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

I just flew to another state with my dolls a few days ago. I'm going to cut and paste what I wrote about their travels. I flew with 4 large doll bodies, 2 small dolls (whole doll), and 7 large doll heads.

two delf boxes were placed into the suitcase with the lid removed and flattened. Two doll bodies were stacked on top of each other in each box (with pillows wrapped on top and bottom of each doll with ribbons tying the pillows against the doll around the shoulders and legs). I did not remove the hands for any of them (didn't bother) but I did bubble wrap the hands carefully with rubber bands to tighten the bubble wrap against the hands and fingers. The lids of the boxes were placed sideways against the side of the suitcase and I placed a lot of doll clothes and shoes and stuff to fill up the rest of the suitcase. That one goes into check-in (being thrown around inside the plane and the conveyer belt with no damage.

My personal carry on, 2 dolls were in my DOC handbag and the two 40cms were wrapped the same way DOD had wrapped them when they mailed them to me. To fill up the bag I stuff more doll cloths inside the bag and one 60cm doll head which had no face-up on (so no worries).

My other personal carry on (a small shoulder bag), I have 6 doll heads with me (all with face-up). I put 3 in one big plastic bag and the other 3 into another plastic bag. I use face plates for all and they were all bubble wrapped with a rubber band around the exterior to keep bubble wrap in place. I also filled up the bag with other things (soft things like clothes) so head won't roll around inside the bag. They were shoved on the overhead compartment on the flight with no problems. I didn't take any of them out until I got home.

 

O_O WOW. *claps* I'm impressed!

I'm glad I'm not transporting THAT much... but I am gonna be loaded down. Taking 3 yos, 2 SD heads, and 1 full SD13 doll on the plane with me. I think I will somehow manage to get them packed in my carry on. Really, a lot will fit into the narrow volks bag. Thank goodness I have mostly yos.

 

i carried it with me on the plane.
the last thing i wanted to worry about was to think was what if my luggage delays, get lost, get inspected, etc etc.
but all in all, traveling with it was a pain in the ass
i didn't want the make-up to get ruined and i had so much more to worry about.
and the lady at the customs who checks peoples bags gave me a really funny look.

 

I had my tote inspected closely at JIA, rofl. I got a yarn tote from Jo-Ann's. To fly to Otakon, I padded it on three sides with memory foam (to add the fourth side would have dropped the tote from its already reduced carrying capacity of three to two) and wrapped my kneeling dolls in pillows from their boxes. Irian, having eyelashes, was given a face shield. Then I carried it on and put it in the bin above my seat.

No problems whatsoever. ^_^

 

Is it ok to put the doll in a bag and put it through the scanner at the *making-sure-you're-not-a-terrorist* part of flying? Will the xray thing affect it?! Sorry if someone already said this...I just didn't want to scan through the 36 pages...!

 

Yes, it's perfectly all right. Mine may have gotten a second glance in their wheelie suitcase, but I've never had to open the case or anything.

And the X-rays won't affect the doll at all.

Ann in CT

 

If you are travelling by ANA or JAL you should have no trouble with the bag on the plane. The only issue might have is getting two items of hand baggage past check-in.

I'm not saying that all cabin staff on JAL or ANA are dollfie collectors, but I can guarantee at least one or two comments or questions from the staff on each flight we take (domestic or international).

 

Yes, the dolly will be fine. It will be x-rayed no matter where you put it, so best to just carry it on. You may need to answer questions about them (I did the other week) because they look pretty damn creepy on an x-ray display, but you just say "it's a doll, it's my toy" and they'll probably shrug and pass it on through.

KEEP IN MIND that the bag may get squished by others as it leaves the x-ray on the conveyor belt. PLEASE choose something hard-sided....you do not know if you will beat your doll through the metal detector, and better safe than sorry.

 

Hey guys!

Neal's coming on his first plane trip in a few weeks, and I'm debating how to get him safely from Chicago to Boston. I'm leaning towards carry-on, but I'm worried about O'Hare security and I'm gonna be juggling a laptop and a dog as well as him. So I thought I'd check in here: When y'all take your kids on plane rides, do you check them through as luggage, or stick them in your carry-on bag?

 

I carry on. deffnately. With a laptop and a dog, you might be a bit weighed down... but I'd deffinatley do your best to carry him rather than check. Checked baggage gets tossed around a lot, thrown on belts, can be frequently lost without proper reimbursement for expensive items, and I shudder to think of a doll in those bags.
I did check one of my dolls once, super well padded, and she made it alright. But she's a heck of a hardy doll. None of my others are quite as resiliant as she is. So I wouldn't try it with any of my other resin kids.

 

I had Ilú as a carry-on when I flew from Japan to the UK - seeing how rough the baggage-handlers are with things I didn't hesitate to surrender my other luggage and keep him with me. Which turned out for the best in the end: they ended up losing my checked-in luggage for three days, and even though that meant my laptop (amongst other things) went AWOL for that time I was still far less upset and worried than I would have been if it had been my doll and his carrier!

 

When I went to Thailand with Scara earlier this year, I had him curled up in my backpack - I felt much safer with him in there. Likewise, last time I went to Japan, I took Grave in my backpack too. They both caused a bit of a stir on the plane when I pulled them out to get to things at the bottom of my bag, but I found that throughout all the flights, whenever I wanted a drink, there was a curious stewardess at my elbow, ready to serve. ;D

 

honestly, i checked in my boys twice.

once was without a fragile sticker cos he sent the bag off before i could request >_< but then they were in my huge luggage bag that was full of clothes.

I dunno. Maybe I have no respect or worry about my doll?

 

...you won't be taking the dog on the plane right? >w> taking him on hand carry might be fine for you.

security should only be worried about his "metal hooks and screws" as well as any wiring you may have in his body.

 

There is an entire thread about this somewhere. However Summary...

1. Take your doll on as Carry on, if at all possiable.
2. If you must check your doll, make sure to pad it with clothes and keep it protected, AND REMOVE THE HEAD, and keep the head with you in carry on. (The head makes the doll unique).

-Anneke

 

carry on, I wouldn't want them to put my resin kid into the pressure hold for luggage! I woud rather put up with all the odd looks!

 

I just took Fox to Grand Rapids with me. He was carry on. Through the xray machine and all...I would have loved to see that. I would most definitely advise carry-on, luggage is too mistreated to put your doll in a checked bag.

 

Sorry, OT, but I just cracked up at your post because I had a mental image of a couple airline workers watching the x-ray screen and going "o.0... WTF??" LOL!!

 

I checked in 4 SD size bodies, carried all the heads (7 heads) in my handbag, and carried 2 small MSD size doll in a MSD size carrier bag. No problems at all. But it was not a connecting flight so luggage will not get lost.

 

I am a former airline employee.

Unless you buy extra insurance, your luggage is insured by the airline for a total of $200-$250 TOTAL. I am sure your doll alone cost more than that. Even if you buy the extra insurance you will have to PROVE the value of your doll if it is lost or damaged. Have you still got the receipt? Have you got the receipts for his clothing, face-up, mods, wig, eyes?

Thefts from luggage at both O'Hare and Boston are terrible.

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/3560932/

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=3690612

http://concealcarry.org/2006/08/declare-your-gun.html

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/09/expensive_camer.html

If you must, unstring him and stow his pieces in your laptop case. But do not check him.