Galley Gossip: How to create a flight attendant Halloween costume

by Heather Poole on

It’s that time of year, people! Hopefully you’ve already figured out what you’re going to be for Halloween. It is right around the corner, ya know.

I’m the type of person who usually waits until the last second to pull something together, which is why I almost always end up feeling insecure about my costume, a crap costume, which only leads to a miserable night out – that is if I even go out! It all depends on just how crappy the crap costume actually ends up.

But this year I’ve decided to do things a little differently and embrace the holiday season. I’m going to dress up in something I’ve planned out well in advance. What that costume may be I still don’t know, but my three year-old knows that he’s going as Captain Hook and wants me to dress up as Tinkerbell. Not a chance. Thankfully there’s still plenty of time to figure it out.

Now if you’re like me, you’re looking for a costume that’s easy to throw together and inexpensive. So why not live out your inner fantasy and dress up as me – a flight attendant! Think about it, you’ll be able to deliver drinks and do the pointy-point all night long. Oh you know you want to!

Last year at this exact same time I came across an interesting post from Jennine (that’s her in the photo) who has a fantastic fashion blog called The Coveted. Imagine my surprise when I spotted her dressed up as a stewardess for Halloween, a fantastic get up she created by using clothing from her very own closet.

“All you need,” Jennine writes,”is a hat, gloves, a neck scarf, a go-go dress or shift dress, a vest, and knee high boots.”

As for hair and make up, Jennine suggests to go heavy on the liquid eyeliner and use blue eyeshadow and red lips. Of course the beehive is a must.

What’s that you say, the retro look really isn’t your thing? You’d much rather unleash your inner slut? That’s okay. It’s a good thing I’m here help.

I plugged the words FLIGHT ATTENDANT COSTUME into the search engine and then went through dozens of web sites until I narrowed it down to my favorites. See a costume you like, just click on the picture and you’ll be directed to a page where you’ll be able to place an order. It’s that simple. You can thank me later. By the way, the pink and orange dress with the white go-go boots is by far my favorite retro flight attendant costume – just in case you were wondering. Now don’t start clicking away just yet, not before you have a chance to scroll down to the bottom of this post for a few very important tips on how to complete your flight attendant transformation.

You’ve picked out the perfect flight attendant costume, so why not take it a step further and go for it. See what it’s like, really like, to work the unfriendly skies by doing what flight attendants spend a good portion of their time doing at 30,000 feet…

Point a lot: “Flight attendants tend to point a lot, they point at the exits, they point at the aisle, they point at the bathrooms. They point at your trays while they are telling you to put them away,” writes Jennine.

Smile: Fake smiles are even better.

Apologize Do it as often as possible, even when it’s not your fault. Make sure to mean it when you say it.

Sell whatever you can get your hands on. Why not have fun and make a little money while doing so.

Pick up trash – I’m not talking about your future ex-boyfriend or girlfriend.

“Abuse” your power. Flash your badge and cut the line. Once you get where you need to be, push your way through the crowd while reminding people that the seat belt sign is on.

Happy Halloween. Hope you have a terrible fright!

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It’s Halloweekends time at Cedar Point!

by Katie Hammel on

As a child growing up in the Midwest, Autumn always meant the same traditions. Sundays spent raking the leaves from the yard, visits to cider mills, and an annual October trip to Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio.

Cedar Point. . .in October? Yes! If you live in the Midwest, you probably know that Cedar Point stays open on weekends through November 1. If you didn’t know, you’ll want to plan a trip now because, while night can be cold, hours are limited, and not all the rides are open (including, of course, the water rides and the Soak City park), the lack of crowds makes this the perfect time to get your roller coaster fix.

For the whole month, the park is open from 6pm to midnight on Fridays, noon to midnight on Saturdays, and 11am to 8pm on Sundays (except for October 11 when it’s open 10am-10pm). And with those reduced hours come reduced prices on Friday nights and Saturdays after 4pm. Daily admission is normally $44.99, but during those times it drops to $29.99 per adult.

During Halloweekends most of the park’s major coasters like Millennium Force, Raptor, Magnum, and Blue Streak are all open, though some of the smaller attractions are closed. The park is decked out for Halloween with zombies, crypts, monsters, and pumpkins scattered around, and there are haunted houses of varying scare factors, a Halloween parade, and costume contests for kids.

But the best part is that, rather than waiting up to 2 hours for your favorite coaster like you will in the peak of summer, you’ll rarely wait more than 30 minutes to move through the line during Halloweekends. At many times, especially when it gets a bit chillier late in the season, you’ll zip through in just a few minutes. You get more coaster time for less money.

Cedar Point is one hour from the Cleveland airport and Sandusky, where the park is located, is serviced by Amtrak and Greyhound. There are several hotels located just outside the park gates and in the town of Sandusky ranging from around $70 to $200 per night.

Ghost hunt in a prison tours: Part history, part chills, even in daylight

by Jamie Rhein on

May is the month that kicks off the full season of the Ohio State Reformatory tours. This prison that played centerpiece to the movie Shawshank Redemption is a Gothic style stone building that looks formidable even in daylight. At night it can really creep a person out. Known for its chilling location as a Halloween haunted house, the reformatory is a ghost hunter’s dream.

As the story goes, the reformatory that once housed wayward boys is haunted by some former inmates who haven’t left. They wander the halls. Although there may be other prisons with ghosts, Alcatraz seems fitting, in my opinion, the Ohio State Reformatory is the only one that offers an overnight tour package.

That’s right. People on the tour get to stay at the prison all night long to look for paranormal activity. Not only are people allowed to stay all night, they can walk around on their own. Tour guides are on hand to answer questions and tell about the prison history, but other than that, feel free to poke around without them. Unfortunately, the tours are sold out for this season, however, there are many other opportunities to tour the prison in daylight. This is something to keep in mind for next year. Put it on your calendar to call for next year’s dates as to not miss out. Planning ahead is warranted. You have to be 21 and over for the ghost hunt experience.

There are days that don’t sell out in advance. May through September, the prison is open for tours on Sundays, and starting on June 2 daily tours are available Tuesday through Friday at 2 p.m.

The Sunday one-hour tours come in three versions–West Tower Tour, the East Cell Block Tour and the Hollywood Tour. The times for these thematic tours vary and are on a first come first serve basis starting at 1:00. The last tour is at 3:45. These tours are family friendly, although not recommended for under age 7 due to hazards like lead-based paint. Pregnant women may not want to go inside either.

For the price of your ticket, you’re helping to keep history alive because proceeds are rolled into restoration projects. Keeping an 1886 building standing is not cheap. You don’t need to be a ghost hunter to appreciate the prison. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places and boasts the world’s largest free-standing steel cell block. Who knew?

By the way, Halloween is sooner than you think. The Halloween tours sell out fast also. Under 13 aren’t admitted.

Southwest celebrates Halloween with a bang

by Grant Martin on

If you were following along the tweetfeed and some of the events late last week, you may have learned that I spent a little bit of time down at Southwest Airlines‘ HQ in Dallas for Halloween. Each year the airline has an internal competition among the departments to decorate their sections, arrange skits and try to outdo each other for the famed glory and bragging rights of the best performance.

This year, I came down with The Cranky Flier and EGW from Jaunted to help in judging the competition and to witness the madness first hand. And madness it was.

To begin with, Southwest’s CEO, Gary Kelly takes the holiday pretty seriously (he’s about the complete opposite from me.) A few years back he dressed up as Gene Simmons from Kiss. Last year he was a chick. And his enthusiasm trickles down into the soul of the entire company. EVERYONE gets fired up for this day.
When I showed up at HQ just after seven, I briefly had breakfast with my colleagues and was introduced to Gary, who this year was dressed up as Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. Yes, that’s him pictured above; here’s a picture of him in real life. Two of his closest colleagues were dressed up as other band members. Here they are practicing their moves:

After introductions and pictures, we were quickly ushered outside to golf carts that took us over to the MX hangar where aircraft are refurbished and fixed. I could have spent all day here but instead we were led through to a surprisingly impressive haunted house, complete with goons jumping out at you and fake blood.

With everyone safe and sound, much of the rest of the day involved visiting different departments and participating in assorted skits and activities that they had prepared. Some, involving dozens of employees coordinated into singing and dancing productions MUST have been professionally choreographed, begging the question of how much time and cash went into the production (and how much these bragging rights are really worth.) Others, like the Indiana Jones reenactment looked like they took weeks of construction and planning.

In the end, it was that sort of effort that ended up getting the judge’s vote for best performance. Both the Indiana Jones reenactment and a Southwest Spin on Mama Mia titled “SWAMama Mia” took home prizes for best performance.

As for the judges, we enjoyed ten seconds of fame at the end of the day when we were introduced to the employees up on stage. And I’m proud to say that I’m the only blogger that carried a beer up with him.

Until next year, friends at Southwest. I probably need that long to recover.

The airlines celebrate halloween

by Grant Martin on

Oh, to be part of the airline industry. As we recently saw in great detail, Southwest Airlines takes the holiday very, very seriously. Out at their headquarters on Friday, I was privy to a celebration of epic proportions — several departments decked out completely in costume and decoration, some with meticulous construction and weeks put into planning. I heard that some departments hired professional choreographers to coordinate their dance moves. More on that later this week though.Elsewhere in the industry, Virgin America also hosted a smaller celebration at their headquarters in California, complete with over-the-top costumes and decorations. I also heard that some Northwest employees dressed up as Delta employees. Wild.

In other news, the candy jar at my office has been empty for about a month now. I’ll cross my fingers on the Halloween celebrations getting kicked off next year.