Car seat and travel help please :)

[AlaskaLakota]

Hello! I'm taking my daughter for her first trip to Disneyland, and I can't wait! We are taking the train to Anaheim. Once we arrive, we'll need an Uber or taxi to the hotel. She's still in a convertible car seat. Does anyone know if there's transportation with a convertible car seat? Or should I lug her heavy convertible car seat around? Any tips are appreciated. I look forward to hearing about your experience! Thanks!

 

[tink89]

We used Lansky and they provided a booster for my niece. I think they also provide a car seat.

 

[bumbershoot]

How old is she?

 

[mel2014]

What hotel are you staying at? Lansky Transportation will provide convertible carseats: https://www.golansky.com/services.html but you might also consider taking the bus. ART Route 15 runs every 20 minutes from the Amtrak station to Disneyland. Might not work with luggage (I was a big fan of backpack luggage when my kids were younger so I could have hands free for a stroller) and a kiddo to wrangle, but thought I'd put that option out there.

 

[smartlabelprint]

We got a $40 seat from wal mart that is light.

 

[lalasmama]

Uber/Lyft and taxis won't have carseats.

Some hired cars (like Lansky's) will bring carseats. Do be careful with that, though; in the past, Lansky's has had some issues bringing the right car seat for the size of the child (or the preference of the parent), such as bringing a booster for a child that still needs a harness, or a forward-facing-only seat when a child is still rear-facing. They had a whole fleet of expired seats, but I know they replaced them a few years ago. https://www.disboards.com/threads/lansky-fka-dks-livery-do-not-recommend.3353689/#post-52662749 tells the basic story. It appears that was 2014, which means their seats are likely to be expiring pretty soon... This was Lansky's response: https://www.disboards.com/threads/golansky-transportation.3507266/page-4#post-55943009 ....

Personally, if I wasn't planning on bringing my child's car seat, I'd be planning on doing public transportation from the train station. I believe there is a direct OCTA route from the train station to the general resort area.

 

[DznyPrnces]

When my kids were in convertible seats still, I picked up a Cosco scenara (or something like that) seat. It’s around $40 at Walmart and possibly target also. It wa our travel seat.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, I'll just tell you why I asked about the child's age. If the child is of an age where a booster COULD be used, but you simply aren't at home (and we had a couple years of that), the BubbleBum booster is a terrific idea for travel, if the child can behave properly in the booster seat.

We, too, got the Cosco Scenera for travel; terrific, light convertible seat. But once he was big enough to be in a low back booster *at all*, we used the BubbleBum for that travel, while still using the first-convertible, then high-back booster, at home.

 

[AlaskaLakota]

Uber/Lyft and taxis won't have carseats.

Some hired cars (like Lansky's) will bring carseats. Do be careful with that, though; in the past, Lansky's has had some issues bringing the right car seat for the size of the child (or the preference of the parent), such as bringing a booster for a child that still needs a harness, or a forward-facing-only seat when a child is still rear-facing. They had a whole fleet of expired seats, but I know they replaced them a few years ago. https://www.disboards.com/threads/lansky-fka-dks-livery-do-not-recommend.3353689/#post-52662749 tells the basic story. It appears that was 2014, which means their seats are likely to be expiring pretty soon... This was Lansky's response: https://www.disboards.com/threads/golansky-transportation.3507266/page-4#post-55943009 ....

Personally, if I wasn't planning on bringing my child's car seat, I'd be planning on doing public transportation from the train station. I believe there is a direct OCTA route from the train station to the general resort area.

This exactly! I have heard stories and am very concerned. Turns out Lanskys is booked anyway, so we won't be able to use that option. I might get the cheap lightweight car seat to bring. The other thing I worry about is how the train staff handle the car seat. If they drop it or throw it into the luggage area, it could be similar to a car wreck and compromise the safety of the seat. I'd rather throw away $60 than buy another $350 car seat. Thanks for yoru comment!

 

[AlaskaLakota]

Well, I'll just tell you why I asked about the child's age. If the child is of an age where a booster COULD be used, but you simply aren't at home (and we had a couple years of that), the BubbleBum booster is a terrific idea for travel, if the child can behave properly in the booster seat.

We, too, got the Cosco Scenera for travel; terrific, light convertible seat. But once he was big enough to be in a low back booster *at all*, we used the BubbleBum for that travel, while still using the first-convertible, then high-back booster, at home.

Thanks for the suggestion! She's 4, but too little for a booster, unfortunately.

 

[AlaskaLakota]

When my kids were in convertible seats still, I picked up a Cosco scenara (or something like that) seat. It’s around $40 at Walmart and possibly target also. It wa our travel seat.

Sounds like this is a good route to go! Thank you!

 

[bumbershoot]

The other thing I worry about is how the train staff handle the car seat. If they drop it or throw it into the luggage area, it could be similar to a car wreck and compromise the safety of the seat.

Don’t hand it off to luggage people. Amtrak has very generous luggage areas at the end of the cars, and you can almost certainly find a spot for the car seat there.

My full sized hard suitcase fit in their carryon sizers in Anaheim last year. So that could be carried on. I’m sure a car seat could, too.

And I would definitely get a Scenera.

 

[lalasmama]

This exactly! I have heard stories and am very concerned. Turns out Lanskys is booked anyway, so we won't be able to use that option. I might get the cheap lightweight car seat to bring. The other thing I worry about is how the train staff handle the car seat. If they drop it or throw it into the luggage area, it could be similar to a car wreck and compromise the safety of the seat. I'd rather throw away $60 than buy another $350 car seat. Thanks for yoru comment!

Take it on the car with you. You are right, letting them handle it can be unsafe. Evenflo has the Maestro, and Cosco has the Scenera; both are under $70. Personally, our preference is the Evenflo, as our short grandson reached the top slots of the Scenera around his 3rd birthday--almost literally turned him around and had to start looking for a new seat.

 

[AlaskaLakota]

Take it on the car with you. You are right, letting them handle it can be unsafe. Evenflo has the Maestro, and Cosco has the Scenera; both are under $70. Personally, our preference is the Evenflo, as our short grandson reached the top slots of the Scenera around his 3rd birthday--almost literally turned him around and had to start looking for a new seat.

I hope they'll let me! We are in a room, not sure what the luggage setup is there. I appreciate your advice I ended up buying the Costco today. It is a pretty tiny seat. She's on the last buckle slot, but it's just for this trip, so it will definitely work for one week

 

[AlaskaLakota]

Don’t hand it off to luggage people. Amtrak has very generous luggage areas at the end of the cars, and you can almost certainly find a spot for the car seat there.

My full sized hard suitcase fit in their carryon sizers in Anaheim last year. So that could be carried on. I’m sure a car seat could, too.

And I would definitely get a Scenera.

Thank you! I will try to carry it on. We're in a room, so I'm not sure what the setup is. But if it needs to go below, I will tuck it away. I ended up getting the Cosco I can't believe how light it is! Also picked up a suitcase strap for it, so I can just strap it around the suitcase when not in use.

 

[bumbershoot]

I hope they'll let me! We are in a room, not sure what the luggage setup is there. I appreciate your advice I ended up buying the Costco today. It is a pretty tiny seat. She's on the last buckle slot, but it's just for this trip, so it will definitely work for one week

Are you on the west coast north/south train? They have a spot in each car for luggage. When I went from Seattle to San Jose the luggage area was on the “first floor” of the car and my roomette was on the top. Brought what was needed with me and left the rest on the rack along with everyone else’s bags.