas alone. then you have a hotel stay there and back, roughly $150. plus meals another $50-$100 each way. your looking at $600-$750 conservatively to drive. so now the question is, is taking the flight worth the extra $200ish dollars?