the tom bihn aeronaut, western flyer and synapse go to disney world

[maverick]

hi folks,

i'm not sure what we were thinking (perhaps a better question would be were we thinking at all), but we decided to travel this thanksgiving holiday weekend.

we were pleasantly surprised that we were able to move quickly through the security like at reagan national airport near washington, dc. we had checked in at home, and had arrived at the airport about an hour and a half before the departure time. so it worked out well that we had about an hour at the gate before departure time. we had a snack and i took some time to get a few pictures.

i'd like to share some of those pictures with you today.

i'll continue to share pictures from this trip in this thread.

enjoy!

[maverick]

we packed some trains and train tracks to play with in the room.

we put the tracks in one end of the aeronaut, and trains, cars, and diggers in the other end of the aeronaut.

a quick review of what else was packed:

in the western flyer, we packed:

• 4 changes of clothes for me.
• 3 sets of workout clothes for me.
• snacks for the trip.
• a book on disney world.
• travel documents.

in the aeronaut, we packed:

• clothes for my wife.
• 5 changes of clothes and pajamas for my son.
• toiletries for all of us.
• the toys we already mentioned.

in the synapse, we packed:

• 13" macbook in a cache.
• panasonic gf1 camera.
• leica d-lux 4 camera.
• ac adapters for the macbook, camera, and iphone.
• other odds and ends.

the synapse is what i'm carrying around with us while we're here with the camera, snacks, jackets if we're not wearing them, water, and stuff we end up buying.

[maverick]

the western flyer, aeronaut and synapse were all suitable for carrying on board.

i heard several carriers making announcements that they were waiving fees for checking luggage because they were operating full flights and knew that the larger roll aboard suitcases that many people bring onboard would not fit in the available overhead storage space.

[maverick]

we flew a boeing 717 operated by airtrain which was configured with three seats on one side and two on the other. the overhead compartment on the side with three seats was deeper than the overhead compartment on the side with two seats. the aeronaut, western flyer and synapse all fit nicely overhead on either side.

[maverick]

outside the airport in orlando, i met a little man with some really cool looking bags...

[maverick]

i was able to leave the cache with the macbook inside safely inside the safe in my hotel room. i'm not sure why they installed a vertical design, but the cache sat nicely inside of it.

[MtnMan]

I don't recognize the little square Tom Bihn bag on the bench with your "little man".

[moriond]

I don't recognize the little square Tom Bihn bag on the bench with your "little man".

I think that's the eM² that was designed to hold the Mac Mini (see this blog post from about 5 years ago). It's no longer made.

[Katy]

I like the photo of all the bags in the overhead compartment!

Also, northwest has wifi on board?

[notmensa]

Fantastic photos!! And a very cute little man as well. :-)

[maverick]

I like the photo of all the bags in the overhead compartment!

Also, northwest has wifi on board?

hi katy,

i believe northwest does offer wifi onboard.

we actually flew with airtran. i used the northwest sizing unit for carry on luggage because they were at the gate next to ours, and because airtrain didn't have a sizing unit at their gate.

airtran also offers wifi onboard, though i didn't make use if it. it was about a two hour flight. jaiden got to go up to the cockpit and meet the captain and got a pair of wings. i didn't get to get pictures this time, though. we played a little. and i started editing through some pictures that i took at a baby shower a couple of weeks ago that i haven't had a chance to go through yet.

[backpack]

Jaden is a most photogenic person!

The bags' pictures showing the content, scale of different bags in the sizing
unit and in the overhead bin are extremely informative.

It seems that you were carrying the Western Flyer as a backpack, the Aeronaute on the shoulder and also the Synapse.
How did you manage to do that?


I especially appreciate those wonderful pictures especially while you are traveling with your family. :)

Good for Jaden to make friends with the pilots and get another set of wings. :)


In most hotel rooms the safe is set up that way unless it is a budget chain.
They have undersized rectangular safe unsuitable to house even a Small Cafe Bag.
On the other end of the spectrum, flagship hotels, the ones the president and movie
stars use, most probably have full sized safes in the suites

[maverick]

we spent the day at magic kingdom today. jaiden had a blast going on a train ride, meeting mickey, minnie, peter pan and donald duck, seeing other characters in a parade, driving a race car, playing, going on the it's a small world ride, and doing other stuff that i can't remember now.

we carried some snacks, our tour book, water bottles, camera, and my wallet in the synapse as we walked around magic kingdom today. it was chilly in the morning and we were wearing our jackets. as it warmed up in the afternoon, our jackets went into the synapse. as the day got cooler, we put our jackets back on. we bought some cars, including lightning mcqueen. jaiden wanted to carry the cars, but they eventually made their way into the synapse later in the day. we also bought this art kit that we carried in the synapse.

the synapse was a pleasure to carry. i carried it on my back most of the time, but put it on my front during the parade when we were in a packed crowd.

we'd like to share a few pictures from today with you.

i have to admit it's harder to get pictures with my tom bihn bags when i'm traveling with jaiden and mona. when it's just me, i can take my time and get pictures of my bags. still, we got a couple of cool pictures...

hmm - i'm having trouble uploading pictures. we'll try this in the morning.

still, i made one picture smaller and managed to finally upload it...

while we were in minnie's house, jaiden discovered tom's super duper special sewing machine that he uses to design his bags! he lent it to minnie so that she could make a super special surprise bag for mickey!

but ssshhhhh! don't tell anyone - this is top secret! :)

[Bag Lady]

maverick, I love this picture! My daughter and I always love going to Minnie & Mickey's houses! Your little boy is so cute too!

And your recap of a typical day at WDW is spot-on! Just curious, did you take advantage of the Fast Pass? Where did you store them so they were secure but still easily accessible? In your TB Wallet?

[Nana8]

Great photos, maverick! A very handsome young man you have there!