Earlier Arrival or Nonstop?

[firkat]

Hello. I would like your opinion, please. Would you travel on a nonstop flight that would leave at 4:15 pm and arrive at MCO at 5:30 pm OR would you take a 9 a.m. flight with one brief stop in Atlanta with arrival at MCO at 12:30 pm???

It will be me, DH, DD15, DS9 and DS18months. Our trip is for 9 nights. Thanks!

 

[Amps]

Oh geeze, get there as early as possible! If you get there at 12:30 you'll have enough time to eat, take a nap, hit the parks for a few hours and have a nice dinner. If you get there past 4pm, you can maybe get dinner in but not much else.

 

[TheMummyQueen]

Oh geeze, get there as early as possible! If you get there at 12:30 you'll have enough time to eat, take a nap, hit the parks for a few hours and have a nice dinner. If you get there past 4pm, you can maybe get dinner in but not much else.

I would definitely suffer the layover in order to get to the parks earlier

I want to enjoy at least part of my day enjoying the parks before I spend the night there

I have learned one thing from lurking here for awhile is that the experts always say take the earliest flight possible. You have the least chance of things go wrong.

 

[BostonTink85]

I'd do the earlier flight also. If you're already taking the kids out of school what is one more day. Plus it's nice to have a whole afternoon for the first day and relax if you want before a nice dinner and maybe a park at night. Might as well get your money's worth

 

[snowbunny]

Guess I am in the minority but I would take the nonstop flight every time.

 

[Tumblwd501]

I think I may be with Snowbunny here. But I think it really depends on how your DS18months copes with flying? If you've flown with him before and he didn't have any issues, then by all means get there early! hehe But if you have to switch planes at your layover that could be a hassle. Or even the layover might just be more opportunity for him to get fussy. I know when we flew with my DS3 when he was around your son's age, I just wanted to get there as fast as possible! lol

 

[gigi1313]

traveling w/a small child in diapers, if the non-stop were a long flight, i'd take the layover! but since your non-stop is just over an hour, i'd go for that... esp 'cause you have nine days... use the first evening to get to know your resort, play in the pool, etc... get to bed early and hit the ground running the next morning... w/the earlier flight you might be tempted to do too much the first day and be lagging by day three...

 

[MycatlovesEeyore]

One thing I have not seen addressed yet is the fact that you would have a layover in Atlanta. Atlanta is technically the busiest airport in the US. Delays are frequent and inconvenient. If your flight is delayed taking off from your home airport or you delayed in the air because of weather you could miss your connection which cascades into all different kinds of problems. You could even end up not getting to Orlando until the same time as the direct flight, depending on which airline you are using and how many flights they have.

Plus you have to worry about herding your clan through the connecting airport. I have travelled often with infants and they will always slow you down immensley. It creates a lot of stress in trying to make connections with short layovers.

I personally do not trust the timliness associated with Atlanta's airport and would vote for the non-stop flight. I might even consider leaving a day earlier on the non-stop and staying at a cheaper hotel/resort that 1st night, but that is just me.

 

[firkat]

Thank you all for your replies. We have never flown with DS18months or DS9, so I'm not at all sure how they will react. I really don't think adding another night is an option, since I think I have ratcheted up as much as I can already. hehehe . . .

I posted this same question on the "Family Board" and most vote for taking the nonstop because of the little one.

 

[salmoneous]

For a 9-day trip, I would gladly trade an extra few hours for the joys of a non-stop flight. The non-stop also avoids having to be at the airport so early.

 

[DonnaL]

I would also take the ns flight............especially with layover being Atlanta.
IMO there is no such thing as a "short layover" in ATL. I have horror stories about being the 26th plane (we counted them as we taxied by) on the runway waiting for clearance to take off.......already an hour behind our scheduled departure time!!!! I avoid that airport at all costs.......

 

[firkat]

Thanks Donna and all the other posters! Wow, I think that really made the decision for me . . . I really didn't think about that type of a delay and you are absolutely right, could happen, probably something like it will happen! I'm booking the nonstop. I appreciate all of your input so very much!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Guess I am in the minority but I would take the nonstop flight every time.

I'm with you. The last time I switched from a non-stop in order to arrive earlier, our 1st leg was delayed due to am fog. We missed our connecting flight and had to sit in Charlotte, NC for 2 more hrs for next flight to mco. We ended up arriving later than the non-stop plane.
Sleep late, let your kids spend half-day in school (technically they won't be marked absent) and catch the non-stop.
People who like the earliest flight of the day are often those w/o small kids. I used to be one of those!! Loved those 6 am flights when dh and I would be in the MK by 10am. Those days are long gone. Now I look for the method that is least stressful on my boys.

 

[Hoopfamily]

I had the same dilemma, and I decided getting in early is the way to go. Of course I have a 2 yr old and we are flying from syracuse so the flights a little longer, but I decided time at disney is better than time at home. 75 days left WHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!

 

[firkat]

I truly appreciate all the feedback. I booked the Delta nonstop both ways and don't regret it. I think we will appreciate the more relaxed approach anyway. 51 more days.

 

[beccasmom]

Non-stop flights are always my priority! We connected out of Charlotte in June and it was fine, but of course, planes can get delayed due to bad weather, etc. It's just easier and less stressful IMHO. We're spoiled in Philly; the vast majority of our flights to MCO are non-stop.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Non-stop was a great choice! I wish we had that option. There are no non-stops from our area (Ontario airport) to MCO. We would have to travel to LAX to do non-stop (we did this once) The trip to LAX alone, adds 3 hours to our travel time. We always arrive late (10 p.m. or so) since we come from California so we don't do anything the "first" day anyway. The only time we arrived early (6:30 a.m.!) was on direct Song flight from LAX. It was a red-eye and we will never do that again. My DD (then 5) only slept about 30 min of the 4.5 hr. flight. My mom and I slept about 15 min. The first thing we did when we checked in (yeah-our room was ready at 7:30 a.m.!) was take naps. We didn't get to the parks until about 2 p.m. that day and we felt the effects of the red-eye for several days.

Also, the only time we missed a flight was a connecting flight in Houston. Even though we ran through the airport (carrying my DD) we missed our final flight home. American Airlines had rescheduled us but didn't give us enough time to connect. This is why we will never fly American again (Their attitude about the whole thing sucked!)

If your lucky your youngest will sleep most of the time. If not, just bring plenty of things to keep them both occupied.

Have a great trip!