Questions for those who have flown to WDW

[hokiefan33]

We are going for the 3rd time in 3 years, but flying for the first. We normally drive, but with our DD 3 1/2 months, we figured 12 hours in the van wouldn't be as fun as it was with just DS9 and DD6, so we sprang for some SWA tickets this year!

I have a few questions, since we have never flown as a family. For the record, it is me, DW, DS9, DD6 and DD 3 1/2 months. We do NOT have a ticket for the baby, she will ride on one of our laps. We are flying on SWA out of Raleigh/Durham, and it is direct to MCO (about 1 1/2 hours direct). We leave about 7AM and arrive around 8:40 or so, and we are planning on using DME to and from the airport.

1) How much luggage can we bring (both checked and carry-on), and what counts as "luggage"? We have a Jeep jogging stroller we would like to bring, which if we brought it would obviously have to be checked, but could this count as one of our luggage pieces? We have 4 tickets, so I guess we have 4 luggage allocations.

2) I know SWA doesn't have pre-assigned seating (I think), but will we be assured of being able to sit as a family, i.e. take up an entire row of 2 seats-aisle-2 seats? Do we board first with an infant?

3) I know many people talk about shipping stuff down to their resort ahead of time, like food, supplies, etc..., which would be great with diapers, wipes, formula, etc... so we can use room to pack other things. How does this work? Do you just ship the package(s) to your resort and they hold it for you at the front desk for pick up when you get there? Is there a limit to the # of packages you can ship/hold? Can you do the same thing in reverse, i.e. ship back home from the resort?

4) We also have a Pack-n-Play that she can sleep in while we're there, but I know WDW has cribs (pack-n-plays?) that you can get in the room for free while you're there, as well. Anyone used these? Are they nasty? Do they provide clean sheets for them, or should you bring your own?

I think that's most of the questions for now. Thanks in advance!

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We have been flying with all 3 of our children since they were only 6 weeks old -- and the oldest is now 13. However, I still don't feel like an "expert." It seems as if every trip is different. I'll try to help and give you my 2 cents-worth.

1. Follow this link http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/baggage.html for all the information you will need about luggage. Check out the "Family" discussion board for information about transporting strollers. Personally, I'm not too fond of jogging strollers at WDW (and I use a double at home!). They are just too dangerous to others. It's very easy for someone to trip over the front without knowing you are there. I saw this happen several times in May.

2. Yes, you will be able to board early: http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/checkin.html. Being able to sit together will depend on their being available seats. Where does your flight originate? If it is at your airport, you should have no trouble grabbing seats together. Be forewarned that most SW flights to Orlando (at least in our area) are filled with families with young children. Thus, just about EVERYONE gets to board early. Ugh! It takes forever. My kids are so squirmy by the time we actually get moving. Also, the five of us have not been able to sit all together during our past few trips. Generally, dh will take one of our younger children, I'll take the other, and our older son will sit as close to one of us as possible.

3. We've never shipped anything, so I'll leave this to others. We usually take one suitcase full of "supplies." As we eat the snacks, we make room for our souvenirs on the return trip. It works out well. No one has ever questioned us about the food and drinks we pack. Last fall, we even took water and sodas! We just had to be careful about the weight of the bag.

4. The Pack-n-Plays we had at AKL in May looked brand new. 2 yo dd fell asleep in bed with brothers at CSR, so we never got it out of the closet.

On a slightly separate note: Have you considered purchasing a seat for your little one? We've been able to book seats for our little ones and significantly reduced prices. For us, this has been wonderful. I cannot imagine having to hold our children for 1 1/2 hours!!! I'd be exhausted before the trip began. Of course, if your flight isn't full, you'll be able to use an empty seat. However, our last flight down to MCO was overbooked...so no free seats, of course.

I hope this helps. Have fun!

 

[BCKatie02]

I'll try to answer as many questions as I can. I flew on Southwest this past weekend...not to Orlando though

For baggage, Southwest's website says "For each ticketed Customer, Southwest allows three (3) checked pieces with size limitations for each individual piece." So looks like everyone but the baby can have 3 checked bags. Maximum weight per bag is 50 pounds and yes, they will charge you if you go over. I'm not sure about the stroller question, but I would assume it would count.

With small children they will definitely allow you to pre-board before the rest of the passengers so getting seats together should not be a problem at all.

Hope this helps some. I'm not sure how the shipping works or the pack-n-plays.

 

[CleveRocks]

call your resort for exact directions for shipping to yourself. It's an easy, no-sweat type of operation.

However, if you guys are the types to get a lot of souvenirs, then there is merit to NOT shipping items like diapers and formula. If you pack them in your luggage, it will leave room in your luggage on the trip home for those souvenirs!

Just what you needed, huh? MORE things to consider ....

-- Eric

 

[Stimpy]

With the infant, you will be able to preboard. I believe it's for parents with kids 5 and younger (maybe 4 and younger). Just a note for others reading this thread, they've been cracking down on this though so it is only immediate family. (Previously, you would see about 10 adults in the preboard line with only 1-2 young kids...grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, uncle Joe etc.)

SWA does not guarantee that you will be able to seat together but they will do their very best not to split young kids and parents up. This isn't a problem if you preboard but if you are late it could be. We almost missed our booked flight home in June. We literally had to run to the gate and the Flight attendants were able to get us a row with 3 seats together. (best flight I've had in a long time since DH took the 2 kids )

I also recommend getting a seat for the baby. Besides being safer, it's a lot more comfortable for you and the baby. Both my kids would not sit still in my lap for more than 5 minutes but would be happy in their carseat and sometimes take a nap.

We've taken a full size stroller and were able to gate check it. You might be able to do the same with the jogging stroller. Having the stroller when you board can be helpful to carry the baby and all the carry-ons etc.

The pack and plays have always been clean at Disney. We've used them about 10 times and never had a problem. I do recommend bringing your own blanket (they don't provide one) and a P&P sheet in case of any accidents or leaks. They give you 1 with the P&P but if there is a leak in the middle of the night, you don't want to wait for Housekeeping to bring you another.

Have a great trip!

 

[bavaria]

I started this thread Navigating the airport and many have added to it since - it may help you out!

 

[Letsbgoofy]

The only thing I can contribute is a suggestion to buy a seat for your baby. It is so much safer to have your child in a seat rather than on a lap.

 

[Chicago526]

Please buy a seat for the baby!!! If severe turbulance or an emergency situation happens, you will NOT be able to hang on to your child, and they could be seriously hurt, or worse. It's rare, but flight attendants have been seriously injured in bad turbulance (I heard of one that broke her neck when she flew up and crashed against the ceiling of the cabin).

 

[hokiefan33]

Thank you for the replies so far. I appreciate them, but please stick to answering the questions I have posed, if you don't mind. I know many of you feel strongly about buying seats for infants, and I respect that, but that wasn't one of my questions

For the record, I do NOT plan on buying her a seat, and I will NOT be changing my mind about that. Not b/c I don't care about or love her, but b/c I believe we will be OK without it. As I respect your opinions to buy or not buy seats, please respect mine. It's not illegal, either, so I am still within the law.

Now, back to my questions. Any more answers???

 

[Stimpy]

"2) I know SWA doesn't have pre-assigned seating (I think), but will we be assured of being able to sit as a family, i.e. take up an entire row of 2 seats-aisle-2 seats?"

Just wanted to add that most, if not all, SWA planes are 3 seats, 3 seats with an aisle in between.

 

[CarolA]

Thank you for the replies so far. I appreciate them, but please stick to answering the questions I have posed, if you don't mind. I know many of you feel strongly about buying seats for infants, and I respect that, but that wasn't one of my questions

For the record, I do NOT plan on buying her a seat, and I will NOT be changing my mind about that. Not b/c I don't care about or love her, but b/c I believe we will be OK without it. As I respect your opinions to buy or not buy seats, please respect mine. It's not illegal, either, so I am still within the law.

Now, back to my questions. Any more answers???

Well, this is unrealistic. If you want to control the responses then you need a personal message board.... otherwise you have to take the good with the bad.

Folks are entitled to thier thoughts on this matter and have a right to post them....

 

[hokiefan33]

Well, this is unrealistic. If you want to control the responses then you need a personal message board.... otherwise you have to take the good with the bad.

Folks are entitled to thier thoughts on this matter and have a right to post them....

And I would agree with that, if I had posed the question "What do you think about buying a seat for your infant on an airplane?" However, as I'm sure you know, that wasn't one of my questions. And also as I'm sure you know, threads can quickly morph from being about 1 thing (i.e my original 4 questions) into another entire subject (whether infants should have seats on a plane). Which for my opinion, shows that those posting on that matter aren't trying to help me at all, b/c if they were, they would have answered the questions I asked, rather than giving me unsolicited advice which I *kindly* asked not to receive, b/c that advice would have no bearing on what I did or did not do. Folks ARE entitled to their thoughts on that matter, I agree - I just wish they'd present them in a different forum where that was actually the topic, rather than this one, where it was NOT the topic!

 

[RweTHEREyet]

We are going for the 3rd time in 3 years, but flying for the first. We normally drive, but with our DD 3 1/2 months, we figured 12 hours in the van wouldn't be as fun as it was with just DS9 and DD6, so we sprang for some SWA tickets this year!

I have a few questions, since we have never flown as a family. For the record, it is me, DW, DS9, DD6 and DD 3 1/2 months. We do NOT have a ticket for the baby, she will ride on one of our laps. We are flying on SWA out of Raleigh/Durham, and it is direct to MCO (about 1 1/2 hours direct). We leave about 7AM and arrive around 8:40 or so, and we are planning on using DME to and from the airport.

1) How much luggage can we bring (both checked and carry-on), and what counts as "luggage"? We have a Jeep jogging stroller we would like to bring, which if we brought it would obviously have to be checked, but could this count as one of our luggage pieces? We have 4 tickets, so I guess we have 4 luggage allocations.

2) I know SWA doesn't have pre-assigned seating (I think), but will we be assured of being able to sit as a family, i.e. take up an entire row of 2 seats-aisle-2 seats? Do we board first with an infant?

3) I know many people talk about shipping stuff down to their resort ahead of time, like food, supplies, etc..., which would be great with diapers, wipes, formula, etc... so we can use room to pack other things. How does this work? Do you just ship the package(s) to your resort and they hold it for you at the front desk for pick up when you get there? Is there a limit to the # of packages you can ship/hold? Can you do the same thing in reverse, i.e. ship back home from the resort?

4) We also have a Pack-n-Play that she can sleep in while we're there, but I know WDW has cribs (pack-n-plays?) that you can get in the room for free while you're there, as well. Anyone used these? Are they nasty? Do they provide clean sheets for them, or should you bring your own?

I think that's most of the questions for now. Thanks in advance!

Hi there Hokiefan33, we fly to MCO from RDU a lot. Since others have covered most of your questions, I also wanted to mention that if you do not want to use the airport parking lot, which can be expensive, you can use Preflight Check-in, which is located between the airport and the EXXON station on Highway 70, it is very close. They have their coupons in the blue Valu-pak junk mail stuff that you get all the time, and their rate is $6.00 per day with the coupon. You park in their lot, and they take you by van to the Southwest drop spot. You can also have hubby drop you and kids and luggage off at Southwest and then go park the car and ride their van back.

However, if you have someone dropping you off at the airport you won't need this service at all.

Southwest always preboards folks with little ones at RDU, so you should have no trouble getting your seats together.

Also, since you are allowed 3 pieces of checked luggage per person, be mindful of the weight of each bag. Better to take more bags than really full bags, I think the weight limit is 50 lbs per bag now.

have a great trip. When are you going. We go later this month, we may see you at the airport.

 

[Stimpy]

Also, since you are allowed 3 pieces of checked luggage per person, be mindful of the weight of each bag. Better to take more bags than really full bags, I think the weight limit is 50 lbs per bag now.

Yes, SW is getting strict about this. We saw many people at both ends having to repack in the airport for being 1-2 pounds over the 50 pound limit. If your suitcase is 51 pounds it will cost you $25.

Also, something you might consider, rather than sending supplies down, use a shopping service. I know many DVC'ers recommend http://www.wegoshop.com for deliveries. They bring it right to your resort for a fee. (I haven't used it myself yet but may try it in Sept.) If not, I agree with the other poster to pack some of it. We usually pack a jumbo size pampers in the suitcase and wipes so when they are gone, we have more room for all the extra stuff we bring home.