Washington DC hotel are cheaper on weekends
 

Visiting USA in July 2016 for vacations with family. Initially I had planned to visit DC from NJ on
July 11-13, but I have observed that DC hotels are more expensive about 25% on weekdays, therefore I am now thinking of going to Walt Disney Orlando from NJ on July 11-13 and then Miami from where I would fly to Buffalloo to visit Niagra and then have to be back to NY but before NY I will go to DC to July 23-25

In this way I will be visiting Walt Disney in weekday

My question is
1. Would this route be ok or I am taking it long and wrong
2. Visiting Walt Disney on weekday would be an advantage

Thanks

While it's true that DC hotels are typically cheaper on weekends when there are fewer business travelers, they are also cheaper in general in the summer, so I'm not sure it will make that much difference. But it's certainly wise to plan your trips when prices are less. What matters more in DC is whether Congress is in session or whether there are conventions. You may see big price variations by the week as well as between weekdays and weekends.

The weekday vs. weekend advantage at WDW isn't really true during the summer, when all U.S. kids are out of school.

This seems to be a LOT of flying around, which is generally expensive, but it's sometimes cheaper to fly to Florida from NYC (or in your case from EWR) than from DC, so I don't think your strategy is necessarily wrong. I would devise an itinerary that requires the fewest plane flights and the least amount of traveling time, which is sometimes more valuable on a vacation than actual money.

But I think you may discover that it's actually easier to go to Buffalo for Niagara Falls from Orlando or Fort Lauderdale (where JetBlue flies nonstop) than from EWR because JetBlue only flies to Buffalo from JFK and Boston in the northeast.

See if I understand: original plan was NJ-DC-WDW-MIA-BUF-NYC, and new plan is NJ-WDW-MIA-BUF-DC-NYC. So the number of segments is the same, it's just that now you're doing DC between BUF & NYC, instead of "on the way" to Florida. Since so much "air" travel time is spent getting to, through, and from the airport, whether the actual flight time is 1 hour or 2.5 hours is pretty irrelevant. So yes, I think doing DC between Buffalo & NYC is fine in terms of length. As Doug said, you may find certain city pairs are much cheaper than others, & I'd definitely try to fly every leg direct (and it's still a lot of flying). One other note, if you're doing downtown to downtown for DC to/from NY/NJ, you may find train is as fast door to door, and if booked well ahead, cheaper.

USROADMAN & Dough, your understanding of route is perfect.

Flying is only 2 times i.e
1. NJ OR NYC TO WDW
2. MIA - BUF

Other routes like BUF - DC and NYC - DC would be covered by train or by road.

Do u confirm that flying from NJ OR NYC TO ORLANDO would also come out cheaper rather than flying from DC to Orlando

thanks a lot

Could i have your guidance on how to travel the below route

Arrive Buffallo and stay at Niagara fall for 1 day

Travel to Adirondacks FOR 2-3 DAYS

From there i need to first visit Washington and then NYC, need recommendation on how to travel b/w these areas

So if I understand correctly, you are landing at EWR, renting a car and driving to Niagara Falls, where you will stay overnight. Since this trip takes about 9 hours of driving, you will probably want/need to stay 2 nights in Niagara Falls. Then it will be a five-hour drive to the Finger Lakes or Adirondacks, where you will tour for 2 or 3 days, and then back to EWR, where you will turn in your car. From there, I'd recommend taking Amtrak directly from the airport to DC. A bus is cheaper, but this will be a far easier trip because you won't have to come into Manhattan.

Amtrak tickets are cheaper when you purchase them more than 30 days in advance. You are given a 'reservation' but not an assigned seat. You can pay considerably more to travel by Acela express service. While the trains are more comfortable, they aren't that much faster, so it's generally not worth the cost in my opinion.

Hello Daug
Am arriving from Pakistan at NYC and going straight to NJ to meet a dear cousin and nephews. From there i plan to fly to Orlando and then maybe drive to Miami

From Miami i plan to fly to Buffalo. Not sure, but i guess i should reach max 12 in the afternoon and this should give me enough time to cover Niagara, stay there for 1 night and then move to Adirondacks

Renting a car from Niagara and leaving it at NYC, do u think it wouldnt cost me a lot

Also, what other options do i have to go to Adrnodrack and do i need a rented car there to enjoy or other possibilites can be explored. Kindly advise

Your idea of using the train service to DC seems good and i would love to sit in a bullet train service. Any available.

Thanks a ton

You'll certainly have a huge drop-off fee to rent in Buffalo and return the car in NYC. Until you price it, however, I could't begin to know what it might be. Usually it's about double.

You absolutely must have a car to visit the Adirondacks. While you can get there by bus, there's absolutely no public transportation anywhere.

We have no bullet trains in the US. It's a fast train, but nothing whatsoever like the bullet trains of Europe.

Yes you are right that the drop off free would be atleast double.

is it possible that i reach Adirondacks from Niagara by Bus and then rent a car in Adirondacks and then get back to NYC by bus/train

Sorry, but I couldn't begin to tell you that. It will not be easy, but it's probably possible, but I haven't any advice because it's not something I've ever done and would likely take double the length of time it would take to drive.

But I'm sure you could rent a car in a major tourist area like Lake George or Lake Placid. I'm just not sure how you'd get there. Perhaps you could take a bus or train to Syracuse and do a round-trip by car from there, then take the train or bus back to NYC.

While it is possible to get from Buffalo Airport to Niagara Falls without a car, it's difficult. I'd rent a car at the airport, drive to Niagara Falls, spend either a half day or day and a half at Niagara Falls, then drive back to Buffalo Airport, drop the car, and spend the night at an airport hotel that offers a free shuttle to both the airport & Amtrak train station (the Holiday Inn just east of the airport does, I'm sure there are others). The Buffalo-Depew Amtrak station is about 5km from the airport. The next morning take the hotel shuttle to the Amtrak station and take the train to Albany-Rensselaer. It's cheapest to buy tickets in advance at amtrak.com. I'd take the 7:41 train since it is most likely to be on time. It's about a 5-hour train ride to Rensselaer. There is an Enterprise Car Rental at the train station (enterprise.com to check prices & reserve). The Adirondacks are 2-4 hours from Albany-Resselaer, depending on where you are going. After your few days in the Adirondacks, return to Albany-Renssealer station, drop off the car, and take Amtrak to NYC. Trains leave every 2 hours or so for most of the day.

Sounds great

It seems that it would take me about 8-9 hours to reach Adirondacks with this combo of train + rent a car, would there be any significant decrease in time if i had straight away rented a car from Niagra and went to Adirondacks

I checked price on Amtrak for this leg and found that price remains same at USD50/- even for next week journey

Yes, driving from Niagara Falls (or Buffalo) will definitely be faster. How much faster depends on where in the Adirondacks you are going. You could probably get from Buffalo to Old Forge in about 4 hours. If you're headed to the Lake Placid area or further east, more like 6+ hours (plus any stops for eating, gas, etc.). But yes, driving the NYS Thruway (I-90) is almost always faster than the train. (By the way, the same variability is true for the drive from Albany-Rensselaer. The closest point in Adirondack Park is only about an hour from the station, but most places you'd be likely to visit are further, so that's why I globally said 2-4. Side note if you do end up with the train, sitting on the right side generally has the nicer views, especially between Albany & NYC.)

Hello asimm, from NY city to Washington DC: travel by bus (Greyhound, Bolt or Tripper bus) is cheaper than train, even though you cannot move around.
It seems that you cover lots of cities in the 25 days; remember that you travel with a 9-year old so it may be wise to schedule some down-days that just hang out the city. The fun part of travel is be able to watch the locals and hang out where the locals hang out. For ex, do you have families in Miami to visit? Otherwise, just visit Orlando in Florida.
I also post other suggestion from DC area in your other thread...

Thank you all for ur suggestions and advise

This is a first ever visit to USA and we travelling from a very far off country, though we do plan to visit USA again in about 2-3 years time, but that would be the WEST COAST. As per advise received from people , we have restricted ourselves to the East coast this time, but we need to cover the basic/popular cities

NYC is a must
DC shouldnt be missed as it is soo close
NJ a very close cousin and nephews live with which my daughter has spent many years
ORLANDO is a dream for my daughter because of Walt Disney
MIAMI need a include a beach and have heard so much in movies and all about Miami & being close to Orlando can be visited
NIAGRA FALL though many suggested against it, but someone coming from Asia will always want to visit it
Adriondack - is the one which i included for some relaxation, but maybe this can be skipped cuz of budget

We do travel once a year and my little one also do not want to have a lazy day out

Hahaha