7 vs. 8 passenger siennas (04-10)

I've narrowed down my choice for my next vehicle to an 04-10 sienna. Please help me figure out if I need a 7 or 8 passenger.

My kids are almost 11 (seatbelt), 9.5 (harmony lightrider), 7 (parkway), 6 (parkway/tb), and 2 (rf radian). I currently drive an 01 Windstar, converted to an 8 passenger (it has two three row benches). Two things I love about my current setup is that I have an empty (lapbelt only) middle seat in the third row and that stops DD1 and DD2 from killing each other, and the other three in the second row, but there is still lots of room for the girls to get into the third row on the passenger side.

I thought for sure I'd want an 8 pass, because as it is now I can't even bring one of my kids friends to our house for a playdate. But looking at the 8 pass sienna, it looks like you would have to fold down or tumble the outboard seat in the 2nd row to access the third row. Is that the case? If I got a 7 pass I could move one capt chair to the centre of the 2nd row so they wouldn't have to walk between the two capt chairs right? How hard is three across in the third row? I'm kind of wary of having three kids in the third row, because the only way I could do it is to put the baby back there and I don't really want her way back there, just for convenience sake. Any combination of kids side by side not involving her will likely involve blood and tears. Thanks for any insight anyone can provide.
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Yes you do have to tumble the second row outboard set to gain access to the 3rd row.

Here's a thought. Can you do a three across in the second row? The 3rd row is like a 60/40 split and each side can be stowed independently. If you can get two seats on the 60 side, you can stow the 40 and load 3rd row kids from the trunk.

Not sure if it's do-able.

I'd just put a seatbelt or LBB rider on the outside so you could easily tumble the seat when needed. We ended up getting a 2011 Sienna after swearing I needed the full middle seat from the earlier versions, but then I realized that I wouldn't use all 8 seats everyday and it's more convenient for the tiny seat to be locked in it's spot in the back for when we may need it, but on a daily basis it's out of the way.

You can't move the 2nd row seat over in the 7 passenger. I think that was something you could do with certain MYs of Odysseys.

3 across the back is possible, but tight- especially if you have boosters to buckle.

I'd get the 8 passenger, and put the 11 year old on the passenger side outboard. or maybe the 9.5 year old with the lightrider - just someone whose seat isn't a pain to move every time you need to tumble the seat.

Yeah, three in a row in the back is really hard but three in a row in the middle no problem at all.

I have an 8 passenger 2004

Right now I have middle row rf radian outboard for 16 month old I watch, nautilus middle for 3 1/2 year old I watch, empty seat
back row monterey for Benjamin and kiddy crusier fix for Elizabeth.

If I go somewhere with all my kids I take out one of the boosters, put a teen in the back, put Elizabeth or Benjamin in the nautilus as a booster, and another teen in the empty seat.

This works great for now, I'll have to change things up with I have babies to watch next year.

Ooh, you CAN'T move the passenger outboard seat to the middle in the 7 pass? That sucks. I hate kids climbing between captains chairs to get the to the back. It usually results in fighting or someone tripping. Okay, well that sucks. With the 8 passenger can I remove the middle seat and move the passenger side captains chair to the middle? I was sure that was an option, but obviously I'm no expert. I'm going to have to say ease of access to the third row is going to supercede an 8th usable seat. Is three across the third row of the oddysey any easier than three across the third row of the sienna?
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You can't move the outboard to the middle but you can take either of them out. In the past I took out the outboard middle seat.

Tumbeling the seat isn't a big deal at all, the kids can do it themselves, there is a strap in the back to pull or the lever on the side.

I might have to do three in a row in the back next year, if I do I'm getting some bubblebums.

Sienna definitely beats Odyssey for 3 across 3rd row. Maybe ask christineka about 3rd row access. She has 6 kids in a Sienna.

if you are asking if you can move the middle row seats around in a 7 passenger, the answer is yes. well, you can only move the passenger side one around but you can move it to a middle position so that it is flush against the other middle row seat and you can access the back row downy he side instead of having to step over someone in the captain's seat. we have had 3 sienna's (06, 04 and 04) and have always kept the middle row seats like that.
you can get 3 across in the back but it does take some trial and error. i have 5 kids (another due in 5 wks) and used to have a day home and used to do 2 low-back boosters and a seat in the back row all the time.
we are actually looking at getting an 8-passenger now with the baby on the way and plan on keeping one of the middle row seats folded down on a daily basis since my 14 year old stepdaughter won't be with us every day and then we can just pop it up and have her sit there when she comes over.

I have an 05 sienna 7 passenger.... yes you CAN move that passangers captains chair over or you can remove either of the captains chairs. I personally only have 1 captains chair installed on a day to day basis - many reasons for this that aren't important to this discussion.

I chose 7 pass because i knew i would never have 6 kids - hence no need for that extra seat. I don't like my kids 3 across - they pick at each other more and its harder for them to get to their seats with no seat space for stepping in next to it. My other major reason for choosing 7 pass was that the captains chairs have arm rests - in the 8 pass version there are no arm rests in that middle row what so ever.

But either way in those year ranges the Sienna blows the Oddy out of the water IMO

You're right!

page 84 here - http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM45437U/pdf/07omsour/2007/07sienna/0103.pdf

I never realized that.