questions about ME and first time flying with DD6 and DD4

[mickeymousefan]

In 3 weeks my two DD's will take their first airplane trip. The flight from Philly to Orlando is a little over 2 hours.

I was wondering if I should bring car booster seats, but I am not sure if I can and if they will work with the seat belts on the plane. Has any one done this?

Does Magical Express allow you to use booster seats???? It seems like a long ride, on the highway.

Anyone have tips for keeping the kids calm and busy on the plane. Can I bring on our own juice and snacks?? It has been a long time since I have flown. What will help if their ears start to hurt??

TIA

 

[helenk]

I can not help you with your question regarding the booster seats on the plane, but you will not be able to use them with ME because buses have no seat belts. None of the buses have seat belts.
As far as keeping your children occupied, it is a relatively short flight, generally just over 2 hours. You can bring your own juice boxes and snacks, you might want to bring some coloring books, or some travel games. If you have a portable DVD player that will certainly come in handy.
As far as their ears hurting, I have always just had my children chew gum, or just yawn, and we never had any problems. I know there are ear plug type of things now but I've never used them.

 

[CleveRocks]

In 3 weeks my two DD's will take their first airplane trip. The flight from Philly to Orlando is a little over 2 hours.

I was wondering if I should bring car booster seats, but I am not sure if I can and if they will work with the seat belts on the plane. Has any one done this?

Does Magical Express allow you to use booster seats???? It seems like a long ride, on the highway.

Anyone have tips for keeping the kids calm and busy on the plane. Can I bring on our own juice and snacks?? It has been a long time since I have flown. What will help if their ears start to hurt??

TIA

I just flew from PHL to MCO and back last week with my 6 year old and 4 year old!

Booster seats are completely unnecessary on airliners. In a car, the only thing a booster seat does is "boost" the child higher so the child can use the car's shoulder belt. A shoulder belt must go against the chest and shoulder -- if someone, like a child, is too short and the shoulder belt goes against the neck or head, there can be tragic results. SO that's the only reason booster seats are used in cars, to make the child tall enough to use a shoulder belt.

On a plane, there are only lap belts. "Boosting" a child up when using only a lap belt is completely useless. Since airliners don't have shoulder belts, "boosting" your kids higher won't make them any safer.

Now, as helenk said, the boosters can't be used on the DME bus because there are no seat belts on the bus. There are also no seat belts on Disney Transport buses, the buses you take to get from your resort to the parks. No seat belts on buses is standard in this country.

If you are uneasy about your kids riding on the road without special safety seats, then your only alternative is to rent a car at the airport.

Because of both physics and construction, passengers on buses are safer than passengers in cars. My wife and I are safety nuts (due to our jobs -- we both see the tragic results of motor vehicle accidents), and we have been just fine with our little ones riding DME and Disney Transport during both of our trips to DW over the past 18 months.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Note that you can only bring beverages (including juice boxes) onto the plane that were purchased after you've gone through Security - so, juice boxes brought from home will likely be confiscated, and trashed.