jet lag/redeye flight help

[granmapatsy]

we are leaving las vegas at midnite and arriving about 8am florida time. i am concerned about jet lag and the three hr time difference. i have seen posts here about taking it easy the first day. problem is, hubby the boss, wants to hit the ground running with lunch in world showcase that day, etc etc. does anyone have any other suggestions to combat jet lag? hope to be able to sleep a little on the 4 hr flight over but i am not counting on it. we know that getting an early checkin is also a crap shoot. does sleeping alot the day before you leave help? any west coasters with advice?
thanks
patsy in not flooded anymore las vegas

 

[enough]

the best way to combat jet lag is to make sure you stay to get on your time zone's sleeping schedule as soon as you get there. So that means even if you're tired at 7pm the day you arrive but usually don't sleep until 10, wait the extra 3 hours.

the worst thing you can do is try to keep to your west coast timetable...


------vegas thread drift------
Hey Patsy -
I was in Vegas this past weekend - holy crap did it rain on saturday night!! I took a cab from Mirage to the Hard Rock and in the intersection of the mirage and the strip people were standing knee deep in water!! it was crazy! - glad to hear things dried up.

 

[jordanyosh]

If you can't get into your room early, then by all means visit a park. You may be fatigued;but, when it comes time for bed, you'll be out. That way the time difference won't make that much of a difference. You won't be wide awake at midnight; you'll be dead tired and in cycle 4 sleep.

I have gone on several red-eyes to WDW and haven't had very much luck sleeping either the day before or on the flight--too excited..... Good luck and have a ball!

 

[youngatheart21]

My own opinion!!

I took a red eye flight from Los Angeles to Orlando in June and I would never do it again. I myself believed that taking a red eye would be the best thing to do so I could visit the parks while I wait for my room but was I wrong. My flight to Orlando was horrible, it was bouncing around all the way there so sleeping was out of the question. When we got there around 7:00am we felt like total zombies. We were tired and sleepy. Our room wasn't ready so we went to Magic Kingdom for a couple of hours but we were so uncomfortable dealing with sleepiness, tiredness, and humidity. At around 3:00 we checked in and went to sleep and woke up the following day feeling full of energy.

I suggest you take it easy the first day. It takes about one day to get back to normal.

 

[Woody13]

It's just a shame that they don't serve adult beverages on airplanes any longer.

 

[Pippa]

Originally posted by Woody13
It's just a shame that they don't serve adult beverages on airplanes any longer.

They do on flights from the UK!!!!!!!

 

[s25843]

Originally posted by Woody13
It's just a shame that they don't serve adult beverages on airplanes any longer.

Yes they do, you just have to ask.... Song (By Delta) has a Full bar set up with mixed beverages etc....

 

[wild01ride]

What time does your "redeye" depart NV? If anything, you should be in better shape going to WDW than on the way back.
If you were leaving Las Vegas at 6:00am, it is already 9:00am in WDW. Since you are "losing" time, your first day will be "shorter" than a normal day (since basically when you get on the plane you might as well start counting the flight time from 9:00am instead of 6:00am since that's what time it will be when you arrive.)

On the same note, at 10:00 at night when many people accustomed to EST are winding down, you will feel like it is only 7:00 at night.
On the other hand, the day you go home will be 3 hours longer than a normal day due to the time change.

Overall, you may have a harder time getting up the first few mornings, but you should be able to make it longer through the day!

Rest up ahead of time and then have a blast when you get there!

Have Fun!!:sohappy:

 

[BRER STITCH]

Originally posted by granmapatsy
we are leaving las vegas at midnite and arriving about 8am florida time. i am concerned about jet lag and the three hr time difference. i have seen posts here about taking it easy the first day. problem is, hubby the boss, wants to hit the ground running with lunch in world showcase that day, etc etc. does anyone have any other suggestions to combat jet lag? hope to be able to sleep a little on the 4 hr flight over but i am not counting on it. we know that getting an early checkin is also a crap shoot. does sleeping alot the day before you leave help? any west coasters with advice?
thanks
patsy in not flooded anymore las vegas

Hi Patsy! :wave:
Glad you survived the flooding!!!

May I ask WHY you booked the flight like that?
(Is that a common flight from there, are you trying to squeeze in an extra day, get out of paying for the first night's hotel, bad travel agent, etc???)

No doubt about it...you're gonna feel "something". I would be very exhausted at the parks with no sleep. Unfortuantely, sleeping more the day before just messes up your body's schedule a day earlier!

I fly to the West Coast and back quite often, but never at that hour. The good news is....it's only 3 hours! Compared to an overseas flight, that's nothing!

My suggestion would be to stay up the night before and to eat dinner just before you get on the plane at midnight. The digestion process will make your body more tired than normal. Hopefulyl you can get a little sleep on the plane (all the cabin lights will be off).

Then, when you arrive in Orlando, have breakfast right away as you normally would - and have plenty of coffee! You can "fool" your body into thinking you're just waking up at home.

The effects of this, of course, will only last til about 3PM that day, at which time your room should be ready and you can go and take a nap til 6 before heading back out for the night.

You should be fine the next day.

HAVE FUN!

:sohappy:

 

[granmapatsy]

thanks to everyone for their input. my reasoning behind this flight was 1) it was a nonstop 2) it was cheaper 3) thought it would give us that extra day without the extra room expense. we will see how it goes, but i doubt i will do it again this way. next time, will not stay at the expensive contemporary resort either. eats up too much of the money i would rather spend on other things. but hubby wanted contemporary and this is my first visit to wdw so decided to splurge.
you guys are great on this site. i am so excited. made phone calls today to confirm everything. need to make my list for our grocery stop and then we are ready. working constantly at my job as a nurse between tomorrow and when the flight leaves sunday night so will be pretty busy next few days.
patsy in las vegas

 

[Worldphile]

Try to sleep on the plane, that will help.

But whoever said to get your body on Florida time as soon as you can is absolutely corrent.

The best way to do that, is to stay awake all day the day you arrive. This is what we do when we fly to Europe.

You should stay up at least until the sun goes down. (Once it gets dark, you'll notice that you get even more tired. Not sure why this is, but it is always easier to stay awake when it it sunny out.) But by going to bed when the regulars do, you'll adjust faster.

Just realize ahead of time that you'll be tired, so take it easy the first day.

 

[Redvette]

You are really talking about two issues, jet lag and fatigue, and they are different. I am pretty sensitive to Jet Lag, going to Europe or Asia really messes me up, but three hours is really just a nuisance, you will just be a little off your game. But fatigue is another matter, flying is stressful anytime, flying a redeye is exhausting. Between takeoff, dinner service, screaming babies, and turbulance you will be lucky to get two or three hours of vertical sleep, not very restfull. If I only get two hours of sleep at home, I am a mess, add everything else you are doing on that day, and you will very probably be totally worn out. Your DH is very gung ho now, but he might change his mind by the time you actually get to the resort. If I were doing your schedule, I would go to the Contemporary, try to check in, if the room was available great, if not I would change into my bathing suit, and find a nice shady spot to get a few hours of swimming and sleep to recharge, and then decide whether or not to hit the parks, but either way, do the slow cruise, not the mad dash park thing, watch Illuminations, and get to bed at 10 or 11. The next day you will be back to normal.

 

[granmapatsy]

well today is the big day. work this am. finish packing this afternoon and off to the airport at 1030 for 1230 flight. just hope we dont get flagged for extra security check. my husband is named david nelson which was a hot name on the security computer for some reason. anyway, thanks again to everyone for their input. i am not as anxious about the flight and all, now. very excited about my first trip to wdw. see you all in a week on the trip report boards.
patsy in las vegas

 

[PurpleFigment]

I'd be totally exhausted that first day there! Personally, I wouldn't spend the first incredibly-sleepy day at a park. Park admission is waaaaaaaaaaay too expensive to walk around for a couple of hours and not really enjoy it. I would probably hit Downtown Disney. There's lots to look at and some stuff to do there...and it's free! So if you get there and just can't stand it 2 hours into it, you haven't thrown $50 a person down the drain.

That and 50-cents will buy you a coca-cola (in some vending machines!).

 

[1000th_Guest]

I fly from the East Coast USA to Europe quite a bit.

Travelling eastbound, I sleep as much as I can on the plane and stay awake as long as possible after landing. Doing this keeps my body closer to the target time zone.

When travelling to the west, I stay awake the entire ride and as long as I can after landing. Again, by the time I wake up the next day I'm pretty close to the target time zone.

If you are sensitive to airplane noise, I strongly urge you to consider spending some $$$ on noise-cancelling headsets. They have been a godsend on several trips. They will help keep the airplane and peripheral noise to a minimum. They won't help if the ride is bumpy.

You may also want to use some form of eye shades to keep the light from disturbing you.

Drat. Just noticed that you have already left. Hope you had a great trip!

 

[s25843]

Originally posted by 1000th_Guest


Drat. Just noticed that you have already left. Hope you had a great trip!

I think she actually may still be on the ground, I think her plane was departing at 1230am and she was leaving for the airport at 1030pm. Right now its only 445pm in LV

 

[granmapatsy]

yep, still here and making one last check on the board to show hubby that thread on best meals. thanks again everyone.
patsy soon to be leaving las vegas in about 6 hrs.

 

[jordanyosh]

Have a great trip. Let us know how everything turns out

 

[granmapatsy]

well, original poster here and we are back. the first day was a piece of cake. just dozed off and on the flight over. hit the ground running and went til 11pm that night. got up early for the early entry to park, then hit the wall about 10 am! from then on, it was hard to get up in the morning for early entries and we never did go back to the hotel for naps midday. probably should have but the parks all closed so early during this week. coming back was easy. i took a sleeping pill and slept the whole flight and went to bed the minute we got home. i am 50 and hubby is 60. we really pushed it cause we dont think we will ever be able to make it back. but we saw as much as we wanted to see. we had two days to recuperate and boy were we tired. but now its back to work and have memories of a great trip. thanks everyone.