? for those that travel after school day ends

[frannn]

We usually catch the 6AM flight in mid Sept, avoid crowds at airport, no major check in lines at resort, etc. Thinking of leaving later next trip so DD9 can go to school that Friday (4th grade). Would you take the 4:30 pm or 6 pm flight? We'll land 7:30 or 9pm-ish. Not sure if its worth killing ourselves trying to make a 4:30 flight if there's nothing to do when we get there. Better to arrive later, have a snack at the food court, and relax? TIA!

 

[momto2inKC]

For our trip next month we're doing the same thing. I picked a 5:20pm flight that gets us there at 9pm so the kids could get that day in at school. In your case, I think i'd do the 6pm flight since you mentioned that the 4:30 one might be an issue.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

We flew after school for our Xmas flight last December and I would recommend the later flight. Not sure where your from but we have to arrive two hours early, there is regular rush hour, weekend rush hour, security, and so it all adds up to little chunks of time being eaten up. We got stuck leaving after school due to snow days but i am glad ours was later than 430 as it was close at 620! Good luck!!

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I'd pick the earlier flight, so that you'd arrive at the resort earlier, be able to go to bed earlier and get an early, fresh start on your first park day. If you arrive at 7:30 and take ME, you won't get to the resort until 8:30-9:00. I'd think that was preferable to arriving at the airport at 9:00 and not getting to the resort until after 10:00. I'd do the earlier flight, arrive at the resort, find your room, get settled and go to bed.

 

[Marionnette]

We usually catch the 6AM flight in mid Sept, avoid crowds at airport, no major check in lines at resort, etc. Thinking of leaving later next trip so DD9 can go to school that Friday (4th grade). Would you take the 4:30 pm or 6 pm flight? We'll land 7:30 or 9pm-ish. Not sure if its worth killing ourselves trying to make a 4:30 flight if there's nothing to do when we get there. Better to arrive later, have a snack at the food court, and relax? TIA!

No sense in making everyone rush to catch a 4:30 flight when there is nothing to do once you arrive. But a 9 pm-ish arrival is kind of late. By the time you arrive at your resort, you're looking at 10 pm or later. Plus, if there is any kind of flight delay....

I've done both the late-night arrival and the first flight out in the morning. I prefer to drag myself out of bed before the sun comes up to catch that flight. The airport isn't that busy at 5 AM and I'm wide awake when I get to Disney. Our late-night arrivals usually meant crashing as soon as we got to our hotel room and then sleeping in the following morning because we're so exhausted. Personally, I would save the 1 night's room cost and catch the early morning flight.

 

[ICF]

Could your child go to school for "most" of the day and just leave an hour or 2 early so you can do the 4:30 flight?

 

[4HppyCamprs]

We flew after school for our Xmas flight last December and I would recommend the later flight. Not sure where your from but we have to arrive two hours early, there is regular rush hour, weekend rush hour, security, and so it all adds up to little chunks of time being eaten up. We got stuck leaving after school due to snow days but i am glad ours was later than 430 as it was close at 620! Good luck!!

ETA: that was for the two choices given. We also prefer to leave on a 6 am flight and return home as late as possible. I also agree that with the after school flight you arrive late and the wait for luggage was still a few hours. Ours was delivered at 1:30 am and our flight had arrived at 945 est.

 

[scrapquitler]

We usually catch the 6AM flight in mid Sept, avoid crowds at airport, no major check in lines at resort, etc. Thinking of leaving later next trip so DD9 can go to school that Friday (4th grade). Would you take the 4:30 pm or 6 pm flight? We'll land 7:30 or 9pm-ish. Not sure if its worth killing ourselves trying to make a 4:30 flight if there's nothing to do when we get there. Better to arrive later, have a snack at the food court, and relax? TIA!

Any time I fly I try to avoid the last flight of the day. I figure that if I am on the second to last flight, and something happens that I miss the flight or get bumped, I might be able to get on that last flight out instead of being stranded until the next day.

 

[tessieg]

On our last trip we took a 4:30-5 flight. Picked up the kids at 2 pm(so they were counted for the day--only missed 90 minutes at end) at school. Got through downtown before rush hour and had plenty of time. If we'd left to go to airport after kids got home on the bus, we would have hit major rush hour and I would have been terrified we'd miss the 7 pm flight! So for us, the 4:30 flight was great! Kids were at school so dh and I had no trouble doing last minute errands/ getting bags loaded. Made it to airport by 3:00-3:15. Plenty of time to check bags etc. PLus we landed in MCO at 7 and were at resort by 8. Had dinner at food court and then got kids in bed by 10. They were worn out after school and then traveling all day so we all had no trouble getting them to calm down and sleep. We were up by 6 and all ready to go to the parks!!!
SO there you go....hope it all works out perfectly for you!
Tessie

 

[mom2t]

We leave at lunch - Our child goes 1/2 day and is counted present. Tell the teacher ahead of time and he usually finishes all the work for the day - he is a good student. Leave - then travel and miss most of the busy traffic.

 

[laughinplace199]

Could your child go to school for "most" of the day and just leave an hour or 2 early so you can do the 4:30 flight?

This is what I would suggest. Actually, this was what I was going to do for our trip. Our original flight to Orlando was 4:30 PM. We were going to take the kids out of school after lunch and head to the airport. Unfortunately, our flight was changed to 6:00 PM. So, the kids won't miss any school that day, but we won't land until 9:00 and won't get to our hotel until 10:00 or 10:30. Getting them up for morning EMH at Epcot the next morning should be fun.

 

[kim929]

I always take the 6 am flight. If I had take a later flight so my children can get credit for the school day I always dismiss them early. I would take the 4:30 flight and dismiss them at 1 and go straight to the airport...

 

[rvchat]

fyi, if it's a public school, the school doesn't get fully funded (we were told this is on a daily basis) for absent kids. Schools need high attendance. So signing in (even for an hour) and taking them out makes everyone happy.

?

 

[drcmk]

We usually catch the 6AM flight in mid Sept, avoid crowds at airport, no major check in lines at resort, etc. Thinking of leaving later next trip so DD9 can go to school that Friday (4th grade). TIA!

My strategy is to take the earliest flight possible whenever I fly. The first flight of the day is usually on a plane that has been waiting at the airport since the night before. Every subsequent flight is probably a plane that has to arrive at the airport from someplace else and therefore could be delayed. The probability of some kind of problem or delay multiplies throughout the day. Also if a morning flight is delayed for one reason or another, you still stand a chance of reaching your destination on the same day. But the later your flight is supposed to leave, the later you could be delayed and we've had instances where an evening flight was delayed so late that it was cancelled until the next day.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

We are in Colorado so we 'lose' 2 hours going to Disneyworld. So it is something to keep in mind about the time change.

Anyway, we've taken the earliest flight to the latest. It really depends on cost for us. What I will NOT do is stay in a deluxe hotel but not arrive until night (with our time difference, the late flights leave at 5ish but we don't get to the world until after midnight). It is a waste of a few hundred dollars for the room (in my opinion). So I check the cost of 'losing' a day, or getting an offsite for a night and renting a car, or leaving the next day on the first flight.

I have arrived at 2 am at Disney and I do not recommend it (although if it works out cost-wise, then sure!)

But you only give the 2 choices for flights - I'd pull the kids out a little early from school and catch the 4:30. If I'm paying to be there for that night, I want as much of 'that night' as possible to enjoy the resort, pool, or even a park (EMH???).

 

[smokeyblue]

I've had 8 p.m. arrival times to MCO turn to midnight on two occasions. I'd take the kiddos out of school after lunch and go early.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I would do 4:30 for sure. Leave at lunch time, counted for day and no trouble getting to airport by 2:30 as you avoid the rush hour traffic. Get to WDW in time to settle in and get an early start the next am. Later in the day your fight is, the higher the chance of something happening.

 

[burnurcomputer]

Could your child go to school for "most" of the day and just leave an hour or 2 early so you can do the 4:30 flight?

This was my thought also

 

[MinnieForMe]

We are in the minority here but we usually fly the last flight of the day! It allows the kids to complete a full day of school and we don't have to rush to the airport. Upon arrival at MCO, it's usually a ghost town. We've always found it easy to get our luggage and rental car (if we go straight to the garage). If you mess with standing at line at one of the car rental agencies you can just add an hour plus wait onto your day! They seem to move in slow motion after 9 pm at Dollar and National. I promised myself never again would I not go directly to the garage!

 

[bridget]

We've never had luck leaving on the last flight of the day!! It isn't any fun getting to your resort at 1:45 am. I think 4:30 pm seems much better, and just pull your children out of school a bit early.