The day had arrived.
By that, I mean, the day we were headed to the airport, for our 5:30pm flight.
Lesson one. Don’t book a 5:30pm flight when your kids nap from 1-3, and you live about an hour from the airport.
At least, not when you have one semi-neurotic traveler who needs to get to the airport with plenty of extra time! (me)
Before kids, I was okay with getting to the airport 45 minutes to an hour prior to a flight. Our airport is pretty small, with only 20-30 gates. With kids, however, we’ve learned to leave plenty of extra time for each and every step, because you just never know. I prefer to try to get to the airport closer to 1.5-2 hours before the flight. TT Dad is the opposite. He likes to walk right onto the plane, and not have any time to kill inside the airport. It’s made for some really interested trips, but luckily, he has been kind enough to compromise and deal with the extra time, and usually with a smile on his face.
So, if we’re looking to get there about 1.5/2 hours pre-flight, we’re shooting for a 3:30/4 arrival.. This would be hard to pull off with a nap from 1-3. After brainstorming some different strategic plans, we settled on car naps. We’d load up the car, and be ready to go after lunch. TT Dad could squeeze in a little extra work time, then we’d pick him up, and head to the airport, aiming for that 3:30/4pm arrival.
Sounded good, anyway.
Wouldn’t you know, this was the one time they just couldn’t settle in for a good car nap. They slept for a little bit, but not the solid two hours they normally do.
In fact, they woke up grumpy, so I picked up TT Dad, and we ended up heading to the airport early, thinking if we could get them out of the car, they’d cheer up a bit. We dropped the car off, and the kids enjoyed their first ride of the trip- the shuttle bus! They loved it. Confident we had saved the day, we flew through security.
We looked at the clock. It was about 2:30.
Gulp.
Okay, let’s find a table at a restaurant, and see if we can’t strap these two into high chairs, and have a snack break.
That didn’t last long. We ended up asking for our food to go, and getting out as quickly as possible. I took the kids for a potty stop, while TT Dad finished up paying the bill, and grabbed the doggy bags. (Are they even considered doggy bags if they hold full and complete meals?)
We met up again in a little corner nook overlooking the tarmac. The kids wandered around, watching the planes, making new friends, and trying to escape through the door that was clearly marked ‘DO NOT ENTER.’ Typical toddler stuff.
The door. Oh, the door.
Luckily, on the other side of that door was airport security. The officer was very understanding, and started slipping stickers under the large glass doors.
Eventually, however, we did start breaking out the toys we were saving for the three hour flight. That didn’t seem to last too long either, which was not comforting, considering it was only about 4 by now.
Meanwhile, we were watching the departure board- and our flight was pushed back over and over, and over.
We finally got the kids to sit and eat some dinner, and we spent the rest of the wait with them walking through the airport with our roller suitcase. This was the big hit. Who knew. Next time we’ll go straight to the suitcase!
Success!! We made it! Time to board.
Initially, we were inclined to sit two and two. Divide and Conquer. After a little more thought, we decided to try a three and one configuration. I’d sit on one side with the kids, and TT Dad would sit across the aisle. There were a few reasons we wanted to try this…. We were hopeful that having a row of three for us would give the kids a little more wiggle room (literally.) We could lift the arm rest, and have two adult sized seats for them to share. An additional bonus is the solution to a previous problem. If one of us needed to use the restroom, the other could sit with the two kids. If we were separated by an aisle, we’d either be leaving a kid alone, or be squishing two kids into one seat.
We are sold. This was a terrific configuration. It worked out perfectly, even if my extremely overtired kids were having a tough time settling down on the flight. They didn’t want their seat belts on, no matter who told them it was important, or how many times the Flight Attendant yelled at us.
Once the wheels touched down (around 9:30pm) we headed across the airport to board the Magical Express!
It was time for our Magical Vacation to begin.
Almost.
Our magic bands weren’t working. My thought is that since my parents had already entered the room with their magic bands, they figured none of us needed to use the ME. I had told the TA that they wouldn’t be flying with us, but maybe I should have mentioned they’d be in earlier than we would? Chalk it up to another lesson learned.
A few minutes later, we confirmed that our luggage would still be delivered to our room, even with our late arrival (minutes before the 10pm cut off). Luggage would be delivered- but it could take up to 3 hours.
The bus ride was quick, but long enough for our exhausted littles to pass out on me, and before we knew it, we were unloading at the Wilderness Lodge. Nonie & Pops met us at the bus, and helped us find our way to the room.
We tucked everyone into bed, and briefly discussed the next day’s plan. Everyone else went to bed as I waited for the luggage, and did a little blogging. A while later (a little after that magical three hour mark), I noticed the message light blinking. Sure enough, there was a voicemail letting us know to call them if we wanted the bags delivered that night.
I get it. It’s late. They don’t want to wake anyone up if they don’t need their bags until the morning- but you can’t tell me that in all their magical ways, the person who confirmed with me that the bags would be delivered couldn’t have made a note to deliver the bags no matter what time?
That message had been there for almost an hour. Instead of being annoyed that they woke me up with a phone call, I was annoyed that I lost an hour of sleep waiting for luggage that wasn’t going to come without my (second) confirmation.
I do get it. I’m sure people would be upset by a 1am phone call asking about luggage. But still.
Once that luggage was delivered I hit the sack, hard. I barely had time to appreciate the unusual set up of our two bedroom villa! Almost.
Magical, indeed.