Double Strollers in Parks...

[katiesmom2]

We always take our Graco duoglider (front-back seating) and we love it. We drive to the parks, so we don't have to deal with buses and getting it on and off (understandably, it is a heavy stroller). We love that the back seat folds down so completely so DS can nap if he needs to. We find that it maneuvers well and doesn't cause a problem in crowds. We can also get through the stores much more easily. I often see people with a s/s struggling to make it down aisles.

IMO, the rental strollers are VERY uncomfortable. I wouldn't want to sit on hard plastic all day. And most have no cover for shade from the sun. We hate those things!

 

[Georgia]

I have a side by side for my twin boys. I love it. BUT it is hard to get in doors and it draws more attention to the twins. That may not be a problem in WDW as people will too busy to notice. In order to make the bus and rides easier...we are buying two umbrella strollers. Easier to fold up and less hassle. I'm worried about storage space in the umbrella.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Hmmm...a lot of food for thought. I appreciate everyone's personal experiences and opinions. This is very helpful.

 

[TJA]

We have twins and have both types of strollers. Although the side-by-side take more room up walking through a crowd, getting through a door and (usually) have less storage space, they are SIGNIFICANTLY lighter and easier to deal with. That's what we'll be taking when we go...

Dawn McG

I could've written this myself! We also have twins and have both kinds of strollers. We also prefer the side by side (we have Dreamer Jogger). Our Dreamer is significantly lighter and significantly easier to manuever than our tandom is (Graco Duo Glider). The only spot that is slightly tight to get through is MK park entrance/exit. All the other parks have a lot of room at the entrance/exit, actually with room to spare. We would not go to WDW without our Dreamer. However, that is just our own personal opinion and it works very well for us. Something very important for us is that both seats recline individually and have individual canopies. Therefore, if just one twin wants to recline and sleep, she can do that without interfering with the other twin.

 

[*MickeyFan*]

Go front to back. Side by side can be real annoying in crowds. Also side by sides have a hard time in stores. I know some say leave them outside but most take them in. Personally I hate the side by side. They take up too much room and for some odd reason you notice all the side by sides as most ppl with them seem to always stop in the middle of a walkway to read there map. Yes I have kids 2 of them. Yes I had strollers. No I never had a side by side. We had a double one in front of the other. Kids don't really care where they sit. They can take turns in the front. Mainly it's a parent prefference. Reguardless have a great time while on vacation. I figure i'm now going to be slammed for my opinion. Keep in mind we were asked for our opinion. Thats what I gave.

I totally agree! I have a side by side and front to back, and two umbrella strollers. Now my kids are 2.5 and 5.5 it's getting hard to find a comfortable stroller for DS 5.5. We bought one at W-mart last week for 89.00 it is the front and back kind. the kids both LOVE it! We went for buying a new stroller instead of renting one (put the money towards something we can keep for future adventures). They know it's for when we go see Mickey Mouse too We had a hand me down last year that was a front to back and that we felt was the way to go! We are staying at Pop, and did last year as well. The stroller is bigger, and heavier... But I would rather my kids be comfortable. If the bus is to crowded we just wait for the next one. Wasn't a problem last year Good luck with your decision jen

 

[Mouse House Mama]

The only problem with the front to back ones is that both seats do not fully recline. Also- if you have big kids (which I do) they will not be comfortable in the back seat. We have tried just about every stroller out there. There wasn't one front to back that was comfortable for the kids. Our friends had the same problem. I have always used a s/s and never had any problem. I guess it's what you are used to.

 

[*MickeyFan*]

The only problem with the front to back ones is that both seats do not fully recline. Also- if you have big kids (which I do) they will not be comfortable in the back seat. We have tried just about every stroller out there. There wasn't one front to back that was comfortable for the kids. Our friends had the same problem. I have always used a s/s and never had any problem. I guess it's what you are used to.

The stroller I just got both of the seats recline. My DS will need a blanket for his head for comfort, but it will work. There is also a nice foot area (hard plastic step) for DS to put his feet. The side by side we have is the jeep one. DS is to heavy for that one, so the plastic/rubber foot area now rubs on the wheels DS is 53lbs and DD is 32lbs. jen

 

[mommytomy3]

I could've written this myself! We also have twins and have both kinds of strollers. We also prefer the side by side (we have Dreamer Jogger). Our Dreamer is significantly lighter and significantly easier to manuever than our tandom is (Graco Duo Glider). The only spot that is slightly tight to get through is MK park entrance/exit. All the other parks have a lot of room at the entrance/exit, actually with room to spare. We would not go to WDW without our Dreamer. However, that is just our own personal opinion and it works very well for us. Something very important for us is that both seats recline individually and have individual canopies. Therefore, if just one twin wants to recline and sleep, she can do that without interfering with the other twin.

I have a duoglider and a Dreamer Ditto as well! While I love my Dreamer for our walks, I think it'd be too difficult in the parks as far as width and folding up for the bus and monrail. I like the duo glider for the parks because I think its easier in the stores and it fits on the monrail.. I also love the sun shade cover I have that fits it. Next year, though, I think I will get 2 maclaren volos.. ds' will be 2&4 and be way too big for the duoglider

 

[TJA]

Well the Dreamer is easy for the monorail because you just roll it on one of the various handicap parts. And when we stay in an Epcot resort, we can walk to Epcot and MGM and also catch the monorail to MK from inside Epcot. There are lots of ways to avoid folding up the stroller! Anyway, the width is a bit difficult in stores, yes. I normally park it outside a store or find an empty spot inside a store to park it. The entrance and exit to each park is easy, except for MK which is a tight fit but no problems.

 

[mommytomy3]

Well the Dreamer is easy for the monorail because you just roll it on one of the various handicap parts. And when we stay in an Epcot resort, we can walk to Epcot and MGM and also catch the monorail to MK from inside Epcot. There are lots of ways to avoid folding up the stroller! s.

hmmmmm.. making it tempting for me to bring my Ditto, LOL ! I try so hard to avoid folding up the stroller too! we always stay BWV (we are dvc members) so we walk to Epcot & MGM, and we drive ourselves to AK, and we only take the bus to MK - we take the monorail to Epcot and then walk back "home" so, the only time we have to fold is on the way to MK !

 

[Disneyolic]

hmmmmm.. making it tempting for me to bring my Ditto, LOL ! I try so hard to avoid folding up the stroller too! we always stay BWV (we are dvc members) so we walk to Epcot & MGM, and we drive ourselves to AK, and we only take the bus to MK - we take the monorail to Epcot and then walk back "home" so, the only time we have to fold is on the way to MK !

When we stayed at the Yacht Club, we had our Graco Duo-Glider. We were able to roll it onto the ferry to MGM. The kids couldn't stay in it but we didn't have to fold it up. It also easily rolled onto all monorail compartments (except front) with the kids still in.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

How far back does the Dreamer recline?

I think my biggest issue right now is for our trip in December. My son will be only 5mo and I feel that we may need to attach the carseat to the stroller which makes me think that the tandem is best - specifically, the Duo Glider. When we took my daughter at 5mo we were grateful we had our travel system with us. BUT, what happens when we go next year and he doesn't need the coverage and comfort of a car seat? I don't want to deal with having to purchase yet another stroller.
We already have a P3 and Graco Travel System.

What the heck do I do with all of these strollers when I'm done with them??!!

 

[rmjkharrisfam]

We bought a Combi side by side a few months ago - specifically for our trip. We had a tandem and hated it. The Combi is really easy to turn and manuver - even with 2 kids that are significantly different weights. We have taken a test drive so to speak for our trip to Disney Last weekend we went to the Mall of America (we live in the area) to try it out in the crowds. A Saturday morning at the MOA can be just as bad as the MK It worked great! Since it is the umbrella style side by side we even folded it up for a while to have DH carry it - no problems

 

[ranthony]

The seats on my Ditto do not give a "full" recline (they do recline to about 45 degrees) I personally wouldn't put my 5 mo twins in it, they went into it at 7 mo. I used it for about 3 months before I gave up and got a Runabout/2 by Berg. My main complaint with the Dreamer was that if it did fit through a door it was usually such a tight sqeeze that if either of my twins had their hands holding onto the side seat bars they would get crushed. This happened a few times and that was enough for me! Also, the Dreamers do not fold compactly unless the wheels are off (I know this is true of any jogger) so I'm not sure it would be a handy choice to take if you'll be using the buses or plan on riding the trains at MK or AK.

 

[TJA]

How far back does the Dreamer recline?

I think my biggest issue right now is for our trip in December. My son will be only 5mo and I feel that we may need to attach the carseat to the stroller which makes me think that the tandem is best - specifically, the Duo Glider.

I will say that we took our Graco Duo Glider to WDW when our girls were under 2 yrs old. It was more suitable for babies, I think. The Dreamer is better now that our girls are older. I do have it easy in that regard (having twins....) because one double stroller will suit both of them being the same age. As a side note, yes the Dreamer reclines pretty far and each seat reclines individually. But I'm really not sure how great it would be for a baby. I do love it with 3 year olds, though.

 

[TJA]

hmmmmm.. making it tempting for me to bring my Ditto, LOL ! I try so hard to avoid folding up the stroller too! we always stay BWV (we are dvc members) so we walk to Epcot & MGM, and we drive ourselves to AK, and we only take the bus to MK - we take the monorail to Epcot and then walk back "home" so, the only time we have to fold is on the way to MK !

Oh wow, sounds like we are a lot alike! We tend to stay at the Epcot resorts also, BC being our favorite, just so we can walk everywhere! We do the same thing regarding MK -- sometimes we even monorail both ways! When our twins were 7 months old in Disney, we totally skipped AK so we didn't have to take a bus at all the entire trip. We took the tandom stroller back then, but it was still a pain unloading all the baby gear plus the babies! I see someone just posted not liking the Dreamer in Disney. I did notice a few stores where it was a tight fit, so I can surely understand that complaint. However, we didn't have any other problems. Oh, yes, DH did remove the wheels to fold it up for the bus, but it took him 16 seconds from start to finish(yes, we timed him!). He is the expert stroller folder (LOL) and his comment was that the tandom was harder to load on buses, but it was easier to fold up. The Dreamer is more compact and easier to load on a bus, but it's harder to fold up.

 

[TJA]

The seats on my Ditto do not give a "full" recline (they do recline to about 45 degrees)

My Dreamer seats do not give a full recline either. My twins are 3-1/2 and the recline is great for them at this particular age. However, we took our tandom Graco Duo Glider to WDW up until our twins were probably close to 2 years old. Then we switched to the Dreamer and have loved it.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

We bought a Combi side by side a few months ago - specifically for our trip. We had a tandem and hated it. The Combi is really easy to turn and manuver - even with 2 kids that are significantly different weights. We have taken a test drive so to speak for our trip to Disney Last weekend we went to the Mall of America (we live in the area) to try it out in the crowds. A Saturday morning at the MOA can be just as bad as the MK It worked great! Since it is the umbrella style side by side we even folded it up for a while to have DH carry it - no problems

If you don't mind me asking, how old are your children and how much do they weigh?

Just wanted to add...to those of you talking about staying at Epcot resorts, for the most part we do too. And with another baby coming we decided that staying in this location will be extremely important for the next several years. When we took my daughter at 5mo, we stayed at BWV. We were able to walk to Epcot and MGM, monorail to MK and we didn't even attempt AK because we wanted to avoid the stroller on the bus AND we didn't feel like driving there. We always have a car. On our second trip with her we stayed at SSR and FW cabin and it was a pain having to 'travel' (yes, we're spoiled) to all locations. Plus we avoided the bus like the plague because we didn't feel like dealing with the stroller on the bus. So when we purchase this new baby vehicle (LOL) it will be under the assumption of an Epcot Resort scenario and no buses.

Overall, it seems that at this time we'll end up buying a Graco Duo Glider for our newborn's comfort and then bite the bullet and get a Peg Perego Aria Twin eventually. I do not want to sacrifice my children's comfort because I'm being cheap. I just hate the thought of having 4 strollers by the end of this!!! LOL I'll have to try to sell a few of them eventually. We take very good care of them.

This has been a really great thread.