While I was at work yesterday, I started browsing through a few airfare sites (hotwire, expedia, etc.), to see if flights were getting cheaper yet. Then, on a whim, I checked Southwest. I don't usually fly Southwest, because the closest airports they fly out of are Kansas City and St Louis, both about 3-4 hours from me.
However, I've been having problems with my ears ALL YEAR. I got an ear infection back in February, and ever since I've had fluid in my ears, which can be a HUGE pain when I drive anywhere, since the Ozark Mountains in which I live aren't exactly known for being flat.

I've been to several doctors, an ear specialist, an accupuncturist, EVERYTHING, and nobody has been able to fix it yet. So my concern is that if I sometimes have "AHH! Evil air pressure! I can't breathe!" moments in the CAR, that it's possible I'll have issues on a PLANE. Thus, non-stop flights are my friend!
Well, it turns out that I can either fly out of Kansas City at 6:55am and get to Orlando at 10:35, or leave at 12:45 pm and get there at 4:25. But get this- round trip will only cost $159! SWEET!
Given that my mom loves to gamble, she is always getting coupons in the mail for free casino hotel nights. So it would be quite easy to drive up to Kansas City on the 25th, get a free hotel room, eat a free buffet, win a million dollars on the slot machine, and then catch my flight the next morning.
I am digging this plan!
The only down side is that I'm still not sure how many days Kelly will be able to spend at WDW, and I'm still not sure how many days I'm able to AFFORD to spend at WDW. Knowing how many nights she and I will be splitting the resort costs makes a big difference! I'm afraid that if I book my flight for certain nights now, I'll either not be able to afford all of those nights, or I'll somehow be able to afford MORE nights, and either way, I'll be sad. But the cheapie airfares won't last long, so I need to book SOON!
In fact, I just checked on Southwest's site to see if there was any price difference if I flew home on Nov 4th instead of Nov 5th, and all of the return flights on the 4th are already sold out!
Although, while I'm talking budget, I guess I should take into consideration that this is a good $80-90 less than I was planning to spend on airfare, so that alone pays for a night at a value, if I end up low on cash.
Dude, I am really going to NEED that food & WINE fest by the time we get there!
