Stroller and rain...

[MommyPoppins]

should I get the $40-$50 rain cover for my stroller(Britex b ready double) or $8 alligator clips and a $1 plastic table cloth?

I live in Florida, so I know how the rain is. We plan on touring until about 1 and then coming back out around 5-6. I'm south of Disney and we've been having unusual evening rain this summer as well as the afternoon. I'm sure during 4 days we'll run into rain. But this is our last trip before our AP expire and I don't know that we'll get them next year. So spending $40+ for one trip sucks.

Any good experience with just using a plastic table cloth and alligator clips?

 

[Corey127]

I recommend the rain cover. Haven't tried the other way, but if you get stuck in torrential rain I don't think it will work

 

[china mom]

I don't have an expensive stroller but wanted to keep it as dry as possible.

I uses a trash bag and clothespins successfully for several trips. I eventually sprung for a plastic stroller cover and didn't care for it all too much. It was a pain to travel with (too much bulk in suitcase) a pain to take to the parks each day. I went back to my trash bag. I could fit that and several clothespins in the small pocket in the strolder so I always had them with me.

 

[IbeAbitGOOFY]

I would highly recommend spending the money for your a rain cover made for your model stroller. It will keep your stroller, personal belongings and your children dry. If it starts pouring down, you'll be glad you spent the money vice fumbling to cover the stroller. The covers are made to breathe and let air in/out without letting water in. Tablecloths, not so much.

 

[lynch34]

Get a cheap shower curtain. Pull it out and onto the stroller. Put some weights on it to keep it down. It's a lot bigger and works outstanding.

Unfortunately, two trips ago someone liked this idea and stole our curtain. So now we write our name all over the curtain.

 

[Mikie]

I'm cheap, so I'd not want to pay that for a specialized cover! Good point that the custom ones are made to be breathable and go over both child and stroller, though. When it was raining, and we had a stroller, we looked for cover and tried to keep all us people dry indoors or wearing ponchos. I used a trash bag and clips for the stroller itself when we'd park it for a while - as a Floridian, you know that it could easily pop up and downpour even though it was sunny before you walked in to Philharmagic and you come out to soaked belongings!. One friend of mine said that she liked a fitted waterproof crib sheet because the elastic edges helped it grip the stroller and of course it was rain repellent

 

[Woodmnky]

We have the Britax B-Agile and I bought the cover for it after trying out a cheaper option. The Britax covers are really nice, high quality, and keep everything covered. DS doesn't even mind riding in it with the cover on and it has been a lifesaver during some Florida downpours where DH & I were soaked, but the stroller and DS were dry.

 

[Klayfish]

I wouldn't waste the money. We use the $1 ponchos from Wal-Mart and have had great success. They do the job just fine. In a torrential downpour, there's no way that our entire family, stuff and stroller will stay 100% dry if we're walking around anyway. But we've never had an issue where the stroller gets so wet it's unusable.

Frankly, when it's raining THAT hard, we find somewhere inside or under cover to leave the stroller.

 

[glvsav37]

I would say get the one made for your stroller. I have done both, my thoughts:

Fitted Cover:
ensures anything under it will not get wet b/c it is sewn around the problem areas like where the canopy ends.
kids can ride in the stroller with it on—ours is clear and had side vents so the child can be comfortable and see whats going on
ours also had snaps to let the kid out w/o removing the whole cover.
folds up fine when done and doesn't take up much room in the basket.

Poncho or table cloth w/ clips
very cheap alternative
complete coverage was a problem, esp with the poncho b/c of the head hole
using a larger cover to ensure complete coverage, it was often too big and would drag on the ground—getting int the wheels and pulling the clips off.
most of them are opaque and the child cants see though them.
also, gets hot under there (I can't even wear a poncho b/c it holds so much heat IMO)
wrapping it around handles and other items that protrude from the stroller left openings for rain to get in.


not trying to spend your money, but the hassle with the cheaper option is just not worth it to me. I hate rain at WDW (our last trip it rained for 4 straight days, all day) and I'd rather NOT have one more thing top make me grumpy about then.

 

[dp911]

i have and love that stroller and mine came with the rain cover. I highly recommend it as it fits perfectly and living in FL, my stroller never got wet underneath it.

 

[pd1138]

Even though we used a rain cover for our stroller we had problems. Our maclaren apparently needs mudflaps as the water kept kicking up under the seat which wet the seat from underneath. Ugh! It was a horrid prolonged downpour so I don't believe much would have helped.

 

[Klayfish]

Even though we used a rain cover for our stroller we had problems. Our maclaren apparently needs mudflaps as the water kept kicking up under the seat which wet the seat from underneath. Ugh! It was a horrid prolonged downpour so I don't believe much would have helped.

I agree with this. We never tried the "factory" cover on any of the several strollers we had, but our experience is that in a heavy rain I don't know that anything is going to stop all water. Something is going to get a little wet. We did our best to protect valuables like phones and such, but if our kids got a little wet...well, that was just part of the Disney experience. Now, they think it's fun to walk around in the rain with no poncho.

 

[bumbershoot]

I dislike strollers and we only had one for actual jogging and then one for Disney(land...by the time we got to WDW my son didn't want to use the stroller), but I figure if I'm going to do something I'll do it "right", and we bought the fitted covers for both the jogging and for-disney stroller. Never regretted the money. The ones that are for your stroller fit nicely and stay on.

Of course the important part is to USE it. If you leave it off while parking the stroller outside during a character meal and it rains, it will do no good.

 

[jsk61006]

We have a Citi Mini GT Double and I just used a cloth shower curtain and binder clips. It worked like a charm and cost me nothing. Even in an absolute downpour, we came out of "Beauty and the Beast" to find a perfectly dry stroller. The kiddos hopped in and we then folded the shower curtain back so it covered their legs while we drove. Simple, effective, cheap. Does it look pretty? Nope! But it sure functioned exactly as we needed. We leave for a 2-week trip in 23 days (!!!) and I will definitely be bringing it again.

 

[tlmadden73]

We just used our extra ponchos to cover up the stroller while in a restaurant or attraction. With the torrential downpours that sometimes come, ANY cover isn't really going to keep it dry. It was still

An official ran cover may have kept it dryer, but I don't think it would be worth the cost and lugging it around.

We just brought a towel for my son to sit on while it dried out.

 

[MommyPoppins]

I'm cheap, so I'd not want to pay that for a specialized cover! Good point that the custom ones are made to be breathable and go over both child and stroller, though. When it was raining, and we had a stroller, we looked for cover and tried to keep all us people dry indoors or wearing ponchos. I used a trash bag and clips for the stroller itself when we'd park it for a while - as a Floridian, you know that it could easily pop up and downpour even though it was sunny before you walked in to Philharmagic and you come out to soaked belongings!. One friend of mine said that she liked a fitted waterproof crib sheet because the elastic edges helped it grip the stroller and of course it was rain repellent

That sheet idea is actually pretty cool....

i have and love that stroller and mine came with the rain cover. I highly recommend it as it fits perfectly and living in FL, my stroller never got wet underneath it.

Did it keep the basket dry? It looks like it would fall short of keeping that dry unless it was a very light rain.

 

[LSUfan4444]

should I get the $40-$50 rain cover for my stroller(Britex b ready double) or $8 alligator clips and a $1 plastic table cloth?

I live in Florida, so I know how the rain is. We plan on touring until about 1 and then coming back out around 5-6. I'm south of Disney and we've been having unusual evening rain this summer as well as the afternoon. I'm sure during 4 days we'll run into rain. But this is our last trip before our AP expire and I don't know that we'll get them next year. So spending $40+ for one trip sucks.

Any good experience with just using a plastic table cloth and alligator clips?

Shower curtains from the Dollar Stree clipped to the stroller with binder clips...when it stops raining, throw the shower curtain away. During summer months or when rain is forecasted, bring a few each day. I don't recommend trying to walk around in the rain like that, but I don't recommend that with a stroller cover either.

Works like a charm

 

[stormer]

When my boys were little we had the cover for our Maclaren and someone stole it off the stroller when it was parked outside Pizza Planet so we used a poncho the rest of the trip and it worked fine.

 

[poppinspenguins]

Is there a generic double stroller one available? We used a babies r us one (15 to 20 bucks plus they always put out coupons) for our graco stroller and it worked well. It really does not have to fit perfect...because ponchos and shower curtains don't either.

Ours actually did great though...I always tell my husband we could have stood outside mk and sold them for 100 a pop on one of the downpour days.

You can also sell it with the stroller later as an accessory in a yard sale etc.

My only concern with shower curtains is the smell. Those vinyl ones can smell for days and I would hate to have low airflow with that!

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

I don't have an expensive stroller but wanted to keep it as dry as possible.

I uses a trash bag and clothespins successfully for several trips.

I do the same thing. Just be sure to poke holes in it so the child can breathe!