with the new travel warnings, is anyone afraid to fly??

[FloridaCat]

Please don’t change your plans. I can tell you as a Central Florida local, that post 9-11 caused every agency from state to the smallest community has upgraded, revised and trained for every contingency. The Theme Parks have taken any potential terrorist acts very serious and planned accordingly. 75% will not be apparent to you while at the park, but it is there. I have no doubt security is being stepped as we speak.
9-11 they took advantage of our way of life and blind sided us. Now that we are given warnings is a deterrent in itself.
No one can give a 100% guarantee, but it is a lot better the pre 9-11.

 

[DaveO]

It is natural to be apprehensive - I am flying in September. But we are safer than before 9/11. We are just more aware of the threats now. We are safer for these reasons:

1. Some pilots now can carry weapons
2. Secured cockpit doors
3. Increased carryon baggage screening
4. In major airports they use high tech bomb machines on ALL luggage. I know they do in MCO,BOS, and PVD.
5. Pilot training has changed. Before 9/11 the SOP was to allow the hijackers to take the plane to the destination they want and get the plane on the ground. Do not be confrontational. That has changed.
6. Lastly, if all these items failed ..... the 100 or so proud Americans on any flight would now all stand up and beat the living daylights out of the 6 or so highjackers. We now know it would be take them on or go down. I like the 100+ to 6 odds.

No we are not 100% safe but we are A LOT safer than pre 9/11 when we did not know better and were still innocent.

Have a safe and happy flight !

Dave O

Proud to be an American! Not Irish-American. Italian-American, Polish-American, African-American ..... just an AMERICAN !!!!

 

[rebelmom]

We fly out of Lambert early Sat am for our first ever trip to disney world. No threat is going to stop us now. As my husband keeps telling me we have just as good a chance to win the lottery as something happening to the flight. I agree with the other posters if we let them change our lives they win, so I refuse to let that happen. Disney here we come

 

[Selket]

Guess I'm still in the "too scared to fly" group. I wasn't thrilled about flying to begin with and this hasn't helped. We're driving to WDW - and we would anyway cause we aren't so far away that it seems too far. However I LOVE visiting Yosemite and would stash my fear and get on a plane to do that again (which I consider too far to drive). A co-worker, her husband and two young children died on the plane out of Dulles (that went into the Pentagon) and I have 2 kids around that age (and I live in the Washington, D.C. suburbs). I sat with one of my student workers on 9/11 and watched the towers fall on tv (his dad worked in one yet fortunately had not arrived - at the time we didn't know his status). My husband works downtown near the White House. I agree with the previous poster who said he liked the odds of 100 po'd passengers vs. 4-6 terrorists. I think most people feel like that. I like those odds too.

 

[Strings]

Yes, I'm nervous to fly. Will I do it? ABSOLUTELY! No way is some terrorist going to make me afraild to enjoy my life. Easy for me to say in July.(we don't leave until October) If all else fails, I'm headed to my doctor for something for nerves.

 

[beattyfamily]

I'm always a little nervous flying, and maybe now more alert, BUT I absolutely wouldn't stop flying or change my plans because of 9/11 or new threats.

I'm determine to continue my life the way I always do...flying to Disney at least once a year!!!

 

[Alice28]

Count me in the "no, not afraid to fly" group. Flying has never bothered me. I highly doubt the terrorists will attack this way again. We won't let them.

The only thing I am s-l-i-g-h-t-l-y nervous about regarding my upcoming flight------I'm flying alone from Oregon to Florida. 95% of me is giddy- my first flight in 4 years with NO kids! No stroller, no car seats, no diaper bags, no 8,000 toys and snacks, no crying kids/screaming kids/bored kids/tired kids, no dirty diapers on the plane and the oh-so-fun experience of changing a diaper on an airline seat.......ahh.....I will actually be able to read more than 1/2 page of a magazine in peace! I may even do the unthinkable and buy a BOOK! WOW! But 5% of me feels strange, flying all those thousands of miles, with no family sitting next to me. I am meeting Mom in Orlando---we thought about taking a flight home together, where we fly all the way to Phoenix together and then change planes (her to CA me to OR), but it would take away 2 hours of Disney cause the flights were earlier. Oh well!

 

[kdibattista]

Nope... if it's my time to go.... it's my time to go!! I refuse to let terrorism take hold of my life. We were actually in Disney during September 11th and flew back that Monday.

 

[kathy387]

I believe that when it's my time to go, I'm not going to have much say in the matter...it won't matter if I'm in the air, on the ground, or under the sea. We flew a month after 911 and I honestly have never felt safer than on that flight and normally I'm a litle nervous. I just decided that I'm not living my life with my head buried in the sand.

 

[JandT'smom]

Count me in the nervous group but still will go. On Sept 12 2001 we were to fly out of Chicago on an American Airlines flight. We ended up moving vacation ahead by 6 six days pulled ourselves togather and drove. We have flown round trips aleast 6 times since ans feel safe, but I will never forget our kids reaction the first time we flew after 9/11. It was Feb 2002 and when were started to take off the two oldest (12 and 10) started to cry they were so scared. I told them to just pray and be glad we are all togather. I am trying to keep the latest threats from them since we are going back to Disney in Nov.

 

[Virgo10]

I'm no more nervous now than I was before 9/11. I fly to WDW because it gets me there the fastest possible way.

I've flown 3 times since 9/11, once 2 weeks after it happened. That was the best flight I've ever had. The crew was wonderful (Delta) and talked to us a lot.

Heaven help anyone who tries anything on a plane where I'm a passenger. I'm going thru menopause and THEY think they're going to stand between me and Mickey?? I don't think so!

Roberta

 

[DrTomorrow]

No problem at all with flying. DW and I had tickets to Las Vegas on Sept 12, 2001 - we were going to meet a good friend and his new SO. We were at the airport at 9:00 AM 9/12/01, and waited until they informed us that all the flights were grounded. We tried each day until we flew out the following Saturday.

To quote Jimmy Buffet; "I'd rather die while I'm living than live when I'm dead."

 

[gumdrop]

No, we're not worried, but it is totally understandable if others are. I'm too excited for this trip to let anything stand in my way now!

 

[JeanGenie]

Originally, when we planned to go to Disney this year we were driving because I still hadn't been on a plane since before 9/11. We flew to Disney in August 2001, see the picture below. And at that time they allowed kids to go into the cockpit.

This picture was in the Orlando Sentinel with the caption "In a scene that could only predate Sept. 11, Allison & Stephanie pose in the cockpit pilot chairs as United Airlines Flight 181 undergoes a maintenance delay at Newark International Airport."

What a thrill this was for my children! But, something that won't happen anytime soon or ever again.

On 9/12/01, I was scheduled to fly from Newark, NJ to Denver on business on an American Airlines flight at 7AM. Obviously, that flight never took off. But just thinking about the timing of that flight, I started to fear flying.

I drove last year because I didn't want to fly. I was finally facing my fears and we're flying in 3 weeks. But I'm getting apprehension hearing the new reports. I keep thinking, we should have driven...


I'm not changing my plans, because like others have expressed I believe that our fate is in God's hands and if we change our plans, the terrorist are winning. We need to go on with our lives and enjoy it... life is too short!!!

Thanks for starting this thread... I'm glad to hear that others are feeling the same way.

 

[katrina1122]

Wasn't afraid after 9/11 either. I mean, I could be hit by a truck walking to my car, why should a chance, and even they are saying a slight chance, of a possible terroist attack of somewhere on the east coast, stop me from flying? That's just silly. Why live in fear? That's letting them win. I thought nothing of the warning and continue to do so. God forbid something does happen, well we all will deal with it. When it comes down to it, we all deal with tragedy every day. My dh just had a seizure related to a brain tumor he had removed 2 years ago, the seizure dislocated his shoulder, which led to surgergy which led to a drug allergy and rash. He's been in and out of the er3 times, and just spent 3 days in the hospital...all over a 3 week period. Before this my dad spent a month in the hospital having pancreatic cancer removed, to me these things are much more of a worry than some possible terroist threat!
Live life while you can enjoy it as you never know when something might happen to alter it as my life has just been altered for the last 2 months. I can't wait for our vacation for more reasons than I can describe and when they call our row to board the plane I'll be more than ready to get on and sit down with a smile on my face.

 

[vellamint]

Count me in as scared......more than scared if I allow myself to dwell on it....but I wont.

Course hubby doesnt help when he brings the subject up in front of our 11 year old!!! What was he thinking. He is NYPD and we are sitting VERY close to the cockpit there and back and he says no one on our plane will take control of it!!

I don't know if that makes me more or less nervous.....probably more....

but we are going to DISNEYWORLD!!! YEAH!!!!

 

[kilee]

We aren't flying until October. This will be my first flight ever along with DH's and DS's. As it is DH is getting a mild sedative prescribed, he's a wreck. If he hears these reports he may well not get on that plane.

We have drove twice in the last year from NY to Disney. I swore I wouldn't make that long drive again. I have to admit I was deathly afraid to get on a plane to begin with. In one brave moment I bought those tickets. I am now scared to death, and may end up driving anyway. I am sorry to let the terrorist win. But I had a fear and now it's just constantly compounding.

 

[harperwi]

While I personally applaud everyone for carrying on and even being defiant in their insistence that they will still fly, I can't help think that it doesn't necessarily mean "the terrorists win" if someone cancels (or more likely postpones) their trip to Disney.

If you don't feel comfortable going, for whatever reason, Disney World will still be there later. Go when you feel more comfortable. There's a difference between flying to Disney World to defy terrorists and flying to Disney World because you want to relax and get away from the stress of every day life. If your vacation is going to start out with something that is stessful for you, then I for one won't judge you for taking it another time.

I flew to Disney World at the end of September 2001, and I agree with others who said it was the safest I've ever felt while flying. I also personally felt like I wasn't letting them get to me. But would I have hung my head in shame if I had stayed home like the many MANY others who canceled in the fall of 2001? (I know they canceled, because the parks were wastelands!) Not at all.

The odds are against anything happening to your specific plane, and logically you can see that we're not as naive a country as we were back then. Logically it makes sense to go no matter what the news reports say.

But logic and emotions don't always play well together.

If your heart tells you to stay on the ground, I support that decision.

If your heart tells you to go and bravely defy anyone who might try that tactic again, I support that decision.

I, for one, am going to WDW in three weeks and two days. We're going by car, but not because of the news. If I were sitting here in fear today, I would have no problem postponing until Spring.

Heck, Philharmagic will be open then!

(/soapbox)

Have a magical time, whatever y'all decide to do!

 

[Pinnie]

I am flying in a few hours to MCO and will fly back home on Aug 10. I just flew this past weekend to Nashville.

I am not afraid to fly, but I am more alert and allow more time to get through security. Therefore the only thing that will change tomorrow is that I will plan on leaving a bit earlier for the airport than I did last week Thursday AND take my shoes off!

pin

 

[MinniMama]

a little nervous myself not thrilled about flying and this is dd first time and dh is not flying so I am scared with 3 kids to watch over but I will smile and look excited anyway!