I know this has been discussed before but I was just woundering given the choice would you fly or drive to disney. I had ben dead set on flying but have started to give the act of driving strong considerations. ME and my mom will be coming from va so it is like a 15 hour drive but I think the trip is as much fun as actually getting to the parks. Also it will give us a car so we can get out and do stuff without having to worry about a taxi, we are going to universal. leaving the day before our reservation is to start will get us down around the same time as if we had flown and driving two 8 hour days for ex is not that bad. I know people are differnet but how important would it be to your family to have your ow car on the vac.Thank You1
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fly or drive
- Thread starter firedog31
- Start date
Cubs Brian
Active Member
We almost always drive. The cost of airfair from Chicago is insane, right now on SW for our Jan09 trip is over 1300.00 for Myself, DW and 2 sons(9 &5). Straight thru 21hrs.
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stichnariel
New Member
well its an 18 hour drive for me and in the past 7 years i have been there 5 times and the 2 years i didnt go sucked lol. i enjoy the drive down from chicago to orlando i also drive strraight thru gets a little ruff but once i get down there i seem to have that endless kid energy
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DisneyGigi
Well-Known Member
It is about a 9 hour trip for us and we usually drive. I am not a car person but it isn't that bad especially since we are leaving so early I am hoping to sleep most of the way if I can since I don't have to do the driving! 
I do like each exciting thing like crossing each state line, especially the Florida one!
I do like each exciting thing like crossing each state line, especially the Florida one!
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Beccone
New Member
I'm going down next week and my husband and I were trying to decide which to do as well, we live in the Wash DC area and for it would be about a 15 hour drive, not fun with 4 kids and a mother in law but the cost of 7 airlines tickets plus a suv or van for 7 was crazy too. Instead we decided to take the autotrain out of Lorton VA. I know quite a few people who take it regularly, one being my grandfather who does it 4 times a year, and they all gave it the thumbs up. We leave VA at 4pm and arrive in Sanford (about an hour from Orlando) around 9:30am the next day. We got 2 bedrooms that fit 4 people in each, after dinner they show a movie and then it's off to bed and when we wake up we'll be in Disney. With it being an autotrain we get to bring our SUV where we can pack to the brim with our stuff and not worry about things weighing too much and extra charges. It didn't save us too much money but it seemed a little more convient for our family. Crossing our fingers that it all goes well.
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no1swfanindy
New Member
Wow, that sounds like fun!!
I looked at Amtrack a few years ago, but it was more expensive than flying and we would have to travel to Chicago to board the train, and it would take a couple days to reach Orlando which was out of the question.
Hope all goes well for your trip! Traveling by train always seems like a fun thing to do.
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Having just returned from a trip filled with delays, cancellations, etc I would definitely drive.
One flight was cancelled, and there was no room for us on another flight on the same airline until two days later!!! All car rentals had been taken (plus, we had been up for almost 24 hours already, and were jetlagged) and all hotel rooms near JFK were full. There were no more flights to our city that night, but we could get one the next day (for almost $1,000) from LaGuardia, and our neighbor was able to go online and secure us a room nearby, along with seats on the flight. Had we not had someone helping us, we would have been stuck in the airport.
I also fell and was injured while trying to get to another terminal to try for the last flight out (which we missed)
So, an extra $1000 for hotel room and tickets, plus thousands to repair the teeth broken in my fall. Plus our new flight was delayed, so we had to reschedule the second leg of the trip. We arrived home 24 hours later than planned.
I am not getting anywhere near an airport anytime soon.
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Nemo14
Well-Known Member
So, other than that, how was the vacation? :lol:Having just returned from a trip filled with delays, cancellations, etc I would definitely drive.
One flight was cancelled, and there was no room for us on another flight on the same airline until two days later!!! All car rentals had been taken (plus, we had been up for almost 24 hours already, and were jetlagged) and all hotel rooms near JFK were full. There were no more flights to our city that night, but we could get one the next day (for almost $1,000) from LaGuardia, and our neighbor was able to go online and secure us a room nearby, along with seats on the flight. Had we not had someone helping us, we would have been stuck in the airport.
I also fell and was injured while trying to get to another terminal to try for the last flight out (which we missed)
So, an extra $1000 for hotel room and tickets, plus thousands to repair the teeth broken in my fall. Plus our new flight was delayed, so we had to reschedule the second leg of the trip. We arrived home 24 hours later than planned.
I am not getting anywhere near an airport anytime soon.
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wvdisneyfamily
Well-Known Member
It cost us approximately $375 in gas to drive from southern WV to Orlando. We did have to pay for a hotel on the way down and the way back. However, we stayed in Savannah on the way down which is part of the vacation for us so I only consider the hotel on the way home to be part of our travel expenses. All that said, the drive down (including gas, food, and the hotel on the way back) was about $500. We were able to take all of the luggage we wanted with no packing restrictions. Our vehicle was there on property in the event we needed it. Plus, we were on our schedule as opposed to Magical Express or an airline.
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thanks for all the thoughts on the subject. As fast as a person can change their minds we have decided that we are going to drive instead of fly. We are going to leave on the 8th of july and drive most of the way and it will get to pop on the 9th when the reservations are for byt 2 or 3 which will work fine. Having the car we felt just opened up more choices for us Thank You
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Just lovely! It was a trip we had been saving for for ages; a 14 day tour of Greece and a cruise around the Greek islands, plus a stop in Turkey to see Ephesus. We had no problem with the international flights( we used a European carrier), but the US flights were awful.
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I love to drive, but we are flying this year. Driving means you can bring as much luggage as you want, you don't have to deal with airport security, and you can enjoy the trip down there as you please. Maybe stop at South of the Border or whatever. However, flying is quicker and when you have a limited amount of vacation time off from work, and/or you have a little kid who is not going to do well with a long road trip. So this year we are flying, and last time we flew too. In 2002 we drove, but that was not a FL vacation. That was a "meet the mothers before we get engaged" last minute trip during the holidays. LOL!
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Camelot
Active Member
My friends and I prefer to fly these days.
Years ago, we did drive in one of the friends van. We left New Orleans at about 2PM, and got to the Disney area about 6am the next morning, taking turns driving straight through. With no real sleep to speak of, we got to our hotel, freshened up, ate breakfast, and hit the parks.
Boy...did we all sleep good that night !
After that we all decided to fly. It's a one hour (or less) non-stop flight on Southwest, and we are there. We rented a car for the week, and were set to go.
Years ago, we did drive in one of the friends van. We left New Orleans at about 2PM, and got to the Disney area about 6am the next morning, taking turns driving straight through. With no real sleep to speak of, we got to our hotel, freshened up, ate breakfast, and hit the parks.
Boy...did we all sleep good that night !
After that we all decided to fly. It's a one hour (or less) non-stop flight on Southwest, and we are there. We rented a car for the week, and were set to go.
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We're about 9 hours away and we're going to drive. We're staying at the campgrounds so we need all our camping stuff, can't really fly with all that, and we're so use to driving it's not funny. I've driven 11 hours straight by myself and my b/f has done 14 hour drives straight through.
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Phonedave
Well-Known Member
When you price out the cost of driving, be sure to include the wear and tear on your vehicle.
Thats why the IRS allows a deduction of 50.5 cents per mile for business use of a personal vehicle. That is the "actual" cost of driving a mile when you figure in all the variables.
-dave
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Phonedave
Well-Known Member
Thats about my range as well, 6 to 8 hours.
My family used to have a camp in Canada that was 8 hours, and currently my parents have a farmhouse in Vermont that is 6 away. Those distances are an easy up and back in a weekend if necessary. I also dont spend the vacation dreading the drive back.
Going to Flordia I would much rather hop a plane. Two years ago, for some reason, airfare around the time my kids had off from school was insane. I was contemplating renting a car, driving down, and flying back. I asked my then 7 year old daughter what she thought about drving to WDW. She did a double take, looked and me, and said "Drive all the way to Florida, what are you, nuts"
-dave
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Cubs Brian
Active Member
It's now at 58 cents per mile,but that includes more than gas and maint. It also includes; insurance and registration. On a roadtrip I generally don't count wear and tearand so on in the price, I generally put on 8or 9 hundred miles a week on my car anyway so that those costs come out to the same wether I go or not.
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