Early Flights With Kids?

[mirlow]

I need to make a final decision on our flight times. I have the choice between a 6:30 am (arrives @ 9)flight or a flight for 11:55 am (arrives @2:30). I don't know if we go on the earlier flight if the kids (11,8,5) will be a mess in the afternoon? I'm hoping they would sleep on the flight down, but what I hope for and what actually happens could be two different things. If we take the later flight that cuts out a lot of park time and we had to take a day off of our stay already.
If we took the 6:30 flight do we really need to be at the airport two hours before the flight? I'm planning on paying the extra cost to park at the airport. We're flying out of PHL on a Friday.

Any input would be great.

 

[hsmamato2]

We always take an early flight, My kids have always gotten excited about 'darktime' leaving. This year we leave in January our plane takes off at 8,but we have an hour ride, so we have to get up at around 4 to be there in plenty of time. on the plane, DH and I rest,while the kids play gameboys and eat and chill out!
Our 1st day we take it easy, DTD, grocery store,swimming, early in room for rest, then we're ready for anything the next day!
We had almost the same choices, Dh figures an early flight equals less delay and potential hassles with schedule, and we get an extra day in Disney!

 

[Bob P]

It really all depends on your kids--you know them better than anyone here!

We have always taken early morning flights out of LGA (6:15AM), so we're used to leaving the house at 4:AM for a trip to WDW. We've been doing it since the kids were 8 and 5.

Our kids were always good sleepers on planes. But from our experiences, everyone goes strictly on adrenaline the first day! I think you'll be surprised at how much energy they have!

 

[rkandmjsmommy]

We also do Early flights, first time when DS was 19 months and DD was almost 5, and have done it 3 times since and will do the same This FRiDAY anyway, they RARELY sleep on the plane but do zonk out in the car and that seems to work well for them, we also fly out of Philly
good luck

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Another early flyer here! We take the 6:50am flight out of BWI every chance we get, even though we have to get up between 3:30 and 4am. I don't think any of sleep the night before anyhow...we're too excited...just like the old Disney commercial! You know your family best, but just know that it can be done and without meltdowns. Sometimes it's a matter of a nap the day before or getting to bed after supper. I realize that nobody goes to sleep right away but resting can be just as good. Good luck!

 

[SteveMouse]

The airport itself should be less crowed for the early AM flight, making it (somewhat) easier to track the kids. It may make life a little easier at MCO as well.

You didn't say whether you were staying on property and/or using DME. The reason this makes a difference is what you're going to do on arrival. A 9am arrival time should put you at your hotel (assuming DME) around 10:15. If you've used DME, your bags will be stored until your room is available (be sure to take necessary items in your carryon). If you've bought a package that includes theme park tickets, when you check in to the hotel, you'll receive your ticket/key card (you DO NOT have to wait until afternoon to check in). You should be able to be in a theme park by noon.

Depending on the weather and budget, it might be good to consider a water park (TL and BB alternate refurbs during the winter) or going over o DTD.

If you're using other transportation to get from MCO, most hotels will allow a courtesy check of your bags.

-steve

 

[nursetink]

I am taking the 5:40 am flight this Friday. We will have DD 4, DD 6, and DN5. My girls probably will not sleep on the plane since they are taking their cousin to Disney World for her 1st trip, but I much prefer being in Orlando early as opposed to late.

We may go to Downtown Disney or hang out by the pool, but that is all. Good luck with your decision.

 

[beccasmom]

Another thought is considering staying the night before at an airport hotel. The closest is the Marriott (also the most expensive, but very convenient), but the Holiday Inn is only about 3 miles away and you could use their shuttle. IMHO, you do need to be at PHL 2 hours before flight time, but at least you could all sleep a little later.

We personally love the early flights, but our kids are older now. It was a mixed bag when they were younger. With an early flight, there is less chance of delays (unless there is inclement weather). It is wonderful to be in WDW that early! Going to a water park is a great idea, too.

 

[dudspizza]

We love early flights, but we don't do parks on the first day. We take it slow and rest if needed. We swim, go to DTD, take a monorail ride and stay relaxed because we hit it hard the next day.

One thing we do is we use a Park and Fly Hotel near the airport (MSP). For $90 we can stay overnight (starting our vacation early), leave our car there and get dropped off by their shuttle. It is the only way to go for us with an early flight. The cost is about the same as parking at the airport.

Have a great trip!

Duds

 

[JFrey4240]

We always fly early. It's no problem because we are soooo excited that we're anxious to go. As soon as we get to our resort, we check in and head to the MK. We take a nap in the late afternoon and go back at night. Easier to do the first day than later in the week.

 

[mirlow]

Thanks everyone for your input. All of the times we have gone to WDW we never had an option for a 6:30 am flight until we moved out East. Now I'm happy because when we flew from Denver our first day was a bust because of the flight times and the time difference.
We're going to take the early flight. We have never flown out of PHL as a family, and I'd like to have our first run be when it's not so busy. We have a full day scheduled when we get to WDW, but my game plan is just like JFrey4240's plan to get in a nap that afternoon. Now here's hoping there is some pixie dust and our room will be ready before 3:00.

 

[goofyforlife]

We used to do the early flight thing.......

Our rooms were never ready and we were either stuck with our bags or had to leave them with the hotel... (sorry, i don't like my bags away from us any more than they need to be)

With Philly, i would say yes you should be there 2hrs early..... I know that SWA has even changed their late baggage check-in time to 45 minutes prior to flight in the busier cities (BWI included)... Philly luggage handlers are pretty bad.... I wouldn't risk it...

so that's 4:30 to get there... Depending on where you live in Philly...It could take you 30-45 minutes so that's 4'ish. Allowing time to wake up and last minute checks you would have to be up at 2:30 -3:00 am.

We've found we are a lot less grumpy taking a flight around 10-12 am. (and can actually make it through the first day.)

 

[TyGuy]

I did a lot of traveling out of PHL and for a 6:30 flight I have always been ok with arriving at the airport 1 1/2 hours before the flight instead of the 2 hours. However, that was mostly when I was flying by myself, had done the online check in and only had a carry on. I also either parked in the garage or had a towncar drop me off.

With Kids, luggage, etc, I would play it safe and get there 2 hours early. One of the things I will miss this trip is the US Airways Club. I was a member and it was a nice place to hang out a wait for you flight rather then at the gate. The kids always thought it was part of the Disney magic as well. Since I don't travel as much I dropped my membership... but I think they might have a frequent flyer special to use the club for a day.

 

[jpmom]

We are doing an early flight out of OHare this December. Not sure what time of year you are going, but if it is during the winter, I would definitely opt for the early flight. If weather becomes an issue as the day goes on, the first flights will be on their way and the rest of the day's flights will be delayed. We are booking a "just in case" night at the airport Marriott the night before. We will be watching the weather and if need be, we stay at the hotel so we can be right there. Most hotels have a cancellation policy up until 6:00pm on the day of arrival, so we can't lose either way.
Good luck!

 

[mirlow]

I just wanted to comment on how our early flight went. I really liked taking that 6:30 am flight. All week long I put the kids to bed a little earlier each night. It was frustrating the night before because they were too excited to go to sleep so we laid down with them and they finally crashed.
We left our house about 4:15 and one thing we weren't expecting was an accident on the highway! I started to freak out because traffic was at a standstill. We could eventually get off and take back roads. One thing I was surprised at was how busy the airport was at that time.
This was our first time flying SW and the kiosk line was fast. We met my dh out at the gate. Our flight was full and they asked people if they wanted to be bumped, but we all got our seats and it was a great flight.
Remember how I was hoping for a little pixie dust getting our room early. We'll that didn't happen and that last hour before we got the room at 2:20 was tiring since we were at Epcot and ready for a nap.
We had a very full day because we met up with some friends and had dinner at HDD and went back to Epcot. A nap will do wonders!
For now on I will always try to get the first flight out

Thanks for all of your input

We even took the last flight (8:30) home and that was great.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I prefer early flights because you have much less chance of being delayed.

 

[NotUrsula]

It doesn't surprise me that you found the airport busy. Depending on the day of the week, airports can be quite crowded first thing in the morning, especially the SWA gates. Where I live, SWA runs flights once an hour to two cities that are 5 hrs. away by car, and there are quite a few business travelers who commute by air to them. On Monday morning, the line at security peaks at about 5:50 am; full of folks heading for the departures between 6:15 and 7 am. After about 6:45, there is a lull until it gets crowded again at around 9 am.

DH is one of those business travellers who does day trips on SWA. His usual drill is to take the 6:50 am departure and return about 10 hours later, just in time to eat supper at home. He is always a little wary of doing really early flights with the family on a weekday, because the security line (and the planes) tend to be so full of impatient business travelers at that hour. Still, it's great to arrive at MCO well before lunch, and save the cost of that extra hotel night.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

For future reference taking the last flight out of southern airports going up the east coast can be playing with lightning. Thunderstorms are possible about 3/4 of the year in Atlanta and I'd imagine year round in Florida just less so in the colder months. On top of that most of the east coast can have freak thunderstorms any time of the year.

The one time I had a flight cancelled on me was when I was flying from LGA to Charleston in early April. A rather vicious storm had popped up in NY...something that I might have planned for in late May but not early April. I wound up having to rent a car and go home so I could catch the first flight out the next day...and I wasn't on the last flight out. Otherwise I've had enough delays flying in and out of Atlanta and Orlando to learn to go with an earlier flight. I now will go with an afternoon flight so that I have a solid shot of making it home that day (no longer flying to Orlando however). My friends use the same plan and still they experienced delays lasting hours flying from MCO to EWR a couple of weeks ago.