Incredibly Thankful

Last night Doug was advised by Southwest to change his flight for tomorrow night due to a predicted ice storm heading toward Chicago.  After looking at his options we decided that it was best for he and Cam to take the 4:15 flight to Midway.  I booked the flight for them on the app and the concierge helped us change their Magical Express times and print off their boarding passes.  We felt good about the decision and didn't think about it again until this morning when Doug got a text at 11 a.m. informing him that his flight for this afternoon had been cancelled.

I was with the Heinisch children on the Flight of Avatar when he heard from Southwest, so I wasn't much help to him at first.  Once he told us what had happened I instantly got on the app to change his flight.  Unfortunately, we had already checked our luggage in with the Magical Express service so we could not change his flight online.  At that point we realized that it would take some time to solve our problem, so the boys decided to go to Expedition Everest and Meg went shopping.  I called Disney while Doug was on hold with Southwest.  It took awhile, but we finally got their bags released.  The only flight to Chicago was for Sunday night at 7 p.m.  Doug went ahead and booked that just so he and Cam had someway home this weekend.  There were several flights open to Indy, but the agent on the phone said that it would cost $1100 to change airports.  At that point we realized that the next best step would be to get Doug and Cam to the Orlando airport to see if there were any other options there.  I felt bad that Cam missed Tough to Be a Bug and Figment, but I knew he had ridden those dozens of times in past trips.  It was more important that they made it home than it was for them to go to anymore attractions.

The bus was not at the station when we left so we ordered an Uber.  Our driver arrived within minutes and we were quickly back at the Boardwalk.  Cal had gone with us, while Brett and Meg decided to stay at Animal Kingdom to watch It's Tough to Be a Bug.  Bell services was quick with their travel bags and soon they had another Uber ride to the Orlando International Airport.  Since we had already checked out of our room, Cal and I hung out in the lounge.  There were sandwiches, trail mix, candy and cookies to enjoy while we waited for Brett and Meg to get back.

We heard from Doug about a half hour after he left.  Southwest had switched him to a 4:50 flight today that would get him back to Indy a couple of hours ahead of us.  Doug and I were incredibly relieved by this news.  I tried to put the four of us on that flight as well, but it was too expensive.  None of us minded the difference in time.  Cam used his afternoon at the airport to watch IU beat Ohio State while Doug worked.  The rest of us walked over to EPCOT for a few last minute rides before our Magical Express arrived.  Our time at the airport was spent eating dinner, getting through security and waiting for our boarding time which was delayed by an hour due to the storm affecting flights in Chicago, Atlanta, Kansas City and Dallas.  I was a little worried as I knew we were the last plane scheduled to Indy for today.  Fortunately, we took off right at 9 p.m.  The flight was relatively turbulent free as the plane flew toward the Carolinas to avoid the storms.  We were all exhausted, so the downtime was appreciated.  I watched Downton Abbey through Southwest's free movie app.  Cal used it to catch the Titans victory over the Ravens.  Meg enjoyed Little Mermaid on the iPad and Brett tried to sleep.   We were happy to see Doug and Cam when we landed.  We found out that their luggage did not arrive with them, but Doug was hopeful that it would be in Chicago tomorrow when we picked up the Pilot.  Although it was sad to see the end to such an awesome vacation, all in all, the six of us were extremely happy to have made it back safely to the Hoosier state tonight.  For awhile we weren't sure that that was possible.