Travel with 2 1/2yr old

[Mickey1277]

Hello I need advice we are going to disney may 22nd- June 4th. It will be 4 of us myself my wife and two daughters age 9 and 2 1/2 we are flying southwest from St. Louis and have flights already booked for the 22nd leaving at 12:40 nonstop but we were wondering if it would be better to fly at 6:00am and arrive in disney at 9:20 instead we are staying one night at yacht and beach club so the oldest daughter can enjoy the pools and we can check out the resort then we go to BLT for te rest of the trip my main question is what is the better time to fly at??? 6 or 12:40 thanks!!!

 

[Figgy1]

I'd fly early to gain a half day of fun but that's just me.

 

[DisneyDelirious]

We fly that Southwest flight out of St. Louis regularly, SW 1336. We will be flying it May 30th in fact. I think it depends on what your kids natural sleep patterns are. If they are normally up, then go on that earlier flight. If they sleep a bit later, I'd try to start on a fairly regular sleep schedule. WDW can eat young ones up. A lot of little steps, a lot of stimulus, diet can be changed, etc.. I always tried to keep little pieces of normalcy for my kids when they were that young. The single biggest one for my kiddos was sleep patterns and meal patterns. Kids are resilient and flexible for the most part at that age. I think of me and my dad and my father in law. We will do about anything for anyone but we gotta eat and we need some rest. Otherwise, we get cranky It's universal.

 

[bethymouse]

The earlier the better for us!

 

[popcenturylover]

The earlier the better! We had a flight w/Southwest at 6:30 this past September. We were checked in and at the parks by 10a.m.! We came back to the resort in early evening, went for a swim, & went to bed. So great to have a whole day in on your 1st day!

 

[foreverbelle]

If you are talking about whether its better to fly or later with a toddler I think it depends on the child. We fly with our 2 1/2 year old son two years ago. It was an early flight, and it was hard on us. Or rather him. He did not handle it very well at all, on the way home however we had a later flight and it was perfect for him, he did so much better. Personally I think it all depends on what your child's patterns are and habits. Yes having extra time in the park is amazing, but we found that we pushed it, and he either slept through the entire first day, and when he was awake he was not having any of it. While we still had an amazing time, we dif learned that it was better to fly out later and have him enjoy the time.

 

[imperate]

There are similar direct flight times from Pittsburgh. We have found that with our 2 1/2 year old the 12:30 flight works great cause he naps all the way there like in day care. He wakes up ready to go see Mickey. Trying to get him up and all of us out of the house at 4 AM seems too painful to start a vacation for us...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

While timing really depends on your child's schedule and flexibility....I prefer an early flight. It gives you more time at WDW on day 1 + if your flight happens to be delayed, you have a better time cushion with the early flight.

 

[luv]

If it will mean everyone has to get up super-early, I wouldn't do it. Travel is a big enough pain when people aren't tired and cranky. The extra time you gain might end up being miserable time in that event. You'd still have time to go to the pool with the later flight. I'd stick with my original plan.

You're going to get tons of different advice and will end up having to gamble on your own, lol. Good luck with it all, however you do it!