Car seats for shuttle to Disneyland

[tweetybird0306]

I am taking my 4 and 6 year old to DL in October. I am using one of the shuttles from Orange County airport. Do I need to take car seats for my kids. I don't plan on using one for the airplane, they are just to big and wanted to know if I need to cart one along for the shuttle to the hotel. Any suggestions

 

[jgmklmhem]

We used supershuttle last month and we have a 5yo who we just buckled in without the seat. Our 20mo we put in her car seat since we had it for the flight.

 

[lark]

As with all child safety products, of course, do your own research and please don't rely on anything someone like me posts on a message board.

With that disclaimer out of the way, I find this to be a nasty problem. Some shuttle companies will let you request them and so will car rental companies, but I frequently find they do not deliver or have forgotten the seat, etc. There just seems to be no good solution when travelling without lugging a seat and too often you end up buckling in and hoping.

I recently found the following, however, and I bought one for an upcoming trip that's going to require a lot of taxis and shuttles. I haven't received it yet, but in the abstract, it looks to be a good solution for traveling with toddlers over 35 pounds. Again, buyer beware and do your own research.

http://www.elitecarseats.com/ridesafer.shtml

 

[HaleyB]

As said above, you have to do what you are comfortable with, that said- I personally wouldn't worry about it with a 4 and 6 year old unless they are very small. My kids are a bit older now but when they were little there was this little plastic triangle thing that was a belt positioner. It would slip onto a standard belt and position the straps in the right places for small people. Here, I found a link to it, much better than trying to put it in my own words!

http://www.babybungalow.com/bubushstad.html

 

[tinkerbell13]

This is a very intersesting question to me because Calif law is 6 or 60. You are not required to have one on the plane, so I would think that the shuttle company would have to comply with the law. I am very adamant about my DD always being in her seat, and we took ours along to Fla, even though she is 4 and I am pretty sure Fla law is under 4, I know it is safer for her. It is not a very long trip, but very crowded freeways with a lot of really rude and crazy drivers.
What does the shuttle company say about seat?

 

[tweetybird0306]

I spoke with my travel agent today and they said that the shuttles and buses that they use are considered public transportation. Meaning the car seat law is wavied. Just like when kids ride the school bus. My only worry is my daughter is 41 inches tall and weights about 28 pounds. She is tiny. She is just now starting to wear 3T clothing and only because she is finally getting taller. (Her brother got all the height in the family) I just worry about her because she is so small. I don't know if she is even going to be able to go on any of the big rides. Anyway I am still looking at taking a booster. My agent says it is about a 20 min drive with traffic.

 

[HaleyB]

Your daughter is tiny, my middle one was the same way. I kept him in a booster seat until his 10th birthday! In that case I would use a booster seat for her because she will be much more comfortable (and able to see out the window) in one.

What I did a few years back was I bought a booster at a second hand childrens store (in some states you can't buy them second hand, but there are inexpensive one avaliable new too), I used it on the way there and while on vacation and then just disposed of it so I didn't have to deal with it on the flight home. I booster seat is much lighter than a convertable car seat.

I pack way too much stuff to carry-on planes. On my last flight the only thing the kids wanted to do was listen to Disney CD's on a portable CD player ($16 at Target for the portable CD player). I used to find Play dough was great on planes because it wouldn't fall off the trays. So I guess my advice is don't carry on much, that way you will be able to handle the booster seat.

At 41' she will be good on most everything in Disneyland (except Indiana Jones which I love but my 7 year old finds way too scary). DCA is another story. Here is the link to all the height info:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/height.htm

 

[lntsmom]

I contacted Super Shuttle and the Airport Bus. The gal who wrote from Super Shuttle said, yes, they do require boosters. The bus said no, they don't even have restraints in them so there's no use for a booster.

You should contact them yourself, then take a copy of the e-mail along in case they question you.

I'm keeping my options open on transportation. Depending on how tired the kids are and whether we're on time, we could do either of those, or taxi. I've had a lot of people suggest taxi, so I'm leaning that way. It's about the same price as the Shuttle for our family.

I went to Target and bought the booster that is just a seat and arm rests. My son just turned 4, but he's as big or bigger than many 6 year olds, so the belt fits him fine without a guide. The booster was $17. It has pull-out soda holders on the side, which is a good thing for the car.

It seemed a waste to buy a new booster when I already have two of the high-backed style. But, I figure this is one he can use until he's ready to move out of a booster altogether...and since it weighs about 3 lbs and can even fit inside a suitcase with no problem if I decide to do it that way on the flight home, I decided to go for it!

 

[lntsmom]

to grab one for a few bucks and use it as a disposable. However, in MO it is against the law for shops to resell carseats, and I didn't have the time to cruise garage sales. With the price of gas now, that would have saved me a few bucks at best!

 

[abby]

We went last month and were told by the shuttle co that they require booster consistant with the law, (6 and 60 lbs.) we had one, although I noticed some others did not. I was glad we had it, LA freeways are very busy and fast and it is worth it to me for the hassle to know she is as safe as she can be. You can check the booster seat.