WWYD Fly or Drive

I would fly, but I have started flying to DL which is only a 6 hour drive because of how unpredictable the traffic can be, and how exhausted we always arrive after dealing with said traffic. That said, we are frequent flyers so going to the airport is pretty normal of an occurrence for us and our preferred airport is only 15 minutes from our house so it doesn't add much time. I wouldn't do anything that would require taking an extra day of PTO, I have quite a few days saved up and never know when I may need them.
425 miles each way for us to DL. We haven't driven since 2001, the year California Adventure opened. We did need a car to go to Universal and Knotts Berry Farm, so that is why we drove. It was the last time we drove, last time we stayed off site, last time we went to Universal or Knotts Berry Farm. Now we get on a plane at 9 am and we are having lunch in the park by 1 pm.
 
That's really not that intense. We drove to Orlando over Christmas the last two years. Just under 12 hours, including three stops for gas/bathroom food. Yes, we had a cooler and snack bag. Lisa Nowak made the news because of WHY she made the trip AND that she used an adult diaper during the trip. It had very little to do with the distance.

I heard she didn't actually wear a NASA "maximum absorbency garment". Apparently made up to make it sound more dramatic. Of course does it get any more dramatic than pepper spray and various items she intended on using on the victim.
 
Wow! Now that is organization to have all the stops mapped out. As for the hotel do most people make reservation before you start the trip or wait until the day of? Even as a kid my parents wouldn't make the hotel reservation until the day of because they wanted to be flexible with how far they drive. Every year growing up at Christmas and summer we would drive to KY from New England with 3 kids and 3 dogs. Lol Usually we were able to find a room when waiting to make reservation until the day of. As for cooler we would fill it with bottle water, soda, snack food cheese and crackers, cookies.

I did drive with a friend from Falmouth MA to Orlando when I started my college program. We started late at night and we went straight almost 23 hours before we stopped someplace in Georgia. We were so tired we almost fell asleep at dinner. The next day we only had a few more hours to get to Orlando. I also did this trip a few other times but we stayed 2 nights on the road. Enjoy your trip.

A little off topic, but he is traveling during spring break. We go to Florida every spring break, and speaking for i95 only, you absolutely want a hotel reservation ahead of time. Every year on the way back, there's a good sized line at check in. And I hear the clerk telling people over and over that they are sold out, and to try another hotel.
 
A little off topic, but he is traveling during spring break. We go to Florida every spring break, and speaking for i95 only, you absolutely want a hotel reservation ahead of time. Every year on the way back, there's a good sized line at check in. And I hear the clerk telling people over and over that they are sold out, and to try another hotel.

Yes, always book hotels well before making the trip. It’s make it to the hotel or bust for us. So far that has not been an issue as our timeline is severely padded for traffic.
 


Another option would be to see if you can extend your trip a day or two on either or both ends. We are also in Mass. and that week and Feb break is crazy to fly. But being flexible with days can drop the price significantly. Also price one ways and I todifferent airports. For example, fly JetBlue to TPA and maybe home from West Palm, etc.

We do this every year and even with an extra night or two of hotels and rental car it is usually cheaper than flying the weekends of vacation week.

We are going to FL for Feb break. Flying SOuthwest into Tampa and then home from from Fort Myers. I booked the flights with points the day they opened and it is costing nothing out of pocket. The points were about 5500 each way. Now just one way is about 35,000.

Lesson here is book as early as you can.

Good luck!
 
I feel your pain. Flights from Dallas to Orlando are ridiculous this year. I did find we can go into / out of Tampa for a lot less, and it's only about an hour & a half between them, plus I got quite a reasonable deal on a car from National (2 1-way rentals.) So you might check that, and / or going out of Providence, as someone else suggested. Good luck!
 
I'd fly.

Granted flight times vary depending on non-stop and where you are but from where I'm at it's a 2 hr 45min non-stop flight OR an 18 hour drive not including the terrible traffic that is Atlanta (which I seem to get stuck in when driving down to that area), not including stops for bathroom, stretching of legs and food. I'd be exhausted and need too much time to catch up by the time I reach the destination. We have done a long road trip before but stops along the way were the actual destination so it was different. Pacing was different too.

I've done the driving to central FL before and it wasn't very fun.

I can't ever say I wouldn't drive but it would have to be a really bad situation on flying to make me choose driving over flying. It's too much time wasted when that's not part of my vacation IMO.

I'd continue to check flights, different airlines, etc.
 


Yeah, I wouldn't really want to do driving AND have to deal with a cooler. But that's just me.
A long road trip without a cooler sounds terrible IMO. But you don't always have to go for a big bulky cooler that takes up a lot of room. We have various sized coolers that allow for flexibility.

It's nice for drinks to stay cold so you don't have to stop just to get a drink because you're thirsty, it's nice for sandwiches so you don't have to stop just to get sandwiches, etc
 
I agree the 1 day drive was completely unrealistic. I’m just saying to be realistic about the time lost via both methods.

Example, we recently flew to Denver. It’s a 14-hour drive or a 2-hour flight. But, that 2-hour flight actually chewed up a total of 7 hours door to door, and that’s without delays. And we were feeling pretty much the same at that point as we would have had we just finished 7 hours of driving.

I would say you lose a total of 2 days driving based on our options:

Drive Option (lost a day, Friday, driving to GA): Saturday = leave hotel at 8am in GA and arrive at WDW around 11:30am/12pm depending on traffic.

Fly Option: Saturday = leave home at 5am fly to MCO and arrive at WDW at noon. Figure 75 minute drive to airport, arrive 90 minutes before departure, 135 minute flight then 60 minutes to get to WDW from the time the airplane touches down.

I feel like I will be more rested under the drive option then the morning flight. That's how I rationalize it only adding a day of travel each way. Now don't get me wrong the first day of travel is a long day but having 2 drivers also helps.
 
I'm with the others in checking out alternative airports within a 2-3 hour radius of your "home" airport. We once drove 2 hours to save $300 per ticket (there were 6 of us flying). There's no way I'd take 4 days out of my vacation to drive if I were only going for a week to 10 days.

Yea maybe fly out of Baltimore.
 
I always considered the day we arrive into Disney, whether we fly in or drive down from family in Jacksonville and getting there around noon, as almost as not even a full Disney Day. Unless it was a 1 AM Magic Kingdom close day. Otherwise, we just spend the day at Disney Springs.
 
The OP said that it's a leased car that will be returned in May, and that it should still be in the mileage allowance even with this trip. So basically there's no worry about wear on the car. I haven't thought about returning a leased car since my dad returned one 30 years ago, but I'm not sure if there's any tire requirements either other than adequate tread to move it safely. Doing some research, and some have bought used tires cheap to meet the requirements for return.

One can save on food with a cooler and sandwiches. It would also save time not having to track down restaurants. However, as someone who went backpacking for several days, it's nice having a hot meal every now and then, especially prepared by someone else.

We always pack drinks and snacks. Then we would stop for dinner after we check in to our hotel
 
OMG that is the best part of road trips, a cooler full of various beverages and tons of yummy snacks to help make the trip more enjoyable. What would be a hassle of dealing with a cooler? I'm confused.

iam with you, we carry a soft sided cooler . it works great and your not spending $50 at the gas station for drinks and snacks.
 
Have you looked into the Autotrain? You could drive to lorton, VA, take the train the rest of the way. No hotel, limited gas, limited miles on car, and you have a car in Orlando. Also, packing is a lot easier.
 
So we finally came to a decision to drive. Kids are excited for a road trip and even my DW is excited that she can now pack what ever she wishes. I already banged out this years road trip itinerary and wanted to share it with you all. Please keep in mind that the itinerary is just a useful guide and by no means set in stone. It just give us an idea if we are ahead of time or behind on time. Anyway, based on our calculations and past experience we should be at our hotel by 9:30 Friday night and at WDW for lunch on Saturday! WooHoo!
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So we finally came to a decision to drive. Kids are excited for a road trip and even my DW is excited that she can now pack what ever she wishes. I already banged out this years road trip itinerary and wanted to share it with you all. Please keep in mind that the itinerary is just a useful guide and by no means set in stone. It just give us an idea if we are ahead of time or behind on time. Anyway, based on our calculations and past experience we should be at our hotel by 9:30 Friday night and at WDW for lunch on Saturday! WooHoo!
View attachment 380712

We drove once and that was it. From CT to Ft. Myers. I said never again! We left at 6am from my moms/hometown in Trumbull (I live coastal to the CT River now). Passing Vince Lombardi by 7-we had to leave by 6 yo avoid traffic. Our plans were to be in Georgia, either the FL/GA line or savannah. But we only made it to Santee, SC since there was traffic south of Richmond, but you are aware of snafus as you stated. We took the kids out of school on Friday and slept at my moms Thursday night. We made it to Orlando by around noon (I recall grabbing lunch for everyone). The return we left the evening before so we could stop at the then DtD for dinner and slept in Jax for the night. We didn’t come home until a Tuesday so we had a longer trip!

I got 3 printed trip tix for my kids and they sort of used them but would ask “what page”. But they knew about where we were and how much longer.

We took the AT the following year and it was cheaper then flying and renting a car plus we had a bedroom/roomette (I booked the first day I could). Since then we have flown and paid the price but the drive is not fun for us. We are flying into Ft Lauderdale this year since it’s a tad bit cheaper then Ft Myers and will spend 3 nights on singer island.

April stinks for all us up north who want to go south.
 
I guess I am in the minority that loves long road trips. We like the slower pace, and stopping when we want. We have found the inserting things. I have been on one flight and never again. I did what you were suppose to do, chew gum at take off and landing, but I have smaller than normal ears. It took nearly 12 hours after flight for my ears to pop.
 
We are road trippers at heart. This will be our 3rd drive to FL and we have driven to Myrtle Beach and Williamsburg as well. It all comes down to the numbers. Once the savings of driving vs. flying crosses $1K it becomes a drive. Plus, when we really think about it arriving at WDW after a 3 hour drive sure beats arriving after 5+ hours of travel and waking up super early to get there.

And the best way to survive a long road trip with a 13 yo and 10 yo is this (link below) loaded with gigs and gigs of movies and a couple of iPads!

https://www.wd.com/products/wd-outlet/my-passport-wireless.html#WDBK8Z0010BBK-NESN
 
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I guess I am in the minority that loves long road trips. We like the slower pace, and stopping when we want.
We've done road trips where that was the trip itself. But for Disney the destination is Disney and driving sucks a lot of time out of that vacation. Never say never (as I have done it before when I was a kid) but it would have to be a last resort thing for me to do it nowadays. But again can't say never.

I have been on one flight and never again. I did what you were suppose to do, chew gum at take off and landing, but I have smaller than normal ears. It took nearly 12 hours after flight for my ears to pop.
When I was a kid I was like that. I mean I was in agony screaming on planes because of my ear pain. Somehow along the way it stopped being like that. Nowadays there are times where I can't get my ears to pop as quickly as I need to but I've never ever been unable to pop my ears on a plane much less 12 hours!? That sounds terrible.
 

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