Flying Versus Train Versus Driving from Baltimore area

[MKwatercraftPilot]

We are thinking of switching it up for our next trip. We have always flown Southwest, but sick of the prices going up and up. 500 for all 4 of us roundtrip in 2014, up to 1200 for the 4 of us last month!! We don't care about having a car with us, even if we drove we would park it for most of the stay and not use it. We like being all about the 'bubble'. But we are getting sick of flying and the rising prices. I priced out the regular Amtrak, less than flying, but my big question is how does the comfort compare in the regular train seats, not a sleeping compartment? Particularly over 17 hours versus 2 hours. Can you actually sleep in the regular seats? It's 2 adults, 1 DS 16 and 1 DS 11. How bad really is driving? Be brutally honest please. And if we drove, we would stop overnight somewhere, so no straight through. Who has done 2 or 3 of the options (fly/train/drive) from Baltimore or near, and how do they compare? We would do annual pass, so no concerns about paying to park.

The first 6 or 7 or 8 hours of the drive will pass in a snap. You'll be very excited and having fun. After that it's like being in an elevator with 3 other people. Very boring, and you can't leave. Also hopefully your sons get along well.
The drive back will seem twice as long and twice as boring and you'll all be in a worse mood because vacation is over. Bursting the 'bubble' can be hard.
Driving has become a lot easier now than it was in the 80's or 90's with all the tech we have in cars, both for entertainment and to ease the task of driving, but it's still a very long way.
I do think it's worthwhile to calculate the cost as well, especially with staying the night somewhere. That's two additional nights in a hotel (assuming you also stop halfway through the drive home). The cost difference between flying and driving might be marginal.

$Flying
- Parking at the airport/cab to get there and back, unless you have really nice extended family or neighbors who will drive you
- Plane tickets.
- Luggage fees, if you switch to an airline other than southwest
- Airport snack? maybe a Starbucks drink?

$Driving:
- Wear & Tear on the car (probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-35 cents per mile),
- Gas cost, especially if you have a larger car that four people and their luggage would be comfortable in - A Tahoe costs more than twice as much to drive as a Prius,
https://www.gasbuddy.com/TripCostCalculator- Hotel Costs, ($100/night at least, unless you're really slumming it?)
- Food - breakfast lunch and dinner for 2 days each way, as opposed to maybe one airport snack - and you'll get real sick of chicken nuggets - but you can ease this a bit by packing a cooler, as long as nobody minds sitting with it in the back seat.
- Hotel parking - if you're staying at a Disney resort (and are not DVC members) you have to pay to park your car for the duration of your stay at the resort, even if you have AP's
- Tolls, maybe?
- Time: You'll either have to extend your trip at least an additional day on each end to account for the additional time taken to drive (which means extra days off) or you'll have to shorten your time in Orlando (which would help to offset the cost of the additional days in the hotels, but would have the negative effect of shortening your vacation) Granted, if you stay somewhere interesting and make it a part of your vacation, this could be fun, but when the overnight stay is just a break from driving, it's much less fun.

I can't speak to the train, as I've never done it, but when I priced out train vs/flight one time for a Disney trip the train cost more, and I would be on it for 24 hours (coming from Chicago) which honestly sounds like a nightmare.

Just worth thinking about!

 

[Leigh L]

I can't speak to the train, as I've never done it, but when I priced out train vs/flight one time for a Disney trip the train cost more, and I would be on it for 24 hours (coming from Chicago) which honestly sounds like a nightmare.

Just worth thinking about!

It is...lol.
I did a train from NY (about an hour north of the city was my starting point) to Chicago then onto Wisconsin by myself once with two kids - then aged 3 and 7. NEVER EVER again. Not even for free, lol.
You also have to factor in unexpected events with trains like any other mode of travel. In my case, on the way back to NY, the train stopped - somewhere in Ohio or the Southern Tier in NY - in the middle of the night for hours and significantly delayed our return home and I had to keep a 3-year old settled without the train moving for hours.

Although, now that the kids are older, anytime I have checked a train as a potential option, I too have found it's either just as expensive or cost the same to fly.

 

[beattyfamily]

I've gone to Disney all three ways.

Flying is by far the best, obviously.
Next best for us was driving.
Least favorite was train.

Train: I heard the pros and cons and thankfully I took the claim that it gets cold seriously and I packed the tiny blankets that expand. My girls used them!
It's nosy. You hear screaming, crying, snoring and other things as you are with these people for 24 hours. Hard to sleep.
It was 3 of us. So my daughters sat next to each other. I had to sit with a stranger who had the window seat. Awful.
We had no issues with the time frame of 24 hours or the ride itself. It was all the other stuff.

I vote for driving over train any day of the week.