Questions about flying with 3 kids

[olemsrebel]

Hi! I've never flown with children before and have some questions. We are trying to decide if we should fly or drive to Orlando this July.
We would be traveling with two 5 yr olds and a 22 month old on Delta airlines and using the Mears shuttle van to the Hilton at Downtown Disney. I'm not sure who all would need carseats for the plane and shuttle. Mears website says they don't provide carseats and recommend you bring your own. Does that mean I will have to travel with 3 HUGE carseats? (We use a Britax Marathon and 2 Britax Frontier SICTs) If that is the case we will probably just drive b/c I can't imagine lugging 5 suitcases, carry-ons and 3 carseats along with 3 small children into the airport. How could a person possibly even do that? LOL
We would be buying a plane ticket for the 22 month old. I do not want her in my lap for the trip. I'm assuming they would require me to put her in a carseat on the plane?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

None of the kids need car seats for the plane. You may consider bringing one for the youngest, depending on his/her size. For the 5 year olds, you might want to buy inexpensive booster seats for the shuttle, which you can carry-on the plane and put in the overhead compartment.

Depending on the length of your stay, you could probably get away with less than 5 suitcases.

 

[alaska8]

The general rule for children who have their own seat and are under two (ie not a lap child) is they either have to sit in their car seat or are held in a lap for take off and landing. The reason being is that the seatbelt will not effectively work for someone who is that small. (dont want them to slip under it)

 

[Tara]

The 22month old will need a car seat for the shuttle, and since she/he will have her/his own seat, you might as well bring the car seat on the plane...it's safer and the child will likely be much more comfortable since being in the seat will feel like any other car ride.