Bought plane tickets last night! Hope we made the right decision.

[mad hatter fan]

We finally purchased our plane tickets for our Jan. trip. Being from MN, we don't get any of the really good priced flights. In order to get a resonable price for tickets for our family of 5 we aren't going to fly out of MSP until 9pm and arrive at LAX at 11pm California time. Our flight home is at a reasonable time in the afternoon. We will being staying that first night at a hotel very close to the airport that can pick us up with their shuttle.

Now I know this is by no means ideal. In fact we had a bad experience with flying home from WDW last Jan. late at night. (Two kids sound asleep and unwakeable plus carryons and one carseat to get off the plane) That time however was not by choice as our flight was very delayed and we had 3 exhausted kids after a park day. This time I figure it will work better since I will be prepared for it. The options for more reasonably timed flight would have cost over $400 more.

I hope we made the right choice. We are bringing a stroller for DS3 for at DL. We also have an older umbrula stroller in the garage that I have thought about bringing also in case of having the two younger kids both asleep when we arrive in CA. Then we could give it away or just chuck it the next day.

Anyone have any advice on taking a late flight like this with young kids? Thanks.

 

[csolson2003]

We flew with our 2 girls ages 7 and 22months in March. The flight home left at 8:45pm CA time and got in at 12:30am because of fog. Our kids were both tired after a day at the park and fell asleep on the plane. They both woke up at the airport and then went back to sleep when we got settled in our room. It really wasn't a big deal for us. Just try to take it easy the next day and they should be fine. Besides they will be way to excited about being at Disneyland. Have fun.

 

[mAlien13]

Wow, airfare is really out of control isn't it? We usually only fly if we are too far away to reasonably drive. We have flown cross country with young children though. In 2004 we flew into Orlando and were stuck there until 12:30am and didn't get to our hotel until 1:00am!! Cranky kids can make a hard situation even more challenging.

I would suggest explaining the situation to the kids before hand, telling them it will seem hard and boring but that it will be worth it for the fun they will have!! One thing we did when our kids were little and we had to leave late in the evening was have a movie afternoon...we would draw the blinds and cuddle up and watch movies. That way we didn't have to make the older one actually take a nap, but the younger one was likely to drift off. It also helped my DH and I recharge our batteries before we headed out. Also, bring along favorite comfort items from home if possible. For kids old enough, a diskman with soothing music is a very calming thing, although it may increase the likelyhood of dozing babes when you land.

Good luck!! I hope everything goes well and you have a great trip!!!

 

[abby]

It will be fine, just plan ahead, warn the kids what's in store, and have fun stuff in the carry ons for them to do. It is a good decision to stay close to the airport for the first night, given your late arrival, I would suggest not rushing the next morning, you will have a great time.