Carry on luggage?

EllNat11

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 23, 2010
Messages
258
My husband and I are going to vero beach and wdw the week of Halloween. We have a 19 month old so we will have her stroller and carseat to gate check as well as needing two carryons. I was thinking of looking for backpacks to use as that frees up our hands for other things. Anyone have a carry on bag that they find really convenient?
 
I have two kids (7yo - 10 trips WDW and 3yo - 3 trips WDW) and have flown there 9 times, driven once. I've never gate checked a car seat -- too much hassle dragging the thing around. I've used the CARES straps when old/large enough or held in my arms during take-off/landing and otherwise used a carry pouch.

As for the backpacks, I don't think any particular brand/style matters as much as the basics like a good quality zipper, strong seams, compartments that match the size and shape needed for what you need to carry with you and one that fits you and hits you at the right spot so as not to cause a backache.

I've used at least one of my son's Disney-themed backpacks from a prior preschool/school year/summer camp every trip for one of us to use as a carry on -- then we use later for our daily trips into the parks. We literally wore one of them out after the fourth or fifth WDW trip and gave it a little goodbye ceremony before we tossed it in the trash.

I have also purchased a "hiking" type backpack that is larger and more rugged to use as a piece of luggage. If I don't overstuff it, it fits carry-on requirements. But honestly, it is too cumbersome to easily get out from under the seat during the flight. At the end of the day, I prefer the easy to find (who can miss the backpack with the big Mickey face on it) and easy to access child's school-size backpack.
 
I personally am anti hauling your car seat through security and gate-checking it. It is a lot of hassle and at the end of the day the airline is still going to toss your car seat around like a sack of potatoes. If you really want to haul the car seat through, there are awesome backpacks for car seats that are amazing. We have convertible car seats and the bag leaves lots of room for extra diapers and wipes. You can get them from amazon or a baby store. They are big and padded. Nice quality, just make sure when you hand it over to the airline to tighten the arm straps as tight as they can go.

Is there any way you could rent a stroller when you arrive? We've found that letting our little ones run and get the bounces out before boarding the plane is well worth a little chaos; and again less to carry around the airport and less hassle of having to unload and reload your kiddo. Before DS and DD could walk I would wear them in my Ergo to have my hands free. I still wear my 3yo in the Ergo on my back and she loves it.

We check as much as possible and then DD has a small suitcase she insists come with us as a carryon and DH and I each have a regular backpack with stuff for the kiddos, plus any personal stuff like our phones and chargers. My backpack is a Vera and DH is just a backpack, these bags become our park bags when we arrive, and each bag is always stocked with snacks, a sippy cup for each, kid-entertainment, a complete change of clothes for each kiddo, and diapers and wipes for the little dude that way if we get separated or are walking around with one kiddo we can handle anything that might come up.
 
Hmm. This is the first flight where she hasn't actually been in her carseat - the last 4 she sat in her seat. She is finally big enough for a CARES harness so we'll be trying that out.

I'm not sure about the stroller rental - we're not just doing WDW, we are spending the first half of the trip in Vero Beach. Also, since we're not taking magical express I need somewhere to restrain her to while i'm waiting for/collecting our luggage at baggage claim and getting our rental car.

For gate checking - someone told me a bit back (before our first trip with my daughter) that it's better to gate check the carseat b/c even though it still gets tossed, at least that way its on top in the baggage holds and also even if your luggage gets lost, your carseat shouldn't because it's loaded right at the gate. Maybe that's not true - not sure! After so many years of easy peasy trips with my husband and I, and then easy ones when she was an infant, she is in that delightful OPINIONATED toddler stage!
 

I have never taken a car seat with me but even having a stroller is a lot of work. You would think it would make it easier but you have no room to really store anything when going through the airport. A friend of mine at work her car seat got ruined so we are not even taking our stroller this year we are just going to rent a city mini from down there.

This year we are taking a bookbag with us as our carryon. It is hopefully going to be so much easier. I went to Vera Bradley and got the laptop one for me because i am always so worried about my MAC. I get so stressed out through security making sure we dont forget anything and this was we can just each put our bag up and we are good to go.
 
Oh and one last time saving trip. When packing the kids (if younger) you can put each days outfit in a zip lock bag. It takes up so much less space and there is no trying to figure out what goes with what in the morning. My daughter was 1 our last trip so i had her outfit, socks, and diaper in a bag. Some days i had certain outfits i wanted her to wear so i would write the day on the bag. Such a time saver :) Doing it again this November.
 





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