 Captain Vaughan and vice-captain Flintoff fly out on Friday |
Vaughan is still expecting to play a full part in England's campaign, starting with the important 16 March match in St Lucia against New Zealand.
But he will not test his hamstring fully in Monday's first warm-up match.
Vaughan and the other 14 players in England's squad fly out to the Caribbean on Friday from Gatwick.
Vaughan told reporters at the airport: "The favourites for the tournament are hard to assess - any one of the top eight teams could win.
"The dark horses are probably us after how we played in Australia."
Vaughan has played in just three of England's last 35 one-day internationals, and barely played a part in the Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia.
With Flintoff as stand-in captain, England unexpectedly won that tournament, with two wins against New Zealand and three against Australia.
England have twice been World Cup finalists but have been far from their best in the last three tournaments.
Vaughan, whose first World Cup was under Nasser Hussain's captaincy in 2003, said: "Since 1992 we haven't performed in the World Cup.
"This is a great opportunity and a special moment - and there are not too many times in your career you can do something special.
"Hopefully we can get our momentum and confidence up in the next two weeks.
"Any team in the world are beatable on any given day - if you lose three or four players through injury it's going to have an effect on your game.
"We'd all like to write Australia off but I think they'll be a really competitive unit in the World Cup."
Vaughan said spinner Monty Panesar, the only specialist slow bowler named in England's squad, could be a man to watch in the Caribbean
The captain said: "He has been a revelation in the last year with his work ethic, skill levels and enthusiasm.
"I'm pleased with the way he has responded to the one-day situation, which is magnificent for a young player.
"He's justified his involvement and in the World Cup, where the wickets spin a little, he could be a real threat for us."
Vaughan also welcomed the return from injury of Kevin Pietersen, who cracked a rib during the one-day series in Australia.
"It is great to have Kevin back. He does add a great deal to our batting in the middle period," said Vaughan.
"He is our best one-day player and I am really looking forward to seeing him out in the Caribbean on what could be small grounds."
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