Need some carseat advice!

[jessicar82]

We will be renting a car for the first time ever while staying onsite at Disney in Sept. We usually use the transportation but we want to try out having a car and possibly visiting Legoland

Anyway-We have 2 kids who will be 3 and 7 during our trip so we need a carseat and a booster. The rental car company charges 66.00 for EACH seat for the week which I think is nuts. My husband does not want to haul our heavy Britax car seat and recaro booster through the airport so what I was thinking was to order a Bubble Bum inflatable booster for my 7 yr old (has anyone used one of these? They have fantastic reviews but I had never heard of it before last week) AND purchase a Cosco car seat from amazon for about 40.00 and have it shipped to our resort. My husband and kids will be taking the magical express to the resort and only I will be driving the rental car so we won't need it right away. Is shipping an item that big to your resort allowed or should I just stop at a store and buy one when I arrive in FL?

 

[Baklava]

So I assume your 3 year old is in a 5 point harness, but is your 7 yo in a high back booster or a backless at home? A good quality backless booster is cheaper than a bubble bum (The Graco Turbo would be my pick at $25 but there's a Cosco on Amazon for about $18) and I'd feel more secure about it personally. If he's in a HBB at home I'd consider getting one of those on Amazon too- they start around $35. Still cheaper than renting.

I would definitely have them shipped to the resort and then maybe post here to see if someone wants them when you abandon them. (Unless you're bringing them home, which is possibly more work than you want to put into them.)

 

[Pesky]

You can have it shipped to the resort. But personally, I'd invest in carseat bags ($25 at Wal-Mart and there are other nicer ones with wheels if you prefer) and use those and check your regular seats with the rest of the luggage (does not count towards bag allotment). We do that all the time. You can put extra stuff into the bag too like blankets, diapers, clothes, etc., around the car seat. I've found the rental ones were horrible. We did that once, and we'll never do that again.

 

[jessicar82]

My 3 yr old is still in a 5 pt harness and my 7 yr old is in a high back booster but hits every requirement to be in a backless booster. I was going to go with the bubble bum because we can also use it when we get home when he has friends over etc.

Actually I wasn't going to abandon the seat, I was going to bring it home and sell it on a local tag sale site or something for like 10 bucks. My husband is somehow OK with bringing it home because we are always in a rush getting to the airport for our outbound flight but the flight coming home is more relaxed and we can just send it with our checked luggage and see it again back in CT

Are there groups where I could give the car seat away to another family? I would prefer to do that as long as it's not a hassle.

 

[Baklava]

If you're going backless, what are the advantages of the bubble bum? It seems more expensive and less sturdy to achieve the same purpose, so I feel like I'm missing some key factor here. (Which might be useful to me later.)

 

[jessicar82]

It's small, inflatable and will fit in our suitcase. Plus we can use can use it in our car at home if needed without having to store another booster. I've done research and the reviews are excellent. It's 30.00 and seems really safe so I was going to go for it!

 

[mrsp1030]

We have a bumble bum and have used it for several years and love it! Since boosters can not be used on airplanes, it is a nice addition to our travel gear. It has belt positioning loops as well.

 

[quakechicago]

We go by carseats dot org who INSIST to never check your carseat or use rental companies (because you never know what you're getting). Shipping and checking your carseat IN the original box however seems to be okay.

When we fly (our next trip will be our 4 yo's 30th flight so quite a few) we use our regular carseat and have a gogobabyz carrier. It works like a stroller through the airports and we always get a car at WDW (IMVHO it saves us a ton of travel time and we find pretty good rates. We like to go to the outlets too to shop.). We use kiddo's carseat for her on the plane (it's FAA approved) and good thing several flights when the turbulence has been just crazy (I'm looking at you Phoenix!). Kiddo is comfortable in the seat too since it's familiar. Once we get to the rental car, we don't think about the carseat again (and actually rent a stroller haha).

If you want a lighter carseat for travel, you can buy a pretty inexpensive one for less than that rental since all carseats must pass a certain level of safety. Shipping to hotel is fine, but keep the box to fly it back home.

Now for the older kiddo? I'd get a booster or check with the carseats site who has lots of help and knowledge. I'd be a bit airplane worried after some of our flights with just a lapbelt.

 

[LaurEm378]

If your older child is already in a backless booster at home, a Bubble Bum is probably fine and is good to have around once the trip is over. I got one for WDW when my son was 4, but he kept falling asleep in the car and the lack of head support freaked me out. Now I take his big high backed booster and gate check it, but I use the Bubble at home when I need an extra seat (on short rides when there's no danger of him falling asleep).

You can absolutely ship something as big as a car seat to your resort, with two warnings--if it's a convention resort, they'll charge you a fee; and sometimes packages are not immediately available when you check in, so don't plan on needing the seat right away.

I just want to note, though, that gate checking your own seats isn't as bad as it sounds. Most airports have carts for rent. On a recent big family trip we had 3 car seats and we just loaded them on a cart with the rest of our stuff. If you have the seats with you at MCO, no one has to take Magical Express, and you'll probably all arrive faster.

 

[jessicar82]

Bay Lake Tower is a convention resort?

We don't all want to take the Magical Express....not enough room in the rental for all our luggage

 

[tink9702]

We checked our car seats on the last trip. The next trip I'll either get a cheap backless booster or bubble bum for DS (he'll be 7 by our next trip). I'm not sure what I'll do for DD. she'll be 5 1/2 by our next trip but she's very small, only 25% for height and weight and might not even weigh 40lbs (minimum requirement for most boosters).

If you do buy a new carseat for your 3 year old make sure you install it in your car while still at home so it doesn't take you forever to install in Florida!

 

[LaurEm378]

Bay Lake Tower is a convention resort?

We don't all want to take the Magical Express....not enough room in the rental for all our luggage

Ahhhh, I see. Enjoy your fast, peaceful drive through Orlando (I love that drive).

BLT isn't a convention resort, but CR is, and packages for BLT guests might get handled and stored by CR. I could be wrong. Your best bet is to call the "direct line" to BLT -- (407) 824-1000 to find out how it works (and to get the correct shipping address if that's what you decide to do).

 

[agibe405]

Bubblegum is fine for your older one, however your little one needs a car seat for the plane. The $40 cosco seats are lightweight and FAA approved you could use it in te plane then in the rental

 

[mcjaco]

^ Lots of discussion on here about how children as little as 2 1/2 don't need car seats on planes.

 

[quagmire0]

We use the Bubble Bum. For the Britax, I'd consider finding one of those foldable carriers with wheels that you can strap onto the carseat. At the airport you can either strap the 3 year old in for a ride or carry some of your stuff in it.

 

[quakechicago]

Ahhhh, I see. Enjoy your fast, peaceful drive through Orlando (I love that drive).

BLT isn't a convention resort, but CR is, and packages for BLT guests might get handled and stored by CR. I could be wrong. Your best bet is to call the "direct line" to BLT -- (407) 824-1000 to find out how it works (and to get the correct shipping address if that's what you decide to do).

We had to pick up our BLT delivery at CR and it was sort of a PITA with their hours and I think cost $10.
We had a stroller kickboard delivered (it was so worth it though lol).

 

[mjkacmom]

^ Lots of discussion on here about how children as little as 2 1/2 don't need car seats on planes.

No children need car seats on planes. We brought them when they were babies (even though buying them seats wasn't required), but they just were buckled in by the age of 3.

 

[Tiffylv]

.

 

[mcjaco]

No children need car seats on planes. We brought them when they were babies (even though buying them seats wasn't required), but they just were buckled in by the age of 3.

That's what I'm saying.

FAA says it cannot mandate requiring car seats for any children, BUT strongly advises bringing car seats for children that cannot safely be in a seat with just the seat belt.