East Coast-Drive vs. Train vs. Fly

[YozhikRoth]

Thankfully I was able to score tickets from LGA depressed via Southwest for $220/pp President's week. All other carriers were well north of $350/pp. What are east-coasters points of view on flying vs. driving vs. the Autotrain. For me on Long Island, I'm close enough to JFK or Islip that I prefer flying, but the cost lead me to strongly consider both driving and the Autotrain out of Virginia. I did the drive in 2010, once you clear the countless east coast traffic traps (Southern State, Belt Parkway, Verazzanno, Staten Island Expressway, Jersey Tpke, Washington Beltway) it's relatively smooth sailing to FL. We left at 5am, and with a breakfast stop in Maryland, we hit our hotel in NC at lunchtime. The drive from NC to Orlando took longer as 95 inexplicably is 2 lanes through much of NC and SC, we ended up in Orlando at 4.

The Autotrain puzzles me, even with Amtrak discounts it was not much cheaper than flying, and you still need to get to Virginia.

 

[Nemo14]

We're from RI and have done the drive often. As former teachers, our vacations were limited to school vacation times, which is the when the airlines all jack up their prices. For just the 2 of us the price of flying was usually worth it, especially if we were only going for a week, but the last few years before we retired, it just got ridiculously expensive to fly. We never considered the auto train since the worst of the drive is the stretch between RI and VA, so it hardly seemed worth the expense.
Now that we're retired though, it's nice to be able to take advantage of low mid-week prices, or to just take our time driving down.

 

[NYwdwfan]

Growing up we always drove. We did the auto train once when I was little and my parents vowed never again- for the reasons you stated - it's not much cheaper and you still have to do the worst part of the drive (getting off Long Island and through New Jersey and Virginia takes forever!) Now that I have a family we ALWAYS opt to fly out of Islip - less people travel through the airport so security lines are smaller just based on volume - and in 2 1/2 hours you're in Orlando. I don't want to lose a day on each side of the trip to travel. The drive down isn't that bad but the drive back is excruciating.

PS - welcome to the Boards fellow Long Islander and Mets fan.

 

[YozhikRoth]

I live equidistant between JFK and Islip, unfortunately Southwest fares out of Islip were +$150 over LGA. Every time I've flown out of Islip it's been a dream, 15 minutes from car to gate. How I hate LGA.............

 

[jenos0524]

Thankfully I was able to score tickets from LGA depressed via Southwest for $220/pp President's week. All other carriers were well north of $350/pp. What are east-coasters points of view on flying vs. driving vs. the Autotrain. For me on Long Island, I'm close enough to JFK or Islip that I prefer flying, but the cost lead me to strongly consider both driving and the Autotrain out of Virginia. I did the drive in 2010, once you clear the countless east coast traffic traps (Southern State, Belt Parkway, Verazzanno, Staten Island Expressway, Jersey Tpke, Washington Beltway) it's relatively smooth sailing to FL. We left at 5am, and with a breakfast stop in Maryland, we hit our hotel in NC at lunchtime. The drive from NC to Orlando took longer as 95 inexplicably is 2 lanes through much of NC and SC, we ended up in Orlando at 4.

The Autotrain puzzles me, even with Amtrak discounts it was not much cheaper than flying, and you still need to get to Virginia.

My wife is a teacher too so i am limited to school vacations/winter break/summer. I am going in August and thought about driving, but it is 22-24 hours, and I would want to drive straight through. and after driving and 10 days at disney I doubt I would want to drive home... So I looked into the train from Boston/Providence, It sounded neat that I could get our own room for my wife and daughter, but it was double the price of Flying. I ended up booking through JetBlue for about $280 p/p, I could have waited for Southwest but their flights wont be available for another month and half. I would say your $220 a person is a good rate to fly down, and I would have booked it very quickly if i saw that rate. (Delta prices were like $350 pp for me) so thats why I booked JetBlue the day they came out for $280pp.

 

[smk]

Frontier airlines flys non stop from Indy to MCO, I got 120 RT each for early March. Best prices I have seen in a LONG time! I priced the auto train once, just for kicks, it does not go from here (Indy) but I thought we could combine a trip to DC area and move onto to Orlando for the second part of vacation. It was outrageous! I don't see it as a value option at all unless money is no object.

 

[NonnaT]

We NEVER drive...
We can be at the airport by 5am and at MCO by 9:30. Love that we still have what feels like a while day at a park.
For us the cost of flying is far outweighed by the convenience and huge time saver, as well as wear and tear on our car!
I know that there are folks who love to drive, but quite honestly, if we could not afford to fly, we would vacation somewhere close to home. Maybe not Disney, but fun nonetheless!

 

[Disney4family]

My mom was a teacher on Long Island. We drove down twice in the '70s over February break. We lost half our vacation to driving (and also experienced South Carolina's worst snowstorm going down one year and lost more days until they dug us out).
I teach on Long Island. We will only fly out of Islip. As someone here once said - I'm on vacation. I'll let the pilot drive. It's less hassle. We get up at the crack of stupid to grab the first flight. We're in the parks by 11 the latest. It's wonderful. We're also all so miserable leaving that we figure it would be hard to drive home through all the tears.
Isn't there a website where you can compare prices if you really wanted to?

 

[Figgy1]

I think I've said this several times before we drive. We have the time so I love having the freedom of having my car and being able to pack and buy what I want with no worries. It also gives us the freedom to see Kennedy and next trip we're going to UNI for a few days. I also like going over to the outlets. With a car i live on my schedule. If I had a week or less that might be a completely different story

 

[DimpledDevil18]

Fellow Long Islander here. We live about 15 minutes from Islip and have always flown. There are usually 5 or 6 of us and even though it may be cheaper to drive it is much more practical for us to fly. We don't get to go to Disney very much so to lose at least 2 days driving each way is simply not worth it. Then when you factor in booking a hotel mid way and stopping for gas, not to mention the possibility of traffic or bad weather conditions and the wear and tear on your vehicle... it is so much easier (and safer) to fly.

As I said we are only 15 minutes from Islip and being a smaller airport it's usually not very crowded and easy to navigate. We save on parking by purchasing a yearly pass from the town of Islip which winds up being cheaper than the price of parking per day. We typically fly Southwest and have had nothing but positive experiences with them. We'll get about a 6am flight and be at MCO before 9am. Also I think the earlier flights are cheaper. My Dad helps offset some of the cost of airline tickets by using credit card points. He usually winds up with enough to cover at least one or two tickets.

While down there we always rent a car so we are not at the mercy of Disney transportation. This gives us more flexibility and allows us to easily get to Universal and Sea World. It's also nice though to have the Disney transportation in case one of us wants to go back to the resort or do something on our own. We usually shop around to find the best deal on a rental car and use Priceline to find the cheapest rate.

 

[Plutos Pal]

Another Long Islander here. Flying out of Islip is great but it seems that the cost is a little more for convenience and Southwest has limited flights from there. Dealing with LaGuardia is a true pain in the . Crowded and I'm convinced that the Southwest Terminal is a bunch of office trailers lined up long ways. Unfortunately the flights are cheaper out of there. Cost of parking is high there too. If you plan the road trip right, you can do it in good time. My buddy made it to Orlando from East Moriches in just over 19 hours. Obviously a lot longer then the 2 hour 30 minute flight. I personally don't think the autotrain is worth it. You are only saving on wear and tare on your vehicle.

 

[mouse_luv]

I was stuck driving from the NE to WDW with my parents 20+ times growing up. I took my first trip to WDW with my DBF back in 2012 and we flew. And did so again in 2014. Then I met my family for a trip this past year and they drove and I flew. I will NEVER drive again unless that is my only option.

 

[Minthorne]

Massachusetts here - only fly!

 

[Maerj]

I used to always fly but the intrusive security measures have turned me off. Last trip we drove, from PA and it wasn't bad. Once you get past the DC area, it's just one long road. We did it in two days. We have a rental car for the next trip but we are considering cancelling that and taking the train down overnight. We are going with my parents and it *might* work out better that way. Also, my Dad is claustrophobic and he may deal better in the train than on a plane. Just not sure where the train drops you off at in Florida.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

Over all these years I have gotten to WDW by car from CT, Amtrak from Virginia, and flying.
We fly always and prefer to continue doing so unless air travel becomes exceedingly more dangerous or ridiculously more expensive than other options.

The car is not so bad. It's fun to see all the sights going south and to have the experience of a road trip. It's also nice as you'll have your car at your destination. Something that can stink about driving is if you're on a time constraint vacation days wise or school vacation wise, it takes time our of your trip. Also, you must prepare for car issues as its a possibility. We got a flat tire once but thankfully that was it. Adds A LOT of miles to the car.

Train is a decent option if you're into some driving but not all the way and don't want to fly.

Flying of course is quickest and sometimes cheapest.

 

[Monty]

I've generally gone with driving if my trip is longer than 10 days, flying if less. Driving takes a lot of time out of the vacation. On a longer trip, it's worth it having your car there.

Both times I drove [from Ottawa, Canada], I took the Autotrain south but drove all the way back.

 

[Courtney6682]

We live in Philly....last time we drove was in 2004 ish.....NEVER AGAIN

 

[zurgandfriend]

Personally I would not drive, as I am getting older it’s just too much wear and tear on me and I feel like Clark Griswold. The funny thing is I hate the drive to WDW but I have no problem driving from Boston to Canada to take my DS to school, go figure. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m getting rid of him for a while and DW and I get to be alone, but I digress. I know what you mean about I-95 in the Carolina’s, I-90 also goes down to two lanes in western Mass as well. The trip back from Florida is the worst as vacation is over and now you have to drive 2 days to get home. I have never done the train thing but again I imagine the trip back would be tedious.

 

[MickeyMomV]

We last drove in 2006 from Michigan and have said that we will never do it again! Southwest runs us about $225-275/person if we actively looking for the deals. For just the 3 of us it is well worth it after you factor the gas $ to drive down and all the travel time saved.

 

[YozhikRoth]

The most tortuous part of the drive was entering FL from GA, despite another 3.5 hours to Orlando, all my kids saw was we were in FL and expected us to arrive at Disney any moment.