I know another stroller question...If you have a Graco Quatro

[dsneygirl]

Did you take it to WDW and how did you find it? What about on the airplane? At some point I want to get Macleran but I think my son will be too young for one in Oct. I was thinking about taking the Quatro but not the car seat part and leaving it in recline. My son was 9lbs at birth so I have no idea how big he will be in Oct.

Any thoughts?

 

[Disneyfriend]

Congrats on your new addition!

Since your son will be around 4 months at the time of your trip, I think you'd be happier staying with the Quattro. He's going to be sleeping a lot at that point, and you'll be happy you have a good recline ability and an awesome adjustable sunshade. Plus you yourself will enjoy the huge basket underneath!

The downside of the Quattro, of course, is that it will be big and heavy. But there are tradeoffs like that in strollers, and I think it's pretty important to have a nice comfy stroller at 4 months. For me, personally, that would outweigh the size and weight factors.

One other thought - if you don't want to take your own stroller, you can rent a Graco Quattro from A Baby's Best Friend. (www.abbf.com) I haven't yet used them personally, but they get nothing but rave reviews around here. We're using them for our September trip.

Have a great trip - and I think you're going at a perfect age! Your little guy won't be mobile yet, and will be happy to spend most of his time in the stroller. Also consider taking your favorite type of baby carrier, since you won't be able to take a stroller into line.

Have a great recovery . . . hope you get some sleep soon!

Disneyfriend

 

[PrincessEmilysMommy]

We took ours for our 20 month old. I am so glad we did. She had a snack tray, we had plenty of room for drinks and bags underneath and no one had to carry anything. It was super easy to fold when needed.

I would take it again it a hearbeat.

 

[lady9]

Take the Quattro. We have a bigger stroller though not a Quattro and a Maclaren Triumph and love both. At your son's age, you will want a bigger stroller with the huge basket. At the airport, ask for a gate check tag for the stroller. When you board the plane, put the stroller at the end of the ramp right by the plane's door. Be sure to fold it up. When you get off the plane, the stroller will be waiting for you by the plane's door. If you are making a connection, check to see if you need another tag or if the one you have is OK. I recommend ABBF for a full size crib as the pack-n-plays are not too comfy for many infants but many do just fine. My own children never slept in them well so I would at least do a test run in a pack-n-play at night closer to the time of your trip. I would take your own stroller because it is nice to have it in the airport.

 

[Nanu57v]

We took our Quattro Tour with our then 8.5 month old last December. Its a pain getting on and off the buses, and I could'nt have done it alone, but I'm definitely glad we brought it. DD just slept when she was tired, and at night we tucked a blanket over her. The storage basket underneath was perfect for all the stuff we brought with us. I'm also glad we brought our own because it was so nice wheeling her through the airport and right up to the gate. The stroller was waiting for us when we got off the plane, too.


Congratulations!

 

[merrywether]

We just got back from my son's first trip and the Quattro was a lifesaver. He was already comfortable in it, and as other posters have said, the space it provides for diaper bag, souvenirs, etc. is priceless. We wouldn't have been able to easily get to our airport gate without having it to help bring our carry-ons and keep our little one secured in transit. The only pains were folding it up at the security checkpoint and at the trams in the parking lots. However, we never had any cast members making us feel rushed when we had to fold up that behemoth of a stroller and hoist it up into the tram. They understand that these things take time! Additionally, my son had his nap right in the park one day, and we had late lunch reservations at Le Cellier at the time. Rather than having to park the stroller outside and wake him up to go in the restaurant, the cast members gave us a table with some room next to it so we could bring the stroller right in - he slept through the entire meal!
The pros of bringing it definitely outweighed the cons - bring the Quattro!

 

[dsneygirl]

Thanks everyone for your comments. It was the busses at WDW that I was kind of worried about. However we are staying at BCV so we can walk to 2 of the parks and don't have to worry about the parking lot trams since no car this trip.

 

[Debbiebee68]

I bought my Quattro for my son for our trip to Disney last year and I used it again this year. If I would have rented, I would have spent the same money, had nothing to show for it and still been faced with a tired toddler from the gate to WDW transportation. He was 2 at the time and he gets very tired walking. I have a Maclaren Quest as well, but I use it for short trips, not vacations. Yes, the Quattro is a little heavy, but the comfort of my son was well worth the inconvenience of putting it on the bus. I hate the way kids look umbrella strollers, they are always so folded in and it is hard to sit up straight. It must be heck on their poor little backs! (Unless you are big park hoppers, it is only the trip there and the trip home anyway!
Plus, the big basket and the drink holders were AWESOME!! And, the little compartment on the drink holders was a great place to stash our digital camera for those quick, must have shots!
We wheeled it right up to the gate on all legs of our trip and it was never a problem at all. Jet Blue did put a pretty good scratch on the frame this trip, but I chalked it up to air travel.
ENJOY your trip!!!

 

[mexican-mouseketeers]

Take your Quattro Tour or rent one from abbf Last year we took our almost 3 yo, and used her sit´n stroll for the airplane and rental car, and rented a Quattro Tour from abbf and were really happy with the stroller.

This year we will be taking a Maclaren Quest since our dd is almost 38 lbs and will turn 4 in our trip.

Julie

 

[SaraMc]

We are taking ours with us too, we just are going to take off the cup holders when it goes on the plane as we have heard that they sometimes come off in air travel. But my little guy will be 6 months when we go and the rental ones at the parks just dont look comfy or that he could sleep in it.

 

[JoiseyMom]

We took ours last year and the year before that, when ds was 3 & 4. I wish he still fit in it now! He rode and napped in it on both trips! It is a great stroller.

 

[dsneygirl]

Thanks everyone for the new replies. When you get checked it did you just fold it up with the red latch or something extra? Our red latch is really finicky and doesn't always stick. I was wondering about using a bungee cord or something else?

 

[airtime247]

I'm glad someone posted this question as I've been thinking about it for months. We have a Quattro and our DD will be 9 months old for her first trip to WDW in November.

We brought it to Disneyland for four days in June and it was fantastic. She was very comfortable and slept in it a lot more than we expected.

The downsides to it were that it was really hard to get in the trunk of the rental car. So hard in fact that I ended up putting it in the front seat and my DW sat in the back seat next to our DD!

We had the grey loop latched and it stayed closed for the flight there but came undone on the flight home. I think I will go with a bungee next time.

The other inconvenient part was trying to get through the shops. It was pretty tight and I kept bumping the front wheels (inexperienced driver, I know) into the merchandise displays. Of course this kept waking her up!

We bought a pretty good smaller stroller recently to bring to WDW so we wouldn't have the issues with the car (we probably won't take the buses much) and shops but we have found our DD isn't nearly as comfortable in it. She hasn't slept in it yet and gets a little crabby in it.

We are going to try taking her around a lot to try to get her used to it but if she doesn't, we will bring the Quattro.

-steve

 

[dsneygirl]

The other inconvenient part was trying to get through the shops. It was pretty tight and I kept bumping the front wheels (inexperienced driver, I know) into the merchandise displays. Of course this kept waking her up!

Interesting that you mention this because I find that even in the stores at our local mall. Many are not stroller friendly at all. I definitely think I will use a bungee, our clip is wimpy

 

[ekball]

I took our quattro when DD was just under 3 months - you totally need that kind of stroller when they are that little. We were not onsite, so didn't have to deal with the busses, etc. In addition to your quattro you should try and bring a baby bjorn, or something similar. We brought our bjorn and DD spent a lot of time in that as we walked around the parks...awake AND asleep! Of course, you won't want to use it if it's too hot - we were there in Jan. and the temp. was fine for using the bjorn.

 

[airtime247]

Our Baby Bjorn was great to have at Disneyland too. It was nice until the sun got to be too much and then we kept her in the stroller.

We also used it a lot for rides. With her facing me, she slept through Haunted Mansion, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Mr. Toad. It was nice for all of us!

-steve