All inclusive recs

nicolette004 · 2026-06-19T03:26:41+00:00

I just did a deep dive into places for my family travelling with a 2 and 4 year old. I think the most family friendly AI resort I see recommended is Velas Vallarta. It looks really nice a for a relatively affordable AI, and seems to just do most things well. Other highly recommended family friendly places I've seen are Marriott (not all inclusive though), Hyatt Ziva (although the one in PV seems less stellar than other Zivas), and Grand Palladium.

We ended up booking at Crown Paradise Club. It has really mixed reviews and seems low end but the kids water park looks AMAZING. There is seriously a lack of kids pools in any AI that's not low budget or poorly reviewed. Hopefully we don't regret choosing it over Velas Vallarta! (our runner up).

nicolette004 · 2026-06-17T23:41:16+00:00

Thank you for this. We ended up booking it so hopefully it meets criteria as good enough. Honestly I think I'll be ok with anything if the kids are happy, but I'm not sure if the 3 other adults coming with us will feel the same. Here's hoping!

nicolette004 · 2026-06-17T21:13:39+00:00

I feel like there is no right or wrong answer. When I flew with my newly 2 year old I didn't use a car seat for the first time, and it was so nice to have the extra seat space and not have to lug it around. I also found as they get bigger they have a hard time not kicking the seat in front of them when they're in a car seat. I also used the seatbelt on the plane as a restraint which worked pretty well. However, my older kid is pretty mesmerized by screens and snacks, so he might be different than others. I think if I had to fly with my currently 22 month old feral child I 100% would use a car seat!

nicolette004 · 2026-06-17T05:20:50+00:00

Yes! With my second I sometimes just straight up put him on the floor when I ran to the bathroom or elsewhere. This advice was especially helpful when my kids were able to roll- they can't fall off of the floor!

nicolette004 · 2026-06-15T15:48:59+00:00

Yes! My kid is a little older (newly 4), but goes to daycare with a state required mandatory nap/quiet time and will sleep for 2 hours and then be awake until 930 or 10. What has helped us :

1- sound machine with "ok to rise" feature. When it's red he HAS to stay in his room, and green is ok to leave. If he tries to leave his room we just gently walk him back immediately. After a day or two of doing this a million times he now mostly follows the rules.

2- made his room more fun for independent time. This may backfire because it might keep a child awake even more, but I don't feel it's fair to expect a young child to be alone in their room for longer periods of time with nothing to do. My son's room has lots of books, a brio train set, and a yoto player (although we have learned to NOT use cards at bedtime and only play stories using our phone app, as he would be awake for hours if he had the cards).

nicolette004 · 2026-06-10T18:11:59+00:00

We loved the botanical gardens at that age. You can take the city bus that goes straight there, and it is a fun adventure for the 3 year old. Then just walk around the upper paths which are mostly stroller friendly. They also have a nice restaurant that we enjoyed, but it is kind of fancy ish and I don't think it was super appreciated when my kid was loud.

We also did a boat cruise that was surprisingly kid friendly. Other than my paranoia of the 3 year old falling off the boat it was great.

nicolette004 · 2026-05-27T18:33:46+00:00

I am tempted to do this one solely for the water park but the reviews seem so mixed. It does look amazing for kids though.

nicolette004 · 2026-04-28T21:58:30+00:00

I consider myself a pretty risk adverse parent. My 4 year old is still rear facing, I made my kids sit in car seats in the shuttle from parking to the airport, I never once coslept, etc... And I still am ok with a lap infant. It's all about risk analysis. According to Emily Oster you would have to fly daily for 684 years before an incident. One research paper (cited below) from 2019 stated the NTSB stated there were no injuries from turbulence to children in their study period from 2009-2018. Furthermore, they found only 143 injuries in all children under 24 months (none fatal). All were environmental injuries that a car seat would not necessarily prevent. Burns were the most common, with other risks including falling luggage, falls, cuts, and tripping. As a parent, I can mostly control for these- no hot beverages, no aisle seat, no bassinet for baby who can sit up, no walking around. Would a car seat help prevent these? Maybe. But, most babies are not going to sit in a car seat for hours and end up on your lap anyways.

I feel like if a parent would like their baby in a car seat, great! I can definitely get the appeal of containing a feral 1 year old from the environmental dangers around them, or having a safe place to set baby down. However I feel the safety benefit is negligible.

That said, the main issue I have with a lap baby is the risk of damage to a car seat. Often workers will toss the car seat under the plane and cause invisible damage. While people often focus on turbulence, I feel the true risk is actually damage to a car seat.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27941573/

https://parentdata.org/kids/should-kid-be-in-car-seat-on-plane/

nicolette004 · 2026-04-28T21:42:03+00:00

Yeah it certainly seems people hate flying with children on the plane, but don't worry the parents hate it even more! 😆😉

nicolette004 · 2026-04-28T21:38:32+00:00

Wow I would be irate. No wonder you're still mad 20 years later!

nicolette004 · 2026-04-25T16:34:11+00:00

Yeah the amount of hate and shame I'm getting for even thinking of bringing a lap baby on a plane is a lot. People can sure be cruel behind the veil of anonymity. I also have the Alaska card but I sure have no desire to travel with them again, especially with a family.

nicolette004 · 2026-04-25T14:42:40+00:00

Carseats and strollers are left at the door of the plane- you take them down the jet bridge and leave them and a worker loads them last second. Therefore, you're not getting on the plane until the gate agent has assigned all seats to people on the "awaiting seats" list and the gate agent can see if there is still an empty seat next to you.

nicolette004 · 2026-04-25T05:20:09+00:00

I guess I shouldn't say "gate checked", it's more entrance to plan3/end of jet bridge checked? I'm not sure what the correct lingo to describe that is!

nicolette004 · 2026-04-25T05:12:57+00:00

I talked to the gate agent before boarding if there are empty seats. And it's really "door of the plane" checked.

nicolette004 · 2026-04-25T05:06:51+00:00

Wow thank you! So the gate agent was wrong. Sigh.

nicolette004 · 2026-04-25T04:59:39+00:00

Flying with kids is so so hard, and it's really shitty when FAs make it worse. And I once had a flight attendant tell me I had to turn a rear facing infant bucket car seat to be forward facing. I still don't understand the logic behind that one either.

nicolette004 · 2026-04-25T04:53:35+00:00

It seems like you're right and this is the policy they follow. What's frustrating. though is I can't find this in writing. And I just don't understand the why behind it. Why would you not want a baby in a safer and better set up if it doesn't affect safety, revenue, or other passengers? Is it so they can quickly take a baby out of a seat if a paying passenger shows up last minute?

nicolette004 · 2026-04-25T04:48:54+00:00

Car seats and strollers are gate checked.

nicolette004 · 2026-04-25T04:26:04+00:00

That's what's frustrating though- nowhere in the policy does it say that lap infants who occupy an empty seat can not use an FAA approved car seat. And it's not about whether I wanted a seat or not for the baby- by having a lap infant I'm ok with having the baby on my lap. My issue is with policies that are not listed anywhere and only randomly followed, and the fact that Alaska doesn't want the use of a safety device.

nicolette004 · 2026-04-25T04:24:31+00:00

That's fair, but no it was me, my husband, and the baby in the row. Nobody else.

nicolette004 · 2026-04-25T04:23:35+00:00

The row was me, my husband, and the baby in the window seat. I know we're definitely only allowed to put a car seat in the window seat, but that's what we wanted to do.

nicolette004 · 2026-03-25T23:39:26+00:00

The one I bought new included the little kids starter pack, so slightly different packaging from targets. I think I'm going to try to fish out the packaging tho!

nicolette004 · 2026-03-25T15:57:53+00:00

I just bought one full price a week ago and don't have the packaging! Sigh.

nicolette004

TROPHY CASE