Car seats and pushchairs

[Sazuburns]

I'm sure this has been covered before, but... has anyone hired a car seat from the car hire company? What were they like? I've heard reports of dodgy seats, no instructions, unhelpful staff and the like, and am seriously considering taking my own seats, even though this will be major hassle.

The other thing I am thinking about is pushchairs. As our elder son is 4, he never uses a pushchair, but walking round Disney all day will probably be too much for him. Is it worth my borrowing a double or tandem pushchair? I'm thinking that it might be easier than queueing for one of the Disney ones every time we need it, and it will certainly be cheaper!

Thanks

 

[edie w]

My BIL and SIL hired a car seat this year - it was fine. Refuse to accept one that isn't. Some minivans have an integral car seat that sort of pulls out of the back rest - brilliant for toddlers, but probably not for babies.

They also bought a pushchair at Walmart for $10. Didn't see any doubles, but sure they must have had some. It was nothing fancy and didn't lean back, but was fine for my nephew (nearly 4) when he just couldn't walk any further! We planned to leave it at the villa for future occupants, but it was stolen at Epcot on our last day.

The good thing about having your own is you can use it in the parking lot - in some of the parks (Epcot, Seaworld, Universal, TL) there are either no trams or you won't want to wait for them.

 

[matty624]

We had the memorable experience of BA deciding not to bother taking one of our two car seats from London a couple of years back (and one of the push chairs), so at Orlando Alamo lent us a seat (FOC) until ours turned up. Very kind. I wouldn't have paid money for it though. There were no instructions and it was extremely dirty and old. I would never hire a car seat! Never! And believe me I'd love to avoid the journey there and back with two car seats and two push chairs! Plus all the rest of the luggage...
On the subject of pushchairs. It is far cheaper to buy a push chair when you get there, than renting. I really nice Graco with cup holders for the parent and child is less than $40 (about £23 at current rates). I think it cost $7-8 a day in the parks, and then you're stuck when shopping etc.
Ian

 

[Sazuburns]

Thanks for your replies - if anyone else has any experiences, I'd love to hear them.

I think I will take my own car seats, as at least I know their history and how to fit them.

The pushchair thing is a bit more difficult. I am trying to get a pushchair which will attach to dh's wheelchair (one of the Universities came up with a prototype, but I don't think they've gone into production yet). The other option is to hire an electric scooter for dh (not a Disney one - I've been given info of offsite rental companies) and then sort out a pushchair separately. I will definitely be taking a pushchair with rather than renting, as it will be easier for me in the airport if my little'un is strapped in (!), but the question is, do I try and borrow a double one from a friend, or will my 4-year-old be ok walking? He is a pretty good walker, but I know from experience how tiring Disney can be. Many is the time I wished I was small enough to go in a pushchair, and I went for the first time as an adult

 

[matty624]

Even if he is a good walker, I personally wouldn't recommend that he walks everywhere. The miles you clock up are taxing for adults, never mind children. Our 5 year old, we obviously wouldn't let in a pushchair for anything, in the UK. We are going to let use a 'stroller' when in Orlando! You see really big children being wheeled round in the parks. I have to say though, it's going to be her last year of wheeled luxury!
Ian

 

[PoohBears#1fan]

Hi,

I've always taken my own child seats and can't comment on what the hire ones are like as we've never used one, I've not heard particularly encouraging stories about them though. We've never had a problem taking our own. My only concern is that we'll have problems with the fitting, but we use a Britax which does seem to be pretty universal.

To be honest, I wouldn't dream of putting a 4 year old in a pushchair (but I do seem to be in the minority on that score), our DD was used to walking at that age, and we just took things at her pace, if she was tired (or us for that matter!) we'd stop for a drink etc.

I have to be honest (and possibly a little contraversial - sorry) but I'm regularly horrified at the age of some children being pushed around in pushchairs in theme parks and think it very sad that children generally aren't used to walking long distances.

 

[nattyk]

Hi

Again I cannot comment on car seats, but when we went to Spain the first time we used the hirecar carseat, and they did not fit! so the 2nd time we went we took our own - so I think we will do this when we go to Florida sometime this year.

With regards to pushchairs, try this website a baby's best friend they hire out lots of baby bits, like hirechairs, pushchairs etc.

http://www.abbf.com/

My 2 will be coming up for 4 and 18mts when we go and we will use pushchairs I think a single and they can just swap depending on who is tired etc.

Good luck,
Nathalie

 

[Scottish_Maleficent]

Hi
My two boys are now 4 and 5, so hopefully I can help you out!

Car seats - I'd recommend you take your own, although yes they are bulky and having them means more stuff the airline can lose!!
But the ones from the car hire company leave a lot to be desired - as said before the have no instructions and noone bothers to help you fit them. They are grubby and not very fresh . We had the pleasure of renting one a few years back when we had a problem with our own one and I wouldn't do it again. Our two are using booster seats now, and they are not too bad for carrying can even sit on them in the aircraft.

Strollers - you didn't mention how old your other child is? Your 4 year old is the elder? My two sons are very close in age, when we went in 2000 we had 2 of our own buggies with us, one son was 1 year old the other was almost 2 and this seemed to work ok for us. The wee one was too young to put into a disney stroller, and I wasn't keen on taking our twin/ tandem buggy - (they sat one behind the other...) becasue it was so heavy and awkward. Our trips in 2002 and 2003 have both used the double park strollers, and I do like them, despite the $15 per day I think they are worth it - easy to push and the kids love them, the can climb in and out really easy. We have also taken our own single strollers for days out at DTD, Belz ets - it was so hot they were happy to be pushed about!!! Last year we only took one stroller - for DS age 4 who has a slight disability and DS age 5 was really tired even just looking around some shops, so we bought a $10 one from WalMart. It really wasn;t up to much, but it did the trick for the 2 weeks we needed it. He is a very small 5 year old and it was still quite hard to move around - hurted the palms of my hands trying to push it!!! The front wheels didn't move..!!
Our next trip is 2005, and I still intend to hire a double stroller for them then too - even though they will be 5 1/2 and 6 1/2. but I wouldn't expect them to use it all the time - only when they need a rest, and it can be handy for carrying things when they aren't in it!!!

Hope this helps
Cath