Stroller: Rent or Bring (Check on Plane)???

[Kevin1281]

What do you folks do?

 

[SashaFarce]

I took my niece last spring and purchased a wonderful umbrella stroller from Amazon to take with us. It was wonderful. It stood out in the sea of strollers (it was black and green and I put a Mickey luggage tag on it). No whining about walking in the airport. We hung things off the handles and in the basket underneath. It was excellent. I know some people prefer stroller rental, but it made my airport experience tons easier.

 

[Kevin1281]

Glad you replied. I never even thought about the airport part of the trip, and not having a stroller if we decided to rent. 1 point for BRING.

 

[jennykay]

There's also the possibility of a long walk from your car or the bus stop to your room. In the morning it wasn't a big deal for us, but at night it was good to have our own stroller at the hotel.

 

[Southernswthrt]

I was going to rent from stroller company in Orlando but decided to buy a graco fast action fold similar to the city mini for only $127 from babies r us. Not much more than I would have paid to rent for a week since we will be going twice in the next few months. I won't be crushed if it gets ruined on the plane. I used it for shopping and I love it! Parent and child trays and nice size basket. And I will have something for the airport! If it lasts a few Disney trips it will have paid for itself

 

[LSUfan4444]

We bring our stroller and do not check it. They do not count it as part of your luggage. You just have to get a tag for it, wheel it to the door of the plane and pick it up as you walk off the plane.

 

[Kevin1281]

We bring our stroller and do not check it. They do not count it as part of your luggage. You just have to get a tag for it, wheel it to the door of the plane and pick it up as you walk off the plane.

Even better. I hope that is the case for all airlines. Anyone know if this is standard?

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Depends on the age of your kid(s) and what your arrival day plans are.

 

[SamSam]

We're looking at taking our (at the time we go) 2 1/2 year old twin grandsons to WDW next year and we're trying to decide whether to rent a dble stroller or bring one. Our concern, with bringing a stroller, is that we will also be dealing with 2 car seats for the plane.

We have thought of using a device they have (sorry can't think of the name at the time) to hook their carseats to our luggage for wheeling through the airport.
If we did that we should be okay for renting a stroller from a company so we have it for the stay, or buying a couple of inexpensive umbrella strollers from Wal-mart.

Good idea, bad idea? Let me know what you think.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

~I can't speak for every airline, but we fly Delta and have taken two strollers, one big and one small. We didn't check them and were never charged a fee, as it did not count as a carry on. It's really nice to have a stroller in the airport! I have rented the Disney strollers, too -- they have a length of stay rental ticket where you just pay one fee and can quickly get a stroller at any of the parks. If you need to have a stroller at the parks, you will probably want one at the resorts, too -- so just bring your own, even if you're not sure.

 

[ses1230]

We have never been charged to gate check our stroller on Southwest, AirTran or USAir.

OP we like to bring our own stroller for the reasons already given: the airport and late at night to the bus/monorail and then to our room.

 

[Purrkins]

We have never been charged to gate check our stroller on American and they charge you for everything these days. Just wheel it to the door and they'll stow it once you board and then bring it to the ramp after you land. We had our son walk with us between gates to tire him out and the stroller made a nifty luggage cart. ;-)

 

[gtpoohbear]

Even better. I hope that is the case for all airlines. Anyone know if this is standard?

Some airlines will make you check your stroller with your luggage, at the ticket counter, and you won't get it back until baggage claim at your final destination. Which is a real pain, especially if you have a baby (btdt, and wrote the angry letter to the airline, lol) American and I believe United now have this policy. I know Southwest still allows gate-checking strollers, not sure about the others. But even if you have to check the stroller, they usually don't charge you for it.

I would definitely bring your own if you have one. No reason to pay for a rental and have to deal with the hassle if you already have one that you are used to using anyway.

 

[scrapper2k]

We take a stroller. The munchkin is safe at the airport, easier time walking to rooms, no need to wait on lines and pay rental robbery rates.

 

[JStiffler]

We bring our stroller and do not check it. They do not count it as part of your luggage. You just have to get a tag for it, wheel it to the door of the plane and pick it up as you walk off the plane.

This is what we did when we flew JetBlue in Oct.

 

[pouncingpluto]

Every airline I've flown (at least United, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, Airtran) since my daughter was born has gate checked strollers for free.

Buy an inexpensive gate-check bag for your stroller or if there is a bag that is made for your stroller, get it. That way it will stay clean. And gate-check is typically gentler handling than checking with your luggage.

 

[Kevin1281]

[QUOTE

Buy an inexpensive gate-check bag for your stroller or if there is a bag that is made for your stroller, get it. That way it will stay clean. And gate-check is typically gentler handling than checking with your luggage.[/QUOTE]

Good idea! I will look into this.

 

[jworthy]

Done both, but we prefer to rent offsite. Our youngest is 4 now, but when she was an infant we took her stroller. We never had a problem with the airlines. Kingdom Strollers offers great strollers with accessories at great prices.

 

[Bellestreak]

I have done both bringing my stroller and renting one from offsite. I liked offsite better but when I did it the kiddo was nearly 4 and handled the walks in the airport fine. Renting offsite is great, just pick it up and drop it with bell services and you have it the whole time, also the one we rented was a little on the bigger side and took my taller than average daughter easily. It also folded faster than any stroller I own.
That being said, I have never had a problem gate checking my strollers and have done it several times. It's easy and fast. So I would choose based on need in the airport.

Samsam, you said you were going to be bringing two car seats on the plane, have you looked into the Cares system? It's basically an approved harness system that just works on the plane seat. We used one when DD was 14 months and it was great. It's straps in a little bag and way easier than lugging a full size car seat (or 2 in your case ). We were nervous at first and requested early boarding to get it in place, but didnt need it as it was super easy to use. If you had them, may free you up to take strollers.

 

[Keegansmommy]

Definitely bring our own. I don't want the added expense of renting something I already own and it is a HUGE help in the airport. We always gate check our stroller. The only thing with that is if you have a connecting flight, sometimes it can take awhile for them to get the stroller off the plane. We've cut it close a few times making it to our next flight.