Flying vs. Driving?

[Boray]

I think for a LOT of people, this is the REAL reason people drive instead of fly to Disney World when they live far away..they are AFRAID to fly. As for kids screaming on planes...Driving with kids in a car is far worse. "Mommy...are we almost there?" " Daddy..I have to go potty!" Mommy...he won't stay on his side of the seat!" Daddy...My tummy hurts..I think I'm going to (insert protein spill word of choice here)"

As for feeling claustrophobic in a plane...2 adults and 2 bored children in a car isn't a whole lot better now is it?:lol:

Turbulance...Hmmm. While it's true, you don't experiance turbulance is a car,
I have had some white knuckle drive experiances while on long drives over sheets of ice and through zero visibility thunderstorms and I would take turbulance over either of these any day.

I guess my kids are just better behaved than most, because we don't have those kind of problems when we travel. In fact, I rarely hear much out of either of them (son is 9 and daughter is 6) during the trip. We get 1 or 2 new movies for the DVD player and a couple of new toys and books to give them. This past trip, they even completed their homework before arriving at Disney! That and neither of my children have EVER had a "protein spill" in any of my vehicles. So, no bored or complaining children on our trips. Guess they're just grateful to go to Disney every year!

If the weather is bad, I can pull my car over and wait it out. Not a possibility with an airplane, is it?

I don't mean to start any disagreements with you, but I really have to say that we've had more pleasant experiences driving to Disney than flying. We did fly with the kids the first time we took them and it was WAY too much work!!! They didn't enjoy the airport or the flight (constant complaints about their ears hurting) and I didn't enjoy the extra work that went into taking them through it. I would consider flying if it were just my husband and me, but the reality is, that we have 2 kids and it has been more pleasant of and experience for us to drive than fly and far less costly as well.

As long as you get to Disney, what does it matter how you get there?

 

[tigsmom]

I guess my kids are just better behaved than most, because we don't have those kind of problems when we travel. In fact, I rarely hear much out of either of them (son is 9 and daughter is 6) during the trip. We get 1 or 2 new movies for the DVD player and a couple of new toys and books to give them. This past trip, they even completed their homework before arriving at Disney! That and neither of my children have EVER had a "protein spill" in any of my vehicles. So, no bored or complaining children on our trips. Guess they're just grateful to go to Disney every year!

If the weather is bad, I can pull my car over and wait it out. Not a possibility with an airplane, is it?

I don't mean to start any disagreements with you, but I really have to say that we've had more pleasant experiences driving to Disney than flying. We did fly with the kids the first time we took them and it was WAY too much work!!! They didn't enjoy the airport or the flight (constant complaints about their ears hurting) and I didn't enjoy the extra work that went into taking them through it. I would consider flying if it were just my husband and me, but the reality is, that we have 2 kids and it has been more pleasant of and experience for us to drive than fly and far less costly as well.

As long as you get to Disney, what does it matter how you get there?

I have to agree with this. I have 2 girls (20 & 14) and we have been driving to Florida for years (not only to visit WDW). They each have their music and we have DVD player and laptops. Nine times out of ten you will find them asleep and I have to wake them up to take a break. :lol:

As I said earlier, they are not good fliers ( :hurl: ) and the drive is part of the trip, we always have a great time.

 

[KingStefan]

What is average driving time from Jersey Shore to WDW. I was figuring on about 20 hours or so driving straight through.

It really more like 23 especialy if you drive the speed limit if you drive like Batman the way I do probaly 20.

I'm in Central Jersey (exit 11), and it only takes 17 hours for me to drive to the World. I start at 7am and usually arrive around midnight. In fact, I'm headed down to the World again in 2 weeks.

where in NJ do you live? I live in CT and usually get there in 18-20 (best was 17.5 and stayed under 75 the entire way)

You have to make sure to compare apples to apples, here.

Are we talking driving time only? Or are we talking wall clock time including breaks?

If you count just driving time, Google says Brick, NJ (Brant Dr and Brushy Neck Dr) to AK Lodge is 1081 mi - 17:12. If you drive about 8 mph over the limit, you can make that 15-16 hours (about).

But you can't set out at 7 PM Friday and arrive 10:30 Saturday morning, unless you attach a relief tube or wear Depends, and have a cooler of food next to you. Even then you still can't do it, unless you have a huge auxiliary gas tank somewhere, and then where will you put your bags?:lol:

So if you include break time, let's say three long breaks and four small ones, we're talking at the very minimum a little over two hours. Depending on your family make up and how long you like to break, you have to figure somewhere between 2-4 hours break time.

So that puts you at an average of about 18-19 hours wall clock time if you don't stop for sleep. A bit more if you drive slower or hit traffic anywhere. I usually just take the google time and add about 10% to be conservative to include breaks. That gives us 19:55 in this case.

datw@epcot, you must be talking about driving time. Google says 1194 mi, 18:59 from Waterbury. If you go 5 mph over the limit that makes it about 17.5 hrs. Don't know where in CT you are.

 

[KingStefan]

On a different topic, a lot of people are saying "Oh, 2 hours flying, and you're there", but that is not a good comparison. For example, for me, you have to figure that to get a cheap flight from NJ you have to stop somewhere. That makes it 3 hours or more. Plus, it takes about an hour (driveway to departures drop off) to get to the airport, and we always plan to arrive 2 hours before flight time to make sure there is plenty of time to check in and get through security, etc. Then when you get to Orlando, you have to disembark, and get your car and luggage and drive to the World. (or go find the magic express bus and check in, wait, then drive to 22 different resorts before they get to yours). Figure another hour (maybe more) for that. So altogether, it's about 7-8 hours. Still much better than the 20 or more hours for me to drive, but this is at least this is a fair comparison.

And those of you pointing out about getting stuck in traffic, my last trip, we left at about 2 PM from my house for a 5-something PM flight. It was delayed, and delayed again, and again, then cancelled. By the time they cancelled there were no other flights out. So we took a cab from Newark to JFK (at our expense) to get on another flight (double upgrade - this one was a non-stop all-business class flight) but it was also delayed and delayed, etc. and to make a long story short, we got to Orlando, and we were so late that they had given away our rental car (another double upgrade! - after having to wait half and hour with all the other customers on the several delayed flights) and we got to our hotel at about 4 AM, 7-8 hours later than scheduled. 14 hours altogether. Still beats driving (14 versus 20), but not worth the aggravation. Plus they lost our luggage.

Funny story: the way we got the flight out of JFK and the double upgrade was I rushed to the ticket desk to see if there was anything available, and there wasn't. And my DD then 9 came up to see what was going on. I told her that we'd probably have to leave in the morning, and she looked at me and said (I swear on a stack of bibles this was not planned out in advance) within earshot of the ticket agent, "you mean we're not going to be in Disneyworld tonight?", and I said, "no, sweetheart, but it'll be OK, we'll get out really early in the morning", and DD's lower lip started trembling, and her eyes filled up, and then she started to cry and buried her face in my chest and just sobbed! Then the ticket agent said (without any prompting from me), "just a minute, let me talk to my supervisor", and then came out and offered the double upgrade if I paid my own transportation to the other airport, but we had to leave right away. Oh, well, it was an adventure, and DD got a good essay topic out of it the following semester!

 

[hokielutz]

I can now say that I have both flown and driven to Walt Disney World. My wife and I just got back from our week + stay down there and drove both ways.

We live 860 miles from the Magic and most of our drive is straight down I-95. Driving down, it took us a total trip time of 13.5 hours. (that's driving, meals, rest stop & swap all included) We would've arrived a half hour earlier, if it wasn't for the downtown I-4 traffic in Orlando that Friday evening. Left at 4:30 in the AM and arrived by 6pm. If we had kids, the drive would have taken a little bit longer I am sure.

Driving back we split it into two days since we visited the MK one last time, the morning of our departure. Ran into a moderate/heavy storm front that also left a dense fog in its wake.

Since we are only two, the reason we drove was the impact of record oil prices on airfare rates. We were looking at close to $300 a ticket when we only paid $200 or less in the past. Plus all the new baggage fees, etc... the cost to fly down really was prohibitively expensive. In all, we saved about $580 by driving ourselves. (thanks in part to gas becoming much more reasonable the last two months)
In future trips, we are likely to fly again, if the price is right, but we'll keep the driving option open. We like flying down in 2 hours time and hitting the parks in the afternoon and evening. Driving really left us spent for the first day at the parks, and we needed to catch up on some sleep so we could enjoy the rest of our time.

Also, we stayed offsite for most of our trip at our Starwood vacation villa, so a car was definitely an necessity.

 

[KingStefan]

One more thing (sorry for monopolizing the thread), a lot of people say they are afraid of flying. I understand and respect that and I'm not criticizing.

But I'm afraid of driving. My family and I are much more likely to be hurt or even killed driving rather than flying, especially this long distance with everything that can go wrong. Once I understood the statistics, I felt much more confortable taking my family on a flight.

So now the time and the expense are the major factors in my decision, and not flight safety.

 

[Cubs Brian]

I guess my kids are just better behaved than most, because we don't have those kind of problems when we travel. In fact, I rarely hear much out of either of them (son is 9 and daughter is 6) during the trip. We get 1 or 2 new movies for the DVD player and a couple of new toys and books to give them. This past trip, they even completed their homework before arriving at Disney! That and neither of my children have EVER had a "protein spill" in any of my vehicles. So, no bored or complaining children on our trips. Guess they're just grateful to go to Disney every year!

If the weather is bad, I can pull my car over and wait it out. Not a possibility with an airplane, is it?

I don't mean to start any disagreements with you, but I really have to say that we've had more pleasant experiences driving to Disney than flying. We did fly with the kids the first time we took them and it was WAY too much work!!! They didn't enjoy the airport or the flight (constant complaints about their ears hurting) and I didn't enjoy the extra work that went into taking them through it. I would consider flying if it were just my husband and me, but the reality is, that we have 2 kids and it has been more pleasant of and experience for us to drive than fly and far less costly as well.

As long as you get to Disney, what does it matter how you get there?

I guess maybe the question should read IF you have ample time, do you prefer driving or flying? I agree with you on the kids, my 2 boys(9&5) are great in a car. Made 4 trips from SWsuburbs of Chicago in a little over a yearand never once did they act up. We have put them each "in charge' of certain things and it keeps them occupied.

 

[Javier Boughton]

if you have the time...drive..

my case i live in monterrey, mexico and its at least 3 8 hours drive days to get to orlando..

where i work, I can take 2 weeks completely..and the idea this year is to drive to orlando.

doing the math (on my case)...the cost of driving, 3 nights each way...is cheaper than 5 airplane tickets + the car rental..

3 nights driving..8 in orlando, and 3 for our return...on my case the drive is a great one...traveling texas, lousiana, etc...

and as they stated..even a big truck..with the current gas prices..will not be a that expensive.

 

[JiminyandTink]

I say you can't beat driving, make it part of the trip. It's the best way to see the greatest country in the world!

The only time I ever drove down was as a kid with my siblings and parents all crammed into our tiny car with no air conditioning (30+ hour trip)... maybe that scared me for life

I'll have to rethink it I guess and make the road trip part of the adventure

 

[charminghearts]

I'm also in NJ and would definitely suggest flying. If your main goal is to visit Disney, this gives you more time for your vacation. And the two hour flight isn't bad at all. The only time I would really consider driving is if I was doing it more for a little road trip(journey rather than destination.)

 

[pixiesteno]

After this past Dec trip we have decided that DH and I will drive in the future. We were intending on flying until the gas prices hit $4.30 a gallon last spring and were heading for 4.50. I found us seats for 72 plus tax and fees each way for all three of us. Worked out to about 515.00 -- great right, direct 2 hour flight. The only problem was I was checking our reservation and found that the airline bumped us around on to different flights, there went the non-stop, at least five different times! So about a month before our trip all of a sudden the non-stop original fight turns up on their web site, which I did get us back on. That stressor alone is enough to make me want to drive.
We live 2 hours from the airport, so it's out the door at 4 am, 3 am wake-up, to be at the airport at 6 am to get through check in and security for an 8 am flight. Arrive at MCO at 10:40 am get to ME to find a line that went past the second exit in the airport, down by the rental cars. We actually did get to our hotel within an hour and a half. So you would have to figure that if we drove by the time we reached the hotel we would have been on the road for 8 hours and I would be almost to NC. Okay, we wouldn't be at WDW yet but I wouldn't have been having fantasies about choking the kid behind us that shouted and sang at the top of his voice for the entire trip down. It was good to know that I wasn't the only one having that fantasy!
DH and I travel by car a lot for work and we find that putting in an audio book is a great way to pass the time on the road, entertaining, and relaxing. Besides, with driving I don't have to worry about if my luggage is going to get lost, how much I buy to take home, did I forget and put something banned in my carry-on, etc.
As a veteran of 3 journeys by car to WDW as a kid, it seems kind of weird to arrive there without the count-down to Pedro's:ROFLOL:

 

[diddy_mouse]

I prefer flying.

 

[kstella]

I hate driving anywhere that takes longer than 6 hours total. Since the drive from here is about 24 hours, that's 4 times longer. I would probably be more willing to drive is my DH would trade off driving and we could drive straight through, but he has control issues and needs to be the driver. So instead of 24 hours, we're looking at closer to 2 days. Not time I'm willing to give up. So, we fly direct flights only so no layovers.

 

[KingStefan]

...So, we fly direct flights only so no layovers.

I try to do that too, when we can afford it, but ... $$$$$

 

[WhatJaneSays]

If I lived far away I'd fly.

Though if I really had my pick of transportation I'd love to ride on one of those bullet trains. They've been planing a high speed rail in Florida for years now, the maps have a station in the town next to mine. The estimated time from that stop to the stop by Disney: 45-55 minutes!

I'd be up there every weekend if I didn't have to drive. :sohappy:

 

[Rob922]

I drive, and I'd rather drive. I'm outside chicago, I leave around 4am on saturday, we always leave on saturday. Get to northern georgia around 3:30-4pm, stop eat, sleep. Leave sunday around 5am get to GA/FLA border around 10:30 - 11am, eat lunch. Than get to WDW around 3:30pm just in time for check-in. Check-in, take shower, hit downtown disney for dinner, sleep, than we are more than ready to hit the parks. Been doing this for years.

Now that we have kids, back seat DVD players are a must. I sold my H3 with the dual head rest players, so this year the kids have to share. We will see how that works. Next year (2010) I'll have a new car with dual players again.

For the wife and I, sirius satalite radio is a must also, and a 120 gig iPod.

 

[Boray]

For the wife and I, sirius satalite radio is a must also, and a 120 gig iPod.

We LOVE our Sirius Satellite radio too! Our new van came with it and I don't know how we survived without it. We've listened to Fox News, Radio Classics, 70s music, etc without losing the signal from state to state - definately a must for a 20 hour drive!

We live just outside of Madison, WI and we also drive, leaving early in the morning. The last few years we've left home on a Thursday morning and leave Orlando to come home on a Saturday (9 days later). We leave around 5:00am and arrive in Tifton, GA (about 1 hour north of the GA/FL boarder) around 10:30pm local time (9:30 our time). This year we left the hotel a little later than usual, but usually arrive in Orlando around 2:00 in the afternoon. We also spend the evening in Downtown Disney, get a good night's sleep (with the kids in a separate bedroom of our rental vacation home!) and hit the parks in the morning!