Trying to decide, Fly or Drive?

[TNIris]

Okay, here are my options.

 

Option 1: Drive from Nashville to Atlanta, fly from Atlanta to Miami, transfer to fly from Miami to Orlando. (Have to drive from Nashville to Atl to see grandparents, and have to transfer in Miami because we're flying on "buddy passes" on American.) Then we could take Disney's Magic Express bus to Disney resort on Friday, and use Disney transportation that weekend, but how to get from Disney Resort to Port Canaveral? (there are four of us). Looks like the cheapest would be to rent a car, but I think that would mean taking the Magic Express bus BACK to the airport Sunday morning, renting a car at MCO, driving to Port Canaveral car rental place, and letting them shuttle us to the port. Then doing the reverse when we return on the next Sunday morning.

 

Option 2: Drive from Nashville to Orlando/Port Canaveral with a 6'5 16 year old who will complain the entire way that he has no leg room, and a whiny 11 year old, and they will inevitably fight most of the way. :rolleyes:

 

Option 1 promises to cost about $300 more than option 2, and the only reason to do it would be to save hassle. But does option 1 really save hassle? Also, we would be flying stand-by....

 

Okay, so what other (cheap) options do we have from getting from Orlando to Port Canaveral?

 

I don't suppose there's some sort of shuttle from MCO to Port Canaveral?

[GTO-Girl]

Okay, here are my options.

 

Option 1: Drive from Nashville to Atlanta, fly from Atlanta to Miami, transfer to fly from Miami to Orlando. (Have to drive from Nashville to Atl to see grandparents, and have to transfer in Miami because we're flying on "buddy passes" on American.) Then we could take Disney's Magic Express bus to Disney resort on Friday, and use Disney transportation that weekend, but how to get from Disney Resort to Port Canaveral? (there are four of us). Looks like the cheapest would be to rent a car, but I think that would mean taking the Magic Express bus BACK to the airport Sunday morning, renting a car at MCO, driving to Port Canaveral car rental place, and letting them shuttle us to the port. Then doing the reverse when we return on the next Sunday morning.

 

Option 2: Drive from Nashville to Orlando/Port Canaveral with a 6'5 16 year old who will complain the entire way that he has no leg room, and a whiny 11 year old, and they will inevitably fight most of the way. :rolleyes:

 

Option 1 promises to cost about $300 more than option 2, and the only reason to do it would be to save hassle. But does option 1 really save hassle? Also, we would be flying stand-by....

 

Okay, so what other (cheap) options do we have from getting from Orlando to Port Canaveral?

 

I don't suppose there's some sort of shuttle from MCO to Port Canaveral?

 

Going from MCO to PC the easiest way may be the one-way car rental. They all have a free shuttle which will take you to the Port.....then just do the reverse coming back.

 

If you don't want to do that and preferred to be picked up check with one of these companies as they are the most popular and get the most positive comments:

 

Executive VIP Limo

Travelynx

Cocoa Beach Shuttle

[cruisegirl1]

try this site

http://www.befrugal.com/tools/fly-or-drive-calculator/

 

regarding your flying plans - they look really complicated to me. We drive 7-8 hours to Port Canaveral. We flew a few times and did not save much time in fact it took longer because of arriving at the airport early, connections and the dreaded flight delays. Then you have to check bags and worry that you will have no luggage for the cruise, or carry them on or make sure you have no large liquids and can fit everything is one case.

 

With all your flight arrangements and stand-by flying, I hope you are planning to arrive a day or so early.

 

Transportation from Orlando to Port Canaveral.

 

With 4 it is generally best to rent a car. (I'll assume you are flying in the day prior to the cruise. ) Rent a car at the Airport. Use if for the night in Cocoa beach. Return the car to the Cocoa Beach office and they will shuttle you for free to the ship. (most do - check with your car rental company) Do the reverse for the way back to the airport. Get off the ship, get a car and drive to the airport. If time is tight, take a shuttle, they are about $25. pp each way. We rent a car from Orlando to Cocoa beach, then when we get off the ship we take a shuttle service to the airport. There a generally just 2 of us. With 4, a rental is most economical.

 

 

 

good luck

M

[eandj]

With all the hoops to go thru for flying, I'd just make it a driving trip. If the kids complain, I'd certainly point out that they ARE getting a pretty nice vacation. :rolleyes: Take along all the technology that will keep them as happy as they can be. I don't see them being any happier in long airport lines, perhaps not making it on stand-by flights etc.

[jennmaybe]

 

regarding your flying plans - they look really complicated to me. We drive 7-8 hours to Port Canaveral. We flew a few times and did not save much time in fact it took longer because of arriving at the airport early, connections and the dreaded flight delays. Then you have to check bags and worry that you will have no luggage for the cruise, or carry them on or make sure you have no large liquids and can fit everything is one case.

 

 

 

Exactly why we drive from NC to PC. No way would I waste time trying to fly....drive to airport, arrive early, security, flight, connecting flight, arrive in MCO and rent a car or get a car service to PC. We can literally drive it during this time and save the hassle.

 

I also have a teen (daughter) and we just got back from a 2 week road trip out to the Grand Canyon. We had her help drive, which she loved, but when she wasn't driving, she was in the back either sleeping or listening to her Ipod.

[SuzanneH]

I would definitely drive. As stated by a previous poster, if you are flying standby you will want to make sure to give yourself a day or two to make sure you get there. Flights are running so very full I wouldn't trust that to be able to get to a cruise, but that's just me. Even after eight years of flying standby I am still more cautious than I probably need to be. And I feel your pain about the whining teenager-- my son is 6'4. I think just knowing you are guaranteed to get there and having a vehicle without needing to rent one is helpful as well. As far as travel time is there much difference? (Sorry if that was covered in an earlier post.)

[Clay Clayton]

Fwiw, you don't have to go from the world back to MCO to rent a car for the drive to PC. Several rental companies have outposts in Disney hotels and if you rent from them you save all the airport fees!

[OCruisers]

To us being able to take our time to DRIVE is a big luxury. Probably ends up costing more ... but we don't have to put up with the hassle of flying. ;)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[MommaBear55]

Option 2 worked the best for us to save money and the aggravation of the transitions. You don't say what time of year you are traveling but standby flights can be tough to come by and includes a lot of wait time.

 

We used to drive 24 hours straight through from Maine to Florida with 3 kids. A they became teenagers they helped with the driving. We taught them how to read maps and navigate. We'd do all the classic car games and learned about each state. We did the trips with Walkman and cassette tapes! No fancy iPods, iPods, iPhones! We had zero tolerance for whining or fighting. (Didn't prevent it all but it helped.) The kids got to take turns picking out meal stops. We also had lots of snacks on board and took frequent stretch breaks. Nothing is funnier than Chinese fire drills at 4 am in truck stop parking lots.

 

The reward? An amazing vacation at the end of the journey, precious time together and an appreciation for the greatness of our country and the always changing scenery.

[aria48]

Fwiw, you don't have to go from the world back to MCO to rent a car for the drive to PC. Several rental companies have outposts in Disney hotels and if you rent from them you save all the airport fees!

 

100% true.

Making a trip from WDW to the airport just to rent a car is an unnecessary waste of time. Rent a car either at your hotel on Disney property or take the Disney shuttle to the car car center to rent one. http://wdwcars.com is good place to start, they have list of most of the Disneyworld area car rental locations.

[Algebralovr]

I would drive this one. The hassles you'll have with all the changes you have planned make driving an easy choice.

 

Also, with flights the way they are these days, will you be able to all get on one flight? I would be really nervous about that!