How old were your kids when they didn't need the stroller AT ALL in the parks?

[NikitaZee]

Just looking for a general consensus. My kids will be 10 (way out of stroller), just turned 7 (this is my question mark) and 4. We'll have a compact or umbrella stroller for our youngest, but I'm wondering how my 7 year old will do. I'd like to not bring an additional umbrella stroller if we don't have to.

ETA: She is also the first one to complain of tiredness in our group. I'm really just thinking of letting her and the 4 year old switch out if she needs a little rest. Thanks!

 

[wendy522]

We just returned home early thurs. from just over a two week stay, we hadn't been since they were younger. This was the first trip we didn't use a stroller once in 17 days, they are 5, 6, 7, 11. We we so happy not to have to carry a stroller on and off those buses. Not one complaint. Although we were there long enough to break up our days a little

 

[JohnNYC]

My youngest son will be 6 next month and we're gonna give it a try this August without a stroller. Last trip (last August) he barely used it and obviously hasn't been in one since then. If your 7 year old hasn't been in one in a long time, I think you'll be fine.

 

[doconeill]

Every kid is different. IIRC My oldest didn't use a stroller at WDW at all at 6, and my youngest I don't think has used one since 4.

We did learn with the second one to bring our own umbrella stroller, as it was just ridiculously expensive to rent them at WDW.

If you don't like the hassle, but can get to Wal-Mart or Target down there, you can probably buy a cheap one down there for less than a day's rental.

 

[Hannathy]

My kids were out by 4. My DD was 4 and we took her stroller one day, it was a major pain moving it and dealing with it and she was barely in it so after that day it stayed in the room. Didn't even bring it for my DS or nephew when they were 4.

Everyone gets tired at Disney! If anyone is tired we go on a ride or see a show or sit down and get a snack. There is a lot of walking but there is also a lot of sitting at Disney. It isn't a marathon of constant walking.

When my DS was 5 we were there for Easter and believe me we had some mighty long days till midnight plus from opening and he did fine.

 

[lblume91]

On our last trip, our youngest was not quite 6 and she did great with all the walking. She is also the biggest complainer in our family. She liked being like her older sisters & actually prided herself on not griping. We were thoroughly impressed, expecting her to collapse mid-day.

 

[kmk1180]

So happy, next trip will be first without one.
Ours will be 6 and 4.
(did a little test trip in Jan but that was only 2 days spread out
once on a Monday and once on a Friday)

People who haven't had to bring strollers don't realize the hassle it is.
It's like being a transparent bus on a 4 lane highway.
Ya your huge, slow and they can see you but it's like they see right through you.

 

[MINNIEANN MOUSE]

I have to say, you know your children best, go with your instincts. We used a stroller for our youngest at 6 years old, however, we used one for our eldest at 7 years old. Our eldest was a bit more of a 'complainer' when it came to walking, so we saved ourselves from unecessary backaches, and brought it. Now, we officially over from our stroller days, and I have to say, it's great not to have to worry about folding, parking and finding where a CM relocated it...lol. If you think it create less stress for you in the long run, bring it!

 

[daisyduck123]

We brought one along on our trip when our youngest was in 1st grade.

We did not use it at all. I think we even left it in Disney, rather than bring it back home with us.

 

[2 Little Mermaids]

Last year my DD's were 5 and 3. They each had their own strollers, which they used. I felt DD-5 looked so big, but I didn't want the complaining and felt safer with her in it (especially after parades or fireworks.) This year I'm going to just bring the one stroller. I know my youngest will still need it but thought if the older one really starts to complain she can have a turn. If needed we can pick up another umbrella stroller down there. Fingers are crossed that won't. But I've also considered bringing both but leaving one in the room unless she really needs it, or I really need it.

 

[LaurenT]

The last time Becky used a stroller she was 4. She turned 8 in Disney over Pres week and could have kept walking longer than me....

 

[disneybliss2]

My DD was 5 when she last used one. We took two that year (UGH!) because my youngest was 14 months old and needed one as well. My 5 year old only used her when we first raced into the park at rope drop. We would park it at FL and she would walk around to all the rides. She would then only hop into it again to ride to another land. In the afternoon when I sat in a shady spot w/ my youngest while she took a nap, my DD 5 parked her stroller w/ me while she went off exploring/riding, etc. w/ daddy. She really only used it sparingly. The nicest place to have it was at Epcot because it is so spread out, especially from FW to WS.
On our last trip my oldest DD was 7 (the 5 year old mentioned above). She didn't need the stroller AT ALL. We went hard all morning (there at rope drop) and stayed until dinner around 5:15. We didn't even leave the park for afternoon breaks. We just eased up in the afternoons and made sure to have ice cream breaks, etc. We were also there in June w/ lots of people and heat. We prepared her for the walking in advance by having walking a couple of miles each night in our neighborhood a couple of months leading up to the trip. She whined endlessly on our nightly walks so I was worried about the pace at Disney. She was the polar opposite while at Disney--complete bliss. Yes, there were occasional times she got tired but she never was whiney or complained. We didn't need the stroller at all for her. If you plan to go w/out the stroller, just practice walking ahead of time to get your child used to it.

 

[pigletto]

We tried to get rid of it when ds was 6. Towards the end of the trip he was begging to be carried. Turned out he was really sick.

This time we said we'd play it by ear (he's still 6) and we rented one for our world showcase day because we toured from park opening until park close and that is 12 hours. Too long for little legs.
I am thinking we will be done with them entirely by our August trip. Yes it will be hot.. but we will do a mid day break every day to rest up and go back in the evenings so he should be fine.

 

[wdvak]

Our youngest was 9mo her first trip and we obviously used the stroller. Her next trip she was 4yo and we did just fine without.

 

[Remmy]

We just celebrated our first trip without a stroller.

DS was able to handle the walking just fine. We did go at a slower pace this time and I found we didn't do as much as we have in past vacations. This didn't bother us as this was our third trip in three years.

Pros for no stroller:
-Not having to look for stroller parking places then go pick up a stroller after attraction. **This one was a big plus for us**
-No one bumping into our DS in the stroller by accident.
-We didn't accidentally bump into displays or other people (if they stopped suddenly in front of us) with the stroller.
-No fussing with a stroller on and off of buses.

Cons for not having a stroller:
-Your child is no longer confined and we found we couldn't easily guide him away from looking at all the merchandise. (Before we would just stroll away, but this time DS wanted to go look at everything.) This was not a huge issue for us but we did find this did take a lot of time, compared to the last trips.
-Your child may become tired of all the walking. DS did not have that issue this time as we stopped a lot to just look at things and spent longer eating so he could rest up.

Never did our DS feel like he couldn't have a stroller as we told him we would rent one if required. We personally loved not having a stroller and celebrated it in our own way.

Remmy

 

[disnut8]

I hate to say it but my son was just over 3 years old. He turned three in May, we went to Disney in August and he was fine without a stroller. We did all of Epcot in one day. Now that my son is grown with kids of his own, his stepdaughter did Disney at the age of just turned five with a stroller about 1/8 of the time (it was a good $20 investment but she walked a lot), and his son retired that same $20 stroller when he was just turned 3.

Now, I have to say that when my son was 18 months old, he decided on a trip to the local mall that he did NOT want to be in a stroller. So he walked the entire time. After that, he walked everywhere and the stroller was close by but basically retired.

So, it's up to the kids and the parent. Did my son get tired after the stroller retirement? Yes. But, we rested when we had to whether it was him or us parents. And it was a few minutes and then he (or us) were ready to go.

 

[SandiKB]

My dd was 7 our last trip and she did fine, we would stop every so often so the kids could sit for a 10 min break.

 

[Southern Soprano]

I'm really excited. Tomorrow we're leaving for the World....and it will be our first trip without a stroller attached to us!!
My dd is almost 8 and has been without for 3 yrs. My ds is 6 and used it last year but thinks he's too grown for one. All the better for us parents. We don't have to lug one around and they'll probably be worn out at the end of the day from all the walking.

 

[saraalison]

DS7 didn't use a stroller. Did complain a few times that his legs were tired. DD5 didn't use one either and was going strong. Not a single complaint.

 

[Belle72]

We used ours minimally at 7 yrs for DD who tires easily. Not during the day--only in the evenings when we wanted to shop around Epcot. We felt it gave her a place to sit and watch fireworks, have a snack and helped us know where she was in the darkened park. Otherwise we would not have toured in the evening after having toured all day.

This year at 8 we did not bring one for her but my DS4 used his often. If we slowed down we would not need one but we don't want to and don't mind bringing the stroller. I like to have a place to put other stuff too. We use a small Maclaren umbrella style. We did see some families who did not have strollers carrying 4-6 yr olds--now that I would not want to do!!