Son Afraid to Fly

[boomersmom]

We would like to return to WDW this fall. However, my ten year son is afraid to fly. Driving is out of the question as we don't have enough time. Has anyone else had this problem? What did you do?

[all4fun]

I haven't dealt with this myself but here are a few sites that might help:

http://travelwithkids.about.com/cs/planetripstips/a/fearofflying.htm

http://www.childanxiety.net/News1.htm (scroll down a bit for this one)

http://www.guidetopsychology.com/fearfly.htm#7

hth!

[NotUrsula]

If you have a credit card with a limit that can take it, you can do a lengthly airport gate-area visit, which might help, as it will let him see a lot of other children happy and excited to be going on an airplane ride. Watch the planes safely landing and departing, eat at the airport, just generally make a day of it. Best to do it without any siblings along; that will make it more special and avoid the possibility of teasing.

As airports no longer allow people into the gate area without a ticket, the trick to getting to the gate area is to buy full-price, fully refundable tickets, do your time at the gate, then leave, go back to the counter and ask for a refund. (Obviously, you want to buy a ticket for a late flight and then go to the airport several hours before it departs, so that you can leave the airport and ask for a refund before the flight actually leaves. There is usually a bit of delay in getting your CC refunded, so you may have to float the balance for one month. If you do this, do be *absolutely* sure that the ticket you buy is fully refundable with no restrictions at all.)