7 year old walk the world vs rent stroller??

[famofsix]

Rebeccapaige! I was at disney this past week with ds6, dd8, dd10 and ds1. ds1 of course needed a stroller, we had a baby trend from our condo that worked out nicely and we stored all our junk in it. All the other kids walked just fine and we brought a backpack for all our valuables (we did MK, AK, and Epcot) I agree to "each his own". Do what you think is best. We laughed because we saw a kid in a rented disney double stroller around the age of 12 passed out. He was a little big for the stroller but still managed to stay in! Point is, don't exhaust the kids, stroller or not...some of the best advice I got here was "you can only go as fast as your slowest one". So...do what you think is best. You can't do it all but you can have magic in what you do do there so plan accordingly.
Oh, if you end up having your princesses walk the parks...the croc type shoes at payless worked great (they are bogo1/2 off) right now. My kids wore short socks with them. We bought them in orlando after going to three stores to find them before our last day in Epcot. That made a big difference in everyones step! By the way we bought them because Momma's feet hurt. I ended up getting mine at the Pro Bass Shop but I had to buy knock-off ones since they did not have real crocs there at the time(they did have kids croc there but we already did payless).

 

[mmeads4]

Does anyone know of any discounts for renting strollers for a week? I'll need a double, daughter 4 son will be 3.

 

[diskat]

I agree with getting a stroller if it makes things easier for everybody. I am going with my GC 5 & 7 and plan on buying a double to take along. We drive to the parks so need the stroller to get back to the car and the room. I could never begin to carry the 5 yr old if he would fall asleep the 7 yr old would be worst. They both have been to disney before and want a stroller. I feel it is the best for all of us if we have our own stroller. Just have to decide which one to get.

 

[HappyLawyer]

i think 7 is much too old to be in a stroller.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Yes, when we went in January we were able to get a discount. The more days you rent - the more you save. Last July we were told that they weren't offering that program.

BTW my 7 year old is the size of a 5 year old so I don't think she's too old to be in the stroller. To each their own. It makes mine and DH's life so much easier to use a stroller in Disney. Especially since we go in July with the heat and humidity.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Does anyone know of any discounts for renting strollers for a week? I'll need a double, daughter 4 son will be 3.

A double stroller is normally $18/day but if you get a length of stay rental pass, the cost drops to $16/day. The pass is good at all 4 theme parks.

 

[disney1990]

We took out 2 granddaughters in November. At the time they were, 5 years and 8 months (Emma) and 7 years and 5 months (Ashley). They did fine walking all week.

What we did as insurance was, buy an umbrella stroller from Walmart and took it with us. When neither one of the girls used it, we just returned it when we got back home. The cost of the stroller was less than $20.00.

 

[Kellydelly]

I say rent the double stroller, it's a great idea! Those that said their kids can walk from 7 am till 9 pm without a whimper or whine out of them, WOW! The only thing I question is leaving your husband behind for ten days . He should be making fun memories with the three of you . I can't believe he doesn't want to come!

 

[KJMAX1]

I say bring a little cheap umbrella stroller. We are bringing our four small kids, all 7 and under, and I will be dragging my double MacLaren. I have a newborn, 2yr old, 4yr old, and a 7 yr old. My 4yr old can handle an all day walking trip better than my 7yr old who needs more sleep than her brother. We are also coming from Seattle, going during August heat, and will be spending almost 12 hours a day in some of the parks. I figure they can all take turns in the stroller when needed. Who cares what other parents think of seeing an older kid in a stroller. If it makes the kids happy do it. My biggest pet peeve at Disney is seeing parents yelling and screaming at kids. I know sometimes the kids are acting up, but on vacation I just dont want to deal with parents yelling at their kids. Most of the time the kids are forced to keep with the program of an all day event to the parks and get over tired.

 

[bookmama]

my dn & ds ages 6, 7 in 2004 walked the park just fine. most of the time they were too excited to feel tired

 

[AC7179]

Wow. If you think you daughter needs the stroller, than by all means rent one! I can't beleive people are being so ugly. It reminds me of the people having fits over a two year old with a binky. So what? Sure, maybe two isn't a baby.......but it sure isn't a grown up. Same with seven. Why are we pushing our kids to be grown so fast? Their only babies for a while......I wouldn't rush them to leave childhood. Pretty sure she won't be in a stroller at WDW at 13.......so does it really matter? Even if she was......it hurts nobody. Geez.

 

[crisi]

Here is what happened to us:

I have a daughter who had just turned six, and a son who had just turned seven. We were going to try for a strollerless trip.

My son is a physical kid, and would have done fine. My daughter is more of a fidgety couch potato, moves constantly, but directionless. And whines. I was concerned about her.

The first day she held up like a trooper - I was truly impressed. But we made a very full day of it, and got her a stroller for MNSSHP that night. With a 14 hour day, we wiped her out for the trip. We pretty much needed a stroller for the rest of the trip - unless we wanted to take it very easy, which is not our style of touring. On the plus side, she made it to the park gates each day strollerless, and back to the Boardwalk strollerless, and with almost no whining.

I think we'd have done fine if we'd had planned for easy days and remembered that she takes twice as many steps as we do with her short legs. Start easy and stay easy and we'd have been strollerless. Tackle a fourteen hour busy "lets knock off the Magic Kingdom in a day" day out of the shoot, and there wasn't any way we'd be able to do it, without running her ragged and making everyone miserable, or severely curtailing our touring plans. The stroller was better than either a whiny child (and possibly an injured one, since we'd given her blisters that first day) or not accomplishing what we set out to do.

Our Disney days for the family easily cost $400+ a day - park tickets, food, transportation hotel for a family of four. Protecting that with a $16 stroller rental seems smart.

 

[KJMAX1]

Wow. If you think you daughter needs the stroller, than by all means rent one! I can't beleive people are being so ugly. It reminds me of the people having fits over a two year old with a binky. So what? Sure, maybe two isn't a baby.......but it sure isn't a grown up. Same with seven. Why are we pushing our kids to be grown so fast? Their only babies for a while......I wouldn't rush them to leave childhood. Pretty sure she won't be in a stroller at WDW at 13.......so does it really matter? Even if she was......it hurts nobody. Geez.

Had to laugh about this. We were at Disneyland this past August, and there were TONS of teens with strollers. It was hilarious! My kids kept pointing it out! They were even napping in them!

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

DD would not have wanted to ride in a stroller at age 7. She also wouldn't have wanted to ride at age 5.
.

Mine too. She didn't need a stroller for our trips after she was about 4. I think I am the one who missed bringing the stroller though..... Now I have to carry a backpack for the snacks, camera etc. I use to enjoy pushing the stroller as it was a kind of 'crutch' for me. Even today (my kids are 8 & 10) I need to push the cart at the grocery store as my 'crutch'

I think you should be fine. Maybe your kids can trade off with the single stroller.....

 

[polkadotladybug]

Count me as another who will be missing the stroller as a carrying device - we went July 2003 (our girls had just turned 6 and 3) - with a single stroller for my little one. The best part was having that big ole basket underneath to keep a 12 pack softside cooler with bottled waters and snacks. We are big water drinkers (my now almost 9 yo will drink nothing else!) and I'm dreading having to lug our individual waters........yikes! (And I refuse to pay $2.50 x 4 everytime we want some water) Plus my little one (who will be 6 in June, but is our little petite flower - she's 44 inches - just barely but official - and weighs 38 lbs soaking wet) just doesn't have the stamina our older one does. We started doing family walking last night - and walked a good distance thru the neighborhood (I know it was over a mile, but I need to gauge it) and will be building up the girls strength over the next month. I walk about 2 miles/night 3-4 times a week for exercise and my dh runs daily - so we're halfway there. But with that summer sun beating down on you - my rule is "never say never". I don't want to pay that $$ for a stroller down there, but if a whinefest ensues and I find myself griping at my kids in the middle of the happiest place on earth for complaining and making our trip miserable due to them being exhausted - you better believe I'll swallow my pride, suck it up and get a stroller. LOL! I don't give a darn what anyone thinks. We saw ALL shapes and sizes in strollers last time - even a few adults!

 

[Vickie46]

I say rent a stroller!!!!!! Enjoy life... who cares if she is 10 and is able to get in a stroller and make life easier to move around do it! I say do what makes everyone happy.. she most likely will not run into anyone that knows her there so if she will get in do it!

 

[kizmac]

Wow. If you think you daughter needs the stroller, than by all means rent one! I can't beleive people are being so ugly. It reminds me of the people having fits over a two year old with a binky. So what? Sure, maybe two isn't a baby.......but it sure isn't a grown up. Same with seven. Why are we pushing our kids to be grown so fast? Their only babies for a while......I wouldn't rush them to leave childhood. Pretty sure she won't be in a stroller at WDW at 13.......so does it really matter? Even if she was......it hurts nobody. Geez.

I don't understand how you see people posting their different opinions as ugly? The op's original post clearly asked the question. Did you read it? If not here is the begining and this is what people are responding to:

hi, i did not realize HOW expensive renting a double stroller at disney was. last time I was able to buy a nice one for disney she was 5 then. I paid $250 for it and resold it for $150, I was thinking i'd spent a lot but I guess I'd actually made out vs. renting one lol. well she is now too tall for it, which is why I sold it. When I go my oldest dd will be 7 years old, my younger one just under age 5. So I will need a stroller for little dd for sure or she'll want me to carry her (Have to get her out of this habit--she likes a stroller though) but will dd7 really be able to walk disneyworld?

Maybe she should of just asked if the 7 yr old would fit instead, but most, including myself are just posting what our kids were capable of in an effort to help the OP decide if her DD7 would be able to walk Disney. She doesn't think she will, so fine....rent the stroller. Her kid, her decision..but she did post the question. It's a message board...if you ask for opinions, you best be prepared for ones different than your own. It doesn't make them ugly. I saw no post that was in any way degrading to the op. Saying that a 7 yr old is too old for a stroller is just one's opinion. Nothing more! She asked and was concerned about the cost. I don't see how expecting a 7 yr old to walk is making them "leave their childhood" Isn't walking, running and playing all a part of childhood?

 

[Rebeccapaige!]

Hi, I just want to clarify one thing, if you read back to my op, I specifically stated I planned on renting a stroller for 2 of our 4 park days. and I did ask if she'd fit in one. I actually asked a lot of questions. in other words if she fit I was renting one at least 2 of 4 days. I really didn't need to hear she was too big to be in a stroller etc. she isn't in one normally, I wanted to know if she was physically too big to be in a disney one. So if you reread my post you can definately see how some responses really did not answer anything. I also said I will be travelling without dh, which complicates it even more. I just wanted to clarify that for you that I did go into much detail about why and what my wishes were for the stroller etc. your quote cuts out all of that! I am glad to know she will fit into one for the days we need it for sure. but I am also open minded to if she is doing well without it we wont' rent one. I DO think this thread has gotten ridiculously long for such a simple question lol
Becky

 

[robinb]

So if you reread my post you can definately see how some responses really did not answer anything. {snip} I DO think this thread has gotten ridiculously long for such a simple question lol

Becky, that's the DIS in a nutshell . Have a great time at WDW .

 

[kizmac]

Hi, I just want to clarify one thing, if you read back to my op, I specifically stated I planned on renting a stroller for 2 of our 4 park days. and I did ask if she'd fit in one. I actually asked a lot of questions. in other words if she fit I was renting one at least 2 of 4 days. I really didn't need to hear she was too big to be in a stroller etc. she isn't in one normally, I wanted to know if she was physically too big to be in a disney one. So if you reread my post you can definately see how some responses really did not answer anything. I also said I will be travelling without dh, which complicates it even more. I just wanted to clarify that for you that I did go into much detail about why and what my wishes were for the stroller etc. your quote cuts out all of that! I am glad to know she will fit into one for the days we need it for sure. but I am also open minded to if she is doing well without it we wont' rent one. I DO think this thread has gotten ridiculously long for such a simple question lol
Becky

Ok....sorry I didn't quote the WHOLE post. I noted that it was just the beginning anyhow here is the rest so it's here in the full


7 year old walk the world vs rent stroller??

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hi, i did not realize HOW expensive renting a double stroller at disney was. last time I was able to buy a nice one for disney she was 5 then. I paid $250 for it and resold it for $150, I was thinking i'd spent a lot but I guess I'd actually made out vs. renting one lol. well she is now too tall for it, which is why I sold it. When I go my oldest dd will be 7 years old, my younger one just under age 5. So I will need a stroller for little dd for sure or she'll want me to carry her (Have to get her out of this habit--she likes a stroller though) but will dd7 really be able to walk disneyworld? it was exhausting for me, although I was pushing a lot of weight. and is it a pain to have to stop and rent one instead of just running in to all the rides etc. In our 7-8 days of our trip (budget isn't complete yet) we have four park days planned out, but since we only do 4 I like to take full advantage of them, and park hop etc. with extra magic hours. I will also have to get dd5 a nicer stroller we just have the carter's fold up one now, and her head hits the visor--even though she is only 38" tall, plus it has no basket. I do disney myself with the girls dh just won't do it, we don't push too much cuz I actually think he'd be more of a bore there than anything, and could picture him constantly complaining about prices, so its better he's no there lol. but what would you do, rent a stroller for her? for $18 a DAY! or will she not even fit into one of them, she is average in height. anyone with experience in an older child walking vs. riding please give me your input. I just wish she'd still fit in the other double stroller I loved that thing. My other thought was to let her walk the first 2 park days and if she needed it rent one for the other two park days? any comments would be appreciated. also if i'm not renting what is a good stroller for a shorter 5 year old, i'd guess her around 40-41" tall by 5 with a visor. Thanks!!
Becky, Paige and Hailey

POR Feb. 2005
POP or CSR Feb. 2007

I just want to point out that I was not one of those people that said a 7 year old was too big. I really don't understand why you are so bent out of shape over the responses. Have a great trip.