Car vs Plane

[MaleficentandGoons]

DH and I are thinking of the pros and cons to driving to Fl with the 6 month old in the back. We are leaving from MA.

What do you guy think?
Currently she loves the car, will sleep in it whenever we go somewhere.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

You are brave! I can't imagine driving with a 6 month old. You'll have to stop so often for feedings (if you are nursing), bottles (if not), to prepare baby food, diaper changes, etc (not even to mention all the adult breaks) that it would take forever! It's about a 22 hour drive from our house in Mass. So my guess would be about 2 days with a baby if you stop to sleep for a minimal amount of hours.

My guess is that this is financial thing. There are websites that will calculate your gas costs and tolls. Then throw in an extra 2 nights at a hotel (1 each way) and I can't imagine that it's that much cheaper than airfare. Just my thoughts.

Now if you want the whole road trip experience...that's a different matter. It could be really fun as long as you plan for the stops. Plus at that age, you CAN do it. Now that DD is in school, we can't be wasting valuable vacation days driving when we can be there in 3 hours

 

[DisneyFamily123]

I know people like to drive... but not me. If you're flying from Boston or another major airport, the cost shouldn't be bad.

From MA, I'd say driving cannot possibly be cheaper... when you consider the cost of gas, wear and tear on the car, or cost of rental if that's what you choose for the trip, plus the cost and risk of accidents or even just a flat tire or mechanical breakdown, plus delays from the same, having to spend the night halfway maybe, and being so tired when you arrive after driving so long.

I'd rather fly, get there faster (3 hours maybe?), be well rested and enjoy Disney World more on my first day.

 

[MaleficentandGoons]

It's definetly75% for the road fun 25% for the $$ There will be three( me mom and dh) of us plus the baby.

 

[MrIncrediDad]

My DW and I have driven from RI to WDW twice straight through (22hrs), no children though. One time for the adventure of a road trip, once because airfare was $1200 for the both of us round trip.

It's quite the adventure but I don't think we would drive with our DD at 6 months. It would just take too much to drive so long and tend to her. Just my opinion.

Good Luck whichever you choose!

 

[kteesmumma]

what website will calculate gas and tolls for someone who will be driving

 

[MaleficentandGoons]

i found a iphone app that did it's called fuelculator

 

[puffkin]

I just want to say I took my 3 month old from Philly (so a short 2.5 hour plane ride). We also travel with my mom so it was me, DH, mom, and DS. Even with all the baby gear it was probably the easiest trip we have ever taken with DS. We didn't have a car that trip so we used Magical Express and Disney busses. I would never take a 22 hour car trip with a baby unless the airfare was that outrageous or if time was no issue and you could really make a road trip out of it.

 

[deerhart]

unless the rates to fly are outrageous (and to Orlando form most places anything above $300 is probably too high), driving is going to be a major pain. We just bought tickets on Air Tran for June for 4 persons at the rate of $850.00. It is $100 more then we paid last year but still reasonably priced (we estimate that for us to drive down it would cost us about $600.00 ($100 in gas each way, $100 for a hotel room each way, and between $100-$200 in food/snacks, extras) plus 4 more days to our vacation (or off our stay in Disney), plus 2000 miles on our car.

A mapquest from Boston MA to Disney World indicates its about a 21 hour drive straight through, 1300 miles. At 30mpg (which most cars still don't get.. my little HHR gets 29) fuel costs would be about $130.00. At 23 mpg its about $160.00. That cost is each way, so gas alone will run you $250-$300 total.

With a 6mo I would expect that you wouldn't be able to do the trip in 2 days and still stay sane. I would think you need 3 days of driving each way, which adds another 6 days to your trip (otherwise it adds another 2 days to your trip). This would be roughly 8 hours of driving each day. With 3 days of driving with an average total hotel cost of $100 a night, that's an extra $600.

Then add food for 3 people during the drive at $75 per day (that's $25 for each person for 2 meals a day, one fast food one sit down, which isn't unreasonable unless all you eat is fast food, which then would be about $15 per person per day for 2 meals) for 3 days and thats another $450.

So in total if it takes you two more days each way your looking at either 4 more days of vacation that needs to be taken (or 4 less days at Disney), and a total oop cost of about $825 or for 3 days to drive a total of about $1100 to price against plane tickets.

 

[deerhart]

what website will calculate gas and tolls for someone who will be driving

mapquest won't calculate tolls, but they will calculate fuel costs for your trip. It looks to be (right now) using a fuel cost of about $2.75/ gallon which may be low for the east cost/southeast. Its a bit high for here (our gas is about $2.55 currently). All you do is plug in your mpg and it spits out a number.

 

[danielle&aidan]

I'm from Tampa originally and currently live in Asheville, NC. I drive down about twice a year (about 650 miles...so roughly half the distance you're going, right?). My first trip with my son was when he was about 9 months old. Just to give you the time difference with a baby.....on the way down, we drove overnight so he slept the whole way. It took about 9 hours. On the way home, we drove during the day while he was mostly awake. It took 13.

I would DEFINITELY fly if it were me.

 

[karemore]

I wouldn't expect my infant to remain in a car seat that long unless it was an emergeny situation. Though, my infant would have screamed bloody murder if we tried it.

There's nothing as heartbreaking as your child crying and you can't take them out of the car seat.

Fly or wait.

We flew when DD was almost 2 and then almost 3, and this year we are driving for the first time from NY. She'll be almost 5. We would not have driven with her any younger. We've always stuck within 3-4 hours away (not including countless stops) up until now.

Good luck if you decide to try it!

 

[lucyem]

There have been reports about infant car seats actually lowering blood oxygen levels in babies. You can google them. Here is one at CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/08/24/car.seat.blood.oxygen/index.html
That alone would make me hesitate to do such a long drive with a child that young.

 

[growinupdisney]

DH and I are thinking of the pros and cons to driving to Fl with the 6 month old in the back. We are leaving from MA.

What do you guy think?
Currently she loves the car, will sleep in it whenever we go somewhere.

We drove when my dd was 8mo.(we always drive) I also nursed. We left right after she went down for the night we have about a 12 hr drive! Worked great for us! The way home was a little different since we had to leave in the am but she did great and she was not great car rider. We would sop long enough for me to feed her the she would nap and so on! I think bottle feeding would be easier though since you would have to pull over to nurse. Either way we enjoyed, not really a big deal

 

[stacy6552]

When are you going? I am generally a "fly" kinda gal (and if you do please please please buy that precious baby her own seat and secure her in a FAA approved carsat)....that is unless you are going over Easter or Christmas. Then travel can be a friggin nightmare and the drive is totally the better way to go.

 

[MaleficentandGoons]

Thanks for the insight. We will more than likely fly dh is saying we should save the car ride for when she is 4 or 5..which is fine for me because that's when i plan to go back to Disney.
We aren't going to use a car seat though. i know some look down on that but i think she will be happier and i can comfort her if the pressure is too much.

 

[mom2maggie]

We just got back from driving to/from Disney from Indiana with a (just turned) 7 month old and it really wasn't that bad at all. We just took lots of breaks and broke up the trip. We really really liked not having to worry about packing in small suitcases for the plane.

 

[MaleficentandGoons]

mom2maggie- That's another reason I wanted to drive!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Thanks for the insight. We will more than likely fly dh is saying we should save the car ride for when she is 4 or 5..which is fine for me because that's when i plan to go back to Disney.
We aren't going to use a car seat though. i know some look down on that but i think she will be happier and i can comfort her if the pressure is too much.

There is nothing to look down on you for that. A car seat on the plane is only good for children who are used to a carseat and may react better being in one. It certainly isn't for safety. However, I acknowledge that some believe it's safer at take off and landing. We have never used a car seat on a plane and DD has been flying since she was 5 weeks old.

 

[stacy6552]

There is nothing to look down on you for that. A car seat on the plane is only good for children who are used to a carseat and may react better being in one. It certainly isn't for safety. However, I acknowledge that some believe it's safer at take off and landing. We have never used a car seat on a plane and DD has been flying since she was 5 weeks old.

Now I strongly urge people to use carseats, but I don't look down on them for not using one. However I do seriously look down on someone who spreads the above kind of baloney. Every single bit of information out there proves it is without question safer to secure your child in a FAA approved carseat while flying.

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;108/5/1218

http://www.saferidenews.com/SRNDNN/...ravelwithBabiesToddlers/tabid/88/Default.aspx

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/24/earlyshow/living/ConsumerWatch/main638098.shtml

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20080808/dd_mcgee18.art.htm