Review of United flight Kansas City → Denver in Economy

Hello aviation fans and travelers, and welcome to another trip report! 
I don't fly very often these days, unfortunately, so I don't get to post very often, which is why I am always excited to take every opportunity to share my flights with you all. Finally, this opportunity is here, and this time, I will be writing about my recent flight from Kansas City, Missouri, home to Frankfurt, Germany, via Denver, Colorado. It is a route that I flew back in October 2021 as well, and although it is kind of unusual to travel West first and then go even further East, it is a route that I kind of enjoy and it turned out convenient to me. 

I had originally booked my trip home for May 13th, flying via Washington Dulles, however, due to some unanticipated personal matters, I had to reschedule my flight to a later date, and flying over Denver was the cheapest option. 

With that said, I hope you enjoy the first part of my trip report, from Kansas City to Denver, and please give me your feedback in the comments! 
Thank you everyone, and have a great rest of your Sunday, and a great week! :)

On my way to the gate, I already had a nice view of my aircraft for the first flight of the day. I have to say, I really love KCI Airport's new design! I was not a big fan of those old circular buildings, especially because I always had to change terminals whenever I wanted to do some plane spotting in the airport during my free time. On the other hand, of course, the circular buildings had many spots which offered a nice view of the planes and the tarmac. Now, you can't do that anymore without having to pass the security check point. Still, I love the new terminal building, along with its wide variety of shops, restaurants, and even the historic exhibit area as you make your way to the gate. :)

My ride for the 1.5-hour flight was a Boeing 737-800, registration N12225. The Boeing 737 aircraft is incredibly popular among many airlines in the world as it is, despite its age, a very robust and reliable airplane, with an excellent safety record, and great for both short- and medium-range flights. The Boeing 737 MAX is an exception, though, and some of you might have heard that the CEO of Boeing, David Calhoun, will be stepping down from his position amid the crisis concerning this rather controversial jet. During the Senate hearings, Calhoun had to take a lot of heat from the senators who had accused him of putting profit over public safety. The Boeing company has been in trouble lately, and I do hope that this issue will be resolved soon.

Boarding began on time, and as soon as I took my seat, it started to rain, so I couldn't wait to take off, fly through the clouds, and see the sun. This is one of the best things about flying. No matter what the weather is, you get to see the sun (almost) every day! :)
Soon afterward, the Captain made his welcome announcement, and gave us some information about the flight. He said that we would be taking off on time, with a slightly early arrival into Denver, and best of all, the weather in Denver was very nice, with sunny skies, warm temperatures, and just a few scattered clouds.

Everything went smoothly, boarding was completed very quickly, we pushed back on time, and just a minute after that, we began taxiing to the runway. There wasn't much traffic coming into or going out of MCI at that time, so we were going to be number one for take off. 

Passing a United Express Embraer 175 (Republic Airways), registration N763YX. This one is going to Houston, Texas.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 737-800, registration N3746H, bound for Atlanta, Georgia.

We took off on time, right before 2 o'clock in the afternoon, from Runway 19R, to the South, and then made a right turn, heading towards Denver. On the left you see a bit of the Missouri River.
I have to apologize at this point, for not being able to make a complete video of the take off or the landing. What happened was, right as I wanted to start recording, an error message on my phone popped up saying that the camera is not available at the moment, and that I should restart my device and try it again. So what I did was I recorded as much as I could via WhatsApp, I sent the video to someone, and then later downloaded it to upload it onto my YouTube channel. If you want to, you can copy and paste the link I have inserted below, and I have done "Shorts" of the take off and the landing. Sorry about this, guys, and I hope you still get to enjoy them at least a bit! :)

https://youtube.com/shorts/SsSK0tMahVk?si=KmPBvnYkiiwE6C7P

We reached cruising altitude about 20 minutes after take off, flying at 31,000 feet. WiFi was available on that flight as well. United offered a WiFi pass for 8 dollars for the entire trip, which I booked, so I could start posting my trip on social media. :)
Soon afterwards, the flight attendants came through the cabin to serve beverages and snacks. I went for a cup of coffee, with some biscoff. :)

The closer we got to Denver, the better the weather became, just as the Captain had promised. :) Those are the views that I really enjoy!

Down there is Wilson Lake, which is a reservoir in Kansas, on the border of Russell County and Lincoln County. Not only is it a popular place for tourists, with its famous State Park, but it is also used for wildlife management and recreation. Besides the State Park, there are several other parks located along its shoreline, including Lucas Park, Minooka Park, and Sylvan Park. 
I have never been there myself, but I do hear good things about the location. :)

As the sky cleared up more and we could see more of the breathtaking landscape (sarcasm :)), we began our descent into Denver International Airport.

Applying the speedbrakes to destroy lift and get down a bit faster. I always love to see those in action as well as hearing and feeling the vibration. :)

On final approach, we flew over Interstate I-70. I have driven on this one countless of times, especially when commuting between Topeka, Kansas, where I used to live, and Kansas City, for flight school. I now live in Germany again, but I do visit family in kansas regularly, and this interstate will always be familiar to me. :) I-70 conveniently connects Topeka and Denver, so those who don't mind driving don't even need a GPS. :)

Here is the link to the landing:

https://youtube.com/shorts/xpJto_OWA28?si=pZwlYfpnONxMjMmX

We touched down at about 2:10 p.m. local time, which was over 30 minutes ahead of schedule, so great job United! :) The crew on my flight to Germany did even better, but I will get to that in part 2 of my trip report. :)

We then taxiied past Delta's terminal A, before pulling into our gate, Gate B46. My connecting flight to Frankfurt was going to be from Gate A27, so I had to switch terminals via the plane train/subway.

Parking close to a United Boeing 777-200. That one will be flying to Chicago O'Hare. Sadly, I haven't flown on the 777 in over 20 years, and if I had gone via Washington as originally planned, I would have had the opportunity. United uses the Boeing 777-300 on the Washington-Frankfurt route. However, I will be flying on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner instead, which I also like. :)