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View Full Version : Will we need a carseat?



Bearhut
04-17-2006, 03:04 PM
Hi, hope you all can help me.

We will be flying to Disney with my tall almost three year old (about 40" tall) and am wondering if we will need to bring a car seat. We will be flying to Orlando, getting a van to Shades of Green and using the Disney transportation system (bus, monorail, ect) while in the Park. The only time we will be out of the park is to/from the airport.

If we do need a car seat (for the plane or Van) what do you all recommend? Something inexpensive and easy to install/remove. What's best/light weight for that sort of trip?

Thanks so much.

momtoB
04-18-2006, 08:40 PM
How much does he weigh? If he's over 30lbs then you could bring a belt positioning booster for the ride to and from the airport in the van. It would have to be used with a lap/shoulder belt of course. The kind w/ the back is preferable however a backless one will at least keep the seatbelt in the proper position so it won't cause internal damage in an accident. Of course i wouldn't recommend this for everyday car rides, just for your trip. Children under 4yrs and 40lbs should be in a harnessed car seat if at all possible. It's so much safer. You won't be able to use any type of child restraint on Disney transportation as the busses do not have seatbelts.

Having said that, if it were me, personally, I would feel more comfortable with a harnessed seat, as long as the van you'll be in has seatbelts. Some type of car seat is prefereable to none at all. Plus if he's under 40lbs then you can use the harnessed car seat on the plane, which is recommended by the FAA: http://www.faa.gov/passengers/fly_children/crs/

My ds who is almost 39" tall but only weighs 28lbs, rode in his car seat on our trip to Disneyland last week on the plane, and in the town car we rented both ways to and from the airport. The rest of the time we walked everywhere so those were the only times we used the seat. I was really glad we had it on the way back from DL as we did hit some pretty bad turbulence and I was much more comfortable knowing my ds was secured in a car seat instead of just the airplane lap belt (plus I can still seeing myself trying to keep him from unlatching it all the time, which isn't a problem with the car seat).

hth,
Cheryl
ds-4/21/03

beanbel
04-25-2006, 03:26 PM
Hi!
I say no carseat needed. We went to SOG in March w/ our 40" 3 year old and did not need a carseat on their buses.
We had a rental car, so we rented one for both girls but never used it unless we were driving (and that was only for groceries, sea world and to/from airport)
Jillian did fine on plane, and we were glad she was NOT in a carseat b/c she laid down on my lap and napped both flights.
You will have THE BEST TIME at SOG. We were soooooooooooo impressed. I would recommend taking a stroller. We used ours to get to and from the room in the hotel, it can be a VERY long walk. And also, walked down to the Polynesian almost daily to catch the monorail or boat to MK...if we had done rentals we would not have at it there, or at airport which was nice while going for luggage, etc to have them strapped in and not wandering.
Feel free to email me w/ any questions on Disney or SOG we had a most wonderful and perfect trip!! Also check out DISboards.com for a wonderful disney forum!!