Going on excursions without a carseat?

[mickeyboat]

We just bought a Cosco carseat that weighs 4 pounds. I just typed "compact car seat" into the search Google. It looks small enough to put into a diaper bag.
It will just make me feel safer when traveling with my 2 year old in taxis. We leave for our cruise in 1 week and the carseat is supposed to arrive on Monday!
I haven't actually received the carseat yet, so I can't comment on the effiiciency of it, but I feel it is better than nothing.

Jen

That is a great idea assuming the taxi you get in actually has seatbelts. A lot of "taxis" on the islands are actually open air, back of a pick-up type things.

Wishing safe travels for all.

Denae

 

[cnj]

We are actually going on the Mexican Riviera cruise, so I am not sure about the taxi seat belt status there. I just figured it would be good to have on hand.

Jen

 

[Disney with Triplets]

I've never been faced with this dilema; however, I've rarely (if ever) been able to find a seat belt in most island taxis. Most island taxi's are open air bench seats or vans. I cannot imagine schleping a carseat from the ship, down the gangway, over the pier, to the taxi, find the rope, strap the carseat in, ride to the destination, unstrap the carseat, haul it to the excursion, to do it all over again to get back to the ship.

And all of this is assuming what the other poster mentioned - does the taxi actually have a seatbelt available for your use?

Pass the popcorn...

 

[lbgraves]

I am not flaming anyone, however I would not equate this decision with the standard popcorn threads. This concerns a child's safety, not their appearance. Parents are flamed when they let their child run freely around the ship. The OP is concerned with keeping her child properly restrained while riding in a vehicle. Just because other countries don't have the same safety rules that the US does doesn't mean that the rules or the reasons behind them are easily dismissed once we cross the border. Honestly, I feel uncomfortable riding in a vehicle without a seatbelt on so it is an issue for me to take seriously when my children would be placed in the same situation. Yes, we have chosen to not put ourselves or our children at risk, though that was not the sole reason for us not booking an excursion. We do not feel like we are wasting time or money cruising on DCL and opting to spend most of our time on the ship. We are going for our third cruise this year and have the fourth booked so we obviously enjoy ourselves and feel it is worth it to go again.

 

[4Smilee]

Interesting thread. I haven't taken an island taxi yet (this is just our second DCL trip). On our last cruise, our DD was 2.5, and we did take her on tour BUSES without a car seat. We did have the Cosco portable car seat packed with us, and we used that in taxis to and from the airport.

This time we have a 9 month old traveling with us. I haven't quite figured out what we'll do. We plan to bring his infant car seat, but I suppose we'll mostly do buses again -- and I probably won't be able to use the car seat. I likely won't use a taxi. (a fact that didn't register until now . . . I had hoped to do the beaches in Cozumel)

BUT . . . on a different tangent --- I cannot imagine leaving the ship with my kids in Flounders or the Kids Club and not being accessible to them. Do the pagers they give you work on the island? I had assumed not, so I am planning all of our excursions to be ones that I can take both the 9 month old and 4 year old with us. Curious.

 

[mmouse37]

I hardly think that is the same thing, so I was tempted to not even respond.... No, the monorail not having seatbelts would not keep my from bring a small child on them. But, I can't remember EVER reading on the news about a tragic monorail accident at WDW, and as we all know, if anything happens at WDW it makes the news. They are also on individual controled tracks and the chance of them being hit, or hitting another monorail is practically non existant. And when we use the ferrys at WDW, my sisters bring life jackets. Some may call this over kill, but it is what makes them feel comfortable.

To me a moving vehicle is a moving vehicle....just because it is on Disney "property" does not make it any more safe....the monorails can get up speeds of 40 mph.....and they often stop and start with a jerk....I have been on them when it has happened....don't know how fast the buses go but I would bet that they hit at least 40 mph when they are going down the road (the highway that is on WDW property) that leads from Magic Kingdom to Epcot. And just for the record....there are tons of things that happen at WDW that NEVER get to the paper. Don't think just because something is on Disney property it is impervious to accidents or injuries....

I am not trying to debate anyone or turn this thread into something ugly....everyone has posted great comments.....as I said in my other posts it was my opionion....I am not telling nor advising anyone to leave their carseats at home. By all means do whatever it takes to make you feel your child is safe. End of discussion for me.

MJ

 

[JennsBabySky]

To me a moving vehicle is a moving vehicle....just because it is on Disney "property" does not make it any more safe....the monorails can get up speeds of 40 mph.....and they often stop and start with a jerk....I have been on them when it has happened....don't know how fast the buses go but I would bet that they hit at least 40 mph when they are going down the road (the highway that is on WDW property) that leads from Magic Kingdom to Epcot. And just for the record....there are tons of things that happen at WDW that NEVER get to the paper. Don't think just because something is on Disney property it is impervious to accidents or injuries....

MJ

I understand that point completely. Unfortunately, as a parent I need to decide where I am going to draw the line and how I'm going to make decisions regarding my child's safety. I'm a numbers person, so I base my decisions on statistics. Statistically, it is much more dangerous to be without a carseat on a taxi than to be without a carseat on a bus or monorail. In fact, it is safer to be on a bus without a carseat than it is to be in a carseat in a car. Cars are just more dangerous. So, while I appreciate the moving vehicle analogy, I just see buses, cars and monorails as apples, cake and oranges. Yes, all are food, but I think my child would be healthier if she eats the apples and oranges, but I sometimes make a parental decision that cake is okay too. Of course, moving vehicles carry a much higher risk for a dangerous consequence, so I am more cautious when making my decision.

That said, these decisions are TOUGH and each parent needs to make the best decision for him/her as a parent. We've done excursions by taxi both with a carseat (when a seatbelt is available) and without (while I'm cursing myself for making such a terrible decision, but DH overrides my cautious nature with practicality) and by bus. I prefer the bus excursions. They are much safer than taxis (statistically) and I don't have to drag the carseats. I avoid the front row and don't have my kids ride in my lap (much to the dissatisfaction of the bus driver). But that is the best decision for us in those circumstances. I've also brought the Cosco Tote N Go carseat. It is better than nothing, but only just slightly. For a carseat, it is extremely poor, but it is better than an adult belt. It is very hard to install correctly, so I've always had to practice at home. Usually your room steward won't stow your carseats, but I've always been able to stick them in a corner or in the closet.

Good luck,
Jennifer

 

[Eeyorefan12]

We just bought a Cosco carseat that weighs 4 pounds. I just typed "compact car seat" into the search Google. It looks small enough to put into a diaper bag. It will just make me feel safer when traveling with my 2 year old in taxis. We leave for our cruise in 1 week and the carseat is supposed to arrive on Monday!I haven't actually received the carseat yet, so I can't comment on the effiiciency of it, but I feel it is better than nothing.
Jen

We got back from the Mexico cruise three weeks ago. In each city on the Riviera, we took either a taxi van or a "bus" (for our Dolphin Adventure in Puerto Vallarta). Every vehicle we were in had seat belts, even if they were not for a planned excursion. Any one of them could have accomodated a car seat.

CB

 

[mamalle]

I wonder the same thing. I can recall a ride in a cab on our honeymoon that was scary to say the least. we didnt do any on the 4 day so it wasnt a issue. Im not sure what we will do on the eastern but by than the kids will be 4 and 6. I also have wondered about those bus rides at WDW- we have had some scary rides on them also to and from our resorts over the years- some with our kids onboard, no seatbelts there either...