Would you change flight times?

[Jhondy]

Our cruise leaves on Oct. 29. Right now we are flying in on Oct. 27 with a SW plane leaving at 6:45pm and landing at 10:45pm….so likely one of the last flights for the day out of Milwaukee. SW just changed our flight times so now I can switch flights to whatever. I’m thinking I should change it to Oct. 28 at 6:30 am and landing at 10:30am.

Both our direct flights and while the October 27 makes me feel like if something went wrong, I’d have more time to get it fixed, reality is I wouldn’t cause of how late plane is (and I can’t fly in earlier on the 27th cause of work). And I’m thinking the 6:30am flight on Oct. 28 is less likely to be cancelled since it will be one of the first flights out.

Either way, we’d be staying at a Disney hotel but it’d either be for one night or 2 nights (although if one night, I’m really tempted to upgrade from all star movies to the Royal rooms at POR). The downfall of coming in on the morning flight is we may not have a room for awhile and the plan is to enjoy the hotel (or DS) and not go to the parks.

Regardless, my main concern is which flight has the best chance of getting us to Florida in time for the cruise. Thoughts?

I should add the trip is just me and a 3year old. We’ve done 6:30am flights to Disney many times and she generally tolerates it well and we go to the parks that day. We’ve also taken a 7pm flight home and besides having a melt down when she couldn’t find her night-night (it was in my backpack cause we were in line to board), she did well on the plane and I rocked her to sleep for the flight but she struggled to fall asleep again once home.

 

[mousefan73]

The correct answer is the 27th as you have more back-up.. But flying te 28th you have less back-up. !! I would only do the 28th if I see later connections for that day.. That way if your bags are not loaded( seems to be a general aviation issue these days) they have time to follow. Me personally I would do the 27th.

 

[Jhondy]

The correct answer is the 27th as you have more back-up.. But flying te 28th you have less back-up. !! I would only do the 28th if I see later connections for that day.. That way if your bags are not loaded( seems to be a general aviation issue these days) they have time to follow. Me personally I would do the 27th.

There would be lots of other connections on the 28th since we’d be flying out first thing in the morning (and if we were to have issues with the 27th flight, the next flight available would be the 6:30am flight on the 28th)

 

[Karin1984]

I would go for the 27th. I hate getting up early, then I need the 28th to recover and not do much. Leaving on the 27th would make the 28th more productive.

 

[holula]

I would do the late arrival on the 27th.

 

[Shellyred8]

Do you have trip insurance for this trip? If so, I would go with the 28th. Many of the tips out there right now say to book the early morning flights. You can always keep an eye on what is going on with the flights for the 27th to see if there are issues bubbling up so you know if you have to start preparing for an impact to the flight on the 28th.

We have a late Sept trip planned, so I'm hoping that the airlines will have some of their internal issues worked out by that time!!! Fingers crossed!!!

 

[lanejudy]

Bucking trend here - I would do the early flight on the 28th. There's really no difference in "other" options between the last flight on the 27th and the first flight on the 28th. If either cancels you are looking at connecting flights on the 28th. Plus in my family early morning travel was always much easier with a little one than late night travel. Either way, I'd keep a close on what's happening with SW flights and be prepared with 2nd 3rd 4th choice options.

 

[dcassetta]

I would recommend the morning flight. A 6:30 flight is likely to be the first for that crew and plane, which will cut down on the chances of an issue. Late afternoon and evening flight are more likely to be altered due to weather also.

 

[KantLose]

My vote is for the morning with a little one. As you said since you are the last flight out on the 27th any problems would have you moved to the 28th anyways. Depending on your distance from the airport, maybe consider a preflight hotel stay by the airport to make the morning even easier.

 

[Clarkson U]

I would keep 27th and use the 28th as your backup.

 

[Disneychick13]

I would change to the 28th. The morning flights are less likely to be cancelled.

 

[mab2012]

I think it just depends on whether you prefer an early flight or an evening flight.

I know the advice here is "never fly in on the day of your cruise", and that is excellent advice, but remember that many people DO fly in same-day and they almost always make it. IMO the day before is best, but unless you specifically want to extend your vacation, two days before on a direct, domestic flight, is overkill.

Yeah, something catastrophic could happen and you might miss your cruise. But that is always true, no matter how much time you leave. Someone gets sick, you have an accident on the way to the port, there's a major storm, etc. Can't control everything.

 

[magsnwonderland]

I'd do the morning flight. If you do the 27th and it gets cancelled/delayed/whatever, the morning flight on the 28th is very likely already going to be full and you won't be able to get on it anyway.

 

[insureman]

The way things have been lately the earlier the better. I would do the 27th.

 

[Calantha]

While I fully subscribe to "earlier is better", I think first flight is better than last flight, and with kids, I'd take the first flight on the 28th.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

I would stick with the 6:45 pm on the 27th because you'll be standing in the TSA line by 5:00 pm or earlier (which isn't late for kids). If something does happen and the flight is canceled, SW is going to throw you into Plan B, which will be sometime on the 28th. Being at the airport you can quickly start the process for Plan B.

If you go with the 6:30 am flight on the 28th, you'll be standing in the TSA line at 5:00 am or earlier and, provided, the last flight into Milwaukee the day before arrives on time and the crew gets full rest, the flight should go as planned. If that last flight into Milwaukee is delayed or canceled, your early morning flight will probably be adjusted. Be ready for a really early morning notification from SW if you have their notification system set and your phone by the bedside.

Decide what you and your family can handle for situations way beyond your control.

 

[dvcjoe]

Luckily now we live about 2 hours from Port Canaveral and 5 from Miami. If we were flying down from New Jersey, we would arrive 2 days ahead of time. That way us and our luggage stand a better chance if there are any issues.

 

[Jhondy]

Thanks everyone for the input. I’m still really undecided.

The late flight in the 27th makes it possible for me to drive to port canaveral if flight is cancelled without it being too horrible. Drive time is 20 hours with out any stops. So with a little one, I figure it will be 23-24 hours. It’s just me and the three year old so I can’t drive straight through but if we leave the night of the 27th, I can break it 6 hours, 12 hours, 6 hours and make it to port by noon and still manage to get some sleep. I also like with the late flight out room will be ready as soon as we get to hotel so we don’t need to be without a room for potentially several hours when DD might need a nap (although she usually skips naps at WDW but if she is crabby, I’d still like to give her quiet time in the room). I also think a late Thursday night flight may be less crowded than an early morning Friday flight so maybe we would get lucky and get a row to ourselves so DD can lay down on the plane.

On the other hand, the 6:30 am flight is less likely to be cancelled (I guess unless the plane the night before doesn’t make it in) but we could be stranded for several hours without a hotel room and if the flight does get cancelled, it would be much tougher to make it to port on time if I drove because I’d have to drive 15-18 hours the first day with a 3 year old who isn’t the best in the car. I could probably make it but it would be close,

So, I like the schedule for coming in late on the 27th and that we could drive if had to (not something I want to do) but I feel like the morning of the 28th is less likely to be cancelled

 

[Cheburashka]

Early morning flights are much less likely to be delayed or cancelled than evening flights, so I recommend the 28th. Flying in morning of the day before the cruise is a very secure plan.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

We always fly early mornings. And always the day before. You can not control it all-the weather, the covid test, if someone gets sick. Mitigate is all you can do. Now my fingers are crossed that come the end of the summer some of these issues with the airlines calm down. And I pass my covid test-I feel like I am back in college-LOL. And there are no tropical storms that week. Yikes- vacations these days and getting to them are very stressful!