Should we just drive? (from ohio)

mariak

mariak

New Member
Forgive me for the virtual throwup of stress/anxiety/questions in this post.

I'm pretty sick to my stomach right now. The last time we (my husband and I) visited was in Feb. 2014 for our honeymoon. Flights cost us close to $800. Still is a lot of money, but they were non-stop flights (from CLE) and we booked them only a couple months out from our trip.

We are returning this November and I'm panicking because I'm realizing either there aren't flights for our trip days (19-26) or if there are, there are stops or they are outrageous. Like, thousands of dollars per ticket. I searched orbitz and there are several with stops that are 348 or so per traveler. I guess if we have to resort to this we can, but I've never had stops to Disney and (I probably sound so stupid right now) I'm not really sure how that works as far as luggage goes?

I never book the flights with my Magic Your Way package. Mostly because I'm never sure if we will make the trip and I don't like paying in full for flights when my trip may need moved or something. But is there an incentive to do this? Are they generally cheaper?

I'm starting to think we should just try to work driving down into our schedule. Really afraid to drive that far though, because our longest road trip has been 6 hours and I'm always stressed on the road figuring out where to go and all of that. (But would a flight with stops be less stressful?)

:cry: What would you do?

Anyone from Ohio make the drive? What are your experiences with that? I think I'm a sissy when it comes to this because I'm always worried about accidents or something ridiculous happening.
 
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J

J_Krafty24

Active Member
It is way early to be booking flights for a November trip. Last I reasearched it the best flight rates were booked between 40 and 100 days before you fly out. I would keep checking for a fluke early price but probably wouldnt even think about booking airfare until late June at the earliest.

Edit: I didnt realize your dates included Thanksgiving which may change the best timeframe to book your tickets. Maybe you can do some googling on "how far in advance should I book airfare" or else maybe someone with experience traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday can weigh in.
 
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sxeensweet

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
We always drive 12 hours straight through overnight to WDW and never fly. Also we see even cars from Maine, California, Canada, Oergon, etc. etc. People make the long drives to WDW every day. Totally up to you whether you want to or not. We save tons of money and stress (can pack as much as we want and not worry and many other stressors are avoided) by just driving and love having our car with us eventhough we stay at Disney resorts we always drive to the parks. So much easier and faster than when we have ridden the busses on property. We love driving and will not ever plan on flying to WDW. Also we have driven all the way to DC which was 16-18 hours before. :)
 
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NeedMoreMickey

NeedMoreMickey

Well-Known Member
My sister drives (just north of Baltimore) when she takes her family and it's about 13 - 16 hour drive depending on traffic. In the past when the kids were little they would drive about 9 hours the first day, spend the night and finish the drive the second day. Now that the kids are old enough to help with the driving they do it all in one day. This works for some people but I don't get enough time off to spend 2 or more days with just travel. When we do our sister trips we fly.
 
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J

J_Krafty24

Active Member
I am not sure exactly what your question about flights with stops and luggage is asking. Are you asking about luggage delivery to your resort? If so, luggage delivery to your resort is the same as with direct flights. Put the yellow tags on them and they still automagically show up. Are you asking about getting your luggage from one plane to the next? When you book a complete flight with layovers the airline handles your luggage from your origin city to your destination city without you needing to collect and re-check during your stops. An execption to this would be if you book the legs seperatly.

I personally do not mind having a layover on flights to/from Orlando. As long as the layover time is not too long or too short it can be fun to explore a new airport. Also the flight from the north with layovers in Atlanta (where my layovers have always been) tend to have flights of mostly adults which usually make for quieter and more peaceful flights.
 
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CaptainAmerica

CaptainAmerica

Well-Known Member
It's unlikely that you'll save any money by driving that distance if your calculations include all of the costs of doing so. For many people, a drive of that distance is going to require two extra vacation days. That's $400 worth of lost income for someone making $50K per year. Add in gas, vehicle depreciation, and legal fees for when you murder your children, and flying is a lot more appealing.
 
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mariak

mariak

New Member
Original Poster
J_Krafty24 said:
I am not sure exactly what your question about flights with stops and luggage is asking. Are you asking about luggage delivery to your resort? If so, luggage delivery to your resort is the same as with direct flights. Put the yellow tags on them and they still automagically show up. Are you asking about getting your luggage from one plane to the next? When you book a complete flight with layovers the airline handles your luggage from your origin city to your destination city without you needing to collect and re-check during your stops. An execption to this would be if you book the legs seperatly.

I personally do not mind having a layover on flights to/from Orlando. As long as the layover time is not too long or too short it can be fun to explore a new airport. Also the flight from the north with layovers in Atlanta (where my layovers have always been) tend to have flights of mostly adults which usually make for quieter and more peaceful flights.
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Ah, thanks for this.. I've actually never been on a flight with layovers before, so I wasn't sure how the luggage was handled.

CaptainAmerica said:
It's unlikely that you'll save any money by driving that distance if your calculations include all of the costs of doing so. For many people, a drive of that distance is going to require two extra vacation days. That's $400 worth of lost income for someone making $50K per year. Add in gas, vehicle depreciation, and legal fees for when you murder your children, and flying is a lot more appealing.
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LOL got it..

To those who commented that it's too early for most flight schedules - Thank you!!

Thanks so much for the info everybody. I can't get comfortable with the thought of driving that far without being miserable by the time we got there, or dreading the drive home so much on the last couple of days we are on vacation. I mean honestly, my husband and I got annoyed with one another on the way to the airport the last time we went to Disney. LOL. I will look into the flights with layovers, maybe we can save money doing that instead of nonstops. You can tell I don't travel much huh?
 
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SAV

SAV

Well-Known Member
We drove down from Northern Illinois this past July and it was no biggie. Made it just south of Chattanooga on day 1 and the rest of the way on day 2. We took long rest stops since it was going to be a 2 day drive anyways and didn't stress about it. With a family of four, it saved us quite a bit of money too. We liked that we could pack anything we wanted and not worry about it.

We're already talking about another trip and everyone wants to drive again.
 
Upvote 0
gobstoper27

gobstoper27

Well-Known Member
mariak said:
Forgive me for the virtual throwup of stress/anxiety/questions in this post.

I'm pretty sick to my stomach right now. The last time we (my husband and I) visited was in Feb. 2014 for our honeymoon. Flights cost us close to $800. Still is a lot of money, but they were non-stop flights (from CLE) and we booked them only a couple months out from our trip.

We are returning this November and I'm panicking because I'm realizing either there aren't flights for our trip days (19-26) or if there are, there are stops or they are outrageous. Like, thousands of dollars per ticket. I searched orbitz and there are several with stops that are 348 or so per traveler. I guess if we have to resort to this we can, but I've never had stops to Disney and (I probably sound so stupid right now) I'm not really sure how that works as far as luggage goes?

I never book the flights with my Magic Your Way package. Mostly because I'm never sure if we will make the trip and I don't like paying in full for flights when my trip may need moved or something. But is there an incentive to do this? Are they generally cheaper?

I'm starting to think we should just try to work driving down into our schedule. Really afraid to drive that far though, because our longest road trip has been 6 hours and I'm always stressed on the road figuring out where to go and all of that. (But would a flight with stops be less stressful?)

:cry: What would you do?

Anyone from Ohio make the drive? What are your experiences with that? I think I'm a sissy when it comes to this because I'm always worried about accidents or something ridiculous happening.
Click to expand...

Check Expedia, I just checked and found a RT flight for $341, but there is one stop. I also fly out of Cleveland and normally fly nonstop, but I guess because your travelling during the holidays.... I have made the drive, ONCE and I hated it, lol. Once you get through the mountains in the Virginas it was smooth sailing but it was just sooo long. I personally would fly and not have to worry about stopping for gas, tolls, rest breaks, nap breaks, potentially driving in inclement weather, etc... Don't stress about it :)
 
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mariak

mariak

New Member
Original Poster
DManRightHere said:
Keep an eye out for flyfrontier. They do not have flights set for November yet. Only up to September.
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Oh thank you! I will make a note to do this.

CaptainAmerica said:
You forgot the part where the air conditioning craps out from sheer exhaustion around Jacksonville and you spend the next two hours in a 110 degree vehicle.
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:joyfull: My luck this WOULD happen to us!

gobstoper27 said:
Check Expedia, I just checked and found a RT flight for $341, but there is one stop. I also fly out of Cleveland and normally fly nonstop, but I guess because your travelling during the holidays.... I have made the drive, ONCE and I hated it, lol. Once you get through the mountains in the Virginas it was smooth sailing but it was just sooo long. I personally would fly and not have to worry about stopping for gas, tolls, rest breaks, nap breaks, potentially driving in inclement weather, etc... Don't stress about it :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I feel like there are so many more variables out of our control if we drive. Weather is a big one. When we went in February we came home during a big snowstorm and all I was thinking was THANK GOODNESS WE DIDN'T DRIVE. I mean, the drive home from the airport wasn't bad, but I'd hate to go through the windy mountain roads in bad weather. Thanks for the awesome points :)
 
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