Stroller Questions

[Sunny dreams]

I have specifically disney stroller questions and then outside rental questions.

To start, what are the pros and cons of Disney rentals? My daughter will be one month shy of 5 when we go. Although she is an active child she is also a diva. I know we will need a stroller at some point during the day, but probably not at the start of the day. She is not a wanderer so I do not need a place to keep her safe. My husband disagrees that we will need one at all. So currently my plan is to rent a park one halfway through the day so we don't need to push it around in the morning and then park it and then find it again. What are the pros of a Disney stroller? I know that the cons are they are not comfortable and they cannot leave the park, but are there pros, like you can drop it off on one side of the park and get a new one somewhere else? Other pros or cons?

General stroller questions now, when do they have to be parked? At every ride or some central location within the lands? How long is the wait to park it? And how long to find it? How hard is it to steer through crowds?

 

[kwdw]

With a 5 yo - I'd start with your husband's idea. Don't plan to rent one. HOWEVER - the beauty of renting in the park is that you can change your mind as needed.

Stroller rentals are only located at the front entrance to the park - so - this is a problem with a mid-day rental if you are in the back of a park (esp EPCOT). You'll "see" the parking areas by each attraction - it's obvious. One thing folks with older kids like yours do is leave it parked while you do several things close by - then have the kid get in it as they move to a different section of the park. There's no wait to park and if you do rent one - they give you a name tag for the back to find it in a crowd of stroller - but you might want to take something to tie to the handle to make it more obvious. Strollers have to be parked outside all attractions - they don't go in with you.

Disney stroller are hard plastic - and not comfortable. But - they do fit a larger child. That's pro. You can also rent them by the day. Which might serve you well. You might not need one on a shorter day at MK or DHS. BUT - if you are going to have a LONG day at EPCOT - then maybe you rent one that day. They aren't that nimble.

In general - strollers ARE hard to get through crowds. Having a stroller at Wishes is tough as its so tight. Having a stroller zipping around EPCOT - not tough at all.

Just went with a healthy 5 yo girl this past spring - no stroller. She's no fitness star, just a normal, relatively active 5 yo. We did just fine without one. We took breaks and didn't force her through super long days. Listening to her needs was smart - if she had to pee - we stopped. If she was thirsty, we got water. If she was hungry, it was snack or meal time. If was clear a more adult-oriented show wasn't going to work at that time - we didn't force it. If we had done three things in a row that weren't as interesting to her - we made sure the next activity was something more targeted to her age/interests. If she was getting whining - we did something inside (out of the heat) or seated. We gave her limited choices during the day so she got to feel like she was planning the day, too. The LONG walk to her favorite ride wasn't that long when she got to pick it. Basically - many kids that age without special needs can typically handle a day at a Disney park without a stroller if you are going into it recognizing their physical and mental limitations. If you need to go commando-style with long, rushed days and little sleep for several days in a row --- yep - you better rent that stroller!

 

[Kingdome8]

I let my girls at 5 and 6 ride in a double stroller. We also had a 2 year old. I let my older ones ride in it. Who cares. They are physically fit. But like other kids the days are long and they get tired. I didn't want to take long breaks or go back to hotel midday. That's a waste to me.
The main purpose of the stroller was for my happiness. Lol. My kids didn't have meltdowns they could rest in stroller and I could go at a faster pace. Also it's kinda like a home base to hold things like souvenirs and stuff.
I always felt bad for the parents who's kids even at 5-7 who had melt downs cause they didn't want to walk anymore. Or they had to carry kids. I would just walk by and think 20 bucks a day so worth it.

And I always rent disneys doubles. Kids love them

 

[Disneychick75]

I have specifically disney stroller questions and then outside rental questions.

To start, what are the pros and cons of Disney rentals? My daughter will be one month shy of 5 when we go. Although she is an active child she is also a diva. I know we will need a stroller at some point during the day, but probably not at the start of the day. She is not a wanderer so I do not need a place to keep her safe. My husband disagrees that we will need one at all. So currently my plan is to rent a park one halfway through the day so we don't need to push it around in the morning and then park it and then find it again. What are the pros of a Disney stroller? I know that the cons are they are not comfortable and they cannot leave the park, but are there pros, like you can drop it off on one side of the park and get a new one somewhere else? Other pros or cons?

General stroller questions now, when do they have to be parked? At every ride or some central location within the lands? How long is the wait to park it? And how long to find it? How hard is it to steer through crowds?

No, unless you are taking another guest's stroller, you're only supposed to use the one that you rent.

I would not plan to rent. If you need one, then go to stroller rental. There is only one rental facility per park located near the entrance of each park which can mean a trek.

 

[JZCubed]

We just used our own umbrella stroller only at Disney for our healthy 6 y.o. We may use it next year too.

We use one because we walk to most Parks during our split stays.

Makes more $sense$ than renting if traveling for more than a few days.

 

[Quellman]

Disney also has a length of stay rental. Where you pay a slightly cheaper rate per day when you sign up for multiple days. So you can just pick up at any park as needed. So if you think you may need it more than once it could be a good idea.

 

[disnut8]

We went to Disney World with our very new just turned five year old granddaughter. My son proposed to her mother on that trip. Her mother (my now daughter-in-law of over 11 years ) thought that "maybe" a stroller would be needed. I bought an umbrella stroller for $20 and that's what we used. Her newly bought Stitch plush (a big one - my son's favorite character and is now hers as well) rode in the seat more than she did. What we found out was if she saw the stroller folded out, she wanted to ride in it. If we carried it folded up, she didn't make a peep. Once it was folded out (because my son was tired of carrying the Stitch plush), she would sit in it from time to time but never long.

So,I'd go with your husband's thoughts and if your daughter thinks she needs one, take a break and sit down for a bit. Then see if she needs one after that.

 

[Sunny dreams]

Thanks for your input. The cheap umbrella strollerrs are an option because they are too short for us to push and our backs would be hurting all day long. I will play it,by ear.

 

[Carrie Gruber]

I'm kind of in the came situation. My kids are age 8, 6 and 1, so we're bringing our nice jogging stroller for the baby but I was on the fence about whether to rent from Disney or rent from an outside service. My husband doesn't want to have to lug 2 strollers to and from the resort (we did that on our last trip and don't want to do it again) so he wants to wait and see if the kids need one (which they will, esp. in MK and Epcot). My question is regarding the multi-day rentals: Do you only pay for the # of days you plan to use the stroller or do you have to pay for the # of days on your resort reservation/package? For us, I'm thinking we only need it for a max of 8 days (2 days of travel plus one whole day spent at the water park/DTD which leaves us 8 days in the parks).

 

[colagirl]

We have been to Disney twice now with DS, at age 4 and 6. We didn't do or need a stroller either time. What we didn't do, though, was "push" through a whole day at a park. We did mornings, afternoon breaks at hotel, and then back out again in the late afternoons/evenings.

 

[RustManFan]

My kids would have rebelled if a stroller was even suggested when they were 5. As soon as they were comfortable walking they wanted to forever abandon being seen as "babies". Each child, of course, is different....

 

[disneyjunkie]

I think school aged kids who know a stroller is an option, are the only ones who NEED a stroller.

School aged kids who aren't offered strollers, manage to walk around the parks just fine.

 

[SaintsManiac]

My daughter will be 5 and it's her first visit. I've already arranged for a stroller rental through a company there. I would rather pay the $60 for peace of mind. If she conks out for an hour in the stroller, fine. If we only push our bags around in it, fine.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the "strength" or "health" of a child. Only you know your child's limits. I know my family will benefit from it. If we skip the stroller a day or two I won't cry over the $10 wasted.

 

[disnut8]

My daughter will be 5 and it's her first visit. I've already arranged for a stroller rental through a company there. I would rather pay the $60 for peace of mind. If she conks out for an hour in the stroller, fine. If we only push our bags around in it, fine.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the "strength" or "health" of a child. Only you know your child's limits. I know my family will benefit from it. If we skip the stroller a day or two I won't cry over the $10 wasted.

Also, this is your child's first visit. Walking around a mall for a couple of hours (as an example) versus walking around Disney World all day just doesn't match up so there's no way of knowing how your child will react. I think you are doing a good thing in being prepared. As I said in a previous post, we took our just turned five year old (the day before her drive down here) granddaugther to Disney World for her first time and we invested in a stroller. She didn't really need it but we were darn glad we had it for when she did need it.

 

[oceanmarina]

My daughter will be 5 and it's her first visit. I've already arranged for a stroller rental through a company there. I would rather pay the $60 for peace of mind. If she conks out for an hour in the stroller, fine. If we only push our bags around in it, fine.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the "strength" or "health" of a child. Only you know your child's limits. I know my family will benefit from it. If we skip the stroller a day or two I won't cry over the $10 wasted.

I agree. Don't underestimate how much walking it is for a little one. If you rent the City GT for 3 nights it is only 45.00 at kingdom strollers (the other city one is only 40.00 for 3 days but that one is smaller). I just had my 7 year old sit in in the city GT at toys r us (I have the double rented for our trip next week) it is roomy and she said it was very comfortable. They drop it off & pick it up at your hotel. Here is the link if you want to check it out:

https://kingdomstrollers.com/


I was considering renting the Disney one for my kids but I asked some friends who often go to the parks and did a post here. The advice I got was that the Disney strollers are not as comfortable being hard plastic and not always easy to maneuver in the parks. A lot of people recommended kingdom strollers to me and they are a Disney featured stroller provider (only 3 companies are). You can also add on a case of water with your stroller delivery which I did too. I'll definitely post about how it worked out after we get back.

 

[TXPyroMom]

My daughter was 5 when we took our first Disney World trip too. She hadn't used a stroller since she was 2. My husband and I went back and forth over whether or not to rent one.... I was for it and he was mildly opposed.

I was the one planning the trip so I 'won' and we rented a stroller through Kingdom Strollers and it was money well spent. She used the stroller very little our first two days, but our third day was Epcot and after only being in the park for 2 hours, she fell asleep in the stroller and took a great nap. She used the stroller off an on the rest of the trip, but she took a little nap each day. It really worked well for us. You walk so much at Disney and it's nice to give kids a break... especially after 3+ days of tons of walking. I will add that we went during January, so we didn't need to take mid day breaks to get away from the heat.

The next time we took her to Disney World she was 7 and we had the stroller discussion again... I was against and DH was for it this time

 

[PurpleKomodo]

My kiddo is much younger than yours and a stroller was a must. I will say though, parking and retrieving the stroller did seem to be one of the most inconvenient and time consuming parts of our touring. Sometimes the stroller parking would be on the opposite side of the attraction from the entrance. I don't know how much time our group spent standing at a line entrance waiting for someone to get back from parking the stroller. If you can get away without one, I would do it.

 

[Sphinx610]

My experiences:
My daughter was 4 last time we went and she didn't need it. We just sat when she was tired, gave her a few piggy back rides, took a mid afternoon break back to the hotel, etc. there was no way my diva was sitting in a "baby" stroller.
However, I rented a double stroller when we went when my kids were 2&6 and my 6yo son was in it more than my 2yo.

Point being: every kid is different. You know your kid best. I agree w the others saying play it by ear. If she wants one and you're willing to get one, you can always rent for a day and see how much she uses it. If you think she will need it for the rest of the vacation, save yourself some $ and rent her a comfortable one. You can just call Orlando Stroller Rental or Kingdom Rentals and they will drop one off at your hotel.

Only pro I can see for the Disney strollers is that they are on site and if you need one in a pinch, they're right there. In your situation, it may be the better option to start. However, if she needs one all week, rent one. They are hard plastic, uncomfortable, bulky and hard to steer. No you can not drop off and pick it up at another part of the park. It is your for the whole day. If you picked up a different one, you would have someone else's stroller.

TIP- if you do end up renting at say MK, then you hop somewhere else in the same day, you can get another one at the other park if you show your reciept. So save your reciept!

 

[gaudioli]

I have twin 5 year old boys...we have a rental car and we're flying so I'm thinking of bringing it and just keeping it in the trunk. I would rather have it then listen to one or both of them whine that they are tired. We'll see...I have 199 days to toss the idea around in my head lololol