Cancelled air and now driving this Thursday

[kel3420]

After hearing the news this morning and discussing it with my husband, it has now been decided that we are going to drive to Vero instead of flying. We initially were flying into Orlando Friday morning for one night before renting a car and driving to Vero for 7 nights. Now we are leaving on Thursday night and have cancelled our one night stay at OKW.

My oldest daughter has been extremely apprehensive about flying in the first place after 9/11 and as the date we are leaving gets closer and closer, she has become much more verbal about her apprehensions. I have tried calmly talking to her about this, and reassuring her things will be fine, flying is safe, etc., even thought I have had many of the many feelings.

After the incident this morning, I was very upset and could not imagine putting my family on an airplane. So for the first time we will be driving to Florida, something we are obviously not looking forward to, especially with three children, 14, 13 & 5 years old, lol. But to make it more fun, we have bought several DVD's for them to watch on a laptop, they are bringing personsal CD players and a gameboy, so it shouldn't be that bad, or so I am hoping.

I know that stats of driving vs. flying, but someones fears, whether rational or irrational are still fears, nevertheless. To hear ER personel or tow truck driver's give their opinions, great, we are all here to give our opinions. But for my family, right now, if we are going to go on this vacation at all, we are driving, period. It is just a comfort level I am not willing to risk. If you are comfortable putting your family on a plane right now, I wouldn't say anything to you, so please do not judge us that have chosen not to.

I am just so glad that we are still going at all.

 

[Disney-Kim]

I am behind your decision to drive 100%..
I am having same fears for flights next week.

 

[ellyn2000]

My kids have told me for the past week or so that their favorite part of going to WDW is the "road trip". They love it and so do I. We stop whenever we like and don't stick to a very strict time table when possible. We, too, take CD players, GameBoy, etc...and I found something new that the whole family likes. I've found some CD's/cassettes of comedians(sp) like Jeff Foxworthy, etc...and the kids love it. We listen to some of them over and over. Going to the library tomorrow to see if there are any there that I can check out. Might be a good idea with your age group. I just make sure they're clean comedy. I also have a "snack bag" for emergencies. I hope you have a wonderful trip. I wouldn't force my children to fly right now, either. You just have to do what's best for your family. 4 days and counting for us......

 

[Deb & Bill]

Pick up the Harry Potter books on tape. They are wonderful and will last about 8 hours for each book. We've already listened to Book 1 and I just bought Books 2 and 3 this morning at Barnes and Noble. They are on sale there right now.

 

[scanne]

We're driving down on 12/22 - 12/23. We're going from Philadelphia to Savannah, GA the first day, then finishing it up early the 23rd. I'm looking forward to it. I love driving. DH on the other hand, HAD been trying to convince me to fly. But after today I told him "good luck!"

I think it will be a nice way to get there. Besides you'll get to see a lot of our great country!!!!!!!

 

[eccflash]

at least your still going. enjoy

 

[*Fantasia*]

I'm sure your daughter feel relief when you decided you guys are driving down there. Just enjoy the car trip, enjoy the scenery, have a safe wonderful trip!!

I don't understand about statistics. More car accidents and less plane crash...BUT...much much more cars on the road than planes in the air.

 

[Ityldu]

It's so nice to see a post about deciding to drive and no one judging you. We aren't going until June, but if the situation is the same, we'll be doing some serious reconsidering also. I think it could be such a wonderful way to spend some family time. I would just hate losing all that Disney time since we couldn't add any extra days on. Decisions, decisions. I thank God this is the toughest thing in my life right now.

 

[KJMAX1]

All I wanted to say is, no matter what your reasoning is to not fly, thank you so much you are continuing on with your plans to go to WDW. Our country needs travel to pick up in a really bad way right now. I can understand your 14 yr olds fears at this point, and not being able to understand that crashes occur even when we thought we didnt have terrorists.

I hope our kids can become empowered through all of this instead of becoming afraid, and will be able to understand and put their fears into the proper place in order to productively move on.

Have a blast on the drive, I know some of my husband's and my favorite childhood memories are of car trips!

 

[amyhwang]

After all that has happened lately, we, too, decided to drive to wdw (we've always flown the other 9 times). I'm actually getting excited to go - at least the whole family will be together (it's me, dh, 2.5yo dd, and 4.5yo ds). And you can stop where you choose, etc... Getting a dvd player installed in the new minivan, and just planning on keeping them busy. Since we're staying in a villa (bw one bedroom) we can bring lots of groceries (mainly for the kids snacks and breakfast, I'm not cooking big meals or anything) and not deal with plane travel.
I agree with you - have a good time and know that you are doing what's right for your family!

 

[DiznEeyore]

We're right there with ya!

We cancelled flight plans on 9/14 and drove to WDW at that time. We really enjoyed it, and in fact are doing it again in 3 weeks. This time, though, we'll be going in our new conversion van - LOL! The videos are a lifesaver, as are frequent stops, if only to stretch your legs.

Enjoy your trip, and your uninterrupted family time! That was a wonderful side benefit for us!

 

[pooh6890]

Good for you and I am so glad you are going. We just got back from BWI and had a wonderful time.....Lots of security and the CM's we encountered were very happy and helpful. We always drive and look forward to our road trips wherever we go. Try this game.......Starting with Letter A....see how many Disney characters and movies you can name through the letter Z...It's hard but really fun. We also bring our favoriite CD's and sing all the way....Have a GREAT TIME!

 

[DisOrBust]

WE are right behind ya!!
Last year we flew, 1200 in airfare, 400 car rental, 120 for parking my car. It was a direct flight when we got home I thought 1800 and it still took 2 days away from our vacation. I tjust wasen't worth it. Besides I hated playing the airfare game, kind of like waiting for the AP rates,LOL.

Before 9/11 we bought a conversion van and planned on driving. After 9/11 I am so glad we did. There is no way you could get me to fly right now. I have flown many times, mostly international and was always amazed at how minimal US security is compared to other countries. It will take us a while to get security up to snuff. Until then I plan on still traveling just by car now.

 

[Sandyrella]

I so badly want to drive but I just found out last night that my airline tickets are non-refundable. If I cancel I will lose CAD $3000.00. I have cancellation insurance but I don't have a valid reason to use it.

I have a horrible irrational fear of flying and haven't flown in 12 years. I finally convinced myself that I could do it to bring my family to WDW for the first time and then September 11th happened. I thought that I could cancel with a penalty but that is not the case at all. I am penalized if I make changes but if I cancel I get credit with the airline for one year. That will not help at all since my fear will not go away.

I had our road trip all planned out and I was feeling so excited about doing it that way. Now I have a heavy heart thinking about our vacation. It's not supposed to be this way! I know the statistics but there is no rationalizing an irrational fear. I know I have to do this but the anxiety it is causing me may end up ruining our trip.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[YodasMom]

Just wondering how you have dealt with winter weather concerns when driving to WDW in the winter. I have ressies Dec 21-28, and really do not want to fly. I have flown 3-4 times per year until 9/11, but not ready to do it right now. I'v even thought about taking a train to the New Orleans area and then renting a car to cut rail costs. I'm just not sure what I am going to do. I drove down in October and enjoyed it, but the weather was very good. Driving alone in the winter is a concern.

 

[travelcoupons]

I'd just as soon not spend my whole vacation driving...I do that every day....just my opinion.

 

[Ityldu]

Sandyrella - I don't envy you. Flying is extremely difficult for many even before the tragedies. DH is also a horrible flier - He has two tricks that help a little. One, not that I'm promoting it, but for some it helps, taking a small drink before take off to calm the jitters. The other is one I saw in a movie and works for both of us. The worst part of a flight is the first and last 60 seconds. Just as the plane is about to lift off from the ground, and just again near the very end, we close our eyes very tight and slowly count to 60. I know it probably seems ridiculous, but it helps knowing that the midair part is something like 80% safer then taking off and landing, so there is only 2 minutes of really nerve wracking time.

You were strong enough to get this far, take the rest in baby steps. Try not to even think about the flight, just worry about PS's, must-sees and packing. Make sure you have a lot to do on the plane/airport to keep you occupied. The last thing you need is a lot of time to think. I know these are tiny coping skills, I wish I could come up with more. Just keep remembering how much it will mean to your family. It's amazing how powerful we can become when our families happiness is riding on it. I'm also afraid to fly right now, but if it meant the differnce between being in WDW and home, there's no doubt I'd find some way to overcome that fear. I'll be thinking about you. HAVE A GREAT TIME!

 

[robinb]

I'm glad to hear that you're still going.

I just flew back yesterday (Tuesday 11/13) and had 2 great flights. I was not personally afraid to fly even after 9/11 and I wasn't afraid to fly yesterday. The American flight that went down was a terrible accident, but just that. It doesn't happen every day and I expected and had no problems getting home.

Now, flying alone with a 2 year old ... that was very stressful! Then, my DH was 15 minutes late picking me up from the airport. He somehoe expected me to call him when my plane landed. I asked him if that be before picking all the toys off the floor of the plane or after wrestling the car seat down to the aisle or perhaps while chasing my DD through the airport since my gate-checked stroller was routed to baggage claim. *sigh*

 

[Sandyrella]

Thank-you so much for the words of encouragement. I really need all the help I can get. I guess I have to have some faith in the statistics.

It was such a relief for me when we decided to drive instead of fly but now I have to come to terms with the idea of getting on a plane again. I will do it because we have been saving for this trip for two years (Our Cdn $ really stinks!!) and I'm not ready to give up on delivering the magic to my 3 children. This is a surprise Christmas present for them.

Thanks again.
Sandy