DOUBLE stroller or 2 SINGLE strollers? What Type / Brand to buy or avoid??

[cheerbop]

We will have 2 children that will need to be in strollers at WDW in either Sept or Jan.
They will be either 9 months and 3 yrs or 13 months and almost 4 years when we travel.
I know the 3 year old will walk some but he is all over the place sometimes so we will NEED to have him in the stroller some for his safety (and OUR sanity ) Plus, we know he will get tired from walking.

We are just at a loss as to whether we should take one double stroller or 2 single strollers?

If you do suggest a double stroller, which brand and model do you suggest?
Could you also tell me the positives and negatives about them? I know some people want one big basket and not 2 small ones...things like that which you find either helpful or a hinderance.

Thanks for any input. We want to have the stroller or strollers purchased fairly soon so we can get them very used to them by the time we would travel.

 

[cheerbop]

 

[Thumper_ehhhhh]

If you get a double I would sudjest inline not side by side. The reason is stores and smaller aslie's. You can rent them from disney too. If you go singles get a good one for the baby and a colapsable one for the toddler. So when its not in use you can hang it on the handle of the bigger one. Strollers get moved around all the time in the stroller corrals so if you have 2 singles you might be looking for awhile.

 

[crazywig]

i have done both and i prefer 2 singles. i take a full featured one for my younger (i use the peg perego p3) and an umbrella for my older (maclaren volo). my kids are 2 yrs apart and i've been taking them at least once a year since my oldest was 9 months.

the advantage to the maclaren volo is it's only about 8lbs and it has a carry strap. when ds walked, my dh would carry the stroller.

 

[cheerbop]

appreciate the input!

 

[mericletwins]

We will have 2 children that will need to be in strollers at WDW in either Sept or Jan.
They will be either 9 months and 3 yrs or 13 months and almost 4 years when we travel.
I know the 3 year old will walk some but he is all over the place sometimes so we will NEED to have him in the stroller some for his safety (and OUR sanity ) Plus, we know he will get tired from walking.

We are just at a loss as to whether we should take one double stroller or 2 single strollers?

We always took umbrella strollers and got the stroller connectors that would connect two of them together. We had three in strollers so oif only two of us were headed out one of us would push the two connected strollers and one of us would push the single. If you only have need of two strollers, the two umbrellas with the stroller connectors will give you great flexibility. You can either have the two together or apart depending on who is pushing and whether or not the kids are getting along.

 

[rebecca314]

whatever you select ... avoid side-by-sde!!! that was one nightmare I had not even considered this past summer and it stunk big time!

 

[TINKTWINS]

For 3 years I took 2 umbrella strollers down for my twins. Chicco brand at about $50. each. Has a basket, a canapy, and the handles are not to low so that your back hurts. Very easy to fold in a hurry and they actually have a strap to hook on it so you could carry it on your shoulder. You will find you will need your own stroller especially at night getting back to your car, your hotel, around the airport ect.

 

[tanyaandallie]

We just visited in Novemeber and took a side by side double stroller. I am not sure what stroller the pp have used, but our side by side is very narrow and we had no issues at all getting through doors, shopping, etc.

I much prefer the double to 2 singles. My kids are both still young and we had no plans of splitting up so there was really no reason to take 2 stroller, imo. My issue with taking 2 strollers is that if one adult wants to run and grab a drink, go to the bathroom, etc. then the other adult is stuck trying to push 2 strollers. A huge pain imo.

We have the Maclaren Ralley Twin. It's a great stroller and worked perfectly for our trip. We also have a Graco Duoglider. I love the Graco but it's just huge and we didn't want to take it with us b/c of it's size. The Maclaren folds down nicely, has nice baskets, etc. It's a great stroller.

 

[happypooh]

Just a question about the rally twin...does it recline all the way? Trying to decide on the rally vs the techno...we'll have a 9mth old and 2y9mth old when we go in september. The $100 extra doesn't quite seem worth it between the two models.

 

[cheerbop]

Just a question about the rally twin...does it recline all the way? Trying to decide on the rally vs the techno...we'll have a 9mth old and 2y9mth old when we go in september. The $100 extra doesn't quite seem worth it between the two models.

I have been looking at these 2 myself as well as the older Twin Traveller model still available at a few websites even though it has been discontinued.
From what I can tell, the Rally does not have fully reclining seats, no boot included. Techno also has extendable leg rests and is height adjustable. There are a few other things I can not think of now, but I just went to the Maclaren website. They explain all the features there.

 

[monorailsilver]

On my last trip we took 2 strollers which was fine but I could of done with one double.

We had a Jeep Umbrella & an Evenflo light weight one that had the basket/tray/cup holders for us/sun shade (and I bought it in 2002 for that Disney trip).

DH & I each pushed one.

But now I have 3 kids & my 10 mo old was getting a bit to heavy for the Bjorn so I talked my dh into a sit/stand stroller (a Joovy).

I love it. It is for our next trip to Disney in 2008 if I don't wear it out by then.

Even though it is just for 2 kids, all 3 of mine will hop on, the baby sits up front & the other two takes turns sitting & standing (one sits while one stands). They are both light so it isn't a problem.

And some people said pushing it is difficult but I don't think so, I have pushed all 3 of mine in it with out a problem.

 

[magic-camps]

We have done both. A double inline graco stoller and 2 single strollers. The double stroller we only did one time. My DH had a very difficult time on the busses, more so at night time. Although at the time my Ds was only 13 mos also. Since then we have maclaren strollers. They fold up really fast. My DD who last visited WDW when she was 5, still required a stroller sometimes. What we did is get several hooked cable ties you can use to hold things down. When she did not use the stroller, we folded it up, put it in the basket of the other stroller, and cable tied the handles to the handles of the other stroller so it wouldn't fall over. That worked rather nicely. Now DD is 7 so we are trying for the first time in march with no stroller for her . ds is 4. He will still need a stroller for the long days at times.

 

[cheerbop]

stil wanting more help with this one..thanks!

 

[hrsmom]

The first time we went with both kids we took the double and I thought it was a big PITA. We have the Graco DuoGlider (it's a tandem) and it was too heavy getting off and on the buses. The second time we went we brought two single strollers (like someone else mentioned, the Chicco brand is what we have). It was so much better having two very lightweight strollers. We will never bring the double again!

 

[lillygator]

I am struggling with this for our upcoming trip...DD's are 4 1/2 and 2....in December we rented a side by side double and it was a nightmare! (think she's touching me!!) But we were only there two nights before our cruise so did not want to take our big double stroller.
My eldest likes to walk...a lot. I am thinking for our May trip of bringing an umbrella stroller for the little one and let DD walk. We don't stay at the parks all day but do the mornings and evenings....just not too sure!

 

[flynnmnstr]

Our boys are 3 years apart and our first trip to Disney with both of them is when the younger was 5 months old. We are going on our third trip with them this August and again will be taking two strollers-- we use Maclaren.

I just think with kids that far apart there are going to be times when you need to split up even if its only for a short time-- bathrooms, one parent get a table while the other one stands in line for the food, etc. etc. When our older one is in the mood to walk a lot of times we will park the stroller and let him walk from attraction to attraction until we leave that area. Plus many times one ends up falling asleep at some point and the other is awake and ready to play. It's much nicer for one parent to sit under a shady tree on a bench while the other parent/child go do something fun.

 

[LisaNJ25]

I am bringing 2 of the red chico strollers. They are so much lighter and fold faster/smaller than my double duo glide stroller. I am also buying those plastic stroller attachments to hook them together if I need to.


I paid $45 but I know they were on sale recently for 29.99.. I cant remember where though. Mine will be turning 3 and 2 during our trip.

 

[brergnat]

How big are your kids? This makes a difference when you are considering a double stroller.

We have two boys, 2.5 and 1 right now. We take them to Disneyland VERY often.

We have too many strollers to count.

Right off the bat, rule out the front to back tandems and the sit 'n' stands. Neither are easy to maneuver OR light enough to carry effortlessly.

When we go to DL, we always take the Combi Twin Sport. It is a GREAT stroller. It can hold 90lbs of kid, and it is very lightweight itself (I want to say 14lbs). The seats are nicely padded and recline fully. The baskets (2 of them) are big enough for blankets, sippy cups, toys, sweatshirts, etc. It has a cool "tri-fold" mechanism, so it folds up about the size and shape of a golf bag. In addition, it has a shoulder strap for carrying. It is only 29" wide and fits through standard sized doors. It is easy to steer, but you do need to use two hands when the stroller is fully loaded. If there is only one child in it, you can steer one handed. The front napper bars remove individually, so if your older one doesn't want one you can take it off (also makes it easier to get in/out). It has 5 point harnesses, but they can convert to 3 point by unclipping the shoulder straps. The fabric of the seats wipes clean and is water resistant. You can easily cover the whole stroller with an adult sized poncho, but they do sell a rain cover for the Combi. The Combi Twin Sport is $200 at Babies R Us. Don't bother upgrading to the Twin Saavy...the extra features are not worth the money (basically, you get cupholders and a parent organizer for almost $100 more on the price tag).

I think this is a great double stroller for theme parks. HOWEVER, one caveat is that the seats are a bit narrow (not a problem, as my boys are not "wide", they are pretty slim). This is so that the stroller can fit into doorways. The Maclaren twin strollers have a wider profile, and they do not fit through doors as easily, although they claim it does. I "test drove" both the Maclaren Rally Twin and the Combi at the store and felt the Combi had more going for it for the money.

We have a single Maclaren Quest that I am in love with. Steers like a dream, and I use it when I have both kids grocery shopping. Put oldest in the cart, youngest in the stroller and I can pull cart/push stroller each with one hand.

I also have a Chicco Capri umbrella that is great too, but it does NOT steer one handed, thus the need to buy the Maclaren.

If you do end up taking two individual strollers, the Chicco Capri is a great one for older kids, since it doesn't recline much at all! It is only around $50 and has that handy carry strap. My 2.5 year old likes that stroller very much. It has a 40lb weight limit, but is better for shorter kids, since the sunshade and seat back are pretty low.

For a younger toddler, the Maclaren Quest is pricey, but it is very well appointed. It reclines fully, has an extendable legrest, great sunshade with tilt feature, one handed steer, carrying handle, storage pouch on back of hood, and pretty decent basket underneath. It also has a higher upper weight limit and can accommodate a taller child.

Our stroller situation is a bit unique, since our older son is very small for his age. He is super skinny (27lbs) and average height (36 inches). His little brother, however, is already 25 lbs and 33 inches tall. They are 20 months apart, but the youngest is FAST approaching the oldest, and they are looking more and more like twins, thus these twin side by side strollers work out well for us. We know that our oldest son will be under 45 lbs for a LONG time.

 

[TJA]

We feel a comfortable stroller is a necessity in Disney -- something cozy that the little ones will love being in to rest and take naps. Important things to look for in a stroller include comfortable padded seats, reclining seats, and heavy-duty canopies to block out both sun and daylight for when you want the kids to nap. We don't concern ourselves with easy-to-fold strollers because we normally try to stay at resorts where we can walk/boat/monorail to the parks as it makes the trip much more relaxing for us. We have twins and have always taken double strollers and have had no problems. We have both a graco duo glider and dreamer jogger and love both in Disney. However, again, we do avoid bus/car transporation to make things easier. And also, we never split up at the parks, thus we'd never take 2 strollers.