Travelling with your dolls: issues/ideas/etc. Part I

Lol, it would freak me out if I saw a small person-shaped thing in one of those things.

I would definatly carry him, though. They're only x-ray machines, really, so theres no magnets.

If you're getting an MRI, though...

 

Kind of OT, but related to the subject:

Do you think you could fit your doll in one of those baby-things that go on the front of your chest? You could always have him with you, close by, and if you dont mind risking looking a little funny, you could take him about anywhere. XD

 

I've had other delicate things that were obviously not harmful and they've said it was okay to not send them through. I'm hoping this will be the same, but if not, I'll have to just suck it up, I know.

 

It should be fine. I've taken all kinds of stuff on planes (teddy bear with a windup music box thing in it, handheld games, funny hats, CDs, etc.) and nothing's happened to them. I'm thinking dolls should definitely be okay. I mean, if you can mail someone a scorpion, you can take a doll on a plane.

OT: MRIs will rip metal clean through you, so... remember to empty your pockets of any S-hooks before you have one! That's why people with metal parts in their body, ie pins holding a bone together, metal plate in the head, etc. can't really have an MRI.

 

When I was little and you could still go up to the terminal, I would find things for the sole perpose of sending them through those machine.

 

i kept my girls in their bag and put them on the belt! no one said anything at all and they are fine.

 

To continue on the OT-ness, I just had an MRI and I have braces. I could feel it pulling on my braces as I went through :B. They had to inject dye, though, to see my brain, 'cause my braces distorted the picture.

On Topic -
They might be concerned, just because the doll is kind of a weird item (no offense) but I've only been stopped when they saw my cell phone and my gameboy. They thought it was a bomb.

 

Since I know many of you who are into cosplaying as well as dolls, just a warning- someone I know who travells frequently with wig heads has gotten poo from security about them, to the point where one guard broke a long-necked one in half to prove they weren't hiding anything in the neck.

So just a warning on that front.

 

If you're worried about them being rough with the bag the doll is in, perhaps you can tape a note onto to bag that says something along the lines of "Carefull, fragile object inside"?

Raziel hasn't left my hometown since he got here, so I don't have any traveling experiences to share about him. ^^;

 

I have traveled with Kellen multiple times and have only had a problem once. On one flight they insisted that he was too ig to go in the carry one bin and that I would have to check him planeside. I was very insistent that he was fragile and the lady was very abrupt with me and said hat it would be fine and that my bag was going in on top of all of the other stuff. So about two hours later I get off my flight and I am waiting for my bag. They are tossing things up onto the walkway and in comes Kellen upside down! Thanfully he was packed very well. I have never had problems with the scanners though. They mainly just look and laugh a bit and then send him on his way.

 

The lady at the X ray machine looked at me real funny when Hale went through - he was in a Volks bag, coming back from Singapore, and Australia is pretty full on with quarantine. So she was peering at the screen, and then she was like 'What is that in the bag? A doll, right? It's really creepy.' I told her it was, and she said it looked really scary on the machine because although the body showed up, the eyes did not, so there were these big black gaps where his eyes were. XD I explained about him having eyes you could change etc.

Anyway, I just had to let her know that he wasn't made of wood, and it was all fine. But I'm sure it was a story for the coffee room later on for her! XD

edit: I should just say that I was fine carrying him in a Volks case + my backpack, they didn't worry about it. But that was an international flight. I got told by the lady at the domestic airline I rang that the doll carrier would be too big for carry-on on the domestic flights. I'm not sure that's actually true, but I stick my dolls in my backpack for domestic travel, just in case. I don't want to check them through, because I really worry about how they handle the luggage!

 

The one time Eron went in a checked bag was when I was doing the big flight to college for the first time, so I pretty much a wardrobe of clothes to surround his box with.

If you gotta check 'em, give 'em the packaging works inside their boxes.

Gah, Baily, that's SCARY!

 

I'm planning on taking Lucifer with me when we go to Honolulu for Christmas. I'll put him through the scanner in his case, in one of those plastic tubs they provide, to protect him from the other carry-on bags. It will be interesting to see the reaction to him. (evil )
I figure his carrying case is going to get a bigger reaction, because it is one of those coffin shaped ones from Dollmore. We don't seem to have a lot of full-on Goths here in Hilo, so I don't think they get many bags or purses shaped like little black coffins, LOL!

 

Ahh, JRyu... I wish I was going to Honolulu for Christmas. I'm staying in the cold cold Wisconsin, and it's like -12 F with wind chill (I'm 3 blocks from Lake Michigan)...

But I digress. Back on topic! I hope to have my first doll completed (I'm making her! ) by the time I move to Florida in late January, and I'm just going to take her in my carry on bag. Super Sculpey should be fine in an X-Ray, and she's going to be pretty tiny. Eum.... Yeah.

 

I flew from New Brunswick to Toronto for AnimeNorth a couple years ago and at that time had a Dollfie Dream. I put her in the plastic bucket thing and she went through the scanner thing. The ladies working all came over and thought she was so neat! They couldn't believe I had made the jeans she was wearing. Then I had a nice comment from the stewardess on the plane! The only thing was on the way back. I was wearing my wierd corset-j-rockerish dress thing and it has a bunch of buckles on it! They had to scan over my whole outfit! hehe
This year I'm flying again, but have 5 dolls to bring! Two of which are SD-sized! I don't know how but I have to get a bag to carry them all in. There's no way any are going in my luggage!

 

My experiences traveling with dolls:

Kieran arrived right before a weeklong business trip to Nashville, and I just couldn't stand to be away from him so soon after getting him, so I took him with me. He's a mini, so he could sit in my biggest purse and I got to keep him with me in my seat.

I took both Kieran and Ren to San Francisco for Yaoi-Con. They traveled in an AR hard case, which I was able to take on the plane and put in the overhead bin both ways, no problem.

I don't remember what I did re: scanner for the Nashville trip; I think I just put my purse on the belt with Kieran in it. For the second trip, I just put the case through with them in it. Nobody asked questions--the people operating the scanner didn't even seem to react! I was a little disappointed. ;P

Re: case size, United told me as long as the case was less than 45 linear inches (L+W+H), I was fine to take it on the plane. Obviously, each airline will have its own requirements, so it's good to call ahead of time, or look on their websites for their carryon baggage requirements.

(Also, I totally plug the AR hard cases! They're heavier, but for me it's worth the peace of mind!)

 

I've taken my doll on three different plane trips and never once has anyone asked me to take him out of his carrier to inspect him. There's never been any problems at all in fact. I wouldn't worry about it. : )

 

I think the biggest problem I've had is that the longer carrying bags (like Volks') don't fit under the seats in front and I don't like putting it in the overhead bin because people are always trying to violently cram stuff in there. I've gotten grief from the stewardess about that and once they took my doll carrier away to put it where they hang suits in the front.

I guess the solution for next time would be to take the dolls out and put the empty bag in the overhead.

-AJ

 

I'm taking Pierce with me for Christmas (my grandmother loves dolls and I know she will ADORE him) but I don't think my doll carrier will arrive in time.

I figure that I will probably remove his head and wrap it seperate from his body (after one doll where the neck broke a chunk out of the head, little paranoid, lol) Body will be mummified in sweaters and then wrapped in a bag to hold it together, but I'm a little more worried about the head, specifically protecting the faceup from damage.

Can anyone recommend a good material to wrap it in? I was thinking fleece might be good and non-abrasive, but still worried about rubbing :/

 

I don't think it's all that necessary. Find a nice shoulde bag and sit him in it. You probably only need to wrap him in a scarf. I like to put a little clothing or something around the hands. I lost Eron's face protector some time back, but his faceup has survived even without it. I've learned that they're not quite as delicate as you may think (unless you have a One-Off XO). I just like to open the bag and make sure he's not facing/rubbing against one side of the bag now and then.

If you're travelling by plane, just always keep him with you/under the seat. If you're driving, why not sit him down in a basket, perhaps with a little blanket under/over him, and rest that on a seat?