Strollers and car seat questions

We are taking my young grandson to Orlando in Sept. He will be 27 months then and we are thinking we will bring the stroller along and gate check it.

On the NW site it says you can take umbrella style strollers and gate check them. This isn't an umbrella style stroller! It does fold up but not near as little as an umbrella one does.

I think I have seen a lot of people with larger type strollers in the airport at Orlando. Does anyone have any experience with this that can shed some light on the topic? Do I run the risk of being turned away for not having the little umbrella type? Should we just buy one of those instead? I do like the one we have, since it has a recline mode so he could nap at the parks if need be.

In addition, we are strongly thinking of also taking his car seat onto the plane. I think he will sit better in the seat, as he is use to being in that. Is this a huge PITA to even contemplate? I know lugging the thing through the airport and onto the planes will be a hassle, but then we will also have it for the rental car.

Any insights or thoughts on this?

We have flown SW to Orlando when grd was 5 almost 6 and gate checked both stroller and car seat. Our stroller was a larger type also with canopy top and basket in back and had no problem with Southwest. The car seat was checked in with our luggage. But I think it may have been a booster seat.
Do bring your car seat with you. For what the rental companies charge for a car seat you can buy a new one
Neither should count a checked in luggage. I do know that the airlines do have certain requirements for car seats, so check with them or maybe somebody else here can help you.
Even at 5, the car seat was nice to have for hauling our stuff !!!! But the grd did use it also.

FL car seat law http://sheriff.org/safety/carseat.cfm. 5 still need to have car seat.

I have shipped car seat to Orlando as separate luggage. My stroller are small type one, so I don't know the restriction. But you can find from your airline carry http://www.nwa.com/travel/luggage/checked.html and http://www.nwa.com/travel/luggage/specialitems.html. But I have see people carry car seat and put it on the airline seat.

Jya-Ning

Personally, there's no way I'd hassle with taking a car seat through an airport and onto a plane. It's just way too easy to rent one with the rental car. Also, I'd spend the $10-15 on an umbrella stroller. And he'll crash in the umbrella stroller if he's tired enough.

In both cases we're talking minimal expense for much greater convenience. As I've always told my wife, we don't go on vacation to save money. Make life easy and enjoy the extra time with your grandson.

I took my daughter to honolulu when she was 8 months old on northwest airline. I also took a big stroller, not an umbella one. It was check at the gate with no problem. I had also check in a booster seat on United without problem and it was not counted as a checked luggage.

I don't know NW gate check polocies. We fly SW all the time and have no problem gate checking any size stroller.

Having the car seat on the plane is a safety issue in my opionion. If you have ever experienced bad turbulance then you will understand. There is no way to keep a child down. My DD is now 3.5 and we use the CARES seat belts for planes for her.

To answer your question - taking the car seat is easy. When we took it, we would simply prop it up on top of the stroller and that is how it was lugged around the airport. If my daughter wanted to go into the stroller we would put her in the car seat - that was on the stroller.

I would assume NW you have assigned seating. I would sent one adult into the plane first with the car seat and one stay behind with the child. Give about 5 minutes for the first adult to secure the seat then when the child comes all is ready. Kinda hard to fit 2 adults, 1 kid and the installation of a car seat into a row at the same time.

Thanks for the information everyone.

That is a really good point about the air turbulence. I was actually leaning more towards not lugging all that stuff around, but that may have changed my mind. Also good point about one adult going ahead to secure the car seat.

I figured DH would end up carrying DGS around anyway, so the stroller could carry the car seat.

How do you get these things through security? I have never seen one go through before. I can't imagine they don't set off all kinds of alarms?

My poor husband! I set off the alarms and get pulled aside to be searched since I had my knee replaced.. He is going to deal with collecting all that stuff! Darn.

Elan said:

As I've always told my wife, we don't go on vacation to save money. Make life easy and enjoy the extra time with your grandson.

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That is typically my thought as well. I am not worrying so much about the money, but more about what is the most convenient with my grandson along.

I am quite concerned about how well he is going to do on the plane, as I don't want to be one of those families who make national news for being kicked off the plane! He is not one to sit for more than a few minutes at any time. He is a constant motion machine. He does sit in his car seat through, as he is use to that and knows he has no other choice. So I figured taking the car seat on the plane would help with keeping him more calm.

And the stroller was because he is getting heavy! And one of us would have to be carrying him through the airport.

I think I am too old for this.......

Car seats on the plane

We just returned from Hawaii and our twin grandsons were with us. You can purchase an approved harness that attaches to the arline seat and uses the seat belts. They were great for the kids and they are 2yrs old. You can also rent strollers at Disney or there is a rental agency that will deliver a stroller to your condo prior to your arrival.
My suggestion would be to buy the harness, you can put it in your carry on and save lots of trouble dealing with a car seat.

cindi said:

That is typically my thought as well. I am not worrying so much about the money, but more about what is the most convenient with my grandson along.

I am quite concerned about how well he is going to do on the plane, as I don't want to be one of those families who make national news for being kicked off the plane! He is not one to sit for more than a few minutes at any time. He is a constant motion machine. He does sit in his car seat through, as he is use to that and knows he has no other choice. So I figured taking the car seat on the plane would help with keeping him more calm.

And the stroller was because he is getting heavy! And one of us would have to be carrying him through the airport.

I think I am too old for this.......

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I highly recommend bringing the car seat on the plane. Just got back from a trip to Seattle (2.5 hr flight). I suggested we bring car seat as we did with our son until he was 3. DW said our just turned 2 year old should do fine w/o car seat on plane. On approach she WOULD NOT STAY in her seat and struggled the last 30 minutes easily pulling seatbelt off, etc. NOT FUN.

So, on the way back DW says "Why don't we bring the car seat on the plane..." :ignore: Glad we did as there was some turbulence coming home. As you said they know they have to stay in (and generally can't get themsleves out) so it is much better than the airplane seatbelt that unlaches if you sneeze.

Pre-board and you'll have less stress putting seat in.

My daughter loves her car seat but not in an airplane. Since she felt like she wasn't actually moving on the plane (unlike in a car) she didn't like being strapped in.

If you and your child are not already accustomed to umbrella strollers Disney World is not the best time to find out. I love my McClean umbrella stroller. It's sturdy, portable, folds easily, and is easy to manuver in large crowds.

Whatever you if you change routines (ie. Strollers) just be sure to really try it out before you leave home otherwise you'll spend your time wishing you had your regular stroller.

jehb2 said:

My daughter loves her car seat but not in an airplane. Since she felt like she wasn't actually moving on the plane (unlike in a car) she didn't like being strapped in.

If you and your child are not already accustomed to umbrella strollers Disney World is not the best time to find out. I love my McClean umbrella stroller. It's sturdy, portable, folds easily, and is easy to manuver in large crowds.

Whatever you if you change routines (ie. Strollers) just be sure to really try it out before you leave home otherwise you'll spend your time wishing you had your regular stroller.

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Excellent point about the stroller. He hasn't been in ours since last summer when he was younger. His mom has one of those smaller (I think umbrella types) but ours is bigger and has a reclining seat as well as storage underneath. If I don't have an issue with the size on the airplane, I think that one would be better.

Never thought about that whole not feeling like they are moving thing.

Along the stroller lines, how do you get them through security if you want to gate check them? I know people get the tags at the gate, since that part I have seen. Never saw one through security though.

I want to make this as easy as I can and plan out all the details so I know in advance what to expect.

cindi said:

Along the stroller lines, how do you get them through security if you want to gate check them?

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You just fold them up and send them through the x-ray machine. If they are too big for that (unlikely), they will be hand-checked. No big deal in my experiences.

Kurt

PigsDad said:

You just fold them up and send them through the x-ray machine. If they are too big for that (unlikely), they will be hand-checked. No big deal in my experiences.

Kurt

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I kind of think the one we have would be too big to go through the machine, but I could be wrong. I will have DH check it out to see how much it folds up. Thanks.

I have a little one as well and I think you really should take the car seat on the plan, it gives you a good way to keep them still for awhile and he should be used to the feeling of the seat itself. We bought a luggage cart and strapped our car seat to it and wheeled it thru the airport, plus it gave us somewhere to stash an additional bag or whatever. If you are renting a car in Orlando, the car seats from the rental companies are generally nasty or not up to probably your standards, so it's best to have your own. You can always use the car seat on your way down and then if you find it wasn't useful then gate check it on your return flight.

As for strollers, at 27 months, your gs may not need a big stroller, even for everyday use. So purchasing an upgraded type of umbrella stroller that is lightweight and reclines could be useful. I'm not talking about the 20 ones, but the ones that cost maybe 45 to 60, and then practice before you go. And once you actually start touring the parks, he is probably going to want to walk and run and having to lug a heavy stroller will be no fun, if you are trying to keep up with him. The only time my dd wanted to be in the stroller at the parks was when she was eating a snack or when she got tired.

As for stroller ideas, here's one that not too expensive and gets good reviews, http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10603593
or if you want to spend a little more I'd look at http://www.diapers.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?productId=14609 since it has storage underneath.

Just my thoughts.

Our kids are older now but we have always traveled with our own carseats and strollers. In fact I still take one booster with us for my youngest. But this was way before the luggage restrictions. However, I do believe carseats are allowed as luggage for free. I had bought a carseat bag that had straps on it so, you could carry it like a backpack. I used that thing for years with my kids and my friends borrowed it from time to time. I would definitely take a stroller with you. It is much easier to control a child in an airport if he or she is buckled in. It drives me crazy when people let their kids run around the luggage area. I can't tell you how many times I've come pretty close to whacking a kid with my luggage on the luggage carusol (spelling??). Anyways... that is a different story. Also, be warned that your stroller can break during transit. If it does go to luggage claim and report it. I've gotten a brand new/barely used stroller twice this way. The airlines have tons of unclaimed strollers of you to take.

cindi said:

I kind of think the one we have would be too big to go through the machine, but I could be wrong. I will have DH check it out to see how much it folds up. Thanks.

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My husband insisted on bringing the jogging stroller with us! What a pain that was, but it did fit in the scanner!

Be prepared, you will most likely find NO ONE is going to assist you in folding, unfolding, the stroller, etc. I travelled alone with a stroller, purse, diaper bag, 8 year old and 2 year old, from Dayton to Detroit to Buffalo and back, and NOT ONE PERSON lifted a finger in assisting me thru security. When your stroller, purse, shoes, grandson's shoes, etc, etc, rolls off the end of the conveyer belt, you will be expected to remove it and move on just as quickly as the guy in front of you removed his wallet, shoes and car keys.

Likewise, you will get no assistance schlepping or buckling in that enormous car seat while 20 people are behind you anxious to get to their seats and you are blocking that 3 inch wide isle and balancing a kid on your hip.

Just be prepared. Still, I'd rather go thru all that, AND be strip searched than drive 12 hours!!! :annoyed:

Thanks for the insights and also the links on strollers. I haven't made it out to the garage to check out the one we have yet, so I may need to buy a smaller, more lightweight one.

I am already picturing myself at the security line with everyone impatiently waiting behind me!

Our son checked carseat on SW .. at no cost and he didn't have a child with him.