Should we fly instead of driving......?

[yaya74]

Will my family have a better trip/experience by flying down to Orlando instead of driving??

My family drove down to Orlando from NJ during the past two summers, mainly to save $$$ and we like the flexibility of having our own car on site... But long driving is tiring. DH does most of the driving and he would be in a very bad mood especially on the way home.

With flying, I am concerned about the stress of catching the flight, having to wait for shuttles and buses etc.... BTW, there are 4 of us. my kids are 6 and 10. We will be there for 6 days.

Would love to hear from others who have done both, driving and flying. TIA!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Auto Train.

 

[greg9x]

Assuming staying on property:

Driving: Cons: If you've done it before then you know it's a long drive that usually leaves you tired for a couple days, so lost vacation time there. Traffic while driving, Gas money, hotel if make stop. Cramped together depending on size of vehicle (but also memories of family time driving) . Wear and tear on car.
Pros: Save money most likely (but could get great airfare deal). Have car with you to get around, but have to pay for parking.

Flying: Cons: Cost, airport parking at home (or shuttle) if no one dropping you off/picking up. Bus waits and crowd. May have to leave earlier to airport if taking DME.
Pros: Get there in couple hours, No car cost, DME take you directly to hotel without having to wait for luggage, buses drop you off nearer to parks.

The 'stress' factors are totally on you... I don't stress too much catching the flight since fly enough to know what to do. It is MUCH more relaxing for me to fly for 2 hours than drive for 13+.
If you build wait time for buses in to your schedule then not too bad.. maybe a bit of stress when trying to make a FP+ or reservation and bus is late.

So no one can tell you what's best for you.. as you are the one who knows what works for your family. Sounds like your husband does not enjoy the driving.. but is it in your budget to fly ?

I vastly prefer to fly.... but it is only me and my son, so my cost for that is 1/2 of yours.

 

[FCDub]

Have you priced out both options? Without knowing ballpark prices, it's ultimately hard to make an informed decision.

 

[Disneylover99]

If it were a longer trip I’d say stick with driving. For me, a six day trip would not be worth the distance you’d have to drive.

We drive from Toronto. A 7 day stay felt too short for us with that distance to drive.
I’d consider driving if the trip was 10 days or more in length.

I think you should fly.

 

[Spunky946]

We've only flown and it would never be my first choice to drive.

 

[Monykalyn]

Well driving also gives you flexibility to take more stuff that you might want with you. Also not as limited on purchases to take home due to limited space. And flexibility to go from resort to resort for ADRs if desired. But flying is convenient in other ways -time mainly. And cost wise you could come out about the same.

 

[bumbershoot]

With flying, I am concerned about the stress of catching the flight, having to wait for shuttles and buses etc.... BTW, there are 4 of us. my kids are 6 and 10. We will be there for 6 days.

What part of catching the flight is stressful to you? Can you work out a plan? Is it more stressful than driving through DC traffic on the way down?

Why wait for buses? Rent a car once you’re there. That’s what I do.

Now with the parking fee at the hotel it does raise costs, but it’s so nice for many to have our own car to use instead of dealing with ceowded buses etc.

The 'stress' factors are totally on you... I don't stress too much catching the flight since fly enough to know what to do.

Agreed.

I write out my “getting to the flight” plan from “plane takes off” in reverse order, making sure to pad time ANd look up things to see and places to eat at the airport so I’m not overly bored when all the time-padding yields a bit of a wait, and I’m good.

 

[bumbershoot]

Sigh. The system told me it didn’t post the first time.

 

[maxiesmom]

I have flown and drove down to Florida, and unless I have a couple of weeks, no way would I drive. Driving is exhausting, and for me, the ride back home is always torture. I'm tired and I want to be home, I don't want to be on the road for hours on end.

I find flying fun! I even like packing. I usually get one or two new tops to wear on the trip, and I try to download a book onto my Nook that I really really want to read. That makes the time on the airplane go by fast! If I have a layover I don't mind doing a little airport shopping, or having a meal.

For me the difference is 22 hours in the car or 2 1/2 in a plane. I know which I'd much rather do.

 

[yaya74]

Thank you all very much for sharing your take on flying vs. driving...
Now let me see if I can find extra $1500 lying around in my house....

 

[sam_gordon]

Will my family have a better trip/experience by flying down to Orlando instead of driving??

No one can answer this.
If you drive, you might get got in construction, accident, have a break down, or many other things that would make driving miserable.
If you fly, you might have flight delays, changed seats, lost luggage, or many other things that would make flying miserable.
If you drive, everything might go just right and you have smooth sailing. Same with flying.

Some people hate flying, they should drive.
Some people hate driving, they should fly.

What YOU should do is
a) estimate costs both ways. Make sure you include parking fees (whether at airport or disney), rental car (if flying and desired), extra hotel/meals, meals in airports
b) consider the time factor. If you drive, that will suck up at least two if not three days of your trip.
c) consider the stress factor.

I prefer flying, but only if I can get flights for ~$250pp RT. Of course, we're only a 12-13 hour drive.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Fly. You will be well rested once you get there. You will save valuable vacation time rather than spending it in a vehicle. You won't be putting wear and tear on your vehicle. What if the weather is bad and you are navigating through a rainstorm or stuck in traffic because of an accident. What if your vehicle should break down and leave you stranded for a few days waiting for a part to fix the issue.

 

[yaya74]

I prefer flying, but only if I can get flights for ~$250pp RT. Of course, we're only a 12-13 hour drive.

My family can only go in the summer. Lowest fare that I come across now is $300 pp RT for the first flight of the day. With airport parking and baggage checks, cost would be around $1400.
Driving only costs us $600 including gas and hotel. Our car is leased and has tons of milage.
But I do worry about the "what ifs" on the road...

 

[sam_gordon]

Fly. You will be well rested once you get there. You will save valuable vacation time rather than spending it in a vehicle. You won't be putting wear and tear on your vehicle. What if the weather is bad and you are navigating through a rainstorm or stuck in traffic because of an accident. What if your vehicle should break down and leave you stranded for a few days waiting for a part to fix the issue.

What if the weather is bad and the plane gets delayed?
What if luggage gets "misdirected" (and it can happen on a direct flight)?
You can play "what if" with either scenario. That's why you need to look at all the positives and negatives for both sides.

My family can only go in the summer. Lowest fare that I come across now is $300 pp RT for the first flight of the day. With airport parking and baggage checks, cost would be around $1400.
Driving only costs us $600 including gas and hotel. Our car is leased and has tons of milage.
But I do worry about the "what ifs" on the road...

For an $800 difference and ~30 hours of driving RT vs. maybe 10 RT flying? I would vote "fly". BUT, order tickets NOW.

 

[brockash]

Will my family have a better trip/experience by flying down to Orlando instead of driving??

My family drove down to Orlando from NJ during the past two summers, mainly to save $$$ and we like the flexibility of having our own car on site... But long driving is tiring. DH does most of the driving and he would be in a very bad mood especially on the way home.

With flying, I am concerned about the stress of catching the flight, having to wait for shuttles and buses etc.... BTW, there are 4 of us. my kids are 6 and 10. We will be there for 6 days.

Would love to hear from others who have done both, driving and flying. TIA!

We'd fly. We almost always fly, but have driven. While having the car there was nice, it wasn't a big deal not having one and honestly we kinda missed the Disney transportation experience lol. Catching a flight is not a big deal, just plan ahead and you'll be fine.

 

[KidaniZen]

I grew up driving with my family to WDW alot from the Northeastern US. Went there for about 20 some years that way, but when I met DBF we decided it would be best to fly. Now all I want to do is fly. You are there in like 2 hours instead of 15 (for us). I find road travel more tiresome and stressful than flying.

Good luck whatever you choose!

 

[Monykalyn]

Currently in car on way home from our trip- ~16 hours of driving each way which we break up into 2 days. Both hubs and I are veteran road trip warriors so driving doesn't bother us. Also this trip we were there for 2 weeks-5 days onsite at Disney, 2 beach days, and a week in our offsite timeshare (did mainly Universal that week). This long of a trip we need to drive, added up cost of plane tickets (at their cheapest) would be $1000- and that would be driving 3 hours to larger airport with more air carriers and options, plus car rental for two weeks $500. Instead cost of driving was $500 total.
At a week trip is where it starts to get a bit trickier- we still drove for thanksgiving trip but our time away from home was 9 days with 6 at Disney.
Shorter trips and when it's just a couple of us instead of all we fly. If it's just me and one other- we fly. Amazing plane ticket sale price or points for a free flight? We fly. Costs add up to fly when it's more than just one or two people you buy tickets for...

 

[MikeOhio]

You have a significantly less chance of dying during the trip if you fly.

 

[abinormal]

I’ve driven to Florida from Michigan several times for trips, and done many near-equivalent distant drives with my kids. We flew last time and I’ll never drive there again if I can avoid it. Yes, it still took a long time but not having to do the transporting was a huge difference. We had two parents who could concentrate on the kids instead of having to drive. What I always hated as a kid was the day and a half being stuck in the car after a fun vacation - it just always felt like a huge letdown.

I’m happy to stay offsite and eat cheaper meals to be able to afford airline tickets and a rental car.