Need suggestions for finding double stroller

[Kermit]

If anyone who will be regularly pushing your stroller has long legs, I'd recommend not choosing anything except the Peg Perego (as far as side-by-sides go). All the others that I'm aware of (Maclaren, Combi, Kolcraft, and Jeep) have three sets of wheels across the back, with one in the middle. When my second was born, I bought a used Kolcraft just to see how often I'd use a double stroller. DH is 6'2" tall, with a long stride, and he was always getting his foot caught up in the middle wheel. One time he got pretty severely tangled up and sprained his ankle and almost tipped the stroller completely over. We bought a new Peg Perego the next day. I know it does seem flimsier than the Maclaren and Combi, but it's made of durable but light-weight material. It holds up really well.

 

[madelyn]

Another Peg Perego SBS is the Microtwin. It is an umbrella style fold that is no longer made and works well with larger kids. I'm short so don't have personal experience as a tall person pushing a Maclaren, but I think tall parents do well with Maclarens since the handles are higher and you can push with your arms extended and have more distance from the middle wheels. The Kolcraft umbrella strollers (single and double) are low to the ground and not best suited for bigger kids, tall parents. The Combis are also lower and not good for larger kids/tall parents but are very light and fold pretty compactly. I loved how light the Twin Aria is but it doesn't fold as compactly(book fold) and I think gets harder to push as kids get larger/heavier. But again, no real life experience, only going by what other parents have reported and from my experiences testing it out with my own 2 kids at Babies R Us.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Good used double strollers are hard to find. I tried really hard to get a good side-by-side, but I ended up buying new. The only used ones I could find were tandem strollers or cheap side-by-sides. However, in addition to the places you listed, you could try the classifieds in your paper. I never found one, but you might.

BTW, I ended up buying a Peg Perego Twin Aria, and it's worth the price I paid for it. It's a fantastic stroller, and I can see why people either use them until they fall apart or give/sell them to friends or family members when their kids outgrow them.

I would have to agree with kermit. We love our aria and used it at WDW so far twice and it was great. (and paid for itself in the cost of rentals.) It was worth the price. However now I want to get a peg pergo Pilko 3 and hubby is putting his foot down, another story all together.

I saw a double at toys are us yesterday that was a Jeep one for $79.

I like that the Peg only has whells on either side. I found I kicked the middle on onthe combi so we didn't get it, even though we have the combi single stroller (travel savy DX) and love it.

 

[RedRuby]

Perhaps it is more related to the strollers than the clips? Our umbrellas are $10 cheapies with no canopy and no basket. Just a seat with a 3 pt harness. I find them difficult to steer clipped together as one always gets ahead of the other.

Yes, on the odd occasion we've used a 'cheapie stroller', I've found a single hard to steer, let alone two singles clipped together.

The Maclarens are another story, though! The only problem we have is the width, which means we keep them separate to get around/through barriers (turnstiles, elevators, etc). But the Macs handle so nicely that I can steer each with one hand for short distances, and SDH can do it for longer distances (e.g. running at top speed for a commuter train!). The width would be a problem at turnstiles and might be a problem in crowds....

 

[Msslaydbug]

I agree a used Maclaren Double would be great. Have you tried calling around to consignment stores in your area ?

 

[Ardenne]

I was considering a used Maclaren also, because I wanted a double stroller that will work for a 50 lb child as well as my 30 lb toddler, but I haven't been able to find one. I didn't want to spend a lot since it was just for our trip to Disney, but I haven't found any used ones at any price except on Ebay.

This seems to be such a common issue/request here. I wonder if there might not be enough of us going in the near future who need this kind of stroller to band together and buy one as a group, then donate it to the DIS Budget Board free stroller swap program? It could easily be cheaper for each of us than renting a double stroller for length-of-stay. That $16/day really adds up fast, and I wonder if a soft, padded one might not be a lot more comfortable for the kids than the hard plastic ones they have for rent at the parks.

Maybe too messy to organize, though.