Almost 5 - stroller or no?

[mamattorney]

My four year old never uses a stroller at home. We're going to spend three days in Orlando in June and I'm wondering if we should bring one on the trip. All three days will be park days (MK, Epcot and Sea World). Part of me just wants to leave it at home because I've had a stroller in the parks for the last three years and I'm sick of dragging it around; looking for it when they move it around, etc. No stroller sounds so freeing!

But then I think about my little guy and tromping around Epcot all day and think it's better to be safe than sorry.

What's the standard cut off (no special needs or anything - he's an average (although small/short) energetic four year old who will turn 5 a month after vacation).

 

[amomma23]

My family would say Yes to the stroller. At that age, my kiddos would ride from "land" to "land" and walk from ride to ride. At EPCOT, we would park the stroller outside of Soarin'. They would ride everything in the Land, walk over to Nemo, walk to Figment... After we did what we wanted to in that area, we would get the stroller and ride to Test Track, etc. It was easier to have it for long walks, at the end of the night when it's crowded, etc. but we would just leave it parked for short distances.

 

[LoKiHB]

This is a very contested topic... so I will give my experience and opinion.

We took our oldest for the first time for his 5th Birthday. We figured we don't need a stroller, he's 5. We were wrong.

First day at MK was as disaster when he got tired and didn't want to walk anymore. Walking out of MK after the fireworks was horrid. Waiting on the long, long line for the bus to ASMovies was excruciating.

The next day and rest of the trip we rented a stroller. It was the best decision we made the entire week.

They may be "Big Kids" at home, but at Disney, we're all little. It's a huge place not made for little feet to be walking all day. That of course is just my opinion.

 

[GillianP1301]

My family would say Yes to the stroller. At that age, my kiddos would ride from "land" to "land" and walk from ride to ride. At EPCOT, we would park the stroller outside of Soarin'. They would ride everything in the Land, walk over to Nemo, walk to Figment... After we did what we wanted to in that area, we would get the stroller and ride to Test Track, etc. It was easier to have it for long walks, at the end of the night when it's crowded, etc. but we would just leave it parked for short distances.

I say yes as well. And this is pretty much our strategy and it works well for us. My DS is now 6 and I'm on the fence for stroller this year, but leaning towards it. Last year it definitely was a nice to have. It stayed parked a lot, but having it for the long stretches in between lands, or to/from the car, it was very handy.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I think most would say the "standard" cut off is probably 5...personally, I say do whatever works best for your kid If you plan on going without a stroller, I would do some "training" with your 4 y/o at home...taking long walks together (multiple miles), for example, to help build his stamina for walking at Disney. If you're going stroller less, I would also think that would make it more important to take a break in the middle of the day (whether it's back at your resort, or even just finding a long attraction/show to rest during - maybe Ellen?FOTLK? Finding Nemo? BatB?).

If you do decide to bring a stroller just in case, I'd probably plan to park it in a land and only return to get it when you're moving on to a new land/new area (rather than going back to it after each ride)

 

[GigiDisneyfreak]

My four year old never uses a stroller at home. We're going to spend three days in Orlando in June and I'm wondering if we should bring one on the trip. All three days will be park days (MK, Epcot and Sea World). Part of me just wants to leave it at home because I've had a stroller in the parks for the last three years and I'm sick of dragging it around; looking for it when they move it around, etc. No stroller sounds so freeing!

But then I think about my little guy and tromping around Epcot all day and think it's better to be safe than sorry.

What's the standard cut off (no special needs or anything - he's an average (although small/short) energetic four year old who will turn 5 a month after vacation).

I would say the standard cut off is whatever YOU feel is appropriate for your child and family. I myself would bring it because like you said better safe than sorry.

 

[BellsFam]

*putting on my flame-proof cape of motherhood*

DD will be 5+3months when we go...and yes, we will have a stroller... it is not to be used as our primary source of transport, however it is a back up/mainly used to carry the backpack I insist on bringing into the park...

She does not use a stroller at home normally, but I also become possessed once I cross those turnstiles, and I DON'T stop for nothing!!!

It will either be a small umbrella style or a rental from that magic kingdoms website that delivers to the hotel so I don't have to fly with it...

 

[grimley1968]

I would bring one to Orlando with you at least. You can always just leave it in the room if you don't want to bring it one day.

I would also make sure you're using the smallest umbrella stroller you can get. That would certainly make boarding buses, etc. easier.

 

[MuddyTires]

This is a very contested topic

Why on earth would the question of whether to bring a stroller be a "contested" topic??!!?

 

[Angel Ariel]

Why on earth would the question of whether to bring a stroller be a "contested" topic??!!?

it's not the whether or not to bring a stroller that makes it contested - it's the age of the child involved. There can be from very strong opinions here on at what age a child should no longer be in a stroller, no matter what.

 

[LoKiHB]

Why on earth would the question of whether to bring a stroller be a "contested" topic??!!?

I've asked myself the same question.

I have however seen threads in the past that are many pages long that have people arguing about why or why not a stroller for a 4/5/6 year old is ok.

 

[linskypens]

We stopped after DD turned 8. For the reason quoted above..sure she could walk during the day.Run even. But by late afternoon, tiredness and stubbornness would kick in. The long drag back down main street. Criss Crossing from tomorrowland to adventureland and back in order to use our fastpasses. It also saved us from having to say no we arent going to stop for this or that as we were in control of her movements when she was in it.
10 bucks at walmart, and it folds easily for the bus.
Better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it

 

[Disneylover99]

Bring a stroller.

 

[Cheert789]

I say yes 100%! Especially if you plan to go all day bc we all know at some point once there we will be wishing we had that stroller. Not so bad if you only plan tondo a couple of hours at a time but for the long haul I say take it

 

[ktlm]

I would say absolutely bring it, and you can park it if it turns out you don't need it. DD (now 8) was a high energy kid who NEVER rode in a stroller after the age of 12 months except for at Disney. At age 5, we brought it but figured we would not use it. We thought we would bring it into the park the first day, but would probably just wind up parking it and then would leave it in the room the rest of the week. We were wrong. We used it a lot. We are open to close park people and even being high energy, DD still did not have the stamina for all that walking at age 5. Plus, if you are in a hurry to get somewhere, with a kid that age it is a lot faster to put them in a stroller and rush. At age 6, she was fine in the parks from open to close. without the stroller. Age 5 would have been miserable without the stroller.

We pretty much did the ride from land to land and walk from ride to ride that the PP described. At Epcot WS as we started at one end and went to the other, we couldn't really leave the stroller behind. I think she walked to explore the individual countries, and then rode between countries.

 

[cmaee]

Do whatever will make your vacation better. If that means you think your almost 5 year hold can walk all day long, then go without. If that means your 5 year old will be tired after a few hours, then have one to use. We have traveled with a stroller and without. It is incredibly feeing to not have to deal with one, but if my kids still needed one, then by all means, I would use it.

I know when my youngest was 4 we decided to play it by ear on whether we needed one or not. We went with the intention that if she got tired, then we would just rent a Disney one on an as-needed basis. Turns out, we didn't need it. If you are just worried about the Epcot day, you might want to just rent the Disney one for the day and not have to worry about it at the MK or SeaWorld.

 

[SnowBelleAlice]

Absolutely! DD was out of a stroller at home by 2, little stink! She happily strolled at Disney till she was 7, her stroller the last few years was a Mac Volo, awesome umbrella stroller.

 

[NicholeB630]

My DD will be just about 6 and my DD 2.5 when we go and we will rent a double. I just low my DD won't walk all day and to avoid over tiredness & meltdowns I think it's needed. Plus it Carey's stuff

 

[AngieMouse86]

I would say yes.

When we last went to WDW my youngest sister was 7, long out of a stroller on Disneyland trips & the like, and involved in basketball. She *definitely* benefitted from having the rented stroller on treks from land to land, at the end of the night and just to cool down every now and then. She's athletic but doesn't tolerate heat well, so that's another factor to consider, how hot it will be when you go.

I would think that it's up to a parents best judgement on how old is 'too old' for a stroller. At a very large place like WDW, I would never pass judgement on seeing an older kid in a stroller.

 

[usagibuffy]

We plan to rent one that will handle my then 5.5yo and my then almost-3-yo. We are Disneyland pass holders, and I have been making DD (who is currently approaching 5yo) walk for the last year as we haven't owned a double stroller. She can last from about 8a to 5p and then she's too tired to continue. I usually end up stuffing her in the stroller and putting her brother (just turned 2) in a carrier to make it back to the car. That's fine for one day at DLR since we can go whenever we want, but won't cut it for multiple days of touring at WDW. In fact, over the weekend I bought a double stroller that we will literally only use at Disneyland. It's pretty much the only place I use a stroller for either kid anyway. We too like to park the stroller in one place and experience everything within a short distance before collecting it to move on. I'm a bit of a theme park warrior, so it'll be nice to be able to move faster through some areas, plus it will cut down on the number of times I've turned around to find her 30ft away examining something.