For your first suggestion, I personally like it. Different route, different experience, similar result.
For your second paragraph, I think that's a little too idealistic. Mrs. Slitherss, soft side or not, is prone to injure, even take the lives of her students- just for getting wrong answers, no less- who is fanatically loyal to an unseen monarch, and deliberately lies.
Unless we get a new update that makes Mrs. Slitherss non-violent altogether, her becoming a friendly transport service seems an eerie change of pace. Better she stay a foe to fight; goodness knows after driving you out to the outer world she'd be angry to have you back having skipped on the field trip.