Driving down the east coast (i-95) vs flying

[andrea9873]

We'll be driving to the World this July from Maryland (Baltimore area) in a V8 SUV, from WDW we'll be taking a detour for a day to Busch Gardens, Tampa and then driving to Vero Beach and then back home to Maryland. Does anyone know of an estimated gas calculator planner where we can compare if its worth driving vs. flying 4 passengers and renting a car for over 13 days? total miles according to mapquest is about 1200 miles altogether.

[Cindernaenae]

Well, if you use the .385 per mile that last I knew was the standard for per mile reiumbursement would that give you an idea?

.385 x 1200

and add the cost of your rental.

Don't forget the added time of driving. Your time is an opportunity cost. (So tired of studying for my econ test this week!!)

[dcfromva]

Hmmm. Here's a couple of links to the I95 exit information guide:

i95 home page (http://www.usastar.com/i95/homepage.htm)

Here is a link to the I95 Exit mileage information guide (http://www.usastar.com/i95/mileage.htm)


Good luck with your decision...

-DC :ears:

[uscwest]

Andrea, for starters I'm not sure how Mapquest came up with only 1200 miles total for all of that driving. We drive to FL reqularly from NO. VA which is about 75 miles from Baltimore. Most of the time we stop in No. FL before driving on to Orlando but it is over 700 miles from our house to Lake City, FL. It normally takes us about 11 hours. If you were to continue straight down I-95 to I-4 and on to Orlando figure on another 2 1/2 - 3 hours and 200+ miles. Then it is about 75 miles from Orlando to Tampa. Not sure how far it is to Vero Beach from there. So I would be willing to venture that your total trip would be about 2000 miles. Unless you can find REALLY cheap airfare, figure that flying from Baltimore to Orlando will cost you at least $500.00. Then two weeks of rental car + gas for the rental car will probably run you another $300 at least. I have an SUV with an 8 cyliner engine that I drove from BWI to FL and back to our home in VA last summer but I put a lot more than 2000 miles on during the course of my trip because I also made the round trip from Lake City to Orlando plus some other side trips. On the road I averaged over 18 MPG and gas was running over $2.00/gallon then except in Georgia. Georgia consistently has the cheapest gas on the east coast.

[andrea9873]

So I would be willing to venture that your total trip would be about 2000 miles.

I was wayyyy off! You hit it on the button, USCWest!!!! I just totaled up the estimate again, 2170 estimated mileage...

Thanks for the links DC...

That includes mileage door-to-door from
- Forest Hill, MD (north of Baltimore) to Wilderness Lodge : 950 miles (est 15 hrs 30 min)
- WL to Tampa 75 miles (1 hr 20 min)
- Tampa to VB 150 miles (3 hrs)
- VB to Forest Hill, MD 995 miles (16 hours)

If I use Cindernaenae's .385 per mile rate...we are looking at close to $850. (OMG....on GAS??!!!)

I've been able to find pretty good airfare both previous trips but they were in early spring! Under $600 for all 4 of us flying out of Norfolk/VaBeach (we recently moved from there) our rental was also under $250 for a week. there's almost a breakeven.

DH loves the idea of driving... :unsure:

I will have to build my case... :shrug:

[andrea9873]

Most of the time we stop in No. FL before driving on to Orlando but it is over 700 miles from our house to Lake City, FL.
If we drive, we would likely stay overnight in either southern GA or northern FL and continue on the next morning. Is Lake City right off of I-95?

Sorry for the annoying questions.

[Cindernaenae]

That figure I gave you is what companies were using as reimbursement. Supposedly to include gas, insurance, wear and tear on your vehicle.

I also knew a guy when we lived in Texas that would rent a car to make the drive to Iowa to visit his fiance's parents just he wasn't putting the extra miles on his vehicles.

[Josette]

It comes up with 1200 miles for me and i live in Pennsylvania!

We take my mom's honda and it gets good gas mileage. It's kind of hard to really get an acurate amount of gas being that gas prices are always fluctuating.

We also look for cheap gas. Some gas stations are right next to each other and compete and one has a lower prices than the normal one. :) Typically we drive until we're almost out of gas until we get to Georgia.

Not recommended.

We do take a short-cut too, we go into WV to avoid the Capital Beltway. We also take another one to avoid I-4 in Florida.

It takes me about 15 hours to get to Orlando, and on Mapquest it says 19.

The good things about driving is that you get to see a few different states
It's a little cheaper.
You don't need to worry about losing your luggage
You can pack as much as your car can hold.


Goodluck when you do drive down!

[uscwest]

If we drive, we would likely stay overnight in either southern GA or northern FL and continue on the next morning. Is Lake City right off of I-95?

Sorry for the annoying questions.No Lake City is west of Jacksonville at the intersection of I-10 and I-75. And your questions are not annoying, they make a lot of sense.

[Johnie]

If we drive, we would likely stay overnight in either southern GA or northern FL and continue on the next morning. Is Lake City right off of I-95?

Sorry for the annoying questions.


We always spend the night in Brunsick, GA. It's 3 hrs to WDW from there.

[JacksDad]

And you can bet on about three hours to Vero.
A little less depending on traffic.

[wdwgrandma]

It comes up with 1200 miles for me and i live in Pennsylvania!

Is that one way? We live in Woodbridge, VA, and it is over 800 miles from our front door to WDW - and that doesn't include going to Mom's in Lake City. So just driving to WDW and back, we'd have over 1600 miles round trip.

[Josette]

Just one way. Plus we go to Saint Cloud too, so that might change it a smudge. We don't stop anywhere on the way down except to get gas.

[dcfromva]

andrea9873,
We generally drive when we have a trip over 10 days in length or if the airfares are just too high. Lately, we have been flying a lot because we just haven't been able to fit in any more than 4 or 5 days at a time at WDW. :D

The advantages to driving is that you can stuff your car full of as much luggage as will comfortably fit in and your own pillow is easy to bring along. You can bring along snacks and water, if you like. You can leave when you like. If you get an extra day off or you just feel like starting off in the afternoon to leave on your trip, you can. If you are having a great time at WDW on your day of departure, you can stay until the parks close if you want to!
We like to visit National Parks, so on past visits we have incorporated stops along the coast at various Nat'l parks (http://data2.itc.nps.gov/parksearch/geosearch.cfm) on trips coming home from WDW. We also have taken a more inland route and made stops at Nat'l parks in Georgia and North and South Carolina. (I thought the Ocmulgee Earthlodge and Early Mississippian temple mounds near Macon, Georgia were especially interesting).
I don't usually have any patience to delay going to WDW, so we have always scheduled these side trips on our return home leg of our visit. But, these side trips have always made the trip home fun and interesting.
If you drive the old wear and tear issue on your car comes into play. If you have one incident on the road--let's say like just hitting a really big pothole and the tire and the wheel is ruined.... The cost of such a repair could make driving way more expensive. :(
About the only time that I really, really wished we had flown was during a couple of Christmas/New Years time frames. I-95 was just so jammed packed the whole way. And, there were lots of places where there was stop and go traffic just because of the traffic volume. (And one of those times, DH decided he wanted to drive all the way through because in the early morning hours, the traffic started to let up ... I believe it took us 13 hrs and 15 mins to get to Springfield VA)

-DC :ears:

[Josette]

Augh! 13 hours!? Eeesssh!

The good thing about it, is I95 doesn't have too many potholes. :) Most of them are in Georgia, where it's road cones galore. :D

[dcfromva]

I recently stumbled across this AAA Trip Gas Price web site (http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/TripGasPrice.aspx) which takes into consideration your make/model of car and current gas prices...

(It is fun to use... :D )

-DC :ears:

[Cindernaenae]

Cool website. Too bad it doesn't go by zip code. The closest city it lists is 3 hours from me.

[Dopey77]

I'll actually be driving down the coast this trip myself. We are leaving tomorrow and will be back next Sat. As soon as I get back, I'll post a note about the drive and how long and gas, etc. I will tell you that to get from Jersey (we're up north) to Virginia Beach (by using rts. 13 & 1) it takes us only 1 tank of gas in an SUV.

[Sweet_girl99]

every take a train? if you have kids they might like it. it might be the same price to drive down.

[MY KIDS MOM X3]

The AAA calculator is good. We've driven from Richmond, VA 5 times (all in some kind of minivan) and average about $150 in fuel costs, round trip. The calculator estimated $163. It takes us about 12 1/2 hours, but with 3 small kids we take more breaks than necessary.

We're considering flying this June, but the thought of spending $900-$1200 on airfare makes me ill. I keep thinking about where I could spend that money at WDW.

[victorlowe]

It used to be the very general rule of thumb that one person could fly more cheaply than driving, two people.. it was about the same cost, and three or more... driving was cheaper. But I am sure that is outdated now.

I think seeing the countryside is an adventure in itself. The US is a beautiful country. "See the USA in your Chevrolet" was the theme song of the Dinah Shore Chevy Show, a 50's variety show.