2 strollers or double?

[goingsoonw/2]

I am trying to decide if I should bring one double stroller or two single strollers. dd is 18 mos and ds is 3. The double stroller is good for if only one will sit in it, at least there isn't an empty stroller to manage. But it is way heavier and more difficult to maneuver in crowds.
I have pros and cons for both, and cannot decide.
any suggestions from experience?

 

[In Luv with Disney]

I went with a double in October and it was great! DS is 4 and DD was just turning 5 months old. The stroller I had was the Peg Pereggo Aria Twin. I got rid of it recently. My next trip to WDW is in December. I will have to see by then how DS is...he will probably want to walk totally on his own, but a double might be handy to have for breaks when he can't keep up. He'll be 5 by then. I have time to decide if I want to spend $$ on a cheap double umbrella stroller, or just bring two singles.

 

[justhat]

Well we just have 1 kid right now, but we're planning on not getting a double stroller cause I know it will be heavy and annoying to push. We're getting a Peg Perego Pliko P3 (I think) cause it has a standing bar on the back for an older child and we figure that if we do need a stroller for our current daughter when the new baby comes then we'll just bring 2. On vacation that is-when I'm out myself with them I plan to carry the little one in a Bjorn and stroll Madison if she needs it. So I'd go with 2 strollers just cause I imagine the double gets heavy to push.

 

[Princessbaby]

We went this past spring with a 12mo and 3yo and we ended up taking 2 strollers because our double just seemed too big. I knew my 3yo would only get into the stroller when he was tired of walking. When we needed to, we justed folded the umbrella stroller and put it in the basket of our regular stroller. We hung our diaper bag on the handle of our regular stroller. It really worked for us!

 

[kc10family]

We have Chicco Caddy and we love them a lot! We bought them at Babies r Us for 49.95. We have had them for almost a year now and both DD's fit great in them. DD4 is about 30+ lbs and DD2 is 19 lbs. We have taken them to DL 3 times and they go all over town with us. They have shocks in both front and back wheels (DH loves that) they have a great sun cover/shade thing. They have zippers in the back so it will recline a bit. Both DD's have fallen asleep in them and they didn't look very uncomfortable. They fold up very well a bit bigger than the standard umbrella type. I would be happy to email you picture of my DD in them if you'd like. I stink at posting pics on here. On our last trip our friends said they would be getting two for the twins who will be three in April. If you have any questions, please ask.

 

[bellenbuzz]

Last trip my DD's were 3 and 6....the double was great !!
AND I asked myself the same question before going, 2 singles, or 1 double ????
The single is really narrow and leaves no extra space for stashing things around them.....
The double was perfect, they both fell asleep in it and napped, we were able to store goodies around them (which they propped their heads on).
AND was really easy to manuver around the parks (which I also wondered about prior to getting there).....Plenty of space to take anywhere !!!
Trust me, get the Double !!!

 

[bartleby1]

This really is a personal decision and depends greatly on the double stroller you have available to you. When we were in your position, we opted for 2 lightweight singles. Partly because my 3 yr old was very tall and not that comfy in our double at the time and partly because our double was too hard to push when it was fully loaded with 2 kids, diaper bag, camera bag, etc.

How I finally made my decision was by doing a "trial" run. I packed up the diaper bag, camera bag, changes of clothes, ponchos, stroller rain covers, snacks, drinks, etc, and put it all, along with my kids in my double stroller and went for a 2 mile walk with them. By the time I was done, I was exhausted and my arms were killing me, lol! I knew right then that I wouldn't want to push that around disney for a week in the heat of the summer. Perhaps if I had a different double my decision may have been different but it just didn't work for me with ours (it was a graco front/back).

So, you might want to do a trial run and see how you feel about it afterwards. If you can handle a nice long walk fully loaded, you might want to bring your double. If not, opt for two singles.

 

[RuthLS]

We too have a 3 yr old and an 18 month old and are debating the same issue.

We are staying on sight and have decided to go with 2 singles. Our double is the Mountain Buggy Urban Double. Too heavy in my opinion and worried it might get stolen. I can't imagine folding it up to get on buses.

We are bringing our old original stroller which is a Chicco lightweight. And then another lightweight that we got for airport travel-Costco brand I think. Both recline and have canopies, baskets, and drink holders. They are both easy to fold and pretty light.

In my opinion, it will be easier to get through crowds with a single than with a double. We can always leave one if DS1 doesn't want to ride. My kids will want to walk alot (we plan on getting harnasses) and do it will be easier for us to each watch one kid and one stroller instead of someone having to take charge of the double.

It really depends on what you want and need. I love my double. It just seems too much for us for travel.

Good luck!
Ruth

 

[bellenbuzz]

I say The DOUBLE For Sure !!!
But, I was basing that on the Strollers you Rent from the Parks !!!
If you are Renting from the Parks like we did, I really liked the Double!
I never even considered bringing my own strollers.....
So I honestlt can't give you my opinion on that, like another poster stated, bringing your own would be a personal preference.....
Just Enjoy Your Magical Vaation!

 

[MImom]

I agree it is personal preference and remember having this same debate yrs ago. Another thing to consider is with two single strollers, two people are needed to push them. So, if one of you wants to go somewhere (even just run somewhere quick) and the other watch the kids, the one with the kids has to either remain stationary, or struggle with two strollers. Not sure how many stroller pushers you will have travelling with you. At the time, DH and I opted to take two strollers. Unfortunately, he became really sick during our vacation and I ended up having to rent a double stroller at the parks in order to take both kids myself. Hopefully that won't happen on your trip, but just more food for thought.

 

[rt2dz]

Personally, I'd go with the double. Two strollers, imo, is harder to manuveur in WDW than one big double. Not to mention that no one will ever have a free hand. Then when strollers are rearranged, your strollers could wind up far from each other. Just too much work to keep track of for me.

 

[metivier]

Another thing to consider is with two single strollers, two people are needed to push them.

And two people are needed to fold them up, which is a problem for us because DH has no idea how to collapse ANY of our strollers!

If you have two people that know how to collapse the strollers, bring the two singles. If you have someone who is stroller-collapsing challenged, bring the double.

 

[MECH8T7]

An earlier poster mentioned a Peg Perego Plikomatic stroller, which is an umbrella-style stroller that has a bar at the back that an older child can stand on. I would definitely recommend that you check that out -- or any other stroller that has a standing bar in the back -- if you are prepared to buy a new stroller. The Plikomatic strollers are taller than your typical umbrella strollers so that you do not kill your back. The back reclines and the wheels have shocks. You would have a single stroller for the baby but, when the older one gets tired or if you have to pick up the pace, the older one can hop onto the back of the stroller. Of course, when you have the back off the stroller reclined (i.e., the baby is sleeping), the older child will not be able to ride on the standing bar.

Our Plikomatic has given us 7 years of great service. We bought it for our first baby and we are still using it for our third child. Our 7 year-old still rides on the back sometimes. We are thinking about getting a new one because the stroller is finally starting to show the abuse of 7 years and three kids. (We have a Maclaren umbrella style side-by-side double stroller. This thing is very compact as double strollers go but I can't imagine taking that thing to WDW, particularly if you had to lug it on or off a bus or negotiate the crowds leaving the MK after Wishes.)

 

[justhat]

Mech817, I have a question about your Pliko. You've brought it with you on airplanes before? It hasn't gotten damaged? I ask cause our Maclaren is currently in 4 pieces and I can really only attribute it to being damaged on the airlines. We gate check it but I guess it doesn't really matter. Anyway, we went to look at the Pliko the other day, and I loved it, but the handles are plastic so we were a little afraid that they might break on a plane since our graphite Maclaren handles did. But seeing that you've had yours for 7 years is very reassuring to me.

 

[MECH8T7]

Mech817, I have a question about your Pliko. You've brought it with you on airplanes before? It hasn't gotten damaged? I ask cause our Maclaren is currently in 4 pieces and I can really only attribute it to being damaged on the airlines.

Good question. We took it on a plane with our first child almost six years ago and it made out fine. We didn't take it on a plane again until last year (we went flew to China and back and took a couple of flights within China) and the thought did briefly cross my mind on this latest trip that we might damage it but we weren't worried because we already got our fair share of use out of it. It seemed to make it out fine after this last trip but, given its age, it would have been hard to tell...although I can say that it arrived in one piece. However, I should mention that the more recent versions of the stoller seem to be much fancier and more expensive than what we bought. We bought it as the "throw in the back of the car", everyday, tote-around stroller because it seemed to be built to take more of a beating than our other conventional Peg Perego stroller.

 

[mama4]

This was a HUGE dilemma for us when we took our 3 yo and 1 yo last spring. We ended up taking our side by side double and it worked well in the parks (never a problem getting through doors or crowds and we were there during spring break). I can't imagine having to have two stroller "drivers" the whole time and we had two extra adults but we all took turns and made it much easier on us all. It was a bit heavy loaded down but the kids took naps and stayed very comfy so it was worth it. IT WAS however, a nightmare to get on and off buses so keep it in mind if using disney transportation. This year, since they are a little older, we plan to rent a double (we're bringing a bike lock so it won't get stolen) and I'll bring a small blanket in case someone needs a quick nap. The doubles are very easy to push, have a storage area and you don't have to lug them around.

 

[SnowBound]

Definately two singles. . . more options.

 

[MCK588]

When kids were 4 & 24mos we brought our Mountain Buggy Urban Double. I know another poster said they chose not to bring theirs but it really was the absolute best thing we did. We did not need to take Disney transportation though. If I had to get on a bus I guess it would be a different story.

Not all doubles are hard to push. There are many that are not. The Mountain Buggy for example. The ones that are hard to push are the Gracos and Evenflos for the most part. But the park is overflowing with them so go figure. (and of course the heavier the kids the harder they are to push, so please don't yell at me if you are reading this and push two young toddlers in them and think it's a piece of cake....I'm just commenting on the OP perception that doubles are hard to push).

We gate checked our Mountain Buggy without any problem whatsoever. It was great in the park because people get out of your way when they see it! When I have used a single recently I noticed that people walk right in front of you and don't think twice about cutting you off.

Plus, I like to bring what I know the kids will be comfy in, even if it's a bit less convenient for me. If they are happy, I'm happy!

I leave in two days and the kids are now just turned 5 and almost 3 and we are going to take two umbrellas for the evenings around the resort, etc but rent inside the park. We'll see....I'll have to post how this went as opposed to bringing a double or two singles into the park. I wouldn't rent the Disney strollers for a child less than 3 years old though because the ability to nap is key I think!

For our family, the worst thing would be to end up pushing two empty strollers. At least with an empty double (which you shouldn't have with an 18mo), one person can keep up with the kids while only one gets stuck pushing.

 

[golden1]

After reading this post, I am thinking we will take our Pliko as well as a smaller light weight stroller. I like the idea of separate strollers for manuverability and so we can split up if we need to. Also, if my dd wants to, she can always ride on the Pliko.

 

[txm]

Another vote for the Pliko. We bought a new Pliko for our trip in Jan for DD4 and DD14 month. The standing bar on the back was great. DD4 loved to stand on the back. However, she did get tired some times and wanted to sit down and we just held the baby and let the big sister ride in it. Our 14 month old is not a big stroller rider and she much prefers being held or walking by herself anyway so it wasn't a problem for us. For a 3 year old though, the standing bar may not be enough. Also, when the baby naps and the seat is flat, you can not use the standing bar.

Between 2 single strollers and 1 double, I would definitely go with the 1 double. We took 2 single strollers to Sea World once. If once parent has to go somewhere else, the other one pretty much had to remain at the same place. It was very hard to push 2 single strollers, especially with a wiggly infant who rather be held than ride in the stroller.