Chicco Velocita or Citta double stroller -- opinions please

[barbanm]

Hi everyone-

Looking for opinions on this stroller. I am looking to place our duo glider for our upcoming trip and want something that is more compact but does not cost alot of money. I can get this one for $119.00.

The only drawback I see is there are no cup holders?

Thanks so much for your input.

Barbara

 

[ekball]

Hi Barbara,

Thanks for asking - I'll be interested to hear opinions as well.

I just ordered the chicco citta twin last week for our Sept. visit. I'm also replacing my monster duoglider. I looked at a lot of different strollers, read a lot of posts for opinions, and did a lot of research. In the end, I just couldn't see spending hundreds on a mac when the chicco looked so similar (and had good reviews online) for 1/2 the price. I ordered from albeebaby - $130 on sale, free shipping. I'm expecting it any day so I'll write back to let you know what I think...

 

[CocozMom]

We purchased the citta twin in preparation for WDW next March Both DD 3 and DS 7 months enjoy it. They are comfortable, it is super easy to steer and the sun canopy is height adjustable and removable. I wish there were cup holders, and it is tricky to fold and unfold, but I am sure that will get easier with practice. We use it around the neighborhood and can get through our front door without a problem. (I was worried about the width) I like the maclaren strollers but the cost gave me pause. I recommend it as a great option.

 

[glass slipper girl]

I bought a Citta Twin for a "Mom and Kids" trip when my DSs were 2 and 4 and it worked great for us. My sons are tall (I'm 5'10", DH is 6'4" so they were always going to be tall!). My youngest was 39" on that trip and my oldest was about 43" or 4" tall. They both fit very comfortably. The younger one napped really well in the stroller too. I debated getting an Inglesina or Maclaren but couldn't justify spending the extra knowing we would not be using it a bunch at home. I was very happy with it. It wasn't exactly "light weight" but it's tough to find a double that is! It is wider than the Macs but not by much and I had no trouble with it fitting through everywhere I needed to go. The wider seats gave the kids a tad more room and eliminated that "he's touching me!" fight. The sun shades were a good size, it steered well (not effortlessly but it had 2 big heavy kids in it! It wasn't tough to steer at all though) and the baskets underneath were plenty big enough for all our park stuff in one and sweatshirts for all 3 of us in the other.

It was well worth it for us.

 

[barbanm]

Hi again everyone-

Does anyone know if any stores out there sell the Chico strollers so that I could go and try them out. With the price and your reviews I am thinking I can't go wrong but have this fear of buying something w/out first seeing it.

Thanks Again,
Barbara

 

[CocozMom]

I couldn't find any stores that carried it. I ended up buying from BabyAge (dot) com when they had a free shipping promotion and a % off. Total cost of $116 and I got it within a week. I figured that if I didn't love it I could re-sell it for about that price.

 

[glass slipper girl]

I couldn't find it in town either. I've always been surprised that there was no where in Metro Altanta to go and check out nicer strollers. You can find Graco and Evenflo everywhere. Babies R Us has a handful of Maclaren umbrellas and a few Peg Peregos but that is it. Anything else is online only.

For the baby we are expecting none of the strollers we have in our garage are apropriate for an infant so I was researching options. I found ONE place I could check things out and upon arrival, it wasn't a store showroom sort of thing but the shipping office for an online business. Fortunately the guy there was great and showed me the 2 I wanted to compare otherwise I would have been deciding blind online.

In my case I couldn't get the double Mac or double INglesina locally either so I figured I may as well start by ordering the least expensive one.

 

[barbanm]

Thanks for everyone's help. Just a couple of more questions.. does anyone know the difference between the Chico Velocita and the Chico Citta? I can get the Velocita for about 20.00 cheaper and with a rain cover... but is the Citta better? Any opinions?

Also for those of you who also have the monster graco duo glider how much smaller are the Chico's when folded up? I hope alot?

It looks like I am just going to have to just order without seeing!

Thanks again everyone!

Barbara

 

[barbanm]

I am just going to bump this up to see if I can get a few more responses since I really need to get the stroller ordred.

Thanks again for your help everyone!

Barbara

 

[mommyrom]

We have the Chicco Velocita and are very happy with it. It has become our official DISney stroller, as we have a double jogger at home and would never dream of travelling by plane with it! Anyhow, I have nothing but good to report about this stroller. We even had someone ask us about it and they did not believe it when we insisted it was NOT a Mac...I had to show her the name! (She liked the striped pattern on the fabric and had not seen Mac's with it... ). The baskets are plenty big enough and it was very easy to quickly fold up and comfortable to push (I am 5' 4" and DH is over 6').

One suggestion about the cup holder question...We did not figure out a way to hold OUR drinks, but I brought each of my children one of the Gerber sport bottles on the trip. I then used one of the bottle holder straps (bottle elastics around the rim of the bottle) and looped the other end of the strap around the side bar on each side of the stroller. That way, each child had access to their own drink without dropping it and when not in use, we could store the bottles in the baskets, but still keep them attached to the sidebars.

Also, we purchased a "Rayshade" in the double size and were SOOO glad we did! It could be left on the stroller while in use, as it simply folded back over the top, but could easily be detached when we had to fold the stroller as well. The best part about this sunshade is that it folded so far forward that our little nappers were almost fully covered when reclined in their seats for resting times. (P.S. Our kids were 4 1/2 and 2 when we last used the stroller and I believe the stroller will still be as comfy for them in December when we go back to see Mickey! )

Hope this was helpful to you stroller shoppers out there!

 

[glass slipper girl]

On the difference between the Velocita and the Citta...from what I understand, the frame is the same for both strollers. The Velocita has cushier fabric seats than the Cita and the canopy has peek-a-boo windows to see the kids in the seat whereas the Cita has soldi canopies. Basically the same stroller but the Velocita has some "upgrades" to the seat and canopy. The Velocita was not out when I bought my Citta Twin. The cushy fabric would be nice but then the one I have is not bad at all. Certainly much nicer than the Kolcraft or Jeep doubles you can find for less at Babies R Us. The windows in the canopy wouldn't be a big deal to me as my kids were older and not babies so I was OK with not being able to peek in the window. Other than asking my DH once or twice "is he asleep?" it wasn't an issue!

Thought I would add that me saying it was not super easy to steer probably had more to do with the fact that I had older, heavier kids in it! With smaller kids, it does steer quite well.

 

[CocozMom]

I bought a couple of Prince Lionheart Click-n-go Stroller cup holders this weekend. They work beautifully and can be taken off when needed. I initially placed one on the outside and proceeded to get stuck in a doorway. Make sure you place them on the inside of the outer handles. It worked well and held a large drink with no trouble. Drink holder problem solved!! Now I am trying to solve the drink holder problem for the kids. I may have to resort to sippies and a tether, but DD3 resists sippies because she thinks they are for babies. Has anyone used the Prince Lionheart snack traps that hook to the side of the stroller? Do they work well?

 

[Goingtodisneyworld]

I am so glad you asked ~ I am one of "those" stroller Queens, The Velocita is actually our 9th stroller, meanwhile we only have 2 DDs (ages 5 & almost 3) , most we’ve enjoyed for different reasons @ different ages/stages, some I’ve sold pretty quick, However, I truly believe the Chicco to be my favorite (it's a gorgeous stroller! ) ~ I didn’t want to spend too much on our last stroller just for Disney & maybe a misc. day in D.C. or zoo, etc. however, wanted the convenience of an umbrella fold (something we’ve never had before) yet not sacrifice comfort for the kids, & all the doubles/twins I tried, my oldest (just a Little Peanut) looked stuffed in, I was ready to bite the bullet & go for a Maclaren! I’m thankful I didn’t, we are thrilled w/ the Chicco & the raincover was more than worth the price alone! We were caught in 2 downpours @ Disney, the second on our way out of MK, since we just wanted to get back to the resort we went for it, the adults were soaked down to our socks, the girls dry & sound asleep!

I found in Big Lots a 4 pack of those old kind of cup holders that you can hook in you car window for I want to say $1.00, anyway I bought them, because we take many long trips & the 2 holders up front are never enough, BUT now I also use them on my Velocita ~ I just hang them over the baskets, so the holder part is inside, perfect for our water bottles & kids cups, sippies, whatever! I may not have explained this just so, so please don't hesitate to ask?

One last thought, have you tried craigslist? I have only recently found them, otherwise may have had even more strollers!

 

[ekball]

Just an update.....

Received my Citta a little over a week ago and I like it! I bought the Prince Lionheart cup holders and they work great (5.99 I think). Also bought a Ray Shade which is awesome (babybungalow.com is the cheapest I found) - my little blond/blue eyed kiddos have me very paranoid about sun, so this will be great!

One thing I don't like though is that it didn't come with a rain cover - I really thought it did and was bummed about that. I've been looking for a cover now and will probably spend another $20 or so on that. I preferrred the look of the citta to the velocita (fabric choices), but that rain cover is a big con for the citta.

I've taken the kids for a couple of walks (they are 11 mos. and 2 1/2), and shopping with it too, and it's great. So much easier to maneuver than the monster Duoglider. It's also nice and compact when folded, takes MUCH less space in the trunk.

I think you'll be happy with either one!

 

[barbanm]

Hi everyone-

I just wanted to thank everyone so much for your responses. I ended up ordering the velocita since it seemed to have a couple of extras including the rain cover plus it was cheeper $119.00 with free shipping. I guess now I will be on the look out to get some cup holders a shade and does anyone know if there is any kind of tray that will hook on to the seats? That is one thing I will miss from my duoglider!

I will report back when I receive it and let you know what I think.

Thanks again everyone.

Barbara