I just returned from our first family trip to Walt Disney World in Florida with my tw year old son, and learnt a lot about car seats and safe travelling in my search. Here’s everything I learnt!
What are the car seat rules in the US?
So, the USA is trickier than travelling in Europe, and most of the rest of the world. Any car seats used must meet FMVSS 213 requirements.
Each state has their own laws and requirements. Florida requires children up to 5 to be in a car or booster seat.
What are the travel options from Orlando Airport (MCO) to Walt Disney World Resort?
There are a few ways to travel from MCO to Walt Disney World (WDW) Resort in Orlando.
- Hire a car (best if you’re staying in a Villa)
- Taxi, like Uber or Lyft
- Mears Connect
- Private hire firm (a pre-booked taxi)
What are the travel options once you’re in Walt Disney World Resort?
There are so many ways to get around Walt Disney World.
- Skyliner
- Buses
- Monorail
- Boats
- Minnie Vans (these include car seats, but are more expensive than Lyft/Uber – you can order the Minnie Vans through Lyft)
- Lyft
What did we do on our Walt Disney World Trip?
We initially made a reservation with the Mears Connect bus, as there is no requirement for car seats on a bus. However, when we arrived, there were people who’d already been waiting an hour or more. The staff couldn’t assist us when we asked how long we may end up waiting, so after 2 days of trying to get to Orlando (a cancelled flight and a story for another day!), I booked an Uber with a car seat to get us from MCO to Dolphin Hotel. It cost £44 in June 2025.
We were meant to get the Mears Connect back to the airport, however we wanted to have a few hours in the park before we left and given the awful service on the way to Walt Disney World, I cancelled our booking. We returned to the airport using an Uber with a car seat. It was a brand new Nuna, and the app had a video as well as instructions on how to install it safely. I was pretty impressed!
On days we went to Magic Kingdom or Disney Springs, I hired a Minnie Van using Lyft as I wanted to guarantee a car seat. The Mickey cartoons in the van helped my son to relax before or after a big day in the parks. Dolphin Hotel to Magic Kingdom cost $40-50 each way, which is much, much more than a standard Lyft would be. We could have taken the buses, but we were only in Orlando for a short period of time, that I wanted to maximise our park time. If you’re on a budget, I’d definitely just factor in timings for the shuttle buses.
Blizzard Beach to Dolphin hotel cost $30 in June 2025. Dolphin Hotel to Disney Springs cost $40 in June 2025. Both of these trips were in a Minnie Van. These trips would be at least $10 cheaper in a standard Lyft.
From Dolphin or Swan Hotels to Animal Kingdom, the resort bus actually gets you really close to the entrance. Me and my son were the only ones on our bus on the way there and one of four on the way home! It was probably around a 15 minute ride.
From Dolphin or Swan to Epcot and Hollywood Studios we took the boat! What a way to start your day – we absolutely loved our times on the boat. It was so relaxing. We very rarely queued for longer than 15 minutes (only when we had just missed a boat!).
When would I take or hire a car seat?
If you have an infant car seat + pushchair, I would personally just take that! This obviously only works if your little one is under c. 15 months, but it would save a lot of hassle trying to rent a car seat or ensure a good fit in a taxi seat.
If you are planning to stay in Orlando for a while, with lots of driving, in your own hire car, take a look at websites such Target or Walmart to get a cheap car seat. This will be a 100x better than a hire car seat, then at the end of your holiday you could either find a family or charity to pass it on to.
You could take your own travel car seat from the UK, but I would be concerned on the impact of whether this could invalidate some insurances if you were to get into an accident.
Have you travelled to the US and needed a car seat? What were your solutions? Let me know below!
Find out more about taking a car seat to other destinations here.
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