How to stay busy on the plane?

[SDSorority]

Hi everyone! What do you take with you to stay busy on the plane? I don't have a LONG flight to WDW (2 hrs and 10 min, but who's counting?), but I do need to distract myself because I can get a little...nervous... in enclosed spaces for periods of time.

I'm thinking magazines and my ipod touch... any games I should download?? I like to listen to the DisUnplugged, WDWToday, and a few other Disney podcasts... any others that you like? What do you do to keep yourself (or your spouse...or your kids...) occupied on the plane?

 

[Desnik]

First thing I do is fly Jetblue so we all have a tv!
That keeps the kids busy along with their Ipods.
For me, I have my Kindle and Ipad. Like you I get a little nervous in an enclosed space for long periods of time, and my flight is under 3 hours. So I read a little, watch a little tv, go over itineraries for our trip, talk with the kids. Dh listens to music and plays games on his Ipod. My kids and him love Angry Birds, and they have a ton of games they play with that I don't even know the names of!

 

[jlewisinsyr]

If I'm not on a plane with personal TVs, I usually work or just take a nap. Long haul flights I've never not had a personal TV, so if I were to run into that issue.

 

[Cherinva]

I feel ya on the nervous thing....I take a book to read, or puzzle books...sometimes, my girls and I play cards to pass the time. And most of time, we take our MP3 players and listen to music.

 

[clanmcculloch]

You need to be aware that during initial take-off and landing you'll have to turn off all electronic devices. If this is the time where you're most nervous and need the most distration, bring some good old fashioned magazines or books. For the rest of the time you can use things like ipods, nooks, video games, etc. Puzzle books are also a great way to spend time. I personally just read the majority of the time. My kids tend to do puzzles, read, listen to music, etc. Some people dowload TV shows onto their ipods as well. My DH tends to do a little bit of reading and then he talks the ear off the poor unsuspecting passenger sitting next to him or he has a nap (I'm sitting with the kids while he gets to sit alone).

 

[SDSorority]

Napping is a good idea....but does anyone get worried about DVT???

Puzzle books are a good idea- I haven't gotten any of those since I was a kid!!! I just want to pack WAY too much to do so I don't sit there and worry if we're there yet . Partially it's me being impatient... partially it's me being nervous...

 

[dzorn]

Napping is a good idea....but does anyone get worried about DVT???

Puzzle books are a good idea- I haven't gotten any of those since I was a kid!!! I just want to pack WAY too much to do so I don't sit there and worry if we're there yet . Partially it's me being impatient... partially it's me being nervous...

Not on a two hour flight, now even when I was pregnant.

Read, snack, ipod or personal DVD player. With that short of a flight I usually don't have much time. Get kids settled. Wait for OK for electronics, bev service, clean up after kids, pass suckers out for landing, time to put electronics away. Done.

Denise in MI

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I always have a book with me to read.....we also enjoy talking about what parks we are visiting and our dining plans

 

[codimouse]

Napping is a good idea....but does anyone get worried about DVT???

DVT is usually for long flights of 10 hours or more. So napping isnt a bad idea. get up and move around if on a long flight. I walk up and down the aisle and usually "march" in the bathroom a bit. lol

i too do not do well on any flight. i take my ipad i have loaded with TV shows, books and games. the kids have their own with games, shows, etc.
our trip is only 4 hours with about 2 filled with answering kids questions, etc. lol

tomorrow we will be flying late so most of our party may be asleep.

 

[bumbershoot]

Napping is a good idea....but does anyone get worried about DVT???

No, especially not with such a short flight.


First you will sit and get settled. Then there's the takeoff experience, which is about 20-30 minutes, and you'll need a magazine or book or something. Then you'll be at cruising altitude and you get to focus on beverage service if your airline has that. Once that's done, you get to look forward to refills if your airline does that.

By that time it's over an hour into your flight and you're on the home stretch!

Read your book, listen to your music, etc etc, then they'll tell you to turn off electronics, so back to just reading that book.

Of course, if you take your time getting things out and putting things away (with the latter, only take your time if you've been paying attention and start to do that early...don't take your time if the FA is standing over you tapping his or her foot, of course), then that takes up more time, and gets you closer to the end of the flight, so to speak.

Then just look at the fluffy clouds (we seriously saw Grumpy in those clouds over Florida, amazing amazing clouds) and read your book, and soon enough you'll be done with the descent and you'll be taxiing.

Being aware of the wait for getting off the plane bugs me to no end, so we quite often wait until there's almost no one else getting off, before we get up. I just cannot stand standing there with people breathing down my neck, in mortal danger of someone dropping their too-heavy carryon on me (though even sitting down doesn't save you...hubby still has a scar from some lady dropping her anvil, I mean rollerbag, on him where it left a NASTY gash in his leg)... So I prefer to ignore everyone doing that and just sit in my seat an extra 5 minutes.


So just paying attention to the rhythms of the flight itself, especially with such a short one, can occupy your mind, and let you know how much more of it there is to go (aka how much you've already gotten through).

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Hi everyone! What do you take with you to stay busy on the plane? I don't have a LONG flight to WDW (2 hrs and 10 min, but who's counting?), but I do need to distract myself because I can get a little...nervous... in enclosed spaces for periods of time.

I'm thinking magazines and my ipod touch... any games I should download?? I like to listen to the DisUnplugged, WDWToday, and a few other Disney podcasts... any others that you like? What do you do to keep yourself (or your spouse...or your kids...) occupied on the plane?

I don't know how to do it but dh is able to put our dvd movies onto my ipod touch. So we rent something from Netflix that I've never seen and save it for the flight. Next flight: Little Fockers.

 

[tukogirl]

Not a big fan of enclosed spaces either, especially for long periods of time.

To me it looks and feels so much smaller when you first get on the plane and everyone is jockeying for seats, putting their luggage in the bins, digging out their junk..... so as soon as I sit in my seat I put on my head phones, close my eyes and zone out until the plane starts moving. Once everyone is settled in their seats it doesn't seem as crowded and small.

Then I do what the others do - read, puzzles, music, movies until we land.

Even though in reality I KNOW there are lots of people in a small place if I don't have to see them get on the plane it doesn't seem so crowded and small.