Please don't kill me for my stroller question!

[npall]

My almost 2 year old son (will be 2 in May) is 37 in. tall and 32 lbs. ( I know..I know..hopefully he will be a linebacker for the Bucs!) Anyway he has outgrown his Evenflo travel system stroller. He's too long and can't get comfortable. We will be doing 3 days at the park and 4 days on a Disney cruise in Aug. I was wondering if any of you wonderful people could give me suggestions on a lightweight umbrella stroller preferably with a basket, eating tray and fully reclined back ( or at least mostly) Can you tell I want it all? So far, every one I have tried are very hard to steer with him in it. Oh did I mention inexpensive ! If you are not ready to kill me by now I would welcome your suggestions.

Thank you,
Naomi

[skeezixspud]

... which is that umbrella strollers normally don't have front trays because if they did they could not be folded. You would have to completely remove the tray every time you folded it, which would be a pain.

There are the serious brands such as Maclaren, Combi, Aprica and Peg Perego, the slightly less expensive ones, such as Chicco and Jane, and the value type, such as Kolcraft. There are also steel knockoffs of the higher-end brands, but they are heavier (as in 16 lbs. vs. 8, etc.)
There are also a few sort of light hybrids from US mfrs., such as the Graco Metrolite, which are conventional strollers, but made of aluminum.

For my money, Maclarens are the best on the market, hands down, but they are expensive.
If I had to recommend an affordable umbrella stroller for a tall child, I'd say the Chicco Fly2 is a good choice. There are a number of sales on them at the moment, they can be had for about $85 if you look carefully. (BTW, Chicco has now come out with a new low-price umbrella model, but it has a flat hood.) Combis can be iffy for tall kids, mine was too tall for them at 20 months.

[disneymom3]

Okay--my two year old is about the same size as yours. he's 36 lbs though! Wears at least a 3T and he is quite comfortable in our Kolcraft stroller. It's not an umbrella, but does fold flat and we've used it on the monorail, train, buses, trams, etc. Has a tray with cup holder and a tray by the handle with a double cup holder,and a basket and the deciding factor for us was that it also has a five point harness--he's a bit of a Houdini! Anyway, it was around $45-$60 at Toys R Us.

[chancellor]

Our 20-month old son is 30 lbs. and 35 inches (he will also be competing for that Bucs linebacker position in 2023), and we've been using a Kolcraft. It's much, much lighter and folds smaller than the Graco monster we were using, but I think he'll outgrow it in the next 6 months. On the up side, it was only about $40, so it was worth the temporary investment. The lighter and smaller you can get, the better for WDW tram-hopping.

[mirlow]

Naomi, I was looking for the same things in a stroller and this is what I came up with http://shop.store.yahoo.com/babyage/14705.html We have been using it for a week and we like it
:)

[npall]

Mirlow: That is one I was looking at online but wasn't sure if it reclined all the way down. How's the steering on it ?

Chancellor: NO WAY!?!? I'm going to start training him now;) We bought him his first football 3 months ago and he loves it so much he takes it to bed with him ( I took a picture, just in case he's famous one day!)

Disneymom3- What model Kolcraft ? BTW with what my son eats I am suprised he doesn't weigh more. I will need a 2nd mortgage for our grocery bill when he get to his teens. My son is also wearing 3t.

[skeezixspud]

... including the Maclarens!!! They have a good selection of reasonably-priced reclining umbrella strollers, too.