? about travelling with toddlers and carseats

[amelia1]

So...if we fly with the CARES harness with out two girls, and take the complimentary WDW airport shuttle, do we still need carseats? We were not planning on renting a car once there. As you can tell.....this will be our first time. I am assuming the transportation is a bustype thing. Can the kids ride in our lap??? Need advice/suggestions.

 

[Hannathy]

No you don't need car seats then. They are not used on any Disney transportation.

 

[sskem96]

They can sit on your lap on the buses, and will probably have to at times to make room for other guests. A lot of times the busses are standing room only, especially at park closing time. They will pack you in like sardines at times, but it's not too long of a ride to anywhere you may be going, so it's not too bad.

One time I was the front person standing on a totally packed bus. The bus driver asked me my name, and I told him. Then he announced on the speaker, "I would like to introduce you all to Sara. She is your seatbelt." It was a little scary standing there!

 

[jenseib]

The transportation from the airport is a shuttle, and you won't need a carseat for that.
How old are the girls? If they are under two they can fly for free, but won't get a seat of there own either, so they will be on your lap. If you get them a seat, then they have to be in a carseat until the age of two. If they are over two, you have to buy each a ticket and they each get their own seat. You can use a carseat, but don't have to. I wouldn't bother then, since you won't need a car once you arrive anyways.

 

[amelia1]

in the CARES harness and in their own seat. My oldest will be 4 and youngest will be 2. The younger one is never still so trying to fly with her on my lap will not happen. Luckily it is only about a 2 hour flight!!

The transportation from the airport is a shuttle, and you won't need a carseat for that.
How old are the girls? If they are under two they can fly for free, but won't get a seat of there own either, so they will be on your lap. If you get them a seat, then they have to be in a carseat until the age of two. If they are over two, you have to buy each a ticket and they each get their own seat. You can use a carseat, but don't have to. I wouldn't bother then, since you won't need a car once you arrive anyways.

 

[jenseib]

Whats a CARES harness?

 

[amelia1]

It's a newly approved by FAA restraint that you can use now on airplanes. It fits over the back of the seat and you thread the lapbelt of the seat through it to make a 5-point harness. Do a google search on CARES. Kind of pricey though.

 

[chip007]

I just ordered one. We'll see if it works, but I'm definitely feeling better about the flight.

 

[DT83097]

I am planning to get one for my DD who will be 19mo. when we go in April. When are you traveling? I'd love to hear from other's who've used the CARES and what you think of it!!

 

[karenTX]

Does the CARES thing get in the way of the person sitting behind you? I was debating between lugging DD's car seat or buying one of these.

Thanks!!

 

[northriver]

I am taking DD's (21 months) carseat, just because she is familiar with the seat, and she is used to long car rides so knows she has to stay put. Our seat is fairly small however - a Britax roundabout.

One of the Disney CM told me that not only do you not "need" carseats on the bus, but in fact it is prohibited by florida law to use car seats on a tour bus. Frankly I don't understand. I have notices that most tourbusses don't have seatbelts, and it always makes me uncomfortable. In anycase, I was told that for Magical Express, carseats are stowed underneath.

 

[CleveRocks]

One of the Disney CM told me that not only do you not "need" carseats on the bus, but in fact it is prohibited by florida law to use car seats on a tour bus. Frankly I don't understand. I have notices that most tourbusses don't have seatbelts, and it always makes me uncomfortable. In anycase, I was told that for Magical Express, carseats are stowed underneath.

A car seat only makes things safer if there is a seat belt to fasten it to the vehicle. If there's no way to fasten it, then the car seat actually becomes a missile rather than a safety feature.

DME motorcoaches are plushly upholstered. Disney Transport buses (the ones you take between the resorts and the parks) are like city buses, only cleaner -- they have hard plastic seats.

If you are not comfortable with your small kids on such transport, your only real option would be renting a car at the airport and using your own car seats at all times.

My wife and I have no problems taking our kids on the buses. We started at WDW when they were 5 and 2.5. Due to our jobs, we see the devastating effects of motor vehicle accidents every day, yet we have no problems with our kids on buses. But on smaller vehicles like a car or van or SUV (where injury due to an accident is MUCH more likely due to the smaller size and lower height of the passenger compartment) we would NEVER allow our kids to ride without the proper safety seats. Without going into the physics of it, buses are overall safer due to their hulking size compared with the other vehicles around. In a typical accident, even if a car rammed into a bus, the frame of the bus absorbs much of the energy, and due to the bus's mass much of the energy keeps the bus moving and doesn't transfer to the passengers much at all.

Weird example: let's compare cars to toddlers and buses to adults. If a toddler runs into another toddler at full speed, there's going to be a lot of crying and perhaps an injury or two. But if a toddler runs into a full-size adult at full speed, the toddler will basically bounce off the adult. The adult might get a little knocked off-balance but won't be knocked over and won't be hurt, because the adult is so much bigger.

ANyway, it's a personal decision, and you have to do what makes you the most comfortable. Just know that there are millions of us who, with our kids, use not only Disney buses but regular everyday city buses as well.

 

[bnorm27]

My girls were 4.5 and 2.5 when we went to Disney last September. We did not bring any car seats and did just fine. They were fine on the plane (we flew Jet Blue so they got to watch TV), and on the busses as well. We did run into one case where we were late for an ADR at the Poly, so I called a taxi. I explained we needed booster seats, and they sent a van that had them. The Disney busses do get crowded, so you will need to hold on to your young'ens on them.