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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Disvillain63

Disvillain63

Well-Known Member
We do the reverse, from Georgia to Ohio. We always drive and it really is much cheaper for us. From Augusta, Ga to Cleveland, Oh or even Sandusky, we take one day. It is really going to depend on how many airline tickets you are needing, how long the layover will be, and then factor in all the mess-ups that seem to occur around the airports during Thanksgiving week. We enjoy driving, because we can take along just about anything we'd like...our own drinks, snacks, etc...
 
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H

hanwill

Well-Known Member
If you drive from Ohio... take 75 south. Until you get past Gainesville and the look for the big left turn that it the turnpike... I don't know why people are routing you through south carolina...
Anyway- from Atlanta it is about 7.5- 8 hours... Have a safe trip whatever you decide.
 
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D

Disney Stine

Active Member
It's actually even shorter from Atlanta. 6 hours! Not bad at all and as soon as you get to Florida it's just one straight long road. We did this from NC back in February. We had an 8.5 hour trip, with only a half hour added on (9 hr total) with bathroom breaks/filling up gas and ate in the car. We got to Disney around 8:30 and even had time to enjoy Disney Springs. Only suggestion for driving is to pay attention to where you will be during rush hour times. Atlanta during rush hour is no joke.
With our car and at the time for the price of gas, we paid about $60 round trip in gas and only $4 in tolls. MUCH cheaper than flying for two adults.

Another suggestion, and I don't know your area and what airports you have around, but maybe see if there is another major airport within 3 hours of a drive. You might be able to find cheaper airfare and the 3 hours of travel will be a lot less of a drive than a straight shot to Orlando.
 
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maelstrom98

maelstrom98

Active Member
Agreed with what other people have said about it being early for flights. We're going around the same time you are but probably won't check flights until Southwest opens up in June.

I've also driven from Philly. The drive overall took about 20 hours with stops and bad weather in NC, traffic in Orlando. The drive down was not bad, but the drive home was rough.

We also took Amtrak one year from Philly! It was the cheapest option that year, and while it took some time it was nice alternative to driving because we didn't have to worry about one person staying awake the whole time.
 
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Skibum1970

Skibum1970

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...


Hello Fellow Buckeye!! I live in Cincinnati and it is a 13-14 hour drive, traffic depending. If you have a connection, your luggage makes it through the Magical Express without a problem. I book my flights separately and then add the flights to my trip by calling Disney or doing it online. One layover isn't bad but I'm used to those due to flying for business. Biggest thing with a layover is to make sure that you have at least an hour to make the connection. That sounds like a long time but it gets chewed up quick by any delays in flights as well as hustling from one gate to another. Still, a layover is a pretty easy thing to manage. If Cleveland doesn't have any, you might check out Columbus (although you're talking an easy hour and a half drive just to get to the airport or longer). Most flights out of Cincinnati run around $300 (non-stop) or even a little less.

The drive is monotonous and Atlanta can be a pain to get through (apologies to any Georgians out there). Plus, after that long of a trip, you might be pretty worn out. Especially if you aren't used to driving that far. From Cleveland, you're talking an easy 17-18 hours in the car. I am pretty shocked by the ticket prices unless you're flying on Thanksgiving. If you don't mind the drive to the airport, I would look into Columbus as a starting point. Our first flight to Orlando, I purchased via Expedia and drove to Columbus from Cincinnati to save money.

I typically wait to purchase air fares until about a month or two prior to my vacations.
 
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H

hanwill

Well-Known Member
Disney Stine said:
It's actually even shorter from Atlanta. 6 hours! Not bad at all and as soon as you get to Florida it's just one straight long road. We did this from NC back in February. We had an 8.5 hour trip, with only a half hour added on (9 hr total) with bathroom breaks/filling up gas and ate in the car. We got to Disney around 8:30 and even had time to enjoy Disney Springs. Only suggestion for driving is to pay attention to where you will be during rush hour times. Atlanta during rush hour is no joke.
With our car and at the time for the price of gas, we paid about $60 round trip in gas and only $4 in tolls. MUCH cheaper than flying for two adults.

Another suggestion, and I don't know your area and what airports you have around, but maybe see if there is another major airport within 3 hours of a drive. You might be able to find cheaper airfare and the 3 hours of travel will be a lot less of a drive than a straight shot to Orlando.
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How fast do you drive? Plus, I'm thinking from the north side of Atlanta.... We drive from Marietta- 7.5 hours... we do stop at a fast food place and at the state line for OJ....


Also, those of you talking about Atlanta traffic... us locals are suffering right along with you. If you come through in the next few months, expect traffic to be more nuts than usual an the north side... lots of construction.
 
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Jen Renee

Jen Renee

New Member
I am a clevelander and we just went in December 2015. We bought our plane tickets in July 2015 through frontier, so for two adults it only cost us $316 round trip. If you want to fly, definitely keep a close eye on frontier because they have so many good deals.

Now I am going back this May with two people who refuse to fly, so we are driving down this time. While we have the same fear of accidents/breaking down, we are just going into it taking breaks every 5 hours and staying the night in Georgia.
 
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MKgirl85

MKgirl85

Member
We plan on Driving down in Sept from Massachusetts, its about a 20 hour drive or so. It will be by Husband, myself and my 2 year old. My husband and I have done it before, and it wasnt bad It will be a new experience with a 2 year old. I would rather drive than have to have layovers on the plane, i know thats silly but that stresses me out with missing the next flight and such.
 
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1stWDW96'

1stWDW96'

Member
I drove from the Michigan Ohio line, 45 minutes West of Toledo Ohio and 2 blocks north of the state line. We left at 9pm and drove straight through and down 75. There were a few issues that have made me decide to save for plane tickets. 1. Georgia is hot as hell in June. 2. I had no A/C. 3. Atlanta sucks during rush hour, took a year off my life. Even though I can easily change my departure time and fix the A/C, that trip has left me traumatized. You think crossing into Florida means you're close? NO! It's another 3-4 hours! We arrived at 5pm dehydrated, tired, I had one super tan arm. As soon as I set foot into my room which was a nice cool 65 degrees it was lights out.
 
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Kevin_W

Kevin_W

Well-Known Member
I live in Columbus - as someone above stated there are a few non-stop Southwest flights per day, and one or two from Dayton as well. Other members in may family have driven it, but the SW flights are reaosnably prices and I can be in the Magic Kingdom 5-6 hours after I pull out of my driveway.
 
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FantasylandTravel

FantasylandTravel

New Member
I always choose to drive the 10 hours to WDW. Its <$200 in gas or $600-$1K for plane tickets depending on time of travel. If you can spare 2 days for travel then I say drive and save your money for something else in the parks.
 
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ArielLover

ArielLover

Active Member
I prefer the drive, this year will be my 21st time driving down from New Hampshire. Full disclosure - I hate to fly - actually need anxiety meds to make a flight. I also have one of those jobs that tries to kill you with stress. It is just me and the wife and we take 2 days to drive down. Gives us some quality time and time to distress before we get there.

We also go for 2 weeks so the extra day on either side is not a big deal - no actual lost vacation time. I did make the trip when my daughter was younger, we started driving down when she was about 9. She was never really an issue.
 
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A

Aqueeta

Member
mariak said:
The last time we (my husband and I) visited was in Feb. 2014 for our honeymoon. Flights cost us close to $800.
Click to expand...

If the best you can do is $800, I would drive but you should be able find something half that rate and then it would be worth flying. Driving that far really wears you out and it takes about a day to recover.
 
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