This is the side I don't get. Don't teens and children go to the doctor? I know I didn't love the old "turn your head and cough" when I was a kid, but you had to do it to play sports so we did it. I realize that TSA agents are not doctors, but really, another person is another person. Maybe I'm thinking about this wrong, but I have a daughter (about to have a second) and I just can't picture myself getting worried about someone scanning my kids.
Great, so I'll come over to give your kids a hernia exam, if anyone is as good as a doctor. Thursday, 2:30 OK with you?
Lest it need to be said, I'm joking. But the rather cavalier tone you had with strangers, whose personal history and on-the-job training may leave a lot to the imagination, potentially touching your child, seemed rather odd to me. My daughter's 2 and change. This past Halloween, she really didn't want to go trick-or treating. She put on a costume, we took a walk to visit relatives. She didn't want anyone giving her candy and I had to hold her. Most of those people were not in costume, or at least no in scary costumes or masks. All smiling, all complimentary and sweet, and she still was scared. Now replace those people with strangers who are less-than-cheery, in a strange surrounding for a child, trying to be imposing and authoritative so no one gives 'em any sass-mouth...I would do as much as I could to prevent my child from having to deal with that. Hell, I don't think *I* should have to deal with that. I do travel occasionally for work, but if driving is an option, I do it. Mostly because of the invasion-of-privacy issues regarding airport security. I don't mind flying. But what we go through for the ILLUSION of security is ridiculous. Again, ILLUSION of security. As others have written, these machines are great for finding things that certain people are too stupid to hide better. But if a criminal wants to go to extremes to sneak in a weapon, they will. Meanwhile, we're a nation getting our junk photographed and occasionally interrogated like criminals by people whose understanding of the law is often questionable, so that we can feel safer (AND paying for it).
Most times we've gone to WDW, we've driven. Our first trip, we flew down, but an impending hurricane made us cut the trip a day short and drive our rental car all the way up to Philly Airport.
Since then, we've always driven, except for the last time, our first with li'l Slapperina, where we took the Autotrain from Lorton, VA to Sanford FL. Between my wife not wanting to fly, my loathing of airport "security" and our worries that our baby would be in a germ machine before she was old enough to get flu shots, not-flying was a no-brainer, but I was worried about making the drive with such a small child who needed to be held a lot. Plus it was during the ridiculous gas prices of 2008, so it seemed like a nicer option. Plus, with the wee one, we figured we'd have to stop over for the night somewhere, so this felt like we could both sleep and still keep moving
We paid extra to have a private room, but otherwise, the cost is roughly comparable to airfare, plus you get dinner and breakfast. The AutoTrain can only be taken if you bring your car, but the beauty of that is that a: you don't have to rent a car once you're in Florida, b: you're not putting those extra 1600 miles on your car (there and back) and c: you can then pack more without having to pay airport fees, just keep it in the car, and only bring on the train what you'll need for the night. Our private room had its own bathroom/shower, you had an attendant who would provide turndown service at night, and because the baby was being fussy, they even arranged to have our meals brought to our room as opposed to the dining car. There was also a lounge where you could group together, have drinks, watch a movie (they also had a "Happy hour" wine tasting before departure. We had my laptop in our room with plenty of movies to watch. The only "con" was that the baby felt uncomfortable not being in her crib or pack-n-play, so I had to hold her the entire night so she'd sleep. I'd like to think, if we did it again, she'd be in better shape to at least sleep to one of the two of us. Just for chucks and giggles, I checked prices for when we plan to go to WDW again. For the three of us, with a AAA discount, it's under 800 (plus the gas it'd take to get from our house to the train station and back again, plus an hour's drive from Sanford to Orlando), and we'd have a car. For three tickts on jetblue from Newark to Orlando, it'd be over 1000 dollars, plus travel to and from the airport, parking if we drove ourselves, or taxi/car service if no one could drive us, and we'd probably want a rental car. Travelocity was kinder, making it about 700 dollars, though again, we'd have to get to and from the airport, and if we wanted a rental car, the final price would be more than what we'd pay to go by Autotrain, AND with none of the airport hassles.
