Torn on flights. Opinions please!

[BuckeyeGirl24]

We currently are scheduled to arrive on May 7 to stay at Contemporary. 4 nights, leaving on May 11. DD will be 11 months old. We always fly southwest, and their best flight option for that day is at 6am The other flights get us to Disney at almost 2pm or later and I just really don't want to waste that much of the day. But the 6am flight has us waking DD up at 4am at the latest.

We could shift the trip to May 8-12 and have the room and ticket prices stay the same. Southwest has a 7:15am flight that day. Waking up DD at 5:15am sounds much more manageable as she's usually awake around 6:30am. However, the flights will go up by $100 each, so adds $200 extra to the total.

We aren't really in a situation where we need to pinch pennies, but $200 isn't just a drop in the bucket either. That's a couple nice meals.

WWYD? I'm sure a lot of it depends on the kid. But the most we've traveled with DD who is currently 7 months old is a 2 hour car ride (which is no problem). Just looking for insight for the veteran family travelers!

 

[Dis703]

I don't think I'd pay $200 for just 1 hour and 15 minutes of extra sleep. In all likelihood she'll catch up at some point during the day.

 

[Pooh2]

We always plan to be at the airport two hours before a flight, then there is travel to the airport time, and getting ready and out of the house. So for a 6am flight, that would put us getting up about 3am if we are quick!

We prefer to go with flights that allow us to get our usual amount of sleep if possible to avoid meltdown by baby (or adults!).

 

[Heidi K]

At that age, I would try to stick to the normal sleep schedule as much as possible. I might consider extending the trip to May 7-12, and choosing one of the later Southwest flights on May 7. But maybe that's not an option

 

[BuckeyeGirl24]

At that age, I would try to stick to the normal sleep schedule as much as possible. I might consider extending the trip to May 7-12, and choosing one of the later Southwest flights on May 7. But maybe that's not an option

I had thought about that, but with this being our first trip with DD, I thought 4 nights was a good length of time for a first vacation.

 

[sweetpeama]

My advice is to take the 6 AM flight. I would also say that you are likely going to need to be at the airport between 4 and 4:30 to get through security. I know my airport in Montana that SW won't even service because we don't have a large enough population we still need to be at the airport 2 hours prior to our flight time.

Put DD to bed in something you can easily slip the bottom off and change her in the morning making sure that you can comfortably put shoes on over it. In the morning wake her up with time to change her and just take items she can easily eat on the drive or at the airport. Snack traps with simple finger foods that she likes such as dry cereal are easy to have with you.

One great source I have found is this blog (I actually "know" the author on one of my mommy boards) http://flyingwithchildren.blogspot.com/

 

[Kaytie]

I had thought about that, but with this being our first trip with DD, I thought 4 nights was a good length of time for a first vacation.

The 6 AM flight also has you waking up at 3 AM or so. At some point during that day you're going to crash. I'd go with th five nights as well. You can use the first day to get acclimated, maybe spend just a few hours in the park.

 

[bumbershoot]

At that age, I would try to stick to the normal sleep schedule as much as possible.

Anyone with kids on anything like a normal sleep schedule before 3 years old should count themselves lucky and perhaps go buy lottery tickets.

I had thought about that, but with this being our first trip with DD, I thought 4 nights was a good length of time for a first vacation.

So...why? Our first flying trip with DS was 2 weeks when he was 17 months old. Same with our second a year later. At those ages DS's life was with us wherever we were. If we were there he was good. I had zero interest in packing and dealing with all of the hassle of traveling with him for a few days. I'd go for the longer trip.

 

[Hopefully]

Another vote for the longer trip

 

[mom2rtk]

Anyone with kids on anything like a normal sleep schedule before 3 years old should count themselves lucky and perhaps go buy lottery tickets.

Really? Our first year was always hell, but things were pretty good after than. 3 times over.

 

[monorailsilver]

Personally I would not want to wake my kid up at that age any earlier then I have to...ok an hour or 2 I can deal with but when my kids were younger I did look at flight times and choose what was best for them (and my sanity).

We had a 6:30 flight 2 years ago and my youngest was 9 and the other 2 were 11 and 13. Let's just say we were all exhausted because we woke up at 4 ish so DH and I could shower and we stayed at the airport, well a hotel at the end of the runway so we still had to park. We were all exhausted but we were not going on a Disney trip...a trip to my sisters/beach/relaxing.

I would not want to start off a Disney vacation tired from an early flight.

Can you book a flight for the afternoon before and have a relaxing flight day vsa rushed one.

When my oldest was 15 mo, I planned the flights around her afternoon nap. Guess who did not nap on the plane, yep my dd! Thankfully she wasn't a witch on the flight and was pretty content in her car seat. But she fell asleep as soon as she sat on my lap on DME (if it was DME back then).

 

[twinmom2012]

We always have early flights. We keep their travel outfits simple. We don't wake them until we are almost ready to go, we have the car warmed up (cold NY weather) and we put them right in the car and they typically fall back to sleep on the ride to the airport. This year our boys will be almost 5 and we are planning to hit the park when when we arrive and have a relaxing evening/dinner back at the hotel. I'm assuming we will all be tired earlier than usual and this will allow us to get a good nights rest.

 

[brockash]

We currently are scheduled to arrive on May 7 to stay at Contemporary. 4 nights, leaving on May 11. DD will be 11 months old. We always fly southwest, and their best flight option for that day is at 6am The other flights get us to Disney at almost 2pm or later and I just really don't want to waste that much of the day. But the 6am flight has us waking DD up at 4am at the latest.

We could shift the trip to May 8-12 and have the room and ticket prices stay the same. Southwest has a 7:15am flight that day. Waking up DD at 5:15am sounds much more manageable as she's usually awake around 6:30am. However, the flights will go up by $100 each, so adds $200 extra to the total.

We aren't really in a situation where we need to pinch pennies, but $200 isn't just a drop in the bucket either. That's a couple nice meals.

WWYD? I'm sure a lot of it depends on the kid. But the most we've traveled with DD who is currently 7 months old is a 2 hour car ride (which is no problem). Just looking for insight for the veteran family travelers!

Lol...I would def. just wake dd up at 4am. It's really NOT a big deal. Just like everyone else, kids adjust, plus you may get lucky and she may sleep once you're on the plane since she got up so early. There's no way I'd reschedule a trip due to an early wake up call, let alone pay more for it. I know it's overwhelming thinking of flying with little ones, but trust me, it will be fine and it really won't matter. I've flown with multiple kids many times from the age of 6 weeks through now the oldest is 15. I totally get it, flying with little ones, especially 1 year olds is NOT fun...but it's really just luck of draw as to any guess on how she's going to act/beahve. We often get up for the first flight of the day on our Disney trips, which has the kids getting up usually by 3am at the latest and it's never been an issue. 4am wake up will be fine.

 

[Lvsdisney]

We had a few early morning flights when DS was little (under 3) and each time I though he'd sleep in the car/airplane. NOPE. Just had a cranky kid all day. I would do the night before.

 

[BuckeyeGirl24]

Seems like opinions are pretty split! I think we just won't know until we try it.

Wth that being said, I brought up the idea of the extra night to DH and flying in a little later on our first day, taking a good afternoon nap, and just making it a resort or Disney Springs evening, no major plans. Turns out there is an 11am flight out on the 6th that is only slightly more expensive than the 6am flight on the 7th. And while discussing itinerary, we also realized that we likely aren't going to ultilize the park hopper, so we're dropping that and getting the 4 park magic ticket special Disney has right now. So we're going ahead and adding the extra night! And the trip won't cost much more than originally planned

 

[hsmamato2]

personally I'd go for that one extra night,make it 5 nights, so you're not as worried over that timing.... plus 4 nights isn't enough time for me to settle with a baby on a trip..... That said If 4 nights is your only option I'd go with the earlier flight no question. Then I'd sleep on the plane with the baby till I got there, and enjoy the day...if baby is tired, they'd just sleep in the stroller no matter where we went anyway.... My kids (who are far from babyhood lol) have gotten used to early flights their entire lives-it's part of the excitement of a trip in their eyes....

 

[monorailsilver]

Seems like opinions are pretty split! I think we just won't know until we try it.

Wth that being said, I brought up the idea of the extra night to DH and flying in a little later on our first day, taking a good afternoon nap, and just making it a resort or Disney Springs evening, no major plans. Turns out there is an 11am flight out on the 6th that is only slightly more expensive than the 6am flight on the 7th. And while discussing itinerary, we also realized that we likely aren't going to ultilize the park hopper, so we're dropping that and getting the 4 park magic ticket special Disney has right now. So we're going ahead and adding the extra night! And the trip won't cost much more than originally planned

That's a good plan.

Better to be well rested before a Disney trip!