So no car seats? Really?

[wmharley]

Buses are designed differently than cars and the laws of physics help keep you safe.

Millions of children have ridden and do ride buses everyday around the world and at Disney and are safe. Mine always loved being "big" and riding at Disney without it.

If you aren't renting a car I wouldn't lug a car seat thru the airport and have it take up room in the room. My kids never used a car seat on the plane and have flown tens of thousands of miles without incident.

http://www.google.com/images?oe=utf...esult_group&ct=title&resnum=9&ved=0CFIQsAQwCA
http://www.kmbc.com/news/24295018/detail.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37902364/ns/us_news/

All it takes is one accident you are on....

If its a bus inside Disney, usually the speeds are slower.. but if I were to do the ME from MCO, heck no... i'd rather have the carseat taking up space than a freak accident occuring. My DD5, I can convert her Marathon seat into a booster, which we'd bring (and check on the airplane), but the 2yo will have his seat.

But then again, I always get a car when I'm on vacation.. I like my freedom

 

[Bren's Mom]

If its a bus inside Disney, usually the speeds are slower.. but if I were to do the ME from MCO, heck no... i'd rather have the carseat taking up space than a freak accident occuring. My DD5, I can convert her Marathon seat into a booster, which we'd bring (and check on the airplane), but the 2yo will have his seat.

But then again, I always get a car when I'm on vacation.. I like my freedom

Disney transport buses do travel on busy roads to get from the parks to the resorts.

And, btw, Marathons do NOT convert to boosters. If your seat DOES convert to a booster, it cannot be a Marathon. Just want that to be clear for anyone else reading this.

 

[FayeW]

Buses are designed differently than cars and the laws of physics help keep you safe.

Millions of children have ridden and do ride buses everyday around the world and at Disney and are safe. Mine always loved being "big" and riding at Disney without it.

.

They haven't been safe...you've just been lucky.

We all ride public transport all the time without incident. It only takes one time for a bus to have to slam on the brakes and then people are thrown around and injured.

 

[maxiesmom]

They haven't been safe...you've just been lucky.

We all ride public transport all the time without incident. It only takes one time for a bus to have to slam on the brakes and then people are thrown around and injured.

I would say statistically you have been safe and the people in accidents unlucky. If it was that unsafe to ride on a bus there would be seat belts, and a way to hook up car seats. But there isn't.

No one has to use the Disney busses, and you are really worried about an accident, then you are free to rent a car and use a car seat. But it is totally unnecessary to try and use scare tactics on those who happily choose to use the busses.

 

[DopeyDame]

BUT I will have a 9 month old this time. She will be a lap baby for the flight, so no car seat.

So since car seats on ME is out, then that means no car seats are needed at all? I am a bit weirded out by that. I can do CARES for my 4 year old, buty what about the baby???

I am a car seat advocate to the fullest. Help me wrap my head around this one...

I'm an aerospace engineer, and I can assure you that my 15 month old son is in his carseat on the airplane whenever we fly. If serious clear air turbulence were to strike, a lapbaby would become a projectile object and fly through the cabin, while all of the strapped in adults would have some soda on their lap and that's about it. Likewise, there are plenty of survivable accidents on planes, and just like cars, being safely strapped in hugely increases the chance of survivability.

If you are a car seat advocate (as we all should be, right?) than buying a ticket for your baby and using a carseat on an airplane is what you should do. Yes, you have to pay for a ticket for the baby, but it is WELL worth the money imho.
The FAA, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the NTSB agree. (I tried to post the links, but since I'm new I can't - an easy google search will get you to the info, though.)

Given all of that, I am completely mystified as to why it's even legal to not have babies in age and weight appropriate restraints on a plane.

Clearly, you've hit a nerve. Please, please, please buy a ticket and use a carseat, even for your little ones under 2.

 

[FayeW]

I would say statistically you have been safe and the people in accidents unlucky. If it was that unsafe to ride on a bus there would be seat belts, and a way to hook up car seats. But there isn't.

No one has to use the Disney busses, and you are really worried about an accident, then you are free to rent a car and use a car seat. But it is totally unnecessary to try and use scare tactics on those who happily choose to use the busses.

This is precisely why I have used the WDW bus service for exactly one round trip. We do always rent a car, but on one occasion we chose to leave our vehicle at DTD and take the boat ride to OKW, just to look around. From there, we took a bus to the Poly for our reservation at 'ohanas. Afterwords, we had to take the bus back to DTD to pick up our car, and an item we were having embroidered. Once was enough for me, and my kids were 12 & 14!

 

[deegack]

I'm an aerospace engineer, and I can assure you that my 15 month old son is in his carseat on the airplane whenever we fly. If serious clear air turbulence were to strike, a lapbaby would become a projectile object and fly through the cabin, while all of the strapped in adults would have some soda on their lap and that's about it. Likewise, there are plenty of survivable accidents on planes, and just like cars, being safely strapped in hugely increases the chance of survivability.

If you are a car seat advocate (as we all should be, right?) than buying a ticket for your baby and using a carseat on an airplane is what you should do. Yes, you have to pay for a ticket for the baby, but it is WELL worth the money imho.
The FAA, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the NTSB agree. (I tried to post the links, but since I'm new I can't - an easy google search will get you to the info, though.)

Given all of that, I am completely mystified as to why it's even legal to not have babies in age and weight appropriate restraints on a plane.

Clearly, you've hit a nerve. Please, please, please buy a ticket and use a carseat, even for your little ones under 2.

I have to totally agree. My friends think I am insane buying a seat for my daughter (she's one) for our trip in November. These are the same people who would never think to let their child ride around the block not in a car seat. If you hit severe turbulence you will not be able to hold on to your child. Think about it, even the coffee pot has velcro on it to keep it from flying during turbulence.

 

[Priorityonecb]

When mine were lap riders in planes and we weren't taking carseats, I would put them in the baby bjourn. I was buckled, and they were strapped to me securely in the case of any turbulance.

 

[dzorn]

When mine were lap riders in planes and we weren't taking carseats, I would put them in the baby bjourn. I was buckled, and they were strapped to me securely in the case of any turbulance.

You do realize that just makes the baby your personal air bag.

Denise in MI

 

[Priorityonecb]

I've flown in times of pretty awful turbulence, and never have I been in danger of hitting the seat in front of me if properly secured in my seat. Therefore, I didn't see a danger of them becoming my "air bag". I did see a danger of me loosing a grip on them during turbulance, so I chose the safest option for them outside of taking their seats.

For the record, I have flown several times a year with my children since they were infants. Whenever possible, we bought their own seat and took their carseats. On the few flights where the destination was one that we would not be using cars once we arrived and carrying carseats would not have been wise, we chose the front carrier option and I would again today.

 

[maxiesmom]

I've flown in times of pretty awful turbulence, and never have I been in danger of hitting the seat in front of me if properly secured in my seat. Therefore, I didn't see a danger of them becoming my "air bag". I did see a danger of me loosing a grip on them during turbulance, so I chose the safest option for them outside of taking their seats.

The danger is not so much in hitting the seat as it is in your accidentally scrunching the child as your body is tossed around. Don't forget that your shoulders are not strapped back like they are in a car seat belt, making accidentally smooshing your child a real possibility in extreme turbulance.

 

[Tony]

This is interesting. Some people are clearly obsessive about this - that's fine, so you rent a car and drive to the park. You end up at Epcot and need to get the shuttle from the far side of the parking lot to the front gate.

Do you then try to buckle your car seat onto the trolley?

Sadly life if full of risk. We can never eradicate it all and we all have our own degrees of sense as to how far we take it. Even a properly fitted car seat only improves the survival rate - it doesn't give some magical immortality.

How many crashes involving injury/death has the ME been involved in? None I know of.
How many similar crashed have the disney buses been involved in - well there was one a couple of years ago

How many millions of people does disney transport each year? What's the fatality rate? If you're obsessive, do the math and I'd guess you'll find the risk of your child being killed or injured is higher as you drive from home to the airport *with them in a car seat* than it is on disney transport.

You can say to only takes the one you're on to crash and you're out of luck but that applies to your car hitting a fuel tanker on the way to the airport or your flight being similarly wiped out in a freak accident.

I'm only saying, but my 5,3 and 1 y/o will be on the disney buses next month and I certainly won't be worrying.

 

[wmharley]

Disney transport buses do travel on busy roads to get from the parks to the resorts.

And, btw, Marathons do NOT convert to boosters. If your seat DOES convert to a booster, it cannot be a Marathon. Just want that to be clear for anyone else reading this.

Sorry it was the nautilus.. the butterfly one.

that said.. busy roads in Disney aren't the same as traveling down the Beeline, nor I-4.

i'd take a disney road over those two segments anyday...

 

[mdsoccermom]

Just curious...I never really understood the whole carseats in an airplane?? I mean...God forbid something happen....do you really think a carseat is going to help save them??

Turbulence. If the plane hits sudden turbulence, such as the recent United flight where 25 people were injured, an unsecured child can make a nice projectile.

Furthermore, in some instances, a car seat CAN make a difference in a plane crash. Not all crashes are totally fatal.

 

[EKW]

Rent a van.

Busses are not set up to have seatbelts...and what the heck are you going to do with your carseats all day while you're at the park?

Seriously, if this is a mental health issue and you simply can't put your kids on the bus, rent a van. It will be worth the cost if that's what it takes for you to be able to relax and enjoy the trip.

As for the plane, the airlines I've flown on didn't allow me to take my carseats onboard. I had to check them at the gate. You can buy airplane restraints...try a travel agent.

 

[EKW]

My son goes to a special needs school for speech and they pick him up on a regular yellow school bus. They have car seats on the bus.

Why is it that someone always has to point out the exception to the rule as if it disproves the rule? Of course the SpEd busses have restraints...they are designed for special needs children. That doesn't mean that regular school busses have them.

 

[Luvchefmic]

I have a question. Whether you put your children in a car seat buy another plane ticket for them, rent a vehilce, etc that is of course your choice as parents.

I don't have little children anymore so I am curious. Won't there still be a problem going to WDW because there will be certain situations you just can't get around? You have to either take the ferry or the monorails to MK.
You have to pretty much take the trams in all the parks. So what do you do then? I'm sincerely curious. My kids are in their 30's I am horrified when I look back on their childhood. I saw my DD # 1
stand up for the first time in the rearview mirror of our car. She was in a carbed at the time which was the only option. Imagine me..praising her and telling her to sit back down at the same time.

 

[tiggger1]

My son goes to a special needs school for speech and they pick him up on a regular yellow school bus. They have car seats on the bus.

same here! plus my friend is a bus driver and is allowed to bring her kids with her. she has both of their car seats right behind her.

 

[tiggger1]

Why is it that someone always has to point out the exception to the rule as if it disproves the rule? Of course the SpEd busses have restraints...they are designed for special needs children. That doesn't mean that regular school busses have them.

these are not special need buses. these are regular school buses

 

[Tony]

After a very quick check on the internet I came up with the following

http://www.childdeathreview.org/causesMV.htm

"In the U.S. in 1998, 47% of the children under age five that died in motor vehicle crashes were not restrained."

So that means unfortunately that 53% of those who died were restrained.

And this little piece too...


Fatalities per 10 billion passenger miles

Auto 140
Airlines 6
Bus 3
Train 1

(Bureau of transportation statistics, center for transportation analysis)

So buses are 46 times safer than cars and no one even has the option of being restrained in a bus.


And http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/The_Relative_Risks_of_School_Travel_A_National_Per_161028.aspx

When school travel modes are compared, the distribution of injuries and fatalities is found to be quite different from that of trips and miles traveled. Three modes (school buses, other buses, and passenger vehicles with adult drivers) have injury estimates and fatality counts below those expected on the basis of the exposure to risk implied by the number of trips taken or student-miles traveled.

I suspect the full numbers are in the link somewhere but this suggests to me that there's a whole lot of worry about nothing here and as Luvchefmic says too, there's risk when you have to take a tram or a boat... (Do people insist their kids wear life vests on the ferries???)