How far is too far to drive?

[celticdog]

I live in central Virginia. WDW is about 950 miles and takes about 11 to 13 hours to drive, depending on the weather and traffic. I find this drive to be reasonable, especially considering i only spend about $70 on gas, oneway.

My question is: How is too far before one considers flying?

Thank for your support.

Steve

 

[WDWsmith2001]

Come to think of it Your right, it was a bit under 7 hours, Sorry. I turned the wrong way on the florida turnpike but only lost about 1/2 hour and stopped for breakfast and gas. I was at the castle by noon. I gues i was thinking door to Castle.

 

[maureen ashton]

If we drove straight through it would take about 24 hours. So we split it up into 3 days and enjoy the drive and the different states. We get through Michigan and then hit Ohio which seems to take forever, very long state, once we hit Kentucky and Tennessee we enjoy the mountains and it hits us that we are headed for WDW. Georgia is also a long state but now we are getting into the deep South and that much closer to WDW, but we do hate Atlanta, it seems everytime we go through Atlanta it pours rain and I mean pours. Once we hit the Florida toll road we know we are almost 'home'.

 

[lentesta]

I live in Greensboro, NC, and it's 10 hours to Orlando driving at the speed limit. So if you're in central VA, 11-13 hours would seem doable, but I think that's close to the one-day driving limit.

There are a couple of other factors to consider. One is that you'll have to take vacation time to drive the 22-26 hours. Some peopel would be better off (financially) working all day and taking a late-afternoon flight. Second is the mileage on your car, or the cost of renting a car. Third is the number of people you'll be bringing.

I've also read that in terms of safety, driving is safer than flying for trips less than 350 miles. Over 350 miles, it's safer to fly. So from central VA, it's probably safer to fly. YMMV.

The general rule I follow is that if the flight is less than $200, and I've got only two people going, then it's better to fly. If four people are going, airline tickets would have to be around $125 to fly. Anything more than four people and it's best to drive.

Hope this helps.

Len

 

[celticdog]

i looked into flying, however, from Richmond, Va. there is no direct flight. I would have to transfer in one of several cities (Philly, baltimore, charlotte, atlanta) usually with a layover. Once i started totaling the flight time plus the layover i was approaching as much as eight hours. Now if i drive to D.C. or Baltimore i can get a direct flight for usually just a few hours, however, now i have a 2 to 3 hour drive to those cities, plus a car parking fee.

I don't mind the drive. Besides i have car at WDW to haul all the cool stuff we buy back with us.

It's true what they say "you really can't get there from here":lol:

 

[Dizknee_Phreek]

we've driven every trip...it used to take us about 13-14 hours, but now it takes us about 12 since the speed limit in Atlanta has risen. and, used to we would stop in Georgia and spend the night (we're nighttime travlers) but after we found someone staying in our room who wasn't supposed to be there, we decided that was enough of that and have driven straight through ever since.
to me, too far would be anything over 24 hours. unless, of course, you wanted to do some site seeing while on your journey.

 

[jeffs10]

Plus its nice to have your own car down there then you can go bring a cooler and shop for food at the super walmart just a few miles east on 192, its a huge store. Plus you can drive to univeral, seaworld, gator land, ocean , etc..

I flew last year for the first time and was stuck in disney during The week of sept 11

And a couple years before that we drove and hurricane lyodd hit and we where able to do stuff when all of orlando shut down.


Jeff

 

[wdwrules]

were from northeast wisconsin and we always drive. its about 1300 miles and it takes around 20 hours. we always just drive staight through stopping only for gas and food. we look forward to the drive down because when we head down-usually between january and march-its cool seeing the changes. when we leave home theres about a foot of snow and its around 20 degrees. when we arrive in florida its around 75.

 

[jeffs10]

Originally posted by wdwrules
were from northeast wisconsin and we always drive. its about 1300 miles and it takes around 20 hours. we always just drive staight through stopping only for gas and food. we look forward to the drive down because when we head down-usually between january and march-its cool seeing the changes. when we leave home theres about a foot of snow and its around 20 degrees. when we arrive in florida its around 75.

you must live near me i live 10 miles from the boarder and it was 1212 miles there and 1300 back we took the ocean route. it is a fun drive and we only stoped 4 times on the way down there 3 for gas and once for crakel barrel .

it seems so much better to drive you get to see alot us and drive threw the mountains

jeff

 

[Worldphile]

Originally posted by celticdog

My question is: How is too far before one considers flying?

That depends. What do you have more of, time or money?

Personally, at this point in my life, I have less time and more money. I only get 10 days vacation all year, so, spending 4 of them driving to/from somwhere is unacceptable.

Later in life (e.g. retired), I may have more time so it will be worth it to drive.

 

[homer424]

I think like someone else said, it all boils down to whether you are a driving or flying person. I personally hate to fly. We flew down in 2000 and in 2002 and I was totally stressed it both times. So next year we are driving down from Northern/Central NJ. Not only will it be less stressful for me, but besides going to WDW, we are also going down to visit my grandmother and if we want to stay longer or leave earlier we don't have to mess with tickets or going on standby-we can just leave or stay!

My DH and I are big drivers though-we love to drive everywhere and our idea of a fun day is going out driving for hours on end to different parts of the state. If we weren;t that way, I think we would have to take the plane because I think we would drive each other crazy-LOL

Donna

 

[hockeymom]

If you can get there in 2 days, then driving is fine, just as long as you're not making too much of a long day of it (don't need any additional road hazards out there!)

we live near Edmonton, Alberta and that is definitely too far to drive if you only have 2 weeks of vacation, you're just spending too much time in the car. but, before kids, we did make some very long treks by car (California, Boston). If I had the time to do the drive to WDW from here, I think I would, though it's nice to fly and get there the same day!!

 

[ACE]

Originally posted by hockeymom
If you can get there in 2 days, then driving is fine, just as long as you're not making too much of a long day of it (don't need any additional road hazards out there!)

I agree but then again I live in the FL panhandle so it's about 6 to 7 hours depending on how long the kids sleep.:lol:

I just prefer to save the money so I'll have more to spend at WDW.

:wave: ACE

 

[cymbaldiva]

Originally posted by Big Pooh
I drove from Beaumont, Tx one time, 17 hours with 2 stops to eat. We went straight through going, but took 2 days coming back. I enjoyed the drive a lot. We're taking Amtrak in Jan...I've always wanted to take a train ride.

Beaumont is about 30 miles west of the La. state line on I-10. I'd drive to Fla anytime, but I would'nt drive across Tx for any reason. I live closer to Talahassee, Fla than El Paso, Tx. It's 640 miles to Tal and 850 to El Paso. It amazes me just how BIG this state really is.... :lol:

Cheers :wave:

Oh I would LOVE to take the train! Is it one of the trains that you can take your car with you or a regular train?

 

[niteobsrvr]

I would say it depends on who is in the car with you and how long you can stand them. :lol:

 

[Talsonic]

Originally posted by JoeZerboy


:lol:

On that drive, I averaged about 85 miles an hour...

How many people did you endanger on your reckless rampage?:veryconfu

 

[Disneyanna0521]

haha

 

[Scooter]

When I am retired, and have no time restraints..I'll drive to Walt Disney World.

My wife and I only get one weeks vacation and we live in the Chicago area. We don't like to sit in a car for more than 8 hours....we find the interstates boring and we get sore rear-ends.

So if we drove, we would be spending 4 days of our 7 Day vacation driving. It only makes sense to fly. We leave Chicago at 8 or 9 AM and are at our resort by 1:00 that same day.

I think some people are afraid to fly or find it an inconvience to not have a car. We don't have that problem. We find Disney transportation to be just fine.

Also: money can be a factor with some. It's definitely cheaper to drive...so we save our pennies and fly when we can afford to.

As for the original thread post question. If I lived more than a 12 hour drive from Disney World...I would FLY. Because I can.

 

[celticdog]

I'd like to thank everyone for contributing to my first thread. Your input and comments are most appreciated.

Thank you for playing along.

Steve.

 

[cruiseman]

When i lived in Toronto, Canada i drove and it took me 24hrs to the minute non stop. Multiple drivers of course and sore butts. Flying is way better

 

[jeffs10]

I guess it all depends on the family me and my girlfriend drove straight threw 19 hours 4 stops I drove all the way with no problem. I just like driving better than flying some families like flying. So it basiclly comes down do you like to drive or fly, I would rather drive. but thats only my opinion. Let us know what you decied to do.

jeff