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| Mickey (or little Mickey as Goober calls him) was her travelling companion |
First things first, flying with kids is by no means a walk in the park. It can be stressful and there is a lot more stuff you have to bring compared to flying by yourself, but it is hands down better than driving. We've done both and I'll take the added stress and cost of flying versus driving to California with two little ones. So with that said, here we go:
When booking your flights, you have to decide whether you want a separate seat for your little ones. When we flew with our girls, we had to get Goober her own seat as most airlines require kids two and up to be in a seat, which we were fine with because neither of us wanted to try and have her on our lap for two hours. Holding Peanut wasn't bad and we were able to hand her back and forth as our arms got tired and as she got tired of us. Depending on how big your kids are, you may need a booster seat for them. We got lucky because Goober is giant for her age.
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| Excuse me stewardess, I was supposed to have a window seat. And where are my peanuts? |
How you choose to get to the airport is up to you. We drive ourselves and just park in the long term parking, mostly because it would be way too much hassle to have someone drop us off. So here is where the stress starts with travelling with toddlers. On our latest trip, we didn't want to have to bring the girls' car seats. We've done it before and it was horrible. So we end up putting the girls in our double stroller (which we'll cover in another post), and loaded ourselves down with our bags. The shuttle from parking to the terminal was kind of a pain because the double stroller is quite wide so a couple of times, we actually had to take the stroller off to let other people on and off the shuttle until we got to our terminal. The next time we go, we are going to try leaving the stroller collapsed, Lindy will take the girls and one bag, and I will be the pack mule carrying everything else.
Once you get to the ticket desk, you'll be able to off-load whatever bags you're checking, which will make security a little easier. At this point, we folded up the stroller, I took Goober and the carry-ons, and Lindy had the diaper bag and Peanut in a baby bjorn carrier. When you go through security with kids, they'll just have you go through the metal detector (which is nice because its a little faster). This is also why we didn't bother keeping the girls in the stroller because it has to go through the scanner anyway. If you are bringing an iPad or similar device, remember which bag you put it in so you don't have to search through all your carry-ons. Also, if you are bring ready-to-feed formula or breastmilk, you will have to remove them from your bags and put them in their own tub for scanning. More than likely, TSA will require additional screening of them. Basically they swab them and put them in another scanner. It can be a little time consuming, but there's no way around it. This is also why we only bring enough formula with us in our bag to get us through the day, plus maybe one extra bottle in case of flight delays (but we are DONE WITH FORMULA so this won't be an issue for us anymore, praise Jesus).
Once you finally get through security, you can put the kiddos back in the stroller to get to your gate. Once you get to your gate, ask the gate attendant for a gate check for your stroller. Affix that, and when you get to board, just fold up your stroller and leave it at the end of the jetway. There is no charge to check strollers or car seats, whether you're gate checking them or checking them at the ticket desk. Also checking something at the gate doesn't count against your allowed number of carry-ons.
For me, after security, the rest of the trip is pretty easy and basically consists of keeping the kids occupied. Thankfully, if you're just flying from Utah, its only a two-hour flight. Bring electronic devices with favorite shows downloaded, make sure you've got kid games on your phone, lots of snacks, and maybe some new toys so hopefully they will keep the kids entertained longer. Then again, on our last trip, Goober fell asleep both on the way out and on the way back home, so we got lucky there.
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| Goober lost the fight about halfway through the flight |
We discovered on our last trip the joy that is flying into Santa Ana airport in Orange County (aka John Wayne Airport). It's a smaller airport, so it's far less crowded and it's closer to Anaheim. It does cost a little more (anywhere from $50-$100 more per ticket), but the benefits are well worth it, especially when you consider that your shuttle will be cheaper and it's only about a twenty-minute drive versus the forty-five minutes to an hour it takes to get from LAX. It's also great coming back because the security lines are MUCH shorter and faster.
Now, we got to California, but alas, we don't have our car seats. This is where Payless Airport Shuttle comes in to whisk you away to the Magic Kingdom. For a small extra charge (I believe it is $10/carseat), Payless will provide car seats for the trip. Again, this is one of those small extra fees that we were more than willing to pay if it meant we didn't have to haul two car seats through the airport with us. Basically, when you arrive, you just call the shuttle and let them know you've arrived. They will generally tell you to call them again once you have your bags and are out at the curb. The drivers are generally very helpful and will load all your bags while you are getting the kids strapped in. The trip from Santa Ana airport to one of the hotels across the street from the Disneyland for the four of us and two car seats was $85 each way plus tip. Compare that with some other shuttle services from LAX, which run around $90-$100, and they don't offer car seats.
And that's it! Twenty minutes later you'll be at your hotel and ready to start your Disney adventure! Keep an eye out for a post about our tips for driving, since we know that's a popular option for families traveling from Utah.
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