Taking a Car Seat?

[DisneyBaby823]

We will be flying to WDW next year and I happened across a thread that mentions in passing about the very high cost of renting a car seat and that your own car seat can be checked by the airline for free.

Question 1: "Checked" means it goes in the plane's cargo, right?
I don't want to be confused and think that the car seat is free to bring on the plane only as long as I'm paying for the baby to have his own seat. Because I think we may be doing the lap ride with him to cut costs and it's only a 2hr trip.

Question 2: For those who have babies around 20-months old (our baby will be that age when we go) what kind of seat would you recommend for such a trip? We have a huge, heavy, bulky convertible that I know my husband had trouble installing in our own car, he's not going to be happy at the thought of taking it. Is there something out there that is lightweight but still safe that you can recommend?

Thank you!

 

[alissafalco]

Unless you actually buy your child it's own seat you will not be able to bring the car seat on the plane. You will have to check the car seat (which we did). It's free and it does not count as a checked bag. The only exception to that is when you are checking your bags you can ask the employee if the flight is full, if it's not full they will sometimes allow you to bring the car seat on the plane so it can go in an empty seat. Anytime we ever asked, the flight was full so we just checked it and my son sat on my lap. I also just flew with my 17 month old and unfortunately there is no such thing as a light travel car seat. We had to check our big bulky one. I hope that helps.

 

[figmentfan22]

We have a britax boulevard car seat and it works fine on the plane. They also sell a cart that it clips to so instead of carrying it throughout the airport it can be rolled like a piece of luggage. I have used if with a 12 month old and a 18 month old. I highly recommend buying a seat for your child. My son flew from Chicago to Italy (3 seperate flights) at 18 months old and he slept during every take off and landing. Some airlines also let you board first to get the seat installed and the child buckled in and ready to go.

 

[Tinkerbell397]

We are going to Disney in November with my daughter, son in law and granddaughter who will be 20 months at the time of the trip. They bought her a ticket for her own seat....but the airlines are specific about the size of the car seat. If you do change your mine and buy her a ticket, check with the airline for size specs.....we are flying SWA and I think (call to be sure) that the set can be no wider than 16". They looked on www.diapers.com and found the least expensive with the highest safety rating....I believe it is a Cosco something or other. You can go online and google all sorts of information for airline seats or check with your airline.
Have a Magical Trip!

 

[stevehousse]

Might I add into this one. I will be traveling with a 1 month old this fall, we will be bringing a stroller with car seat attachment. Am I allowed to gate check both of these items or just the stroller, and would have to check the car seat part with my luggage? I haven't flown with such a small baby before so I have no idea???

 

[DisneyJoe]

Because I think we may be doing the lap ride with him to cut costs and it's only a 2hr trip.

May I suggest that you do some research on the safety of lap riding with him, even if it is only a 2 hour trip. There are many articles.

Just a suggestion.

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

I have a friend that travels a lot. She recommends this seat. Says it lightweight enough that you don't mind lugging it around. Can't beat the price either!

http://mobile.walmart.com/ip/Cosco-Scenera-Convertible-Car-Seat-Renaissance/16932760

 

[Tinkerbell397]

The above seat is the one my daughter is buying......Cosco Scenera..... about $40.00

 

[DisneyBaby823]

That's a nice car seat. Thank you for the link.

 

[Joey Jurado]

We will be flying to WDW next year and I happened across a thread that mentions in passing about the very high cost of renting a car seat and that your own car seat can be checked by the airline for free.

Question 1: "Checked" means it goes in the plane's cargo, right?
I don't want to be confused and think that the car seat is free to bring on the plane only as long as I'm paying for the baby to have his own seat. Because I think we may be doing the lap ride with him to cut costs and it's only a 2hr trip.

Question 2: For those who have babies around 20-months old (our baby will be that age when we go) what kind of seat would you recommend for such a trip? We have a huge, heavy, bulky convertible that I know my husband had trouble installing in our own car, he's not going to be happy at the thought of taking it. Is there something out there that is lightweight but still safe that you can recommend?

Thank you!

we have this carseat, I had the hardest time assembling the 1st, this one is so easy to install and quite light, totally recommend it we have used it since our son turned 13 months.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Evenflo-Chase-Select-Harnessed-Booster-Car-Seat-Dipsy-Doodle/35847012

 

[RandomPrincess]

I do not recommend checking a car seat - even gate check unless you have no choice. They are not gentle with luggage (even car seat)s there are many videos on YouTube showing baggage handlers throwing car seats around. We checked one once and they basically crashed it - it was no longer safe to ride in and we had to buy an new seat on vacation.

Car Seats will have an FAA label on them if they are allowed on planes.

If you are staying on Disney property only and taking ME and Disney transportation the whole trip you don't need a car seat at all.

Also there are plenty of companies as well and the rental car companies that will rent car seats.

 

[RememberWhen]

We recently traveled (not to Disney) with our just barely 2 year old, and so needed a seat for him. Truthfully though, I can't imagine having him on my lap for any extended length of time. He was so happy in his seat.
Anyway, we have a diono something or other. It is a great seat and is super narrow. We had no problems installing it front facing on the plane (rear facing would probably be tricky). It's pricy, but it should be the last car seat he ever needs since it converts from a harness style seat to a shoulder belt booster. We love it.
If your kiddo has a seat and you aren't bringing a car seat I recommend buying or renting a CARES harness. It basically turns the lap belt on the plane seat into a harness seat. This is our plan for our upcoming trip to Disney in September. We won't need a car, so don't need to deal with a car seat. If you google CARES harness it should be easy to find.

 

[Uncle Lupe]

We recently traveled (not to Disney) with our just barely 2 year old, and so needed a seat for him. Truthfully though, I can't imagine having him on my lap for any extended length of time. He was so happy in his seat.
Anyway, we have a diono something or other. It is a great seat and is super narrow. We had no problems installing it front facing on the plane (rear facing would probably be tricky). It's pricy, but it should be the last car seat he ever needs since it converts from a harness style seat to a shoulder belt booster. We love it.
If your kiddo has a seat and you aren't bringing a car seat I recommend buying or renting a CARES harness. It basically turns the lap belt on the plane seat into a harness seat. This is our plan for our upcoming trip to Disney in September. We won't need a car, so don't need to deal with a car seat. If you google CARES harness it should be easy to find.

I used that CARES and it was fairly easy ordeal. The flight attendant freaked out and had no clue about the device. But after explaining it was FAA approved and showed the paperwork they had nothing to say. I just rented mine from an Ebay user and had no issues. Our daughter was almost 2 1/2.

 

[RandomPrincess]

I used that CARES and it was fairly easy ordeal. The flight attendant freaked out and had no clue about the device. But after explaining it was FAA approved and showed the paperwork they had nothing to say. I just rented mine from an Ebay user and had no issues. Our daughter was almost 2 1/2.

I did the same thing before when we didn't need a car seat on the the other end.

 

[Kristamouse]

I have 5 kids and understand not wanting to pay for an extra seat. I also have flown all over and could not imagine have them on my lap, espically dealing with other children with a baby on my lap. once we laped our oldest too, we had no choice and the flight was tough but kids did OK for being 18 months and 21/2, DH and I were more uncomfortable. Buy a seat and buckle the car seat or use the CARES. I refuse to check out carseats after Delta lost our Britax marathons. We were stuck in our home city airport with no car seats to get us home, we waited 2 hours for them to get us two new car seats,I swear they went to Walmart and bought them, the were new in box and the unsafe crap Walmart carries. Our seats and luggage came two days later and our Marathons were dirty/damaged and torn. Perhaps if we had a car seat travel bag they wouldent have been so bad but we did not plan on checking them. I called, provided pictures and recipts and Delta replaced the seats. Also on that flight we had paid for seats for our children and Delta oversold the flight and we had to lap them or wait until the next day to fly out. All said it was a horror story ending to an awesome trip.

We were a tried and true Britax family until I tried the Diono, love them! Very heavy, sturdy but so slimline. I for on don't want my children in cheap plastics, like the heavy metal surrounding them. The Diono seat folds up for easy storage and we used iton out luggage cart through Ft.Meyers airport very smoothly. We drive and fly to WDW but always need a car seat because we don't like to deal with busses. It only took one hour plus wait to get out of Magic Kingdom with a sleeping 1 and 2 year old and a 5 and 4 year old dead on thier feet. Standing on a bus holding two sleeping babies and trying to also hold on to my very tired older kids while DH dealt with the stroller, diaper bag and help hold up the 4 and 5 year old was a NIGHTMARE! Much prefer to get in our car and get back to our room in under 15 mins. We are driving this year and will again use our own car espically because our baby will be a year. Once the kids are out of the stroller we will try busses but for now happy driving.

 

[DisneyBaby823]

I'm going through the pros and cons list of driving vs. flying with the baby. Flying is only just over 2 hours, where driving would take about 20 hours! My husband's uncle drove us down in '09 and barely let us out for breaks, all meals were eaten in the car, we only stopped for gas and restroom breaks - it was a straight drive and took over 19 hours. It was HORRIFYING! And I vowed NEVER to drive again! But this whole car seat issue really has me for a loop. I'm just not sure what to do.

With a 20-month old, I don't know if all those hours in the car would be a nightmare. I would NOT do a straight drive! I'd want to stop at a halfway point and spend the night, but that still means two 8-hour trips with the baby. I don't want to be exhausted when we get there.

At least I'm getting a lot to think about. Thanks for all the help guys!!!

 

[Nemo14]

Actually with a 20 month old it's not all that bad. We used to drive from RI when our kids were little. MY DH is a night owl so we'd do a large part of the drive at night while the kids slept. A DVD player of any sort will help to keep the baby happy too, and most of the rest areas have enough space to let him or her run around for a bit and stretch your legs.

 

[boilerpicc]

If you are staying on Disney property only and taking ME and Disney transportation the whole trip you don't need a car seat at all.

This! We have flown with our daughter 4 times (fights ranging from 2.5-3.5 hours). She was in our laps for all of the flights. When we are going to see family, we check the car seat. It does go through the normal cargo. Here is what we do. I stick 4 heavy-duty, clear lawn clipping trash bags in the outside pocket of my suitcase, along with a roll of packing tape and some scissors. When we get to the airport, we pull the seat out of the car, wrap it up in two of the trash bags, and then put packing tape around it to make sure everything is secure. When we get to our destination, I use the scissors to cut open the packing tape/trash bags. I then do the same thing for the trip home. Our car seats have never had any damage, and it's a lot cheaper than buying a travel bag.

Saying all of that, I have never packed a car seat when we go to Disney. We use the Magical Express and Disney Transportation, so we never have a need for a car seat. We just leave it in the car and gate check the stroller. It's so much more convienent. We've also never had any problems with sleeping/cranky kiddo and buses, yet. She's only just 2, so I'm sure those times are coming.

 

[Tinkerbell397]

I assume that you put the scissors in the outside pocket of your checked bag as scissors are on the list of prohibited items for your carry on bag. I was stopped by TSA at check in when a friend mistakingly slipped a cuticle scissors into my carry on.

 

[HollyAD]

I have flown a few times with my son. He was always very small so I was able to hold him during the flight. We would pass him off from adult to adult in our group and he was happy. We brought some things to keep him occupied. Also, I would only bring my "cheap" car seat. It was purchased at BJs and it was just something extra we had so I didn't care too much if it got messed up or lost. I would never check my nice car seat! Now we drive and he has always done very well. He is 5 and we have been driving twice a year since he was 1. If you break the drive up into two days its not as miserable for a 20 hour drive. We can make it in 14 hours so we do it in one day.