To Drive or Fly, That is the Question.

[DarthVader]

For us, its a 20 hour drive (probably more like 24 when you factor in rest stops, and traffic) and its definitely a last resort for a couple of reasons.
1. Taking two days to drive down and another couple of days for the return trip eats into our vacation time.
2. The stress of dealing with two kids sitting in the back of a car for extended periods.
3. The return trip is a soul sucking, spirit killing death march of a drive. I can see the drive down filled with excitement and anticipation as we look forward to our vacation. What can we look forward to for our return trip - another extremely long road trip, just so we can go to work/school?

Believe me, I really wanted to find an inexpensive trip to FLA this April because the Airlines are gouging us in the Boston era with 1,500 dollar priced tickets (I saw prices as high it not higher then 6,000 for a family of 4). I did find a workable solution, by driving to Albany NY (2.5 hours away) but driving down was definitely on the table.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

The family and I are driving down for the first time in a month from southwestern Ontario, Canada. We considered doing the non stop trip, but we are going to take a couple of days instead, leaving on a Friday night, stopping around Dayton, OH, stopping around Atlanta the second night, and rolling in to WDW Sunday afternoon. We would have flown, but we want to visit Savannah, Ga. and Nashville on the way home. After that, I'll have a pretty good idea on if I would recommend driving

Savannah is beautiful.

 

[kimberlymautz]

Thanks everyone for your ideas! I love that driving is so much cheaper and I don't have to worry about finding transportation once we get to Orlando (we're also planning two days at Universal), but I like the convenience of flying. I'll have to see what flights look like once it gets closer and see which would be my best option. If it isn't too much more to fly then drive then it's worth it, but if there's a significant difference I'll be hopping in my car. Haha.

 

[Weather_Lady]

I would fly, especially if you can get a good deal. Have you looked into getting a Southwest VISA? I signed up for one a couple of years ago (there was an annual fee - $100, I think) and only used it for a year -- but the sign-up bonus points alone were enough to fly my family of four to Washington, D.C. for a weekend, and cover 2 nights' hotel stay. Not bad for a $100 fee! Not sure what the current card terms are, though -- YMMV.