We’re going to Disney World for a week over Spring Break. You know, along with everyone else on Earth?
Our plan was to fly to Fort Myers, stay at the In-law’s house for a couple of days, then we’d all pack up in their fancy new minivan and drive to Disney. There we would meet up with my parents who will be staying at the campground at Disney. All 8 of us (4 grandparents, 2 parents, and 2 kids) would then go to the parks for a few days, and spend a couple of days just at the hotels and campground. Then we’d drive back to Fort Myers, have one day to relax, and then fly home.
But for some reason, flights this year are over 4 times the price they were last year. We flew to Fort Myers last year, over Easter/Spring Break. It cost us about $600 for all 4 of us. But the same trip this year was going to be about $2500!
I figured up what it’d cost us to drive (over-estimating the price of gas, and how much we’d use, and factoring in 2 nights’ hotel stays on the way down & back). About $500-600.
Gee, can you tell which wins?
Pros to flying (cons to driving):
1. Longer vacation (since we’re driving, we’re just going to Orlando and back instead of adding in Fort Myers).
2. Less time having to listen to the kids whine and Sam talk non-stop.
Pros to driving:
1. The cost, obviously.
2. Our first “ROAD TRIP!” with the kids.
3. We can take anything we want with us: Any liquids, any foods, nothing has to be in 3-ounce containers, as many suitcases as we want, my Swiss Army Knife (very useful for cutting straws shorter for the kids in restaurants!), razors, extra clothes, and most importantly: our own pillows!
4. No having to stand in security lines, no having to take our shoes off and put them back on (not a problem for adults, but a pain for the kids), no having to carry everything like a pack mule and still hold the kids’ hands.
5. Did I mention we can take our own pillows?
We need to leave the Easter Bunny a note and tell him we’ll be at the Disney campground on Easter Morning, so he doesn’t hide eggs at home.
{ 11 comments }
Anyway you can get to Disney and afford the trip is a great idea :) Road trips make great memories, think national lampoon vacations… okay, maybe dont think of those before deciding :)
We always drove to FL when I was little – but we didn’t start until I was in 4th grade (and my brother in 2nd). So the girls are a little younger than we were! I’m planning to find some checklists of things for them to look for on the trip to help keep them occupied. Plus we’ll have the portable DVD player, the iPods, Emily’s Nintendo DS, coloring books, etc etc etc.
We always took the train…we loved the train. Probably not quite as fun these days. But…I think the road trip sounds fun! I cannot wait to take Emily to Disney World.
We’ve talked about doing a train trip sometime. I don’t even know if there are trains around here (passenger at least)! Someday we’ll check into it.
Uff da!! That’s crazy expensive. I don’t blame you for wanting to drive. One tip: Portable DVD player; it will totally save your sanity and give you a chance to read or knit!!
Yep, we have one. They did well with it and some TV shows loaded to my iPod last year on the plane, so we’ll do the same in the car. And we have one of those headset splitters so they can both have their headphones plugged into the DVD player.
we drove to georgia for christmas 2 years ago, and it was much cheaper than flying. in fact, when we got there, we discovered that it wasn’t possible to stay at my brother’s house (it’s TINY), so we were able to afford a hotel room with a fridge and microwave
there’s also the fact that you don’t have to RENT A CAR or depend on anyone else to transport you.
Yep, that is another benefit. Not huge since we’re staying @ one of the Disney resorts anyway, but if we want to drive anywhere we’ll be able to.
I love family road trips! :) It’ll be great! :)
OK, look into flying direct into Orlando, have the grandparents drive up and meet you at the airport. It’s probably because Ft. Myers is not a major hub. Can we come too???
We’ve already checked all the angles. We can do it for a little cheaper, but not enough to justify it (we won’t save any time by flying into Orlando since we can’t check in until Sunday anyway, so we might as well drive). It’ll be fine! I think the girls will enjoy it, as long as we have enough stops for them to stretch their legs.
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