3 hr layover with children??

[camtheriot]

I booked my flights, and now I'm getting a little worried. Any thoughts on a 3 hr layover in Atlanta with 7 adults and 8 CHILDREN????? It's too late now to change, but maybe someone can tell me what things we can do in Atlanta to keep the kids busy?? We will probably eat lunch and then..... I don't know ?!



Thanks

 

[maxiesmom]

You will find that the 3 hours in Atlanta is over before you know it! One thing you can do is take the in airport subway to a different section of the airport for lunch. That would take up a good chunk of time.

 

[Karlzmom]

You have a terrific opportunity to NOT stress! With that many children, getting off the plane will take a bit of coordination, so I would simply wait to deplane last....will take a bit of time. You don't mention how old the kids are, so you can adjust to fit, but this will give you some ideas....Do your head count/buddy check, and then do a follow-the-leader style leg-stretch to the monitors to "check" for you next plane. Let the kids "find" it...should take a little bit more time than you seeing it. Continue the follow the leader-what do you see thing as you stroll to the area of the next flight, or the central hub, for your meal. Will you need a bathroom break on the way? Expect it will take a couple minutes to be seated and eat....linger...maybe a "treat" after lunch, either at the same place or to string it out a bit more, change locations. For a treat, I would either look for ice cream or something that takes a bit of time to eat OR I'd try the magazine store and let the kids [depending on ages] "pick their treasure"...give them $5 [or what fits the budget] and let them pick a treat...lots of options = time to make a decision. Regroup and "share" what each found [show n tell style, not literal]. Follow the leader to the next gate....is another bathroom break needed? Once at the gate, maybe have a story book of some sort to read aloud [little ones love story time] with their snacks....it will be time to board the plane again before you know it. If too old for the book [heck, I still like to be read to!], maybe disposable cameras and have them find something unique in the area around the gate....or a travel sized game like pictionary or other "group" game....IMO the key is NO RUSHING! Even if you "can" move fast, don't....it will help everyone stay relaxed. Good luck!

 

[camtheriot]

I think you are both right, it will be less stressful having 3 hrs. We can take our time. Thanks for the input

 

[RabFlmom]

The cleverest family I saw in the Atlanta airport one time. They went to the very end of the terminal where their flight would take off from. Not a whole lot of people are ever at the last gate and beyond. They brought a ball(kick ball type) and the kids and dad played catch . They stood in a circle and bothered no one as they got rid of some of their energy.

You probably won't leave from the same terminal you fly into. You go down a steep escalator to catch the tram to your terminal. I usually end up with time between flights so instead of taking the tram, walk to the terminal you need. This would be another area where you could actually get rid of some steam by letting them skip, walk backwards, hop, etc. because most people take the tram or ride on the moving walkway.

 

[pilotwife_02]

I agree that 3 hours in Atanta won't seem like that long. You can take your time getting off the plane instead of trying to rush off to make your connecting flight and getting to your gate and maybe have lunch who knows where your connecting flight will be.

Good luck!! I know how stressful connections are!

 

[bumbershoot]

Sounds like fun to me! Much more fun than a 45 minute layover in Atlanta.

 

[SingingMom]

...and then again, it may not end up being three hours.

I remember years ago our nonstop from Bahamas to Newark got changed to six hour layover in Miami. We ended up being so delayed getting out of the Bahamas, that we had just enough time to get a bite to eat and catch our connecting flight to Newark!

 

[taylor3297]

The Atlanta airport has many options for eating and shopping. There is a Chili's at Concourse A and a Ruby Tuesday at Concourse B and E. All of the Concourses have a variety of fast food type places almost like a food court.

Atlanta is an easy airport to get around so take time to explore.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

As others have mentioned 3 hours is nothing in a major airport like ATL (others are Chicago's O'Hare, LAX, etc.).

Depending on the time of day of your flight (mornings tend to have less delays), you may find yourself delayed getting in and possibly your outbound on time (Newark is notorious for this). Remember arrival time is touch down time, it can take a few to many, many minutes to taxi to the gate (I've sat on the tarmac waiting for "traffic" to clear for 20 minutes) and then another 10 - 15 minutes for you to deboard depending on the size of the plane.

I think you'll find ATL nice in terms of things to occupy your time with.

 

[kaytieeldr]

And your connecting flight will probably start boarding a half hour before scheduled departure.

Between taking time getting off the plane and getting ready to board (and then boarding) the next plane, really you're down to two hours - and that's if everything is on time

 

[camtheriot]

Thanks everyone. I think we will try enjoy ourselves while we are there. I appreciate everyone helping me feel better about the delay

 

[mrscoobs]

You can have the kids ride the train at down below all the terminals as you do not have to exit the secured area to go between all the different concourses and kids seem to like trams. Also the food court on E is one of the nicer food courts with lots of options and a player piano that they may enjoy watching "a ghost play the piano" as my niece put it. Also E concourse has some displays that show things that are not allowed to come through customs like rare wildlife objects and art made from business cards. Taking the time to go out to E and then back to another concourse to board your flight would eat up a lot of time. Main thing is just relax and the time will go by.

 

[dougsmom98]

We often have a layover that long on our trips. Time will go quicker than you think unless there is a delay. We get to our gate and find a spot where we can all sit together. We usually get a take out lunch and have a picnic in the terminal. My boys always have their Nintendo DS games. I always pack UNO cards and Yahtzee. My kids are 10,8,8, and 4 and they like doing Mad Libs. So, I do the writing and the reading and they fill in the blanks with the category of word. It can get pretty silly. We also always have crayons and coloring books. In between activities, we go for short walks. I always have candy packed and when people start getting cranky (including adults), I pull out the M&Ms or Starburst and it is a nice pick me up. About 40 minutes prior to our next flight, we always hit the restrooms because as others have mentioned, they can start boarding with 20-30 minutes prior to your flight time.

 

[Alexander]

The cleverest family I saw in the Atlanta airport one time. They went to the very end of the terminal where their flight would take off from. Not a whole lot of people are ever at the last gate and beyond. They brought a ball(kick ball type) and the kids and dad played catch . They stood in a circle and bothered no one as they got rid of some of their energy.

This could have been us! I have two boys who love sports, so sitting and reading a book isn't an option for them. Besides, they are so pumped up about going to WDW that they probably couldn't sit still if they wanted to. Besides, they will have just gotten off a 2.5 hour plane ride and need to move about.

We always bring a soft ball (not softball, but a ball that is soft!) to play catch with after we have a sit-down lunch--not McDonalds, but more like Chili's or Friday's which take a bit longer. We fly into Atlanta a lot and know where the areas are that have little to no people. We play catch, or the boys even play a little bit of soccer. We've met many people who come over to watch and smile. The kids are entertained and they burn up a bit of energy before the next flight.

We've also brought some of those self-propelled little cars (you pull them backwards and they go forward) and the kids like to sit on the floor and play with those (kind of catch-style).

You'll probably be grateful to have 3 hours in Atlanta with a group of 15. Bathroom breaks alone could eat up 15 minutes or more!

 

[brandylouwho]

Just agreeing with the previous posters. We had about a 3 hour layover in Atlanta this past December and it went by very quickly. We didn't rush off the plane, took a potty break, went to our next terminal, got a bite to eat,took another potty break and it was nearly time to board our next flight! I made a mental note that I want at least a 3 hr layover when connecting through Atlanta with kids (There were only 4 of us, 2 adults and 2 little kids). I had actually wished for a little more downtime-wanted to recharge my iPods for the 2nd flight.