Do I need strollers?

[bunkkinsmom]

Oh my! In checking out the boards, I see that there are lots of posts of people with 4,5,and 6 year olds in strollers!! HELP! My kids are NEVER in strollers, and now I question if I will need them for my January trip! My kids will be DD6, DS4, DD2 (OK, I can see one for her!). Should I rethink this? This never even went in my head, that I would need strollers for my big kids. What do ya'll think?

 

[mommy2aprincess4]

I think it depends on where your going and what your doing. In January we rented a stroller at the MK for our 4 year old only because we knew we would be there all day and she'd get tired after a while. She rode in it some and walked some.
At MGM/HS we didn't get a stroller at all, we know it's a small park, knew what we'd be hitting and about how much time we'd be there and she would be able to walk the whole time.
At Epcot we rented one in the afternoon after she had walked all through World Showcase. She was tired and we knew we'd be there a few more hours.
Now, that said, with the prices of stroller rentals going up I don't know what I'll do in June. Since it'll be just her and me I think I do want to have a stroller but don't want to pay that much to rent one. I am either going to bring my McClaren, though I hate carrying it through the airport, or I am going to stop on the way to the hotel (we are renting a towncar and getting a grocery stop) and buy a cheapo $20 stroller and will leave it when we check out. My problem is, she's almost 50 lbs and most umbrella strollers don't go that high in weight. So we'll see, I haven't decided yet.

Long story short - think about how much walking you'll do and how you'll handle tired, cranky kids and go from there.

 

[hildarumpole]

I got in a panic about strollers prior to our trip last year with DS5. He hadn't been in a stroller since he was 2, but based on some of the board discussion, I thought we must be missing something. We never had a problem spending the day at a zoo or museum, so decided if he got tired, we'd rent at the parks. He was a real trooper and had more energy and stamina than DH. We paced ourselves, took frequent breaks, drank plenty of liquids and truly enjoyed each day at the parks. After witnessing the batallion of identical rental strollers, the hunt and search operations at the stroller parking places, and sometimes tricky crowd navigation, I was glad we didn't use a stroller. If you need one for your 2 yr. old, get a small umbrella stroller that will be easy to carry on and off the transportation systems.

 

[DisneyCatMom]

It depends on how long you plan on staying in the parks. Last time there, my 3 and 6 year olds took afternoon naps in the strollers and we kept going. Yes, even my 6 year old took a nap. Unheard of in the real world, but at the "World" you just never know. With the long days and nights, and hot weather, everyone gets tired.
Now if you plan on going back and doing the afternoon break thing, then no, you may be able to get away without a stroller.
AK is so crowded most days that a stroller is a good way of keeping up with the kids. And yes, the strollers are what makes it more crowded, but its a catch 22 kind of thing.
Epcot-WS, definitely a stroller. It's a lot of walking.
Play it by ear. The good think about Epcot is that if you don't get a stroller at the main entrance at rope drop, then if you need one later and your at WS-then go to the International Gateway and pick one up.
I leave in 2 days! Now my kids are 5 and 8. I'm going to play it by ear. If I'm not ready to leave and my 5 year old is tired of walking, then I'm getting a single stroller.

 

[juliana_sd]

I'm bringing my Maclaren for my 4.5yo... I don't think we'll use it the whole time. Definitely for our long Epcot day, probably not for our short DHS and AK days... and on the fence about MK But I'm taking him alone and he's very heavy. I don't think I could carry him from the bus back to the room if he fell asleep.

I can't remember the last time we used a stroller at home.

 

[surfgirl]

There are lots of people who swear by them, but I'm also in the 'no stroller' category. Having said that, we are morning park people and take the afternoons off and go play in the pools. I can't imagine going all day from my perspective much less from a child's...

 

[delmar411]

If you go places that your child regularly walk then no they won't need a stroller. Well your 2yr old will need one I'm sure but I'd bring a small one from home.

When I took my oldest for her 4th b-day she walked every day except part of the day at Epcot. She fell asleep hard at night but she never complained about walking at all. In fact I had to convince her to use the stroller at Epcot just so we could do the whole park in one day. My middle two shared a stroller last fall (they were turning 3 and turning 4 during the trip) but one or the other was always walking. When we go back in Dec everyone except my 2yr old will be walking the entire time. If my 2yr old (he'll be just shy of 3) wants to walk all day then we'll leave the stroller in the room and go completely stroller free.
There really isn't a reason for a healthy child outside of standard stroller age to be in a stroller. A healthy child should be able to walk many miles each day w/ plenty of breaks and rest between(the breaks being the rides ). If they are tired and want to sit down then that's when it's time to take a break. If you go at kid speed, the trip will be quite enjoyable for everyone.