We left for Orlando, FL on Monday, October 6th. We spent the night in a hotel near the Kansas City Airport. We had to get up at 4:30am in order to make our 7:00am flight. Boy was it crazy getting all of us up and around and lugging of our luggage, carry on bags, car seats, and stroller around the airport. We ate breakfast at Burger King before going through security. Going through security was when the REAL fun began. We had to put all of our junk up on the conveyor belt and had to get our kids through security. The car seats were heavy and so was the stroller, which no one knew what to do with them.
Then, we sat down and had plenty of time to spare, so the kids played with toys and colored while we waited to board. We also realized that Southwest had changed their "pre-boarding" policies regarding children under the age of 4. They no longer get to "pre-board" the plane. We had to wait until all of the "A" passengers got on the plane and then we were allowed to board. It was HORRIBLE! We had to get both kids and both car seats and 3 carryons (one for Doug, Sam, & I) down the isles to the back part of the plane because the front rows were already full of the "A" passengers! I had Alden & a car seat and I physically could not get down the isle with both and a carry on item. People were sticking there legs/arms out in the isle as I went by and no one was offering to help. But they all had a few choice curse words to offer to me at a bumped them with the heavy car seat and child. People didn't understand that if we didn't bring the car seat on the plane that our kids would not ride well in the plane. With our car seats, it was just like a car to the kids, and they fell asleep right away! The plane right went very smooth and the kids did great!
After we landed in Florida, we waited for everyone to get off the plane so that we would not hit them with our car seats! We lugged everything down to the next level to baggage claim. Then we paused for a quick picture so that you all could see how much stuff we had to lug around! Next we went down to the next level to get our rental car. We ended up with a Rav4, which was really cool. It was the perfect size for our trip! Sam & Alden were close enough to even hold hands! It was cute. I did all the driving (I know what you all are thinking....scary!), because my parents used to take my brother & I to Disney all the time and I somehow remembered all the roads to take. We went straight to Westgate (resort) to check in. Checking-in was very quick and we got an awesome unit: Master bedroom/bathroom, Guest bedroom/bathroom, full kitchen, dining room, living room, patio, and loft! We got settled in and then headed out for the afternoon.
