Which flight would you take?

[lllGurulll]

My early morning flight I planned on taking jumped up to double the rate on the day I wanted to leave so I am looking at two different flights on that day that are back on the rate I needed.

The first flight arrives in orlando at 4pm and has a small layover but no plane change. No idea where it stops for the layover. The flight is 4 hours total.

The second flight arrives in orlando at 5:35pm and is a nonstop flight. The flight is 2hours 50 minutes.

I prefer nonstops as I am traveling with my 2 young children but was really wanting to get there early in the day and enjoy a park. Will the 90 minute difference really matter?

EDIT

meant to make this a poll. darnit

 

[ancestry]

With younger children I would take the direct flight. Personally I don't think 90 minutes is going to make that big of a difference. However the direct flight with a shorter travel time will definately make a difference on your sanity.

Last year when we went our twins were 6 years old. We opted for the direct flight which actually didn't get us there until the early evening. We were glad that we took the direct flight as it made everything go much smoother.

 

[Pembo]

I'd take the nonstop...90 mins is going to matter that much

 

[Anal Annie]

I would hands down do the shorter non-stop flight. No doubt. No question. By the time you get checked in etc your park time will be limited anyway. I just wouldn't want to take all day getting there.

 

[Emmabean2000]

I would take direct as well. My DS has problems with his ears on the flights. With two take offs and landings, that doubles the chances the kids would have to deal with ear pressure issues.

 

[LSchrow]

for a difference of 90 minutes, absolutely the non-stop.
with a layover, chances are doubled that there will be a delay, so you might even get there before the earlier flight (unlikely, but certainly possible).

and i wouldn't consider a layover when traveling with children, unless there were no other options.

 

[debster812]

You don't say where you're flying from, and you don't know where you'd be stopping, and you don't say when you're flying.

All that being said, and all things being equal the 90 minutes between 4pm and 5:25pm really would not make a ton of difference to me. I'd go for the non-stop no questions. As we head into winter, the weather can start to get dicey, and the fewer stops, the better.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Honestly, I would not even try to go to the parks on arrival evening if you don't get in until 4:00 (on the early set of flights). Figure that puts you checking into your resort about 5:00 and not arriving at a park until almost 6:00. That is a lot for "young children" after a day of travel.
In your shoes, I would book the direct flight and plan on eating and swimming at the hotel that evening.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

You don't say where you're flying from, and you don't know where you'd be stopping, and you don't say when you're flying.

All that being said, and all things being equal the 90 minutes between 4pm and 5:25pm really would not make a ton of difference to me. I'd go for the non-stop no questions. As we head into winter, the weather can start to get dicey, and the fewer stops, the better.

I absolutely agree. If you are stopping in a northern state and it is a blizzard, you might not ever get to Disney!

 

[lllGurulll]

Turns out that I moved my vacation back up one week to take advantage of the new "offer" coming out this Monday so I was able to get my early morning non-stop flight after all.

You guys pretty much all stated what I was thinking as well. Thank you for all your input.

 

[kaytieeldr]

With younger children I would take the direct flight.

Just wanted to point out - the earlier flight, the one with the stop, IS the direct flight.

Direct = plane stops at one or more airports on the way to the passenger's destination but the passenger does not have to change planes.

Nonstop = after departure from the starting airport, plane does not stop anywhere until the destination airport (usually, depending occasionally on uncontrollable conditions - such as my 12/08 nonstop from Boston to Las Vegas that did stop in Denver to refuel).