WWYD regarding flight home

[monorailsilver]

I figured I'd put this on here vs the transportation board.

We are going in August. When I got my plane tickets, our return was leaving MCO at 4 ish & arriving White Plains at 7:30ish.

My dh was less then thrilled since he likes earlier flights & I like the last possible one for the day but in all the years traveling with him we do the early flights.

So we have 3 kids & their ages at travel time will be 7 1/2, almost 5 & 2 1/2.

Jet Blue about 2 months ago (?) changed our return to leave MCO at 7:30pm ish. Lets just say I was thrilled but not my dh. It took me about a week to tell him that little glitch.

My plan was to sit at the pool at the Poly for the day & swim & enjoy my final hours there. I had no plans to do a park since I never do a park on arrival/departure day.

So I now have been fibbing to dh a little. I told him I haven't checked the Jet Blue site in a while when I do check it weekly. Probably a month ago they added a return flight that leaves during the 11:00 hour (I forget the exact time). Maybe 11:45. That would be am.

So do I suck it up & switch our return flight to the am and I will get 7 hours less at the Poly? My kids will be less crabby although mommy will be more upset. My father won't have to drive at 10pm at night to get us (he just turned 70). We can go home that night vs sleeping at my parents house. My dh can go to work the next day. We can still spend the afternoon swimming but at my parents house vs the Poly since the flight arrives at about 2:30 so we should be at my parents house no later then 4 if not earlier (they are a 1/2 hour from White Plains airport).

Or....

Do I let my kids not be miserable at 7:40pm at night when they will want to sleep yet they are on a plane & then the lights come on at 10:30 pm when we arrive & we have to carry 3 tired children (or put them in the stroller) & our luggage. Do I enjoy my last few hours in The World. Should I be selfish?

Tired kids or unhappy mommy (OK my kids will be unhappy leaving that early too).

OK I guess writting this out made me decide. I am going to switch it as long as JB doesn't charge me since that was not my original flight out.

And my dh did have me add an extra day to our vacation since we normally only do 8 days & this trip is 9 days so I am really getting an extra day.

Ughh..........

 

[thegrimdwarf]

I think you need to suck it up and take one for the team, lol. Traveling with crabby kids and making your dad head to the airport after dark? Seriously? And if your flight is delayed at all.....gads. I don't understand why you were on the fence, lol.

 

[Perditamarie]

Since you have to come home eventually, you'll be happier w/the earlier flight when you land!

 

[chip007]

Sorry about the changed flight. We took the 4 pm one back to White Plains in February and it was perfect. We were able to spend three hours in the MK in the morning to see Peter Pan, boat back to the WL, and hop on the bus to the airport.

But if that wasn't an option, I'd definitely go with the earlier flight. I wouldn't want to ruin the great trip memories with an exhausting stressful (and maybe tear-soaked) trip home.

Whatever you do, have a great time.

ps: You can never assume that your flight will be on time, so if it's supposed to arrive at 10 pm, I'd plan to possibly not get in until midnight, and that could cause real problems.

 

[puffkin]

Take the late flight

We always take the latest possible flight back. My vacation time is so precious that I stretch it to the last possible second.

The one time we took an AM flight home was horrible. Waking up and having to leave right away was so miserable I vowed never to do it again.

The late flights work for us better too since my son sleeps on the plane. With a morning flight he would be WIDE awake and bouncing all over the place.

 

[okeydokey]

For me, I would choose the earlier flight. After being on vacation, I want nothing more than to sleep in my own bed when we get back. The extra night at your parent's house and the fact that your elderly dad would have to drive in the dark to get you makes me say return home earlier.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

We always do the late flights as well on our return date. Your kiddos will be up late all week anyway, one more night isn't going to make that much of a difference and they might just sleep on the flight home. We like having the last day to sleep in, check out leisurely, and relax before traveling. If you take the 11am flight and are taking ME, they will be picking you up at 8am. Which means that everyone would need to be up, packed, checked out, and waiting for the bus by 7:45am...not a fun way to end the trip.

 

[monorailsilver]

Thanks guys!

My Mickey eyes wanted the late flight but to deal with my 2 yo, wait no she'd be the good one, it would be the 7 yo crabby tired girl that got the better out of me.

I changed my flight to the 11:45 one..oh well. If we were only wanted to deal with LGA traffic I would of flown out of there & their 4pm return.

So I told DH when we go back in 3 years, we will go for 10 days vs 8 or 9 & he said 11 so I said OK!

I had my heart set on swimming all morning. Maybe I can get up early & do a 6am swim alone while dh & the kids sleep in a bit. Or I will just go swimming in my parents pool when we get to their house.

And BTW, my father wouldn't care if he had to drive at that hour. He is up anyways. He doesn't go to bed until midnight/1am or later. He'd only have to drive there as my dh would of driven back to their house for the night.

 

[DevilDuckie]

Umm... the choices seem to be, "Lie to DH and make the kids miserable" or "Leave the hotel early."

Hon, I think you already know the answer (based on your own words). It is sad that you will not get the extra pool time, but you seem to already know what's right. Be the Brave Mommy.