Double Stroller? for 3 and 5 year old? best one for disney?

[Lollipop Mom]

She said it's really hard to take anywhere that may be space limited. The other thing both my DH and her's agreed upon is it's pretty flimsy.

I read reviews on the Schwinn and lots of them said the same thing which is why I ruled it out. I read reviews at Target.com, epinions, baby center and one other site. Haven't seen it in person though. The reviews mentioned it feeling flimsy as well as lots of complaints on the canopys. That the rods in them got bent easily, that the canopy didn't provide good sun coverage (which was a must for me taking it to Florida. My kids are blonde, blue eyed and fair skinned) and that they interfere with folding it. I also read of problems with the recline and that the seats aren't padded at all. I figured if I was going to spend $100 on a stroller, I wanted something that would be comfortable for them, be durable, give adequate head room and shade, be reasonably compact folding and be reasonable for me to push. I decided I'd rather spend just a little more and get the Chicco one that looked to fit the bill for my family better. I couldn't see it in person before ordering it but I did see the single version of it and felt it was good for our needs.

With my kids being tall (again, my oldest is 44" right now) head room was an issue. I decided quickly that I wanted seperate canopys/hoods so that DS 2 could still be shaded while sleeping and DS 4 could have it flipped back if it didn't give him enough head room. After I started shopping around and comparing I found that I really wanted domed hoods rather than a flat canopy. Not only did it give more head room, it also provides MUCH MUCH MUCH better sun coverage. You can always get those seperate sun shades to put on it (like a Peppeny or a Protect-a-bub) but if I could avoid having something else to have to attach/detach all the better! The hoods on the Chicco (as well as Maclaren, Inglesina or Combi) strollers are removable. They clip on and off easily and because of that you can adjust the height on them a little bit one way or another. That extra inch or two can make a world of difference with a tall kid!

Another factor for me was resale value. Since my oldest is 4, he won't be riding in a stroller much. Our trip after Christmas will likely be his last in a stroller so I knew I'd be selling a double before too long. If I can spend a little more but get a higher percentage back, then all the better! I figured buying a more "premium" brand like Maclaren, Inglesina, Peg Perego or Chicco would increase the likelyhood of good resale value. (I was double shopping for this trip b/c the very ugly bright turquoise loud print garage sale Graco I took on the last trip fell apart so "premium brand" isn't always a huge deal to me). Since the Maclarens were all in the upper $200 price range, I ruled them out, Peg Perego doesn't have an umbrella fold double and their side by side Aria twin is over $300 (and my kids were both looking too big for it) that left me narrowing it down to Inglesina (higher up the "premium scale" than Chicco) or Chicco. I went back and forth on that decision and decided that since I could get the Chicco for $60 less, I'd go for that one. If I got it in and didn't care for it, I'd send it back and exchange it for the Inglesina. It's not the "perfect" stroller but I have yet to find ONE stroller (or diaper bag for that matter!) that is perfect in every way but it is certainly a really good fit for what I was looking for. It is very sturdy feeling, the seats are padded but not "squashy padded", seats are tall, hoods give good sun covervage, seats are wide enough to prevent that 2 kids squashed together fight, seats have a 5 point harness so if I really need to strap DS 2 in tight I can :lol:, easy to push, reasonable amount of storage, fairly compact folding, extendable leg rests and a free rain cover.

Doubles are so tough! None of them is small enough to go everywhere. A tandem is a lot narrower but it's so long that you need a WIDE area to turn around in, a side by side is wider but (at least in my opinion) easier to push once your kids get heavier and definitely much more compact folding! I definitely want to bring my own for a couple of reasons. The main one being that my 2½ year old is a great stroller napper but I don't see him napping in those rental ones. The other big reason is being able to use them outside of the parks. I may want to rent when DS #1 is totally done with strollers and DS #2 is out of the nap phase but for now, bringing our own is a must for us (plus the fact that to rent a double stroller every day for our trips in October and December would cost more than it did to buy this one and I can get some of my money back by selling this one later!)

Good luck finding the right one! If you are like me it's a very frustrating experience because the stores around me don't have a good selection of side by side doubles! Here at least your choices of ones you can test in the store are the jeep one (DS 2½ could kick the wheels and he was getting too tall for the recline and DS 4's feet could drag the ground), the Graco one (DS 4s head hit the top of the canopy and this drove him mad. Also he's too tall to recline, not teribly compact folding), a random Kokraft one (both my kids were too big for it, horrible canopys, handles way to short for me) and a Peg Perego Aria Twin (at $350 it's too expensive for the amount of time I'll be using it, both my kids looked squashed in, both too tall for recline) and at one store WAAAAAYYYYY across town a Maclaren Twin Traveller (great for all considerations except price, too expensive at just over $300 but gave me an idea of what I wanted so I knew what to look for). Beyond that, it's order it sight unseen from an online store. With tall kids, that was a bit annoying!