Originally Posted by
BrianV
Traffic, tire, longer security lines are expected and planned for, broken Skylink is not, so this is still more of a confluence of bad luck. Perhaps next time the B club would've been slightly safer, but it's not normal to plan for skylink to break, so still more bad luck than anything else.
I've posted this story before, but I'll post it again... A friend told me how the Skylink broke near the E terminal. As everyone knows, there isn't any other way to get from E to A-B-C-D air-side... He ended up going landside, found a taxi, and made his way to D, re-cleared security, and ran to his flight. He made it, but just barely. It doesn't sound like this is an isolated thing.
Ever since I heard that story I've walked DFW. Heck a similar thing almost happened to me once, I arrived at D from an international flight, went to the D lounge. Got to talking to some people, and before I knew it I was cutting things close. The nice thing about the bridges/walkways connecting A-B-C-D is that hardly a soul uses them, and you can move unimpeded. I made that flight; wasn't there when they started to board, but I had enough time to stow my roller bag.
Especially before a long flight to Asia, a walk from A to D gives me a chance to stretch my legs a bit.
With a long connection and a family in tow, perhaps the OP could have played a game. Count the different shops, airplanes out the windows...something. And a walk between gates is a great way to tire kids out so they'll hopefully sleep on the next flight.