Question About "Juggling It All" At the Airport

[scanne]

We will be travelling with a 2 year old and a 3 month old in a week and a half. We are wondering how to juggle everything once we arrive in Orlando as far as getting the luggage and rental car, installing the car seats, etc. Can I rent a luggage cart and take it out to the rental car while DH pushes the kids in the double stroller?

This is our first time travelling with both kids. I need some advice from seasoned veterans! Thank you!

 

[alloyd1170]

What we used to do when our son was younger and not mobile : my dh drops me, ds, and all the luggage at the door at the airport. He goes and parks, then comes to help me move the luggage to checkin. Its too bad that we cant check in while hes parking the car! In the airport, our son usually walks unless we have a tight connection and have to hurry. Then he goes in the stroller. Otherwise extra bags go in it. Walking allows him to burn off some energy before the flight, and hopefully he will sleep on the plane. Once at our destination, we usually gather our luggage, hop on the rental car shuttle and head over there. I think its easier / safer to install a car seat in a rental car parking lot vs in the mass of cars rushing to drop people off at the airport. However, with 2 little ones and luggage, you might want to send your dh to get the rental car while you gather the luggage (or have dh help you with that too). You can sit and wait for him to return with the car, your 2 yr old can watch all the airport action too. Then load up and head on out!

alison

 

[BevS97]

we took the luggage cart out to the rental car - we had all the cases and then the 2 carseats piled on top DH pushed that, I push babyDD in the stroller and bigDD walked to the car.

I can't quite remember what we did with the cart, but I think there must have been a dropoff place near the rental car.

We didn't have to go on a bus, we could just walk to the car from the terminal.


Departing from our home airport, we find it MUCH easier to get someone to give us a ride to the airport so we don't have to deal with longterm parking etc. We use the carseats on the way to the airport then take them out of the car and throw them ontop of the cases and go inside to checkin

 

[MissingMickey]

We just got back Monday - so this is what we did.

Our local airport is really small. We used the skycap to check luggage and bypassed waiting in line. Hubby parked the car while I filled out our address cards for the skycap.

On arriving in Orlando, we rented a cart and piled it to the sky. My husband pushed the cart outside to the bench area whilst I wheeled squirt out in his stroller with the carry on bags. I waited on the bench with everything while my husband took the car seat base (squirt is small and still in a carrier) and hopped on the Hertz bus. He came back about 20 minutes later (got a deal and got a front of the line pass) with the car and base installed. He watched squirt while I packed the car and off we went (to SuperTarget).

On departure, we flew Delta and used skycaps to check luggage. So, my husband took off to return the rental car, and I took squirt, the stroller, and carryons inside with the help of the skycap and waited in the AC this time (with no smokers). Hubby rode the Hertz bus back, and off we went. Worked really well for us.

Even with onsite car rental places, you can use this setup to save you lugging everything onto the elevator, etc. Have fun!

 

[Ambassador]

We always use the skycaps to check luggage at the curb at airport arrival and departure. Mrs. Ambassador and the Delegation wait in the vehicle, while the Ambassador finagles his way to the front of the 1st class line (never any wait, no one has bothered that we are not 1st class passengers). We check everything, with as few carry-on luggage as practical.

Try to rent from an agency on-site at Orlando, because then it is an easy ride up the elevator to your car across the street.

Put something on the antenna or inside the vehicle to help identify your car. Wait till you see how many white vans there are in the Parks parking lots! We also leave a cooler with snacks and water, which is a nice refreshment upon returning to the car.

 

[all4fun]

We just got back a week ago and yes you can take the luggage carts across the street to the onsite rental car lots. On our return flight my dh was going to rent a cart to get our stuff back in to the airport to go home and someone had just left one sitting in the lot so we grabbed it and didn't have to pay for one, which was nice (hey, 3 bucks is 3 bucks!) We had stroller, carseat, carryon's and ds. Luckily our stroller has a nice-size basket so carry-on luggage fit underneath and depending on how ds was behaving we would either carry the seat and let him ride or sometimes carry him (he's 17mos) and put the carseat in the stroller. Even though it was all "under control" I'm still trying to figure out how to pack lighter for next time. I just hate having to keep track of so much stuff at the airport!

HTH,
Cheryl

 

[JennsBabySky]

I've found it really helpful to bring as little carryon luggage as possible with me. My DH and I each bring a backpack of goodies for each child (we have 2), I bring the baby items and he carries the items for our DD. That way, if we are split, we still have all the items for our kids. We gate check the stroller. On our last trip, we only brought a single stroller, so we hung the infant car seat from the handle, I used the baby Bjorn for the baby and our DD used the stroller. Because of the backpacks, we didn't have to worry about lugging anything.

Definitely use a cart when going to your rental car. It will be so much easier!

good luck,
Jennifer

 

[dijid]

BTDT. It's certainly a juggling act. As people pointed out, you can get a rental cart and push it all the way to the rental cars.

What we usually do - grab the luggage and then park it. I sit down on the floor in the corner and play with the kids while DH gets the rental car and carseats situated. We have a carseat bag, so he can "wear" one, carry one and take some luggage with him. A few years ago we bought a new set of luggage. We can hook two bags together and wheel them like that. It makes traveling soooo much easier as we don't always need a cart. If you get a cart ,your DH can take it all to the rental car while you walk around with the kids. If you've got two cell phones, or walkie talkies, you can wait til all is situated before you go and then you'll just pop the kids in their carseats and head on your way!