Big kids and Strollers - your opinion please!

[kangamangus]

Glad it's all working out! I think everyone has opinions, you know what's right for your family. We have done combos of strollers, no strollers ect...I basically do whatever I think will work best for the type of vacation we are taking. Heck I would sit in a stroller if someone would push me around!

 

[cleverclovers]

My DD was 4 1/2 on her first trip to WDW. No stroller needed. If she needed a nap, we found a quieter place for her to snooze. A 7, 8, or 9 year old is too big/old for a stroller. At that age, if they aren't big enough to walk, then they aren't big enough to go to WDW.

 

[judypriv]

LOL My almost 9 year old just hit 60 lbs....at age 6, he was about 38lbs. And I thought he was on the average side LOL

I was thinking the same thing! My 6, almost 7 year old is 45 inches and about 40 pounds fully dressed, soaking wet! She's tiny! My three year old is 35 inches and 32 lbs! Haha. I shouldn't talk though. I'm way too chubby! i USED to be tiny!

 

[AZMermaid]

My 3 (almost 4) year old is 43 inches and 42 lbs! He is almost too big for the City Mini but I decided to rent a double for him and his 2 years 51 week sister when we go to DL in Feb mostly because if I have a stroller for her, it is just easier on my nerves. But, the next trip when they are 4.5 and 6- no way, no stroller for us. He wouldn't have one this time if it was just him.

 

[SEA333]

I was thinking the same thing! My 6, almost 7 year old is 45 inches and about 40 pounds fully dressed, soaking wet! She's tiny! My three year old is 35 inches and 32 lbs! Haha. I shouldn't talk though. I'm way too chubby! i USED to be tiny!

Me too! Lol before I had three kids! DS 8 is my tiny one though...his 14 year old big brother was the size little bro is now, at about age 6. DS8 is just starting to fit into the hand me downs big DS wore in kindergarten. And DS14 has been taller than me for two years now and is closing in on 6 feet. Totally different kids!

 

[judypriv]

I think the sit and stand sounds like a great solution. I agree you need one for your little one and this will give your 6 year old a place to hop on and rest if needed.

This is what I decided. Thanks everyone for your advice. I have told the big kids that this is it! January is three year old stroller only and I am getting one of those cheapy strollers from a yard sale and I am chucking it before we leave! I am going to SELL the sit & stand after this trip so there is no excuse for any of us!

 

[North of Mouse]

This is what I decided. Thanks everyone for your advice. I have told the big kids that this is it! January is three year old stroller only and I am getting one of those cheapy strollers from a yard sale and I am chucking it before we leave! I am going to SELL the sit & stand after this trip so there is no excuse for any of us!

Great decision!!

 

[maxiesmom]

This is what I decided. Thanks everyone for your advice. I have told the big kids that this is it! January is three year old stroller only and I am getting one of those cheapy strollers from a yard sale and I am chucking it before we leave! I am going to SELL the sit & stand after this trip so there is no excuse for any of us!

I don't know, if you plan on going next year, I can't see making a 4 year old walk. Wait, I actually was part of a trip where the 4 year old was made to walk (his dad didn't believe in strollers) and it was not good.

Maybe your youngest is a total trooper, but unless you take lots of breaks, walking all day at WDW is a lot to ask of a 4 year old. All I'm trying to say is to think it over for a while. You don't want to get so pumped over not having a stroller that you ditch it before it is practical.

 

[5olearys]

Threads like this scare me, lol. Sometimes you can't *see* the reason a child who looks a little big for a stroller, is still in the stroller. At the end of the day, what is going to make your trip work best for YOUR family? As long as you're a responsible stroller owner (don't ram people lol), your travelling choices only affect you.

 

[Lolsmum]

Threads like this scare me, lol. Sometimes you can't *see* the reason a child who looks a little big for a stroller, is still in the stroller. At the end of the day, what is going to make your trip work best for YOUR family? As long as you're a responsible stroller owner (don't ram people lol), your travelling choices only affect you.

On an individual level, that is true. However, if every family with a child uses a stroller to age 7 say, rather than 3, you are really increasing the number of strollers in the park. They do take up a lot more room while walking and a lot of space around attractions, restaurants, shops and on the various forms of transport too.

I have never and will never say anything or give a dirty look to a parent with an older child in a stroller, but I'm not keen on the idea. Somehow kids in the 70s managed without strollers, so I find it concerning that kids nowadays struggle at 5, 6, 7 and even older.

 

[5olearys]

On an individual level, that is true. However, if every family with a child uses a stroller to age 7 say, rather than 3, you are really increasing the number of strollers in the park. They do take up a lot more room while walking and a lot of space around attractions, restaurants, shops and on the various forms of transport too.

I have never and will never say anything or give a dirty look to a parent with an older child in a stroller, but I'm not keen on the idea. Somehow kids in the 70s managed without strollers, so I find it concerning that kids nowadays struggle at 5, 6, 7 and even older.

Yep...true that! They do take up more room. And for the parents and all involved, they are a pain on busses and monorails alike. But I don't see every family doing it. Lord knows we wouldn't, if we didn't have to (our middle guy has multiple disabilities, so it's the only way we can visit the parks for longer than a few hours). Thank you for being one of the people who didn't give us a dirty look our last trip.

I don't know anyone - myself included - whose parents used a stroller "back in the day" at WDW. But, the parks were different then. Smaller. The hours were shorter, too. And I don't remember (as a child) waking up at 5 to get to rope drop and going back to the hotel at 9 or later. I couldn't imagine doing that for a few days in a row as a kindergartner and not having somewhere to rest (like a stroller), without losing my mind. The expectations of the trips have changed for a lot of adults, I think.

 

[maxiesmom]

I have never and will never say anything or give a dirty look to a parent with an older child in a stroller, but I'm not keen on the idea. Somehow kids in the 70s managed without strollers, so I find it concerning that kids nowadays struggle at 5, 6, 7 and even older.

If you are talking about stroller use at WDW in particular, in the 70s there was only one park. The Magic Kingdom. Not 4 parks plus 2 waterparks, mini golf courses, regular golf, and a shopping district. There were not so many families planning trips that last many days and require a ton of walking.

 

[hdh23]

I get so frustrated at some of these threads. Thank you to everyone that have good advice but why do people need to be so judge mental? "If a 7 year old can't walk they shouldn't go"? My daughter is 8 and in team gymnastics. She literally conditions up to 4 hours four days a week. There is nothing lazy about my kids but at disney in crowds with heat if she wants to sit in the dang stroller for a bit, more power to her. I would sit too if I fit!

 

[Lolsmum]

If you are talking about stroller use at WDW in particular, in the 70s there was only one park. The Magic Kingdom. Not 4 parks plus 2 waterparks, mini golf courses, regular golf, and a shopping district. There were not so many families planning trips that last many days and require a ton of walking.

To be fair, I only did Disneyland as a kid, but as an adult I see loads of kids in strollers there well over the age of 3 or so.

We certainly did have plenty of vacations with long days with tons of walking, just not Disney ones. We easily put in as much walking if I take the kids down to London for the day, or for a day at a good sized zoo.

I think the difference is in the expectations, not the amount of walking. Let's be fair here. WDW is big, but people are hardly putting in hours and hours of non-stop walking. A good number of the steps you take are in lines, where strollers are out of the equation anyway, and you can pretty much always find a place to stop and rest within a few minutes when not in lines.

 

[ejcraft]

my children are well out of strollers( the youngest is 17), but the one and only time we took a stroller was when she was 3, and her siblings were 7,9,11. it was a cheap umbrella stroller and she only rode in it part of the time, and there was never any question of her sibling riding instead. Now more recently I was down there last week with 2 other families ,between the 2 there was an almost 3yr, a 5yr, 2 -7yr olds, and an almost 10 yr, the only one who ever rode in a stroller was the almost 3yr, and the rest never even gave it much thought, yeah occasionally if we were stopped some where and the 3yr old was out of the stroller the 5, and 7yr olds would sit in the stoller, but they never asked to ride in it. So I would have to agree, don't take your stroller for the older 2 keep it simple just take the one, your kids are old enough to walk.

 

[abinormal]

The same thoughts I have on every "controversial" parenting issue: Do what you need to do provided it doesn't actually cause a problem for someone else. Nosy people don't have to look.

 

[DopeyDame]

I'm not going to get really into the stroller debate. We're leaving in two weeks with a 2 and 5 year old. We'll be bringing one umbrella stroller, primarily for the 2 year old. the 5 year old will mostly walk and can sit in the stroller occasionally. We're also bringing an ergo, again primarily for the 2 year old. A 9 year old in a stroller seems crazy to me, absent some special need. But that's totally irrelevant. What seems like crazy parenting to me may be exactly what another family needs.

Which brings me to my point:
OP, it sounds like for your family, no strollers is the way to go. So repeat after me: "Some families have different rules. That's OK. In our family, we don't use a stroller in grade school." When your sons start whining (which they will) just repeat the same line over and over and over again.

I wonder what the 9 year old thinks of this plan? I imagine most 9 year olds would be beyond mortified.