Just to keep you updated: Day 2 started out wonderfully. I got a quick lesson on flying with one of the pilots on my Southwest flight, and everything was looking up. Then, we made the switch to AirTran, and everything seemed to go downhill from there. It’s not AirTran’s fault really, but they did put us on the narrowest, most cramped plane I’ve been on. After a few AirTran flights and two on US Air, I arrived in the magical land of Orlando, and all hell broke loose. Word of advice …

Don’t change airlines at the Orlando airport if you don’t have to. Or at least don’t switch from US Air to Southwest. We had an hour to make the change and we thought it would be fine.

More Santa Video Here!

Little did we know, it would involve riding two trams, wandering aimlessly for 20 minutes, and running into a security line filled with families carrying Disney cheer and 14-seater strollers that are apparently designed to take on the roughest of terrains.

Seriously, where are you taking these strollers. people?! Sorry, I’m sure they’re very helpful when traveling with youngsters.

So, we finally get through security and check the big board to find that we our late for our flight. After calling on sprinting skills that have long lain dormant, we arrived at the gate to see no one had even begun to board.

The plane was there, but the crew was not. Yea! We made our flight from Orlando to Pittsburgh. I’m so happy.

Now, when we finally did start boarding, I realized that for the first time on Southwest, we had slipped into the B Boarding group. With Southwest’s new style of boarding, I thought we’d be all right.

I was B-1, after all. However, there is something you must know: In Orlando, there is a huge difference between being the last person in A and the first person is B. You see, as part of the new boarding method, Southwest now takes Families in between A and B, and in Orlando that’s easily half the plane.

It’s actually supposed to be families with kids who are under 4 years old, but I know there were some 8 year-olds in there. How? Because when they made the “4-year old” announcement over the intercom, one of the kids in line kept saying to his parents, “But, I’m 8.” Ah, the honesty of youth.

Summing up, the flight was a nightmare. So loud, so cramped, so miserable. We missed dinner in Orlando, so we did get to roam the outskirts of Pittsburgh at 1:00 in the morning, and who doesn’t want to get out there and explore the outskirts of Pittsburgh when it’s dark, raining, and ice cold?

Day 3 is about to kick off. Woo-Hoo!

Grumpiness Scale: 3 (last night: 5)

–GS

What’s on Santa’s iTunes? The Cure: Disintegration. It’s cold and gray out. The perfect weather for it, and it’s a favorite around the Grumpy Santa house.