Child Car Seats

[T16GEM]

Hi everyone,
Wonder if you can help, the family and I are flying out to MCO on Christmas Day, and will have two children needing child car seats......

1st Question..........What are the seats like that you hire from the car hire company? Clean etc easy to rent,put in car?

2nd Question .........We are flying with Continental, do they allow you to take your own seats on the flight?


3rd Question........... Would it be easier to pop into Walmart on the way to our villa and buy some cheap ones?

Thanks for any help and ideas

Gems

 

[london75]

1st Question..........What are the seats like that you hire from the car hire company? Clean etc easy to rent,put in car?
A bit manky and old with Alamo but acceptable


2nd Question .........We are flying with Continental, do they allow you to take your own seats on the flight?
They will do if you ask

3rd Question........... Would it be easier to pop into Walmart on the way to our villa and buy some cheap ones?
How do you get the child to Walmart though?


We went with the seat Alamo gave us in the end. It wasn't dirty as such but it had seen it's share of children! It did fine though. It had a 5 point harness with 2 clasps for extra security. A little tricky to fit and be prepared as you'll be on your own in that respect! Everything we saw was forward facing too so if you want rear facing for smaller children then you might need to enquire specifically about that.

 

[Andy B]

The only time we had to use a car seat we had a new one given to us, we saw them open the box. The overall cost may be more than buying a new one.

 

[K&C]

The car seat we were supplied with from Alamo was disgusting and would not fit the car we were allocated. We were told to go and buy our own from toys r us and claim the cost back from Alamo when we returned home, which we did with no problem. My children are now 5&7 so just need booster seats, but I have cheap lightweight ones that cost £5 each that I take with us when we travel. One thing to consider if you do take your own seat is will it fit the rental car you are given. Over the years we have had this problem even at home with car seats when we have bought new cars. I now have 6booster seats and 3 car seats plus have sold 2 car seats just to get the correct fit in various cars. Hope this doesn't sound to negative.

 

[mrsminniemouse]

DD nearly 4 has been to Orlando 6 times, first time when she was 6 months. We have used various car hire companies and the seats have always been good and sometimes brand new. A couple of times we had a 7 seater with built in car seats which are part of the seat.

We have had to request help fitting the seats once or twice but never had a problem.


I would not leave the car depot with no seat- even if they told me to go and buy one. I want my kids in a safe seat from the off. One of my friends went to Walmart to buy one with her son on her lap while her husband drove. Crazy. I would rather risk getting a grubby seat than leave my child in the car with no seat even for one journey.

Anyway, rant over, I bet the seats will be fine.



Mandy

 

[CTDisneyFan]

Last time we used the car seats provide by Alamo Rental Car. The 2 car seats had seen better days and they charged us $10 a day for usage. Considering we were there for 10 days, I thought $100 was a little steep. This time we bought 2 booster seats from Walmart for $14 each to bring with us. We should be able to buy 2 disney t-shirts with the savings.

 

[T16GEM]

Thanks everyone, I wouldn't want to drive with them out of car seats either. I also don't fancy them being in a seat of questionable safety..........but then as K&C said who's to say that our seats will fit in the van!! AHHH This is hard work!

 

[Floridadreamlel]

Just found this on a website as I know the age at which you need car seats is different in America....

USA : Florida
Child Restraints
Children aged 3 years and younger must be in a child restraint.

The adult seat belt can be used (if restraint unavailable) for 4 & 5 year olds who also must be restrained.
Seat Belts
Children aged six years and over must wear a seatbelt.

Hope this helps

 

[T16GEM]

Thanks Lesley, Shelby will be just 2 and Harley will be nearly 1 so i'm afraid it's just carseats for us!

 

[london75]

Don't get me wrong, I had no concerns over the safety of the seats provided by Alamo, just a little grubby!

I've no doubt I could have got a cheaper one from Walmart but didn't fancy driving off to find one leaving our 9 month old on the pavement at the airport !

 

[T16GEM]

Don't get me wrong, I had no concerns over the safety of the seats provided by Alamo, just a little grubby!

I've no doubt I could have got a cheaper one from Walmart but didn't fancy driving off to find one leaving our 9 month old on the pavement at the airport !

I would sometimes!! Ha ha!

 

[K&C]

I would be tempted to hire the car seats from the car hire firm and if the quality of the seat was bad tell them you just want to hire the seats for a day until you can go to walmart/toysrus and buy 2 that are better. I would never drive away without a child properly restrained. I ended up driving to buy a car seat while DH took DS to the hotel in a shuttle van that had a built in car seat. It was a hassle but the seat was so bad the Alamo lady admitted she wouldnt put her grandchild in it. Since then I have never seen a seat as bad, so I am sure you will be ok.

 

[T16GEM]

Hmm I had thought of that option TBH, I think it's the best one! I shall have to see what DH thinks first, but I do think that could be the way to go, it will be expensive also to hire them x 2 for 3 weeks!