Early or Late?

[NeverlandPixie]

Opinions and experiences, please ... when travelling with children, do you choose an early morning flight that gets you there earlier (but with tired children) or a flight that gets in later in the evening?

I have a choice of flying out really early (7 am, be at the airport for 4-5 am) and getting in around 2:30 or flying out mid-afternoon and getting there past 10 pm.

Which would you choose (single parent and child is 7)?

 

[grimley1968]

I'd probably try for the mid-afternoon flight, but do it the previous day, if possible, and then stay somewhere inexpensive the night you arrive after 10 PM (no need for staying onsite if you're not there before 10 PM). The next morning wake up and check in to the Disney resort ASAP, then head to the parks relatively fresh.

 

[NeverlandPixie]

Unfortunately, I tried that scenario and the price for airfare goes up by $200.

 

[bjscheel]

I'd probably go with the early flight. The child will be excited and perky early in the morning because they are going to WDW! Then maybe they can sleep on the plane and will be ready for the rest of the day, then make it an early night. Even once you land at MCO it can still be a long process to get to your hotel/resort. And if you plan on using ME, you don't want to have to try getting to an off-site hotel for the first night.

If you arrive past 10, the child has been up all day, and still has to get to the resort and get settled in. You will have luggage to deal with, and the child will be dragging.

At least that's what I'm seeing in my crystal ball!

 

[Mallow]

That's a tough call. We had an early flight last time (kids 6 & 3). I have to say this really did make them miserable & it even lasted into the next day. Even though they were excited to be at the parks it was obvious the schedule change made them a bit more tempermental throughout the first two days. Because of this we scheduled a 2:00 flight this time but we arrive @ 4:30. With such a late arrival for you it may still be worth it to take the earlier flight. Just like PP said it will still take time to get to resort & check in. If you do take the early flight, I would plan on doing nothing else that day (except for swim) & early to bed.

Good luck with which ever you decide. Have a great trip.

 

[Cruz91]

First - I love your signature. Very funny about being conceived at Disney!

Anyway - we've done both. We woke the kids up for one trip at 5 a.m. and just asked if they wanted to go to Disney - with no prior hint about it! The first 2 - 3 days of that trip were ROUGH because I think they were still trying to catch up on the sleep they missed. The other times, we took later flights and got in later and that worked well for us. I stayed at the condo while wife went to the grocery store, we were all well rested and ready to go to the park 1st thing the next morning.

One other thought... If your flight out is that early, do you really need to be at the airport that much in advance?

 

[disneyag]

One benefit of early flights is that as air traffic delays build through the day, you have less of a chance of delay, or, if you do get delayed, there's a better chance you'll make it to your destination the same day rather than the next day.

 

[JEAhrtWDW]

I would get there early and plan an easy first day, but a schedule adjustment shouldn't be too tough on a 7 yr old.

 

[ChrisandDon'sMommy]

I'm going for an early flight. Hopefully, they'll sleep sometime on board (We have a connecting flight). We aren't planning to do anything once we get to our resort anyway.

 

[NeverlandPixie]

First - I love your signature. Very funny about being conceived at Disney!

One other thought... If your flight out is that early, do you really need to be at the airport that much in advance?

Thanks. I'm leaning toward the earlier flight and, yes, swimming and relaxing the rest of the day.

The reason we have to be so early at the airport is because we have to go through US customs at our departing airport. They advise us, because we're travelling internationally and without the other parent, to be at the airport 3 hours before our departure. Ug!

 

[justplaingoofy]

Keep in mind that airlines are changing flight schedules...constantly! So even if you book a specific time, it could be changed to hours later..

We had a JetBlue flight 6:30a from Boston arriving Orlando 9:30am, they switched us to 8:30a arriving at 11:40, Now they have us on a 9:45a arriving 12:40pm....

Yikes we are now departing :15 minutes after the time we were originally scheduled to land in Orlando.