4-hour flight with 3 kids - help!

[mermaidwannabe]

Planjoy1 - thanks for the heads up. I checked out the InMotion Pictures and it looks great but I wouldn't have time to get it at SLC airport and they don't have the service available in Bozeman. I may do it for the way home though! That's a MUCH better option than buying one for the trip! THanks!

 

[tiggerfied]

In Motion is the best service ever- but bring your own DVD's - their selection is limited.

I will usually go out and buy a pretty big selection of cheap, small toys or craft items and hide them in my bag until the plane is in the air - just the newness of them keeps them busy for a little bit. Colorforms work great on the airplane window for the window seat. Silly putty is fun. Beware things like Polly Pockets with little pieces where they can easily slide off the tray tables, onto the floor and and the rest of the flight is spent searching for them!

 

[buzz for boys]

Hi,
i would just like to say htat I got loads of advice on how to entertain my three boys on a 10 hr flight to Orlando and spent a fortune on all the things which had been suggested only to find that their little suitcases were only opened to get crayons and paper. In fact we have returned with a lot of things still in their wrappers.
I was so worried about my 2 yr old before we went but after a hectic morning he slept for most of the time on the plane and that is really not like him to take a nap!! In fact on ourr plane there was not one child who ried for more than a few minutes and that was usually because they were getting tired.My best piece of advice is dont fret too much you will be amazed how quickly the flight goes ( And if I can say that about a ten hr flight yours will be a doddle!) and how much the kids love looking out the window and people watching! My four yr old spent a long time staring at others in our cabin when we got off he had formed opinions on the people he had been watching. I would ssay try and stay relaxed and your kids will too!!
Hope that helps XXX

 

[mermaidwannabe]

Thanks for the good advice. And to those who were worried (including myself) about my 30 minutes between flights, I had a nice surprise yesterday from Delta; apparently they changed my earlier flight so now I"ll have 90 minutes in Salt Lake. Hmm...now that I think of it, I'd have time to rent the DVD player now.

 

[ducklite]

I dont even think youre going to have time for that. For instance, NO plane ever lands "on time" it may be 5 or 10 minutes later. (could be early too...) And it may take about 5 or 10 minutes to get off the first plane. That being said, you may only have 10 minutes to get from the first gate all the way to the second gate and board the second plane.

As an FYI, the past half dozen flights I've been on have landed EARLY!


I was on one last week that took off half an hour late and landed ten minutes early. Talk about peddle to the metal!

Anne

 

[mermaidwannabe]

Oh, and to the person who took their kids on a 10-hour flight, you are VERY brave!! And you have wonderful children to behave on a flight that long. We were contemplating going to Hawaii in a few years (IF the Disney bug doesn't bite us) and I was unsure since it's 6 hours from LA to Honolulu but maybe I'd be inclined to try it from everyone's advice. I have a feeling everyone's going to want to go back to DW though...that's just what I've heard happens!

 

[ducklite]

Make sure any DVD players and Gameboys have headphones.

I was on a flight alst week that the FA made the family behond me stop using the DVD player as they had no headphones. The Game Boy was still allowed, with NO volume.

Anne

 

[newtowdw1]

I have a 18mo, 6yo, 10yo, and 13yo. They all like to listen to music and "books on tape" from a CD player.

I got my kids audio files from itunes.com ... DS4 got Peter Pan and DD8 got the Rescuers. MANY disney titles for about 5 dollars. The stories ranged from 30 to 60 minutes. They're very enjoyable. The movie characters' dialogue pieced together by a narrator. They had Mary Poppins, oh geez, I don't remember what all.

DS4 loves his so much we've hidden it for awhile. We listened to it 3 days straight, every time we were in the van!

We're driving down in August and I'm going to download a couple more for Easter baskets. The van has headphone jacks by each seat and DD8 got a CD player and headphones (Hello kitty!) for Christmas. Old Santa must've known we were going to Disney?

 

[mermaidwannabe]

I've never heard of itunes.com. I'm going to check it out. Thanks.

 

[quiltymom]

I've done many 5-hour cross-country flights solo with my kids (now 4 & 6), so I've got this down to a science. But when my DH does fly with us, I feel like I'm on vacation!!! Some of these things are duplicates of what others have posted. They use their own Disney rolling suitcases, which means that I don't have to carry a thing. Whew!

1. Video Now (we're not fans of gameboys)
2. Crayola Color Wonder, both the plain sheets and "coloring book" pages
3. new books (one for each child)
4. one suprise toy for each kid (see #11 for ideas)
5. snacks (applesauce tubs, cheese sticks, gogurt, juice boxes, fruit snacks, etc., and PLENTY of napkins!)
6. plain pad of paper and pencils (have them draw pictures for the flight attendants -- they love it!)
7. hand held games, like Connect Four, that you can get at Target
8. blankie, teddy and pooh bear (security toys!)
9. card games (go fish, old maid, etc.)
10. mini magic drawing board or etch-a-sketch
11. small toys like My Little Pony, Rescue Heroes

Everything's relatively small, so you can pack a lot without taking up much space. I've also realized that if I bring too much, they don't play with everything.

Here's a great tip if you're traveling with a child (or spouse!). Have the flight attendant fill an empty water bottle with stir sticks. I had an attendant do this for my extrememly fussy DD once and not only did it immediately quiet her down, but it entertained her for hours!

Another thing I've brought in the past are those little battery operated vehicles that run on a puzzle track. You can usually get them at kisok stands at your mall. They are just the right size for the tray table, and they'll run forever! And you child can rearrange the track as many times as he or she likes.

Here's what I don't bring:
1. Play doh (not enough space to play with on the tray tables and is a bit messy)
2. anything with small parts, like Polly Pocket, Imaginex. Drop something once and you'll loose it!
3. ink pens, crayons or markers

I hope this helps!

P.S. we're leaving for WDW on Monday -- staying at the Wilderness Lodge! Yippee!!!!!!!

 

[mermaidwannabe]

Have fun next week! Thanks for the tips; I agree about taking too many things. The stir sticks in the bottle would entertain my DD2 - good idea!

 

[ducklite]

BTW--a great, quiet, smell free thing for kids on planes, those colored Chenille pipe cleaners. My neice made every Disney character, kept her amused for about 2 1/2 hours when she was 5!

Anne

 

[mermaidwannabe]

Ooh, pipe cleaners!!! Great idea - those are going on my list!