Need Stroller Advice!

[DinahInWonderland]

In September we will be taking our 14 month old on his first Disney trip and aren't sure which stroller to take. We have a Chicco Liteway that I love but I'm looking for something a little more comfortable for naps with a few more features.

I have an almost impossible list of features I want: snack tray, adult cup holder, large hood, reclining seat, good sized basket, easy compact fold, durable, and hopefully not too expensive!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Pluto09]

jeepworld.com/merchandise/jeepstrollers/cherokeestrollers

We use one of these, though it's an older model it's basically the same. Has a tray on the front with two cup holders that's perfect for a cup of snacks and a water bottle. 2 cup holders on the back along with a small storage bin between the cup holders that can easily hold cell phones, wallets, etc. It lays back far enough that they can lay all the way down and has a nice storage bin under it. Folds up fast just by squeezing the button up on the handle and it steers great being a 3 wheel and not a 4 so it's comfortable for our kiddo and convienent for us!

 

[sritter78]

I recently bought a jeep jogging stroller. It does everything but fold compactly ( but it does fold very easily). The storage is amazing! This is wht we take to our local theme park and water park. It will come to Disney next year.

 

[Figee17]

I have 4 strollers for ONE child. Yup, thats right, 4 strollers. Its stupid. But it came to be because of traveling and my lack of foresight. When I registered, I wanted the biggest/best (within reason) so got a BOB revolution and a full size Graco stroller combo. The we went to CO when DS was only 10 weeks old and the thought of lugging a huge stroller around led me to buy a frame stroller for his bucket seat. Low and behold at 8 months, I took him to WDW and traveled by plane by myself with him. Again, didn't want to lug a big stroller and didn't want him in his bucket seat all throughout Disney. I too wanted a lot of options (clearly, I wanted a lot!) but didn't want to spend money (I have a garage full of stroller and no plans to have more kids). I went with a First Years Ignite (as PP mentioned). It has taken me through 3 trips to WDW with my DS and countless other local trips and we both love it! Good luck and no matter what, you're going to have a great time!

 

[wdwmama19]

I have seen a lot of Maclaren strollers at Disney. They seem to be the "it" stroller to use for Disney trips. I have a 9 month old DD and whenever we take her to Disney I will most likely be getting a Maclaren because they are the perfect size. I don't want a bulky one.

 

[twinboysmom]

In September we will be taking our 14 month old on his first Disney trip and aren't sure which stroller to take. We have a Chicco Liteway that I love but I'm looking for something a little more comfortable for naps with a few more features.

I have an almost impossible list of features I want: snack tray, adult cup holder, large hood, reclining seat, good sized basket, easy compact fold, durable, and hopefully not too expensive!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

What is your budget? A graco urban lite stroller is under $130 and would fit your requests. I know graco products don't get a lot of love on these boards but I think they're fine and my graco has held up wonderfully. If you have more money to spend a baby jogger citi mini or a britax b-agile would be wonderful but you have to purchase the snack tray and I think the cup holders separately. They will be a little more durable but they (IMO) are a bit short on storage.
I know a pp mentioned a maclaren. Not that much different than your existing stroller and meets very little of your criteria (no snack tray, no cup holder, so so recline, small basket). I have a double that we bought for WDW. I will just say its not my favorite and I wouldn't buy another. M

 

[pooh4brains]

I consider our Graco the workhorse of our large stroller collection. It has a huge basket, large hood, reclines for comfy napping, TWO parent cup holders, and a snack tray. It folds with one hand, and is very lightweight a durable. I can lift it into the back of our car while holding 15 mo DD.

We also have a Joovy Caboose, a Maclaren double, an off brand jogger, and our aged but still solid umbrella stroller from a Disney trip 5 years ago when we were foolish enough to hit Disney sans stroller.

 

[TwistGrl101]

Just rent one from orlandostrollerrentals.com

 

[ppony]

Between our 2 children, we've purchased I think 6 strollers. Most with Disney in mind. Until we bought the last one, I have been cursing the stroller insudtry for not having those items the OP is requesting so readily available! I mean really, it's not hard. FINALLY, I bought the Jeep one and it's phenomenal! Except for folding compactly. though I think the ones out now are much better w/ that front wheel. Our FAVORITE after 12 years of stroller experience is this one:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2633095

It's comfortable for both us and our son. And this sucker has taken some serious abuse and keeps on going!

I'm debating which one we'll take this time. The jeep is by far the most comfortable and sturdy, but it's big, hard to get around in crowded stores (though that's the case w/ all strollers just about) and the folding just is a pain. But still, it's a GREAT stroller.
Large basket size, adult and child drink holders and a food tray are essential for us. You'd be surprised at how often those options are not all together on one stroller.

 

[blessedby3]

We have taken our Mac Quest for our 3rd child and loved it. With our 4th (since she started going at 3 mos and needed a bit more of a stroller than the Mac) we bought a Baby jogger city mini. It is like the ones lots of companies rent and it is great. It doesnt have some of the features you want, but you can add them. The stroller has the easiest fold ever, it has tall handles, it has a sun canopy that practically goes to the child'd legs, it has ventelation above the head for when the canpoy is down, it pushes like a dream! We bought the child snack tray and we also have a buggy board on top for parents drinks. They have one on albeebaby.com for $149 but it is pink. The next price is $189. Here is a link
http://www.albeebaby.com/baby-jogger-city-mini-single-8-stroller-2011-crimson-gray.html
We have used this for many WDW trips and cant say enough great things about it!

 

[ppony]

Just wanted to update from my last post. I'm a bit of a connoisseur of strollers. While I LOVE the one I have, we saw the Jeep Liberty one in person today. We have the older version. They really improved it! The front wheel doesn't stick out as far as it did before. Only about 6-8 inces beyond my other when i set them side by side. The 2 adult cup holders were nice and deep. Of course, the baskey was huge but even better...it had TWO baskets!!!! Let me enlighten you as to the new one. The new one is separate from the other one though only by mesh under the stroller. But what is COOL about it is it's under your child's legs and feet. So if they kick off their shoes or drop a toy, 9 times out of 10 it's going to land in that basket! It's total genius! We walked into Babies R Us just to get a few sippies and my DH said "Shall we get the proverbial new stroller for our Disney trip" as we seem to buy a new one for each trip for some reason. We totally didn't mean to this time. But we looked at it and we both were blown away! It's AWESOME!!!! So I suppose that means we'll be buying sttroller number 8 now. Lordy!

I don't know how people manage w/ those Maclarens. They are "it" because they're trendy, expensive, likely well made materials-wise and have been for a decade or more. People must like something about them. I just don't see it. That basket is waaaaay too small for us. I've looked at them over the years and could never buy one because of that basket and usually it's missing other features we find essential too. God knows we spend that much every time, so it's not cost. To each their own.

 

[mickeys4]

Just rent one from orlandostrollerrentals.com

Agreed. We rented a city mini single, liked it so much we came home and bought a double. (wife was preggo with #2 during our trip). Now we're going back with our double and two kids. The lay flat seats were a big plus for us.

 

[allie1078]

I got a zooper twist for my son, when we first went to disney. he was 20 months old and it has an almost flat recline, huge canopy, basket, cup holder, umbrella style fold, easy to push, great stroller overall. one thing it lacks is the snack tray. but I didnt find that we needed it. It has now made 3 trips to disney and probably one last trip next summer, as my son will be 6 and getting to old for one.

 

[Mrs.viv07]

I'm obssesed with strollers...I have 7 and 2 boys one is 11
I have:
1-the kolcraft they sell at Disney, good for a quick walk to get ice cream down the block.
2- Mclaren lightweight, same deal as above twice the money ( in my defense though mom bought that one) one good thing is when folded it has a shoulder carry strap.
3-We got the chicco cortina system for our shower, wonderful while baby was little. But very bulky and heavy and not the easiest fold
4-my all time favorite and big splurge the uppa baby vista, love the bassinet love the ability to flip the seat so baby faces us. LOVE the huge basket. That can be accessed from front or back
I still look at it and wish we were taking that to Disney instead of
5- bay jogger city mini. I love the one hand quick fold, the fact that it reclines all the way, and the HUGE canopy, don't like the small and hard to access basket and that it doesn't really stand on its own. I don't like that the accessories are IMO overpriced seriously you couldnt even include the belly bar?!
I have a cup holder/ tray thing that was $19 at target for baby to put drink in or snacks. And we have the sunshine kids parent console. So no biggie swapping those around.
6- I still have the peg perego stroller that is big bulky but you could move the bar around to change the way you child faces either out or you. Instead of flipping the seat. It also laid flat for naps...buts it's bulky and heavy.
With all that if we were not gonna use the buses or monorail the the uppa would be my choice by far. Like I said I do like the city mini but the baskets leaves a lot to be desired. I got the mommy hook and its worked fine. I know I'm putting a mini lunch box cooler for quick snacks that I can access sideways and maybe the bag with change of clothes ect it is a pain to get stuff out though. I've been racking my brain on how to modify it to make it better

 

[Elleshoodat]

We have a 20-month-old DS and have gone through four strollers since he was born.

By far our favorite (and most likely the only one we will use when we have a new baby) is the Britax B-Agile. It's similar to the City Mini, but when we bought our B-Agile, Baby Jogger hadn't made the improvements it made to this year's City Mini. It maneuvers really well, it has an awesome sunshade and DS loves it, as do we.

 

[ammag]

re: maclarens...4 years ago when we bought ours it seemed everyone here (NYC) used them so I figured they were good. Ive been very happy with it! we used it for light use until DD outgrew the bugaboo and we still use it for her and now my son. Its good for buses and subways and Ive been fine with the basket. but I dont know anything else for lightweight strollers! there are so many good options now I wish i could have a few different ones! FWIW I think the city mini has eclipsed the maclaren here now

 

[danceintherain]

I'm obssesed with strollers...I have 7 and 2 boys one is 11
I have:
1-the kolcraft they sell at Disney, good for a quick walk to get ice cream down the block.
2- Mclaren lightweight, same deal as above twice the money ( in my defense though mom bought that one) one good thing is when folded it has a shoulder carry strap.
3-We got the chicco cortina system for our shower, wonderful while baby was little. But very bulky and heavy and not the easiest fold
4-my all time favorite and big splurge the uppa baby vista, love the bassinet love the ability to flip the seat so baby faces us. LOVE the huge basket. That can be accessed from front or back
I still look at it and wish we were taking that to Disney instead of
5- bay jogger city mini. I love the one hand quick fold, the fact that it reclines all the way, and the HUGE canopy, don't like the small and hard to access basket and that it doesn't really stand on its own. I don't like that the accessories are IMO overpriced seriously you couldnt even include the belly bar?!
I have a cup holder/ tray thing that was $19 at target for baby to put drink in or snacks. And we have the sunshine kids parent console. So no biggie swapping those around.
6- I still have the peg perego stroller that is big bulky but you could move the bar around to change the way you child faces either out or you. Instead of flipping the seat. It also laid flat for naps...buts it's bulky and heavy.
With all that if we were not gonna use the buses or monorail the the uppa would be my choice by far. Like I said I do like the city mini but the baskets leaves a lot to be desired. I got the mommy hook and its worked fine. I know I'm putting a mini lunch box cooler for quick snacks that I can access sideways and maybe the bag with change of clothes ect it is a pain to get stuff out though. I've been racking my brain on how to modify it to make it better

I'm totally jealous of your Vista. It's my dream stroller, but it was a bit too pricey and it's too heavy for what I need to be able to do with my stroller (ie. carry it up and down stairs with my child inside it).

In addition to a $10 umbrella stroller I picked up on a trip when I forgot mine, I have a Baby Jogger City Mini and an Uppababy G-Luxe.
The City Mini was my first stroller and I have since bought quite a few of the accessories, so now the only thing it might not have that you want is the large basket, but I've never had any problems with the size of the basket. I even take it grocery shopping and have managed to pack quite a bit in the basket. I'm a pretty light packer when I go out though, because I'm usually alone and have to deal with the stroller, the child, and anything I take without assistance. The only issues I've had with it is the weight (even though at 19 lbs it's lighter than many strollers out there) and the fact that it isn't freestanding folded.

My Uppababy was a purchase I made after I realized how impractical a heavy stroller is whilst using public transportation. The first time I ended up having to carry my non-walking child, the stroller, and everything in it up a VERY long flight of stairs because an elevator was broken, I began researching alternatives. It's only 11 lbs, collapses easily, has an almost full recline, and stands up when folded. The basket isn't very large, but it works fine for me. It came with a parent cup holder, but I'm not sure if a child tray is an option. I haven't noticed a problem without one.

Anyways...the main factor is your budget and your priorities. I've spent well over $300 on my Baby Jogger with various accessories (rain cover, child tray, adult tray) and $189 on the Uppababy with no accessories. I LOVE both strollers. My sister, on the other hand, is perfectly happy with her Gracos.
Honestly, while I think it's a great idea to keep Disney in mind when purchasing a stroller, I don't think it's worth it to purchase a separate stroller specifically for Disney. I made a point of finding a stroller with a decent recline for my second choice, but in reality, my son sleeps perfectly fine with the seat fully upright. Usually he'll fall asleep with it up, and if I try to recline it, he wakes up, so most of the time I don't even bother. My main reason for buying a new stroller was to cut out some of the weight, so the fact that one of the subsidiary reasons doesn't really hold water doesn't bother me.
The Chicco Liteway is a good stroller, so if I was trying to get all the things you want with that stroller already, I would probably buy some non-brand accessories and call it good.

 

[cmdg]

We tried them all... and I love our BumbleRide strollers! We have the jogger and the regular and I think I am going to get the umbrella model for our trip next summer. They are lightweight with huge canopies, easy to fold and have cupholders.

 

[jessic2422]

I love my city mini, it's folding can't be beat. I suggest you take your car to the store and make sure the stroller fits in the trunk. I have a Acura TL and couldn't fit a number of strollers in my large trunk. I did buy the city mini with plans to take it to Disney. The one handle fold on the monorail will be an asset.

 

[danceintherain]

We tried them all... and I love our BumbleRide strollers! We have the jogger and the regular and I think I am going to get the umbrella model for our trip next summer. They are lightweight with huge canopies, easy to fold and have cupholders.

I had it narrowed down between a Baby Jogger and a Bumbleride when I was purchasing my first stroller. I basically ended up with the City Mini by default, because I couldn't find a place to test out the Flite. Now that I've looked back, it seems that the Flite would have fit my specifications better and probably would have kept me from having to get my G-luxe a little over a year later. Oh well, you live and learn.