? for those who rent a car and have small children

[2boys2disney]

I found an older post about this, but I'm wondering now that we have to pay to check baggages, what is the best (most convenient w/o breaking the bank) way to do all of this??
We are staying off-site in a condo. Just bought airline tickets (instead of driving 13+hrs w/ two 3 yr olds. Now I'm trying to figure out the car seats, car rental, and stroller situation...
Has anyone rented car seats before? Are they nice (clean), safe? Would you do it again or BYO?
Not sure if we should rent a stroller (at the parks or another company), or bring some umbrella strollers? This might also tell me if we need to rent a bigger car....
Suggestions, advice, ideas?!?
Sorry for all the questions. Obviously, I haven't done this before...with kids.
TIA:veryconfu

 

[happymom52003]

I found an older post about this, but I'm wondering now that we have to pay to check baggages, what is the best (most convenient w/o breaking the bank) way to do all of this??
We are staying off-site in a condo. Just bought airline tickets (instead of driving 13+hrs w/ two 3 yr olds. Now I'm trying to figure out the car seats, car rental, and stroller situation...
Has anyone rented car seats before? Are they nice (clean), safe? Would you do it again or BYO?
Not sure if we should rent a stroller (at the parks or another company), or bring some umbrella strollers? This might also tell me if we need to rent a bigger car....
Suggestions, advice, ideas?!?
Sorry for all the questions. Obviously, I haven't done this before...with kids.
TIA:veryconfu

You'll probably get lots of different opinions on this, but here is my 2 cents!

1. I would suggest bringing your own car seats, even though it is a pain. You never know what you are going to get with a rental car seat. When we rented one once, the first one they gave us was broken. Luckily we were very observant...someone could have easily overlooked it. We also were not familiar with how to install it since it was a different brand than we were used to. And I would not trust the rental car agencies to keep up with car seat recalls. Yes, it is a pain...but traveling by air will not always be so difficult....soon they will be in boosters, which are much easier to deal with, and safer to rent! We took the approach that we would rather have the hassle of dealing with all of the car seats and strollers at the airport instead of dealing with NOT having them during our week long vacation. Now that being said, we did all of this before you had to pay so much for extra bags. But still, it would be worth the price to me. I guess it just depends on your budget. But, no matter which route you choose, there will still be money involved...either pay to rent the car seat, or pay to check it.

2. I am in the "bring your own stroller" camp. We had several trips where we brought two strollers. We purchased travel umbrella strollers that were light weight, easy to fold and had carrying straps. We knew we would be making multiple trips while both kids still needed strollers, so it was worth the investment to us. If you really want to rent, I would suggest using an outside rental company so that you can have the strollers outside of the parks as well.
Keep in mind that since you will have a car, you won't have to worry about folding up and holding the strollers on crowded buses, which is the number one complaint people have about bringing their own strollers.

Have a great trip!:wave:

 

[MITCH 112198]

I have been there several times with kids age 1 to 5 every year and I rented the 1st time, which was very expensive, now i take my own and always rent a car through DOLLAR RENT A CAR.

Always take my own stroller, easier to find the all the other strollers, and the kids already like it. Disneys strollers are hard plastic.:sohappy:



84days to go. disney here we come, AGAIN

 

[thrupaytonseyes]

All of the airlines will let you check your car seats and strollers for no extra charge. You can buy car seat bags and stroller bags at babies r us. This way they don't get dirty or wet when under the plane.

It is not recommended to rent car seats from rental companies. They have been found to be broken, in prior accidents, and expired.

I would bring your own car seat and stroller. If you don't want to deal with them in the airport or on the plane, check them once you get to the airport. If you are checking in on line do not count them as checked baggege when it is asks how many bags you are checking. When you get to the airport go up to the counter and check the car seat/stroller bags then. Also, if you run out of room in your regular luggage, you can put the extra stuff in the car seat bag. We do this all the time.

One car rental suggestion: make sure you rent from a company that is at the airport. Using a shuttle to get to the rental place with children is a HUGE headache!

 

[SAV]

We always bring our own Car seats and strollers. We haven't had to pay a fee for checking either one.

As for the car rental, use the discount codes on Mousesavers.com to get the best deal. While getting the car on-airport is quicker, it really isn't that big of a deal to get one off-airport. You just have to load your stuff onto a shuttle and it drops you off right at the rental agency. So don't let that scare you.

 

[2boys2disney]

checking car seats and strollers, doesn't count towards baggage = no charge?! woo hoo!! i didn't check yet for our specific flight, but that is awesome!!

thanks to those who replied....great help!!

 

[dznygirl64]

I would check your airline for sure.You could always count the car seat and stroller as a carry on.We always rent fron National at the airport,we have the Emerald card so we can get any car we want for the same price.I got the card free from my work several years ago.Sign up on Nationals web page for e mails on sales

 

[dznygirl64]

Personally if I only lived 13 hours away I would drive,For years we drove down non stop with the kids and it would take 21 hours.