Car seats and Taxis

[jkstewart1800]

I have been warned repeatedly about the GF to AK bus - that it can take up to an hour to get there... Is this not true?

 

[lclark0621]

I have been warned repeatedly about the GF to AK bus - that it can take up to an hour to get there... Is this not true?

Who told you an hour? There is nowhere on property that takes that long to get to using Disney Transportation!

20 minutes, sure...An hour, no way!

 

[bekkiz]

In general you should allow for about 45 minutes BUT that's simply in case a bus is pulling away as you walk up to the stop. I can't imagine it taking over an hour in any circumstance, and that 20 minutes is the average. And certainly, the extra time it would take to install a carseat and then take it out again would make the cab ride extend to a good 20-25 minutes.

Then again, I'm all about eliminating hassle. For me the idea about having to instal and hang on to a car seat sounds awful! Maybe my experiance is colored because we just switched to the convertable seats for the twins, and it was a pain and a half.

 

[all4fun]

I have been warned repeatedly about the GF to AK bus - that it can take up to an hour to get there... Is this not true?

If you get a direct bus from GF to AK it should only take you 24mins according to this WDW Transportation calculator. It will only take longer if you go to the TTC first, or the bus goes to other resorts. But aren't most of the buses that go to the parks from the Deluxe resorts on a dedicated route for just that resort?

I seriously doubt it would take a whole hour though! hth

 

[newfiegirl]

i've been trying to find someone who can give advise on the whole carseat in taxis too. we will be travelling from wdw to an outlet mall. because we will be traveling from canada i was hoping to avoid taking our 20 month old's carseat and requesting one from a taxi company. from the responsed i received that doesn't seem like much of an option. can you rent a carseat from wdw for a day trip? also what will we do with the carseat when we get to the shopping centre? is there a bus that goes from wdw to walmart and outlets? this has been such a worry for me and it seems there is little help in the matter on the boards.

 

[all4fun]

i've been trying to find someone who can give advise on the whole carseat in taxis too. we will be travelling from wdw to an outlet mall. because we will be traveling from canada i was hoping to avoid taking our 20 month old's carseat and requesting one from a taxi company. from the responsed i received that doesn't seem like much of an option. can you rent a carseat from wdw for a day trip? also what will we do with the carseat when we get to the shopping centre? is there a bus that goes from wdw to walmart and outlets? this has been such a worry for me and it seems there is little help in the matter on the boards.

Here's more info about where the shopping outlets are. What about renting a car for the day? There are a few places on property you can rent a car from (see here). I would seriously just bring your car seat with you though. Unless your dd is going to be a lap baby on the flight, I would bring the car seat on board the plane and use it. You are familiar with it, you know how to install it and use it properly. You can't be guaranteed a rental agency will even have an appropriate seat on hand for your dd to use, or what kind of condition it will be in if they do.
hth

 

[jkstewart1800]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2158108&page=8

The actual discussion of travel times for GF to AK start on post 107

it continues from there until about post 129


After reading all that I started to think about cabing it for AK

 

[tartemis]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2158108&page=8

The actual discussion of travel times for GF to AK start on post 107

it continues from there until about post 129


After reading all that I started to think about cabing it for AK

I have no idea what they are talking about, but that was not my experience at all. We had no problem getting back and forth between GF and AK. It probably took 20 minutes or so each time.

Also, once I realized that it really only took 10 or less minutes to walk through Epcot to the Boardwalk, getting from the GF to the Boardwalk/Beach Club, etc. was super easy too. We just took the monorail from the GF to Epcot and then walked.

As I said before, however, I hate the thought of dealing with carseats on vacation so the decision would be a no-brainer for me.

 

[snoopy5386]

even if it does take 1 hour, it is 1 hour out of a week's vacation, not something to stress this much about.

 

[crazykids]

We've taken the cabs many times when we just didn't feel like waiting for a bus or had tired kids. I have 3 small kids so w/ 5 of us we always reqest the "van" type taxi. I have never been offered a car seat, nor has anyone ever brought the topic up when seeing the ages of my children. My kids are presently 3, 5, & 6 and we just use the regular seat belts & I always keep the little one next to me so I can keep a tighter hold on her.

 

[all4fun]

We've taken the cabs many times when we just didn't feel like waiting for a bus or had tired kids. I have 3 small kids so w/ 5 of us we always reqest the "van" type taxi. I have never been offered a car seat, nor has anyone ever brought the topic up when seeing the ages of my children. My kids are presently 3, 5, & 6 and we just use the regular seat belts & I always keep the little one next to me so I can keep a tighter hold on her.

I am really happy that nothing bad happened to you on these trips. I suspect that many taxi drivers may just say nothing because they are trying to make a living and don't want to lose a fare. As for keeping a tight hold on your LO, here's a NHTSA crash test of an unrestrained infant in 35mph crash test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giYQE1Hskjc
There is no way to hold on to a baby in a crash. It is proven to be impossible. I agree with Snoopy on this one. It's one hour out of a week long vacation, so really not something I would want to spend this much time stressing about. However if you ignore precautions and an accident happens, it could not only ruin your vacation, it could ruin your life. Jmho.

 

[lclark0621]

I am totally aware of the crappy car seat stories.... I guess I was having higher hopes for Walt Disney World....

You know the cabs in Disney are not owned or operated by Disney right? They are regular orlando cabs.

Most of the time, when you walk out of your hotel there are a few cabs already waiting (which is what the bell services will call over for you), and when you leave the parks, there are usually cabs in the parking lots waiting for anyone who wants a ride.

We have taken cabs before with my son (who is now almost 6), when the bus line was to long or we were to tired.

I have never seen a cab have a car seat in it.

Of course I dont want to put my child in a car without a car seat. But I am also not lugging his Britax Regent to FL & trying to install that sucker n a cab, to pull it out & try to find a locker big enough for it, or carry it around the park.

I think you will be fine with the bus though. Honestly in all our trips to WDW, I have never had an hour long bus ride anywhere! And in July, busses run much more often then off seasons. So even if you miss a bus, one will be along very quickly.

 

[newfiegirl]

ok, so i am travelling with a 2 yr old and 4 yrs old, so do airlines allow extra items to ship for the 2 strollers I will need, the booster and carseat I will need, let alone the regular luggage for a family of 4...any advice welcomed (my 4 yr old weighs 43 lbs, so can he just get seatbelted in a taxi, or do the law require a booster)?

 

[jkstewart1800]

even if it does take 1 hour, it is 1 hour out of a week's vacation, not something to stress this much about.

You can't possibly have small children ....

 

[kevschickee]

We've taken the cabs many times when we just didn't feel like waiting for a bus or had tired kids. I have 3 small kids so w/ 5 of us we always reqest the "van" type taxi. I have never been offered a car seat, nor has anyone ever brought the topic up when seeing the ages of my children. My kids are presently 3, 5, & 6 and we just use the regular seat belts & I always keep the little one next to me so I can keep a tighter hold on her.

God forbid you get into an accident I can tell you that the tight hold you have won't help. More than likely you will end up letting go and you child will be hurt. This isn't safe at all they should all be in some type of seat. Seat belts are made for adults not kids

 

[mjkacmom]

I'm from Chicago, where you aren't required to put children in car seats in Taxi's. When I took my DD to Disney for the first time at 6 months, I erroneously thought that was the law in Florida as well.

One night we did take a Taxi from the GF to the Boardwalk for dinner -- without a car seat. The cabbie didn't say anything to us, but I really regreted it. I felt totally unsafe and didn't realize how much "highway" driving there was to get to the Boardwalk to the GF. I had taken a cab in Chicago a few city blocks before with my DD when we were caught in the rain, and I didn't think it was a big deal. Highway driving, or what we did at Disney, was in an entirely different league -- and I would never do it again.

All that being said -- one of the reasons I like Disney trips is to not have to deal with carseats. We have gone twice since my DD was born -- once at 6 months and once at 18 months. Both times we stayed at the GF, took ME and took the buses (except for the 1 incident mentioned above). (She was also a lap baby on the plane -- I know some think that is a big no no as well.)

In my opinion, I would definitely just use the bus. We have gone from GF to AK multiple times and it was never a longer wait than going to any of the other parks. Again (in my opinion) it is silly to bring a car seat just to avoid the GF to AK bus.

My sister used to live in Chicago, and I hated not being able to use carseats and boosters in the cabs (we had them, because we used them on the plane, but couldn't be dragging them around museums, navy pier, etc.). I was so nervous!

 

[lovesdumbo]

But still I am looking to hear of any one else's experiences with the cabs at Disney.....

Last year my family of 5 staying at ASMu were meeting friends for dinner our first night at BC. We were running late so we opted for a taxi and the bell services had a car that was waiting come over. I was very uncomfortable with my kids doubled up in the seatbelts. We took a taxi home and I told BC bell services that we wanted a van-the van did have a booster for my 5 year old-I asked to use it. Another night we took a taxi home from the CR and again I requested a van. A driver from a car taxi was all mad and came ever the to van driver complaining that he was there first. I told the car driver the 5 of us were NOT going to get in a sedan.

I have never stayed at GF but have been to Poly & CR. I don't think a bus to AK will be any longer than taking the monorail to Epcot-you'll have to wait for a resort monorail, take it nearly all the way around to TTC, walk down ramp and up Epcot ramp, wait for Epcot monorail, take that monorail to Epcot. I can see that taking nearly an hour.

 

[kevschickee]

You can't possibly have small children ....

I can tell you I would rather wait that hour on the bus then put my kids in a car without a carseat. This is the reason we will taking the busses for everything and if we need a cab (we will for seaworld) I will be calling ahead of time so we can get carseats.

 

[Marthasor]

ok, so i am travelling with a 2 yr old and 4 yrs old, so do airlines allow extra items to ship for the 2 strollers I will need, the booster and carseat I will need, let alone the regular luggage for a family of 4...any advice welcomed (my 4 yr old weighs 43 lbs, so can he just get seatbelted in a taxi, or do the law require a booster)?

You can check your strollers at the gate as you are entering the airplane - it's very convenient and they will have the strollers waiting for you when you get off. You can install the carseat on the plane for your 2 yr old. Your 4 yr. old won't need a booster on the plane as there is no shoulder belt.

I would highly recommend either sticking with the buses or renting a car and installing your own car seat. By the time you call a cab with a carseat at GF and then again at AK, it is likely a bus will be there. We rented a car last year when we went with our DS1 and installed his car seat. It was great to have the freedom to come and go when we pleased and not worry about any of this stuff.