Bringing a 5 year old

[GrtWtNorth]

Here's my family experience. Hopefully your "sturdy guy" is tougher than my princess. I've taken my daughter on several "Disney" trips to various parks recently.

At age 4 1/4 (October), we went to Disneyland and stayed in a very close "good neighbour" hotel (about 700 yards / 10 minutes from the main gates). We didn't use a stroller. She complained a bit, and I did carry once or twice during our 6-day vacation.

At age 4 3/4 (March), we went to WDW for 7 days and I rented a stroller. The total walking outside the parks was probably similar to Disneyland (700 yards each way), but was always interrupted by riding in a rental car or bus. On our way from the parks to the hotel (either for nap time or end of the night), she fell asleep in the car or on the bus EVERY TIME. While we NEEDED the stroller to get from the parking lot or bus stop to the hotel room, we also used it sporadically in the parks.

At age 5 1/4 (September), we returned to Disneyland for 5 days, without a stroller. (This was after visiting Sea World, Legoland, and Universal Studios.) Our hotel was further away, about 1300 yards (20 minutes walk) from the park gates. While she complained bitterly walking back for naps and at the end of the night, I never had to carry her once. On day 4 or 5, she needed rest stops, just to sit on a bench or a curb for a minute or two before plodding on.

She's going to be 7 on our next WDW trip, so no stroller. But I certainly had no regrets about renting one when she was almost 5.

 

[wallskm]

Our oldest will be almost 5 when we go this April and if he was the youngest we'd consider not bringing him one, but since we are already going to be renting a stroller to use for our 2 year old (who thinks he has to be carried everywhere) we are just going to get a double. Though I suspect we will probably park the stroller and stay in one area for a while, then move on.

We are expecting baby #3 and while we are planning to take 2015 off from WDW (doing a Disney Cruise instead), we will probably be back in 2016 when baby #3 is 18 months or so. So we will still be getting a double but by then I expect that the oldest will be walking around WDW by then (He'll be almost 7).

 

[mom2cgj]

Like you said, only you know your kids. But from my experience: We took a (just turned) 4 year old with no stroller. He did great. We also didn't go back to the room for naps because that would have been worse for him than to just power through. That goes against everything that people on these boards told me to do, but it's what worked for us. Trust your instincts. You know your kids and what they can do!

 

[scrapquitler]

I know this is highly dependent on each individual child/family. No debates just personal opinions. I *really* want to avoid bringing a stroller but trying to plan out when our next trip will be. This trip we only brought our older kids (7 and 9) and honestly bringing a stroller just did not look fun to me so I am hoping to avoid that on our next trip when we bring all 4 of our kids. Our younger two are currently 2 and 4 and I was thinking in 3 years when they are 5 and 7? Anyone bring a 5 year old without a stroller? Good experience or do you wish in hindsight you had brought one?

We went when our daughter was 5. We do parks from mid morning until after closing. She did great without a stroller EXCEPT at Epcot, which to us just seems like a lot more walking than anywhere else, even if it maybe isn't. We did rent a stroller on the Epcot days.