Do you bring carseats with you?

[BlakesMom]

We are flying and taking the Magic Express to our on-site hotel, so I wasn't planning on bringing carseats with me since the ME doesn't allow them anyway. Now I'm thinking of possibly going to Universal for a day. If we do that we will probably take a Mears shuttle. Mears told me that Florida law doesn't require carseats in commercial vehicles, but even so, I don't know whether I feel safe just holding the baby on my lap in a van. But maybe I'm being overly cautious and shouldn't worry.

What do you guys think?

 

[mybabesuz]

We are flying and taking the Magic Express to our on-site hotel, so I wasn't planning on bringing carseats with me since the ME doesn't allow them anyway. Now I'm thinking of possibly going to Universal for a day. If we do that we will probably take a Mears shuttle. Mears told me that Florida law doesn't require carseats in commercial vehicles, but even so, I don't know whether I feel safe just holding the baby on my lap in a van. But maybe I'm being overly cautious and shouldn't worry.

What do you guys think?

We used Mears and they did have a carseat in the Van. We requested it when we called. I was pretty old though.
If you are picky about that you might want to bring your own.
I would NEVER have the baby on anybodies lap in a Van.

 

[BlakesMom]

We used Mears and they did have a carseat in the Van. We requested it when we called. I was pretty old though.
If you are picky about that you might want to bring your own.
I would NEVER have the baby on anybodies lap in a Van.

Thank you for your response. Mears didn't tell me they had carseats available. That is good to know.

 

[Cedarmom]

If you are using anything other than Disney transport, then yes, I'd bring a car seat. The laws of physics don't change just because you are in a commerical vehicle.

 

[puffkin]

Just curious how old your kids are? I ask because I don't know if I would go through the hassle of bringing a car seat to go to Universal for just one day if you don't need it for the rest of the week. If you have younger children, there really isn't a whole heck of a lot to do at Universal, that maybe it would be better to visit there on another trip? Just MHO!

 

[Erica09M]

For my family, all children 4 and under will ride in their car seats on the air plane. 2 and under rear facing.

If my children are in any vehicle that has seat belts (including vans) they will be in their car seats, so even if they were older than 4 years old... I'd bring them for that. Physics don't change when you're on vacation. And I'd never use a rental car seat or a car seat offered by Mears because you do not know the history of the seat. It could be expired, damaged, etc. which is not safe to use.

 

[pooh4evr]

What will you do with the seats once you get to the park? Will they fit in a locker? I would hate to get there and not have a place for them forcing you to carry them with you all day- JMHO-- We have taken taxi mini vans to Sea World before, and they had carseats if you needed them-- and is it a commercial van or a shuttle bus kind of thing- if it is a bus similar to the magical express/ disney transports then you probably can't put a seat in them anyway.- We haven't taken seats for our kids for the airplane either at 1, 2, 4, and 6- I guess we have been lucky but we haven't felt like we needed them or made the wrong decision.

 

[PaddingtonBear]

No, I wouldn't take them. Car seats in the airport are a PITA.

 

[bankgirl05]

I took my car seats for my 3 year old and 15 month old, and yes they were a PITA to deal with in the airport, BUT... they kept my kids calm and comfortable on the airplane (I had purchased seats for them) there is NO way they would have sat in a regular plane seat without them. As far as going to Universal, I would just request that Mears or which ever company you use send a car equipped with car seats so you don't have to lug them around all day, or call Universal and find out if you can "check them in" at guest services upon arrival... to get the car seats through the airport, I bought a small folding "hand cart" from big lots and stacked my 2 seats on it and secured them with bungy cords, I was able to then place some of our carryon's in the top seat and pull it all along behind me while my hubby wheeled the kids in the stroller that we gate checked. I asked the airline to allow us to preboard and help us with buckling the car seats in, and folded the cart, and put it in the overhead compartment... it was a little harried getting off the plane, mostly because the flight crew wasn't helpful in this area, but worth not having the aggrevation of wiggling squirming screaming kids wanting to climb or crawl everywhere!!!

 

[happymommy]

If you take a different car service (the one I like I am not allowed to mention here, but they advertise many places and are very good), you can let them know you need an infant car seat or a booster, and they will have one for you. I'd call around the different towncar services.

I never have brought a carseat to Disney, except for the time we drove down (the kids were 2 and 4, so the slept in their boosters, it was great as they reclined fully). Since they were 3 and 5, never brought one. They could sit fine in a plane, and didn't need them for the towncar.

 

[all4fun]

We used a car seat on the plane, whether we needed it on the ground or not, until ds was four yrs old. This site explains airline travel and child safety. Beyond the safety factor, DS would have easily unbuckled himself from the airplane seat belt so using the car seat saves us from a lot of hassle keeping him belted in during the flight when the seat belt light was on (and we've been on x-country flights where it's been on for the majority of the flight due to turbulence).

For a van ride, or any vehicle with seat belts, ds definitely would be in a properly installed car seat. As a pp stated, the laws of physics don't change just because you're on vacation. I've seen plenty of car accidents on the roads around DW, and we were even involved in a very minor collision years ago while driving a rental car, ourselves. Also, Florida child safety laws actually do not exempt children from being in a car seat in a taxi, from what I read. The law itself is still pretty lax, IMO. If you do take car seats then you'll have the dilemma of what to do with them while at Unversal. If you rely on Mears or other transport to provide them, then you don't know what they will show up with - whether it will be the appropriate size seat or even in good condition. Not something I personally would want to rely on.
Other options would be renting a car for a day - we've done this. This site has more info about where to rent cars from at WDW. The other option is just to skip Universal. Personally, I didn't think it was a great park for little kids anyway. There is certainly plenty to keep you entertained at WDW. You might want to save Universal for when your kids are a bit older.

hth

 

[jennyleettu]

I am taking Avery's seat with us. She will use it on the plane but I am not taking my niece's booster. She only uses it when she's with us because her parent's don't care but she is almost tall enough to not need it any more.