Flights to WDW - Need your opinion

[howdyfrtx]

We are a family of 4 and will be going to WDW in Sept. We have 2 free tickets on AA and there are certain flights I need to take to use my 2 free tickets. I noticed I could get a flight for $183 (doesn’t include tax). I week ago it was $232 but the flight for $183 doesn’t depart MCO until 8:30pm (on the return flight back home) and we have two small kids (5,3) and the other option would be to depart at 6:40pm but that flight would be $282.

Should I just wait since we aren’t leaving until Sept or should I just book the 8:30pm flight for $183?

[Magical JenK]

Agghhh! Airfare is so hard to guess! I guess my best suggestion is to go w/your gut & just be ok w/whatever that means financially. My gut is always more financially driven than departure wise, but I don't have kids, so I don't know how much it would change if I did.

What's nice about the later flight is that you'll have more time in the parks the last day & you won't have to RUSH, RUSH, RUSH!! If you do the DME, it would pick you up about 3 hours before departure so then you'd be at the airport & before you know it, time to board the plane!

Good luck in whatever you decide!!

[m 'n c]

Well normally I would tell you to wait but with the economy tanking and inflation setting in it might be good to pick a flight and just book it. I would do the cheaper one. Give the kids some dimatapp right before and let them sleep the whole time.

When I was charting flights in 2006 for Sept I noticed there was a sale in mid-May for Sept flights and then they went up for almost all of June and then around July 15 they started to go down again.

[coastalgirl]

If you go with the later flight, most likely the kids will be exhausted by the time you feed them dinner and get them on the plane. Is this going to be there first flight? Another thing would be do you follow a strict schedule with the children and bedtimes. That tends to affect them also. Plus are there any layovers anywhere. That is always my deciding factor. Good luck. I think booking airfare is always the most stressful part for me. I think if you can find a good deal, and are ok with the kids flying at that time then I would take it. I agree with Catherine, you just don't know what is going to happen with the prices right now!!

Good luck!!

[spring]

That's a really hard call with kids. I'm thinking with the price of fuel going up, you might not get better prices than these. If your kids are good sleepers, I'd give them a good nap earlier in the day, feed them dinner, then put them in their jammies, give them a dose of children's tylenol, and cross your fingers that they will sleep on the later flight. However, if the opposite is true, I'd definitely book the earlier flight. I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to wait for cheaper airfares, but that is me.

[pbhall13]

I have 2 girls 8 and 5 now, but we always take a later flight home.....I have been doing this since my little one was just under 2. We usually take the 8:30 out of Orlando for Manchester, NH. They are usually tired at the end of a trip so it works out, plus we had the whole day to play!!!

Good luck

Pamela

[howdyfrtx]

It won’t be there first flight….they’ve both flown before. I am such a schedule person but when were at Disney I think the whole schedule thing will be thrown out the window. We are bringing our portable DVD player which will keep them entertained. I am with some of you that they will be so tired from the week that most likely they will fall asleep. My two concerns are getting home at midnight and the flights going up because of gas prices.

[Magical JenK]

It won’t be there first flight….they’ve both flown before. I am such a schedule person but when were at Disney I think the whole schedule thing will be thrown out the window. We are bringing our portable DVD player which will keep them entertained. I am with some of you that they will be so tired from the week that most likely they will fall asleep. My two concerns are getting home at midnight and the flights going up because of gas prices.

I'd personally go w/the cheaper/later flight. You know the price of it now & can work w/the getting home at midnight thing at the time. If you wait, you'll never know how much the price is!!

PLUS...you'll be one step closer to going on your trip!! :cooldance:

[m 'n c]

I'd go with the $183 and book now. I think its a decent price for the 4 of you to fly (knowing 2 flights are free). I don't think you'd get it much more cheaper (maybe $20-$40 but that is probably pushing it).

[disney_girl]

I agree- from TX, it's hard to get flights much cheaper! I would book the later flight and then just start planning around that. Last October, after delays, our flight ended up leaving at 8pm. I always have plenty of distractions for our 3 year old, but on the flight home, he slept most of the time. It had been a long day! Plus I like having a little bit of time for some last minute shopping or just not having to rush around that last day.
We actually booked a flight leaving MCO at 7:50 coming up in March and I'm sure the kids will be exhausted by then!

Whatever you choose, you can just start planning around it now and it will work out fine!

[askomsky]

It won’t be there first flight….they’ve both flown before. I am such a schedule person but when were at Disney I think the whole schedule thing will be thrown out the window. We are bringing our portable DVD player which will keep them entertained. I am with some of you that they will be so tired from the week that most likely they will fall asleep. My two concerns are getting home at midnight and the flights going up because of gas prices.

I would do it also. I'm with Catherine with the way the economy is going and in all honesty it probably won't be more then a $40 savings max if they do go down. The other downfall is if it does go down further you may be stuck with even worse flight times. That was my concern when we booked with SW.
I got them for $160 round trip DH wanted to wait (this was Aug for our Nov trip) but I went ahead and booked them bc I had MY choice of times. I didn't want to get stuck with a real early morning flight etc. My kids are 8.5, 5 and 4, so if I had to do it I would take the 830 time knowing they would be exhausted from a week at Disney and so late at night.

I forgot to add that our prices never did go down, I checked every week and I did get the best deal. Since it's only 2 tickets your paying for the "possible" savings of $40-$80 wouldn't be worth the guessing game for me.

Good Luck!

[pbhall13]

How long is the flight............is it only 3 hours? I know coming home that late isn't ideal, but as long as the next day you don't have any big plans you can all adjust with a little relaxing!

[Mom2aPrincess]

I'm flying in and out of houston in August with my dds 16 and 7. We always take the earliest flight I can get out of Houston (usually about 6:30 am) so that we can get to Disney ASAP and when we leave we're leaving on one of the last flights (during the 8:00 hour) so that we can enjoy our last day in Disney too.....I like the idea.....

[howdyfrtx]

I'm a little bummed...I was all prepared to take the return flight at 8:30pm but we weren't able to get the same departing flights. We got two departing to MCO at 9:50am for free and two flying out at 9:15am for $208. Bbummed that the price went up and that we weren't able to get all on the same flight. I should of booked it earlier at work instead of actually working :mad: .

[howdyfrtx]

After posting my message above and spending about 2 ½ hours figuring out flights, AA released more Advantage flights. :clap: Which worked out even better for us? We are all on the same flight departing at 9:15am and getting into MCO at 12:45 and our return flight departs at 2:05 and gets in at 3:55pm. This is perfect for us….we will still have time to pick up our dog at the kennel. The flight was $208 instead of $183 but we
are willing to spend the extra money to come home 6 hours early then expected.

Now we just have to wait 202 days...:eek:

Thanks for all your input!

[disney_girl]

Glad you were able to get flights that work out for you all! Now the waiting begins!:sunshine: