I am trying to decide whether to drive or fly to WDW. It will be me, the husband, and 5 year old daughter. It is about a 12 hour drive from where we live. We are going for 7-9 days, so I am not so worried about wasting time in the car. It would most likely be a lot cheaper driving than flights for three people and rental car. We are not staying on site. The other thing is my daughter gets car sick and that is a long time to be in the car, sick or not. I'm thinking about staying somewhere overnight possibly if needed if we drive. I have budgeted $500.00-$600.00 for gas/tolls/food/possible lodging there and back. Airline tickets would probably be at least that plus car rental for maybe another $200.00-$300.00. The negative about flying besides the price are being limited on luggage and weight of luggage coming back. In the car we can throw whatever we want in it and go. So, I'm torn.


Any advice or words of wisdom or opinion?

Thanks.

You might want to check out this recent thread (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=79894).

The other thing is my daughter gets car sick and that is a long time to be in the car, sick or not. ...So, I'm torn.
In addition to reviewing the other thread, linked above, do take your daughters ability to travel in a car for that long under significant consideration. Only you can determine how much of an issue this can be from past experiences.

As for total costs, the thing I usually recommend is to compare your total vacation costs to determine what your best option is. That includes scenarios with on-site hotel options as well.

Thanks. I will check out the other thread. I've already booked my lodging and it's a timeshare so that isn't costing us anything. But, I want to be able to have the bulk of our money spent on food and just extra spending money in general.

in lieu of your childs sickness while driving I would fly and ship things back home through the postal service or another medium. A long drive with a sick child only would put the vacation at a negative from the start. Good luck with either choice and tell Aurora I said hello:D

in lieu of your childs sickness while driving I would fly and ship things back home through the postal service or another medium. A long drive with a sick child only would put the vacation at a negative from the start. Good luck with either choice and tell Aurora I said hello:D

and possibly having you & her dreading the drive home - which could cast a cloud over the rest of the vacation

Many people who drive start the trip at night, so the kids will sleep through a good part of it. That type of strategy may help your child. Also taking your time, and, at least stopping for a few hours somewhere may help break up the trip. It may be a good idea to stop overnight, even within a few hours of Orlando, and arrive rested.

This summer we got a decent price on air tickets.
They never have those great prices here, but it was less than $200 per round trip.

We compared the cost of driving (for us it is 15 to 18 hours)

We have often driven it straight through.

This summer it came out to be about $50 per person difference and we decided that we would rather spend $50 and save a whole day in the car.

We had to leave in the evening as DH had to work that day, but if you could get a morning flight it would give you a whole additional day in the world.

We drive from NY-Ww almost booked a flight for next trip but after thouroughly weighing the pros-3 hrs and we are there and the cons-limited on what we bring,possible ear problems,our child is very loud and demanding and he may not enjoy sitting through a flight,COST-1500.00 + 400 car rental,It was a easy decision after that...It takes us 18-20 hrs and we have done it straight and in 2 days...it is kind of fun to see other places and we joke alot and I get to catch up on reading,sleep and movies lol:p

We've done it both ways--driven & flown. It's a 10-12 hr drive for us, but for the last three trips we've flown. When we drove, we always stopped for the night in southern GA or northern FL, so there was that extra expense to plan for--also add'l food for the days we were on the road.

We've always stayed on-site & used Disney transportation to/from the airport, as well as around the resort, so a rental car was never part of our economic equation.

But, just based on the flight vs. the drive, if the cost is anywhere close, I'll always opt for flying now. I HATE flying for business, but on vacation, I'm much more relaxed & laid back and actually enjoy the trip.

We have always driven before, but never with my daughter, but I have taken her on other trips that long. I think we have settled on leaving here around 3 when she gets out of school and driving to GA, should get there about 10. Stay in a hotel until 8 or so and finish the drive, maybe 4-5 more hours. So, that's not too bad. I just feel like we have more control when driving. We can bring what we want and do things on our time and our schedule.

Thanks for the input. Hope everyone has wonderful upcoming trips.

I like to drive from Dallas as well as fly, and try to kinda change out ever other trip or so. The only negative I can see for the drive is the sick thing. Have you tried Dramamine or other anti-nausea meds? If you can resolve that, the drive will save you money and make things much more convenient for this trip.

Good luck!

I like to drive from Dallas as well as fly, and try to kinda change out ever other trip or so. The only negative I can see for the drive is the sick thing. Have you tried Dramamine or other anti-nausea meds? If you can resolve that, the drive will save you money and make things much more convenient for this trip.

Good luck!

Yep, we have tried everything that she is old enough to take.
She hates taking the medicine too and sometimes gags while taking it, so it's a battle just to get it down. She says she would rather throw up than take the medicine, but I would rather she didn't:) We have even tried those seabands that you wear on your wrists and she still got sick.

I'm sure she will tough it out though. Now I'm wondering if any of the rides will make her sick. We have a Busch Gardens by us and she has always been fine there, so I'll be crossing my fingers.

I would drive. I like to drive anyways, but when you start looking at the time in the airport lines getting to and from the airport the time is cut down. Also has your daughter flown before? if she gets car sick she would probably get sick from flying, espically with that short of a flight you are always going up or coming down.