buy and bring or rent a stroller

[pocomom]

Trying to decide on purchasing or renting a stroller- my son just turned 3 . We don't use his stroller a lot, mostly just for shoppping places without carts. I brought it on our last RV trip and it got destroyed. Evidently it was too wet when I put it in the rv basement storage and it was covered in mildew by the time we got home. I still have a jogging stroller that is too big for us to take to Disney, and an umbrella stroller that is torture to push and has no storage. I'm pretty sure after disney we can make do with those, since his time left in a stroller is limited anyway, although there are sure to be some times when I would wish for his old one back. Should I go ahead and buy one to go to disney or rely on renting one there? We are staying at fort wilderness, so if we had our own, it would be nice to be able to push him all the way home, easpecially since my husband won't be there most of the trip, and maybe at FW, but haven't been there before so I'm not even sure if it is possible on the boats? I have a seven year old too and I know last year it was nice to be able to throw her in one of the double rentals (and our packages!) when she wasn't feeling good.. But the cost! Choices, choices. What would you do?

 

[dsneprincess]

In your case, I would probably look into an offside rental arrangement, unless an oxyclean scrub down could salvage your old stroller. I have washed all my stroller pads through the washing machine &/or with the hose and scrub brush & let dry

 

[3boys4me]

I would have a stroller for sure. Have you looked at any offsite rental places. I found kingdom strollers and babies r us travel rentals to have good prices. BRU offers a wider choice of strollers. The delivery charge is about $20.

 

[lvillotta1]

I have a Macleran. Bought it 4 years ago when I adopted DD2 from China as an infant. It is very lightweight and so easy to use. We will be back at WDW in Jan. She will be 5 and the max stroller weight I believe is 50-60lbs. It it very nice to have ESP at night when she is very tired and we need to get to the bus back to our resort.

 

[canopynut66]

you can rent off site and they will have at resort when you arrive. we rent from walker mobility and not sure if they have strollers but if not they would know who does.

 

[littlebit0863]

Are you sure your jogging stroller is too big? I just got back and took a double jogging stroller, and it was so wonderful and comfortable, both with pushing and for the kids to ride in. We drove, though, I can imagine it would be a pain with flying.

 

[goodeats]

I agree about thinking twice about the jogging stroller. What kind is it? We flew cross country with our Bumbleride Indie a few times and it did great. Folding it up to get on the bus would be a pain, but with two adults should be manageable. Plus it's FREE!

 

[Zhoen]

We did Disney twice with an umbrella-style Jeep twin stroller (about $100 at the time.) The first time I was pushing around my 3-year-old daughter and 3-year-old niece, and pregnant, first trimester... it really wasn't bad. Then we did it again this past May with the same trusty ol' stroller, that was really on its last wheels after 5 years of faithful service. Pushing the 5 year old I was pregnant with the first time and her 8 year old sister (special needs) we still did fine. The girls did walk a lot this time, and we used the stroller to hold a lot of stuff.

I brought a 2-liter bottle of soda into the parks with me each day in a reusable shopping bag and just hung it off the handles. As the day would go by, we'd add more junk off the back as we were shopping... whenever the girls got out of the stroller we would "flip" the bags forward so the carriage didn't tip under the weight... worked fine.

At the end of our week, our little stroller had rolled it's last (we saved it, unused, for over a year in the hall closet awaiting this last hurrah...) and since it was too far gone to give to someone else, I pushed it to the dumpster, crying all the way... not for the stroller, but for the end of an era... luckily the truck had come by before we drove out to head home, I don't think I could have handled seeing it there.

Great, now I'm sad... anyway, point being, we made it work with an umbrella stroller. If you're travelling with another adult, you might consider bringing two umbrella strollers (try freecycle) and using one for the kiddo and one for the "stuff". I saw plenty of childless adults pushing around strollers-o-junk...

At any rate, yeah, you're going to want that stroller OUTSIDE the gate, so renting from the park is not ideal. So as the PP's said, maybe a local rental, or I just wanted to chime in that you'd be surprised how versatile an umbrella stroller can be...

 

[bettymae1121]

What you could do is to just go out and buy a new stroller, whatever fits your needs for the trip, and then sell it on craigslist when you get back. Probably will cost you the same (or maybe even less) than a rental and then you'll have it to use in the airport if you want/need it. A gently used stroller would probably sell for at least half what you paid for it, I would think.

 

[amomma23]

We bought a stroller. Decided our price point was anything less than or equal to renting from Disney for a week. Found a great deal on a top brand name at Albeebaby.com and sold it on ebay when we got back for $10 less than we paid!

 

[trinchick]

Or if you have the time, just buy a used stroller (make it a nice one like a City Mini!) on Craiglist. Use it on your trip, and then sell it again when you get back. I imagine you'll end up not losing anything on the transaction, assuming the airline doesn't destroy it or the kids aren't sick in it or something.

 

[clm10308]

If you choose to buy something, The Fiest Years Ignite stroller is a nice, heavier umbrella style stroller that has some storage. It folds up small enough that you could probably handle it on the busses without another adult especially if your older child can help with holding "stuff". It costs around $50 on Amazon depending on color choice.

 

[cdrn1]

We bought one in the resort gift shop. It was around $40 and worked just fine. We still have it but never use it. In hindsight we could have just given it to another family as we were leaving.

 

[Lermy]

Definitely check Craigslist. I was able to get a really nice Maclaren for $40. I figured it was cheaper than renting, and if it got destroyed or anything, I didn't really care. I also think it'll be easier to have it at the airport and we can just gate check it.