Should I rent or bring a stroller?

[Momonthego4all]

I have two boys, ages 4 and 7.5. Should I bring my own stroller for the little guy or rent one there?

Does anyone have a picture of the rental stroller? I am thinking the little guy may still be napping and if we decide not to go back to hotel for naps, he might nap in the stroller. Does it recline at all?

Not sure if I should bring my own or rent one there. Also, what are the prices on renting?

Thanks so much.

 

[amelia1]

There are pix on allearsnet.com of the disney strollers. They are the hard plastic kind that you can't adjust the position of.

 

[KMZOB]

I bought a chicco stroller to take with us last Nov for my DS (2 at the time)...well, boy did it backfire...he kept trying to get in the rental strollers that everyone else had. So, I rented the strollers for the rest of our trip. He was so happy. They are formed so the kids can sit up in them or lay back. My son napped each day in it. (usually as we were leaving the park midday) The only problem with renting is that you have to carry the children to and from the transportation and the resorts if they're sleeping or can't walk.
Hope this helps!

 

[tanyaandallie]

I prefer to bring my own. If you have one you like and it's not a pain to bring it, then bring it. Otherwise, just rent. The rental is fine for a 4 year old. Not so great for smaller kids but good for older ones.

 

[sunlover13]

I debated this for months before our trip. My daughter (4) is pretty tall and big for her age, about 44 inches, 42 lbs. She never uses a stroller at home so we didn't have one that she even fits in. A regular, cheap umbrella stroller would not work. So, after reading several posts, I decided to bring one and I bought a Maclaren Triumph. It was more than I wanted to spend, but I figured I would spend 1/2 the cost of a new stroller on renting there and would have to carry her if she fell asleep when the parks closed. Bringing our own stroller was the best decision I made. It was so nice b/c we didn't have to walk slower or try to keep track of her. Had plenty of storage space too. We didn't have to wait in line for stroller rental at all the parks. Heard nightmare stories of people waiting over 1/2 hour for a stroller. Also, when she did fall asleep at night (she never naps); we didn't have to carry her to the long bus stop walks. The Triumph holds up to 55 lbs and is light and easy to fold like an umbrella stroller. Best $120 I spent! I was afraid it might be a pain to lug around but it was not. My daughter was in it the whole trip which made walking and getting around easier and faster for us : ) Good luck with whichever way you decide to go : )

 

[Elmo888]

I would bring one. It is just difficult to realize all of the walking that you have to do outside the parks, and, esp. at the end when the little ones are tired, it is nice to have a stroller outside the park. It is usually a good walk from your room to the bus/boat/monorail stop and then a good walk from there to the park. And as someone else mentioned, it is nice to have them contained in the crowds.

 

[luvmy3jewels]

We just got back from our trip with my kids who are 2, 4 & 6. I brought two McClaren Volos thinking the two youngest ones would ride most of the time. Well, by the third day my 6 year old wanted to ride too so I ended up having to rent a stroller for a couple of days. The park stroller rental was $10 per day for a single.

In my opinion, whether to rent one or bring one depends on how many days you plan to be there. The more days, the more expensive that stroller rental can get.

It was kind of a pain for us to drag our strollers through the airport and around everywhere, but with three kids and 7 days at the parks it would have been cost prohibitive to rent strollers for everyone.

 

[pbharris4]

We bring our own. IMO the stroller you rent at the parks are hard, uncomfortable. I'd rent one of those if my child was 6 or 7 and just for a rest because their feet hurt. The younger ones can't walk as much and may need a nap and will be in the stroller a little lonbger. Plus, if we go on a walk from OKW or SSR to DTD we'd really need the stroller.

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

I debated this for months before our trip. My daughter (4) is pretty tall and big for her age, about 44 inches, 42 lbs. She never uses a stroller at home so we didn't have one that she even fits in. A regular, cheap umbrella stroller would not work. So, after reading several posts, I decided to bring one and I bought a Maclaren Triumph. It was more than I wanted to spend, but I figured I would spend 1/2 the cost of a new stroller on renting there and would have to carry her if she fell asleep when the parks closed. Bringing our own stroller was the best decision I made. It was so nice b/c we didn't have to walk slower or try to keep track of her. Had plenty of storage space too. We didn't have to wait in line for stroller rental at all the parks. Heard nightmare stories of people waiting over 1/2 hour for a stroller. Also, when she did fall asleep at night (she never naps); we didn't have to carry her to the long bus stop walks. The Triumph holds up to 55 lbs and is light and easy to fold like an umbrella stroller. Best $120 I spent! I was afraid it might be a pain to lug around but it was not. My daughter was in it the whole trip which made walking and getting around easier and faster for us : ) Good luck with whichever way you decide to go : )

When we went, we rented from www.abbf.com. They were great and it worked out wonderfully. It costs less than renting at the parks and we had it with us the entire week.

 

[Zoesmama03]

I'm debating on even bringing one for dd who will be 4. She is tall 41-42 inches and weighs about 36 lbs problem is she runs off A LOT. We do not use one in fact I don't own one anymore.

My dad(who we will stay with) has a umbrella but last time when she was 2 1/2 that was a pain. I'm 5'8" and it was hard to push, plus when she fell asleep(which she may or may not take a nap at this age she does at school but not at home usually) she slumped over.


I really like the Silver Cross micro something or other they go to 40 lbs and are taller and fold compact and lightweight. And I think the 5 pt harness type belt could help with the slumping problem "IF" she took a nap.

I'm wondering about harness/leash things but I hate to think of the stares I'd get.

We are only going probable 2 maybe 3 days tops in between we take rest days or beach days. Might do Sea World one of the days as well.

 

[Tinks Girls]

I would definitely bring your own strollers with unless your children can walk for 80-85% of the time. While renting my seem convenient, you have to wait in more lines when picking up or dropping off the stroller. At the end of the day, you and your children will be tired and you will have to return your stroller at the entrance of the park. I know it may seem silly but after a long day at the parks, I know that I would rather roll my children up to the bus stop and/or boat/monorail to get back to our resort than have to carry them and wait for the transportation to arrive to take us back to the resort.

I have a McClaren Volo. I have seen a few other Dis folks talking about it. That is actually how I found about it for our last trip. They fold up realy easy and it has a shoulder strap to have for carrying it. I use this one for our youngest DD. For the twins, I use a Fisher-Price , Active Gear wagon. It holds up 120 pounds. The seats are wider, it has canopies and it pulls like a wagon. It has double wheels on each corner and the best thing is that looks like stroller but pulls like a wagon. It handles great and -----it collapses pretty flat with a handle to carry it like a small piece of luggage. I also bought the accessories that go with it - Backpack and portable cooler. They can be clipped on the back of one of the seat backs.

We saw someone at the Zoo with it and we literally followed them around asking a ton of questions. It is very difficult to find something for the bigger children but not old enough to be walking all the distances. You have to go to the Fisher-price web site to find it. It is not offered in the stores. But we got ours very fast and love it. Look in the active gear tab to find it.

 

[mnasmom3]

I have really limited options because my 7 and 5 yr old are over the weight limit for any double stroller I've found. As you can see from my avatar, they managed a nap in the rented WDW strollers just fine.

 

[kileybeth]

this info is already posted on another thread but where?! who knows!

I bought a Maclaran volo and I truly am in love, no kidding.

the interesting tidbit I picked up though was that the next model upgrade (the Triumph) does not have as much seat depth for those little bums to snug into. I actually went to the store multiple times to test drive these and make sure I knew what I was plunking my $$$ down for.

I also was worried about no recline on the volo but my DD has already napped in her new stroller and was absolutely fine!

best 2 features, 8.6 pounds feels like nothing compared to lugging a sleepy 20 pound baby and it holds my DS4 who is tall and is rated to 55 pounds! woo-hoo.

maybe just 2 more tidbits, the handles are nice and high so no leaning over to push and those stroller connector things do fit when I want to hook up both strollers to push as one!

I really could go on. . .love. it. so. much.

 

[ndgqccmiller]

I would bring one. It is just difficult to realize all of the walking that you have to do outside the parks, and, esp. at the end when the little ones are tired, it is nice to have a stroller outside the park. It is usually a good walk from your room to the bus/boat/monorail stop and then a good walk from there to the park. And as someone else mentioned, it is nice to have them contained in the crowds.

I agree we brought our stroller and kept our daughter in it up untill the bus to the hotel pulled up. Some nights she was asleep. Plus we were there 8 days and it can really get expensive. I also put a red bandana on it so when we parked it we could find it, with the rentals not so easy.

 

[bibbity bobbity boo]

I debated this for months before our trip. My daughter (4) is pretty tall and big for her age, about 44 inches, 42 lbs. She never uses a stroller at home so we didn't have one that she even fits in. A regular, cheap umbrella stroller would not work. So, after reading several posts, I decided to bring one and I bought a Maclaren Triumph. It was more than I wanted to spend, but I figured I would spend 1/2 the cost of a new stroller on renting there and would have to carry her if she fell asleep when the parks closed. Bringing our own stroller was the best decision I made. It was so nice b/c we didn't have to walk slower or try to keep track of her. Had plenty of storage space too. We didn't have to wait in line for stroller rental at all the parks. Heard nightmare stories of people waiting over 1/2 hour for a stroller. Also, when she did fall asleep at night (she never naps); we didn't have to carry her to the long bus stop walks. The Triumph holds up to 55 lbs and is light and easy to fold like an umbrella stroller. Best $120 I spent! I was afraid it might be a pain to lug around but it was not. My daughter was in it the whole trip which made walking and getting around easier and faster for us : ) Good luck with whichever way you decide to go : )

I am so happy to hear you say this. I am in the EXACT same situation with my 4 year old, too! I rationalized the same way you did and bought the Maclaren Triumph! Glad to hear you and DD were happy with your decsion.

 

[MouseDaddy]

I have two boys, ages 4 and 7.5. I am thinking the little guy may still be napping and if we decide not to go back to hotel for naps, he might nap in the stroller. Does it recline at all?
Not sure if I should bring my own or rent one there. Also, what are the prices on renting?

They are the hard plastic kind. Given the age of your kids and that you aren't sure about his napping I might wait until I get there. Then if he decides he needs a nap you can decide to rent ($16 a day or $12 per day if you prepay for multiple days) or just get the Mickey fold up stroller ($40). You may appreciate not having to lug the stroller there on your flight or daily bus rides.

 

[SnowBound]

When we went, we rented from www.abbf.com. They were great and it worked out wonderfully. It costs less than renting at the parks and we had it with us the entire week.

Same here, not to mention ABBF's are cleaner and al lot more comfortable. The ease of it being delivered and waiting in the luggage room was a big plus as well. HIGHLY recommended!

www.abbf.com

 

[blessedby3]

I prefer to have my own in the parks and got a Maclaren Volo for our DD. LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!! As previous posters said the Macs are GREAT. Just bought a Mac Quest for newest baby. I like having the stroller to take out of the parks. I dont have a problem carrying a folded 9 pound stroller onto the bus. Its better than carrying a 45 pound child!! The fold up very compactly too.