Travel Day - A Slight Change of Plans

Was: November 28, 2024, Is: November 27, 2024

The airport on what is supposed to be one of the busiest travel days of the year. It was NOT busy at all.

Welcome back friends. It’s Kara. I’m sitting at the airport waiting to board our flight to Orlando - a day earlier than planned. I decided I'd chime in here on our first official day as the "primary" author. We'll try to let you know who is writing and who is adding in each day.

Two days before we left, I had a three-month cancer re-check. These are “standard” post treatment, but my nerves before these appointment are anything but standard. Thankfully, all was well and as Gayle and I texted after the appointment she said, “I have a new idea for our trip … will share when I get home.”

So, a few hours later when she arrived home, she said, “What if we go down on Wednesday night instead of Thursday morning?”

In my usual way, I was interested in the idea, but showed no outward emotions (and Gayle prefers outward reactions!)

We spent the evening chatting about pros...: 

• an opportunity to use one of our Marriott vouchers when we don’t have any other plans to use them, 

• a slower, easier pace at Disney Springs since we’ll have the whole day available on Thanksgiving,

...and cons:

• traveling on THE single busiest travel day of the year,

• the added cost of the change in flight.

After weighing all of these, we decided that it was the right decision to go ahead and fly out on Wednesday evening so Gayle changed our ticket to depart IND at 5:40 p.m. If all goes as planned, we’ll arrive at Orlando at 8:00 p.m. and should arrive at our favorite TownPlace Suites Orlando airport around 9:30 p.m.

As for traveling on the busiest travel day of the year, as the photo above shows in the background, it’s been surprisingly quiet. That photo was us just before we checked in at Southwest. Note there are no lines. We had dinner at Chick Fil-A before heading through security.

We knew we needed to leave plenty of extra time today - and throughout the trip - as Gayle is in a boot - a story I’ll let her tell. We were pleasantly surprised when Brittany, the Southwest gate agent, completely unprompted, gave Gayle pre-board. So, we’re preparing to head out and begin our adventure.

A few hours later...

Our flight was completely uneventful. We landed about 30 minutes early. After grabbing our bags, Gayle called the shuttle for our hotel. We headed to our room and unwound a little before settling in for - hopefully - a good night’s sleep. See you back here tomorrow.