For Thanksgiving, we spent six nights at the Grand Floridian Resort in Disney World. The next few posts will document our travels and the fun we had. We left Colorado Springs on a Saturday morning. The high in Colorado Springs the Thursday before we left was in the teens, so we were anxious to get to Florida. Forecast highs were in the 60's and 70's, so we packed our shorts and (slightly) warm-weather gear. The flight out was not without its anxiety. We flew from Colorado Springs to Denver. In Denver, we were picking up our nephew, Teddy. The scheduled departure from Colorado Springs was 1107. The scheduled departure from Denver was 1245, so we had plenty of buffer...or so we thought. When we arrived at the airport, we noticed the absence of a plane. This created some worry. We kept checking Ashley's phone and saw our plane had mechanical issues and was delayed. The scheduled departure time was delayed until 1152. We were really starting to sweat. I checked with the United agent, who informed me the 1245 trip from Denver to Orlando was the last flight of the day. Evidently on Saturday's, United runs an abridged flight schedule. He was nice enough to book us on a US Air flight, from Denver through Charlotte, arriving in Orlando just before midnight. This was not what we wanted to hear. We texted with Dave, who was at the gate in Denver with Teddy, waiting to perform the handoff. Our plane arrived at the gate at 1115. The agents promised a quick turn. I cannot count how many times I looked at my phone, watching the minutes tick by. I think everyone on the plane had a connection (who flies from COS to Denver and then stops traveling?). You would have thought people would have shown a bit more urgency boarding the plane (a little hustle, people). Ashley and I were disheartened to learn we would be arriving at gate B-84; our flight would depart out of gate B-22. We were looking at a bit of a jog. The flight to Denver is short--maybe 20 minutes. We landed, and as we were taxiing, we passed right by gate B-22. I texted with Dave, who informed us, "They'll hold the plane, but you'll have to run." This assuaged our fears, but we were still worried. Would they really hold the plane? We parked at 1232. Bode understood the need for speed, and was ready to run. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite understand the concept of pacing himself. The kid took off, but was winded in a matter of moments. I proceeded ahead, going past gates in the 60's, 50's, 40's, 30's, and finally, to the 20's. I saw Dave and Teddy, waving me on (I felt like I was finishing a marathon). I sprinted ahead. The gate agents were extremely friendly--no rush from them (I found out why later). Dave ran back and helped Ashley and Bode down the final stretch. We hugged Dave, grabbed Teddy, and we boarded, sweaty, and quite out-of-breath. I got the boys situated for the flight, while Ashley sat a few rows back (where she was able to nap in the piece and quiet, but I won't go into that right now). The boys were great on the plane, sharing their games and looking forward to Disney, and doing all the things little boys do.
I did a little web-surfing, using the new internet service available on some flights (word to the wise: streaming video websites won't work, so don't expect to watch TV or movies or anything like that). We landed, took the Magical Express to Disney, and our vacation commenced (future posts coming). We arrived at our hotel without incident. We proceeded to get a good night's sleep, as Day 1 was the Magic Kingdom.
Epilogue: Dave and Charlie arrived in Denver a few days later. At dinner, Dave recounted his experience with the gate agents. When he first informed them about how we were trying to catch the flight, they were not sympathetic: "The planes must run on time!" (Sounds like something the Germans would have said). However, when Dave mentioned Teddy would become an "unaccompanied minor," the agents' tunes changed. A plane CAN be held for an unaccompanied minor. That and a disabled person are the two things that will result in an intentional hold on a plane. The agents bent the rules because holding the plane actually prevented Teddy from being an unaccompanied minor, but let's not split hairs here. Let's call it an early Christmas present from United to the McGuirk Family :-) More to come on the Disney Thanksgiving Vacation!
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