We just returned from a trip to Florida for our kids spring break from school a couple of weeks ago and now that I have finally unpacked the suitcases (two weeks to unpack is okay, right), I took some time to go over the credit card bills and our spending to see if spending four days in the car vs. flying (a short 2.5 hour flight each way) was really a financial savings and I was shocked that we didn't save much money at all. Not to mention the time we spent driving was wasted time we could of spent on vacation or doing anything else other then sitting and staring out a window.
We visited Steve's Dad in Naples and tickets usually cost us around $1,000 - $1,400 for four tickets roundtrip from JFK. Plus we would have to figure in a car rental which I usually get a good deal on priceline.com or hotwire.com for about $200 - $300/week, plus parking at the airport which is about $100/week. With that said the low cost of all that would be $1,300 and the high cost would be $1,800. After adding up our expenses for gas, tolls, hotels, and food for our 4 days of driving we spent $1,150.
Therefore our savings for driving vs. flying were between $150 - $650 for the week. The drive itself really wasn't that bad, the kids were great and we made it there and back safely, however, for the cost difference I just don't think it was worth the time we gave up and don't see us doing it again anytime soon. I would much rather spend those four days sitting on a beach then in my car. I am not really sure what the savings would have to be for me to justify the drive again, perhaps if we had a couple of weeks to spend in Florida it would of made the drive not seem as though it took up so much of our vacation, but next time I'll see you 30,000 feet up!
We did however have a great trip. We visited Naples and spent a lot of time just relaxing. Tyler thoroughly enjoyed the hot tub and Juliana loved all of the extended family time. We went to the beach, the pool, and the best day was our trip to the Everglades. We took an airboat tour of the Everglades and everyone had a blast. Juliana said it was one of the most fun things she has ever done.
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After Naples we stopped in Orlando on our way home for a couple of nights. We decided to spend the day at Disney's Animal Kingdom. We've been to all the other parks many times and had never visited Animal Kingdom. It was a smaller park and didn't necessarily have the "Disney" feel the others had. We did have an enjoyable day, although I don't think we will be in a hurry to return to this park. The safari was really great and we got to see some really cool animals.
Overall it was a great trip, I just don't think we will be driving again anytime soon...
We visited Steve's Dad in Naples and tickets usually cost us around $1,000 - $1,400 for four tickets roundtrip from JFK. Plus we would have to figure in a car rental which I usually get a good deal on priceline.com or hotwire.com for about $200 - $300/week, plus parking at the airport which is about $100/week. With that said the low cost of all that would be $1,300 and the high cost would be $1,800. After adding up our expenses for gas, tolls, hotels, and food for our 4 days of driving we spent $1,150.
Therefore our savings for driving vs. flying were between $150 - $650 for the week. The drive itself really wasn't that bad, the kids were great and we made it there and back safely, however, for the cost difference I just don't think it was worth the time we gave up and don't see us doing it again anytime soon. I would much rather spend those four days sitting on a beach then in my car. I am not really sure what the savings would have to be for me to justify the drive again, perhaps if we had a couple of weeks to spend in Florida it would of made the drive not seem as though it took up so much of our vacation, but next time I'll see you 30,000 feet up!
We did however have a great trip. We visited Naples and spent a lot of time just relaxing. Tyler thoroughly enjoyed the hot tub and Juliana loved all of the extended family time. We went to the beach, the pool, and the best day was our trip to the Everglades. We took an airboat tour of the Everglades and everyone had a blast. Juliana said it was one of the most fun things she has ever done.
Steve's family and I:
The kids and Papa:
Speedys Airboat Tours:
Handstands in the park:
Florida Gator (eek):
Ty with neighbor dog Sophie:
Juliana and Sophie:
Day at the beach:
Thumbs up for the airboats:
Handstands at Papas:
After Naples we stopped in Orlando on our way home for a couple of nights. We decided to spend the day at Disney's Animal Kingdom. We've been to all the other parks many times and had never visited Animal Kingdom. It was a smaller park and didn't necessarily have the "Disney" feel the others had. We did have an enjoyable day, although I don't think we will be in a hurry to return to this park. The safari was really great and we got to see some really cool animals.
Overall it was a great trip, I just don't think we will be driving again anytime soon...
