Stroller Debate

[Goofy Groupie]

Hi there - I've got two kids - 6 and 3. We want to bring a double stroller because the days can still be long for my 6 year old. I have a great double stroller with lots of basket space but it's bulky and difficult to travel with. I also have two umbrella strollers that I can connect which are very easy to travel with but has no basket/storage.

So, which one would you bring?

 

[Princess Roo]

Personally, I would bring the two umbrellas and purchase some accessories that can be used as storage. (Here's one store with a lot of variety, but there are cheaper ones out there: http://store.carryyou.com) Sometimes you won't need both strollers and that gives you the option of leaving one behind. For example, at the parks you may find it easier to wheel both strollers in from the car/bus, but then leave one parked in one of the stroller parking areas most of the day while the kids alternate in the other stroller and then just go back and retrieve it when the kids get tired.

 

[5/4Disney]

I bring umbrella strollers. We have 3 children 9,6,3 and it works for us. At times the 3yr old does not want to ride so they will take turns. We only take one, and have not had any problems. Now we have invested in a nicer lightweight stroller so that it will still hold the older girls if they get tired and want to ride. Other than that we make them walk and they do okay, they are usually excited and take off ahead of us.

 

[Goofy Groupie]

Thanks so much for the opinions. I think I'll bring the umbrellas and try to find one of those mesh bags for storage.

 

[mickeylove2]

My girls are 6 and 4 and we just got back this week and I will say that we took our big bulky double stroller and it was a lifesaver! We didn't have trouble with it at all, the only times we needed to fold it up was getting on the bus and the tram from the parking lot. It was definitely worth the hassel to have the girls be able to konk out at the end of the night.

 

[gardenia]

I would leave my strollers at home and rent at the parks. That's what I've done for the last dozen years (three children) because it's soooo much easier. Hauling your own stroller around on buses, monorails, taxis, even in your own car, is a big pain! And it's an inconvenience to everyone around you on public transportation. Try renting, you'll never go back.

 

[goofyandmore]

gardenia, my sister is leaving for Disney tomorrow with a 3 year old. This is her family's first time. She just called to ask me if she should bring a stroller or rent. I am glad you posted your response, because I have no experience with renting. Please fill me in. For instance, did you have any problems finding the stroller after a ride since they are all the same (I assume they are)? What is the cost (she is staying outside of disney)? Thanks

 

[LuvsEeyore]

I would love to know if the rental strollers recline, so that my daughter (who will be 19 months old on our next trip)can sleep if she needs to.

Thanks.

 

[gardenia]

gardenia, my sister is leaving for Disney tomorrow with a 3 year old. This is her family's first time. She just called to ask me if she should bring a stroller or rent. I am glad you posted your response, because I have no experience with renting. Please fill me in. For instance, did you have any problems finding the stroller after a ride since they are all the same (I assume they are)? What is the cost (she is staying outside of disney)? Thanks

It's $10 a day, and you can use your receipt to get a stroller at other parks if you park-hop. You can also pay for a "length of stay" rental which costs a little less per day (I think $8). They put your name on a large card that slips in a laminated pocket on the stroller. Some people tie bandanas and such on the stroller to make it easy to spot. I've never had trouble locating my stroller, but if you park someplace you shouldn't the cast members will move it. Not to worry, they'll also help you find it. If you park considerately, there's never a problem.

 

[TJA]

I just wanted to add that we take our double jogger from home each trip and it works very well for us. A lot of your decision will hinder on which resort you stay at. We normally stay in the Epcot resort area, so we do a LOT of walking back and forth between and among Epcot, the resorts, MGM, and boardwalk area, especially late at night after Illuminations and/or Fantasmic we always walk back to our resort while the girls are zonked out sleeping in the comfy stroller, reclined seats, etc. So we definitely need our double jogger for those reasons alone. We seldom use a bus as we normally catch the monorail to MK once we're inside Epcot. So we are not inconvienced with unloading and folding up the jogger hardly at all. Good luck!

 

[tanyaandallie]

I would love to know if the rental strollers recline, so that my daughter (who will be 19 months old on our next trip)can sleep if she needs to.

Thanks.

I would not recommend renting a stroller for a 19 mos old. They are very hard and do not recline. They are not like what you would normally consider a stroller. Pretty sure you can find the pics of one on the Disney website. I think the rentals are fine for older kids but would not use one for a younger child, esp. if you need them to nap.

 

[Amirah95]

DH and I was talking about this last night so I went to All Ears and looked up the subject. http://allearsnet.com/pl/strol_faq.htm. I made the decision to always take my own stroller.

 

[TwoRoos]

We just went on our first Disney trip in October with our 5-year-old and 17-month-old. The stroller issue was definitely one that I spent hours (literally) thinking about and researching. I read lots of threads here on the Dis about strollers and spent a lot of time researching different stroller brands. There were so many things to consider. We ended up taking two umbrella strollers that we purchased especially for the trip.

One reason I hesitated to rent was not being able to use the strollers outside of the park gates. There were some nights that my 5 year old was so exhausted that I literally don't know what we would have done if we didn't have our own stroller to push out to the bus stop or rental car. It would have been a nightmare if dh would've had to carry her for such a long walk/wait. We also used our stroller in the airport for the baby, and they both got a lot of use at our resort.

Also, we were there for 12 days and I could hardly stand the thought of paying for rentals for that many days. For the same money (less really when you consider the cost of a double rental or two singles) I bought two strollers that I now have for future use.

I'll have to say the biggest drawback by far in taking your own strollers is folding them (and still holding all your other stuff plus kids) to get on and off the busses and trams. We came to hate the busses for this very reason. We actually had a rental car for most of our stay and it was so worth it for us. Several days we even avoided using the trams (hence avoided another time to have to fold and tote it all) by getting to the parks early and being able to park close enough to walk instead of needing to ride the tram.

When trying to decide between one double or two single strollers, one big thing that I now know to consider (although I don't think I realized it before we went) is whether your family will ever divide up while touring. We did some days when older dd wanted to ride Splash Mountain over and over again. I didn't want to be stuck just waiting around forever with the baby, so I took the baby in her stroller to Fantasyland or shopping while dh and dd5 rode Splash. If we had been using a double stroller (either rented or brought from home) for them to share, one of us would have been without it. And even though we could have forced dd5 to walk during those times, it really was much more convenient for all of us to just have her in the stroller. She was happier that way and so were we.

One other thought to consider about using a double versus two singles is how hard/heavy it is to push. Consider how much weight you will be pushing around when you add your kids' weights plus any extra bags and supplies you're hauling. I knew that I personally would have trouble with that, and I didn't want dh to be stuck doing all the work the whole time. For us, it was better to divide the kids up and split the work load.

One last thing, we bought the Demi Milan double cup holder (shown on carryyou.com) and we liked it a lot. We used it constantly. I also bought two Sorrento (single) cup holders and didn't use them even once.

 

[DizneeDad]

Hello,
We recently purchased two maclaren volos. Are there good cup holders available that won't interfere with the folding? These fold so well now!

Thanks!

 

[TwoRoos]

Hello,
We recently purchased two maclaren volos. Are there good cup holders available that won't interfere with the folding? These fold so well now!

Thanks!

On carryyou.com they have lots of accessories for strollers, and they even tell you which accessories fit on various brands of strollers. So you should be able to look up Maclaren Volo and see several things that they say will fit your stroller. We have the Demi Milan cup holder from carryyou and we love it. We have Chicco umbrella strollers, but they fold just like your Maclarens and the Demi Milan folds up great with our strollers. You do sometimes have to take the drinks out first if they spill easily (like paper cups with lids/straws), but I often leave sippy cups in there when I fold them up. I'm pretty sure it would fit your Mac, but double check their list and be sure. Also, have you considered the cup holder/organizer that Maclaren makes? It looks really nice, but it seems I've read in reviews that it doesn't hold very big cups (instead it's more for bottles). I'm sure you could find someone here who has one and could tell you for sure.

 

[DizneeDad]

Thanks for the website! My wife has talked about the bags that you mentioned; however, I think they'll cause the stroller to tip over when my dd and ds are not sitting. She talked about putting weight on the front wheels, but that didn't make sense to me. Push more weight?

 

[TwoRoos]

Thanks for the website! My wife has talked about the bags that you mentioned; however, I think they'll cause the stroller to tip over when my dd and ds are not sitting. She talked about putting weight on the front wheels, but that didn't make sense to me. Push more weight?

If you're just talking about the cup holder/organizer type bags, I don't thing you'll have any trouble with the strollers tipping. Mine never do with just that type of thing on them. I also loaded my strollers down quite often with other bags hanging off the handles, and I rarely had trouble with them tipping. My dh did carry a backpack that got rather heavy some days, and when that was hanging on there we did have a stroller tip a few times. But if you're just going to put an organizer for drinks and pockets, you should be fine.

 

[Princess Roo]

Thanks for the website! My wife has talked about the bags that you mentioned; however, I think they'll cause the stroller to tip over when my dd and ds are not sitting. She talked about putting weight on the front wheels, but that didn't make sense to me. Push more weight?

I agree with TwoRoos...on our single Jeep umbrella with a carrier similar to the Milan Deluxe from Carryyou.com it won't tip over with two full water bottles in the cup holders and snacks, ponchos, etc. in the pouches. I think you'd have to really load it up to make it to cause the stroller to tip. Especially if you have things in a basket underneath (which the Jeep doesn't have).

 

[kileybeth]

I was going to get the demi milan for our 2 volos for our Sept. trip but am sooo glad I did not. Instead I "invested" in 2 valco single cup holders. I absolutely love them. They hold anything, big/small, hot/cold. They are a snap to install on a volo and even easier to use. The stroller folds perfectly and the cup holder even adjust to be in line with folded stroller so as not to stick out. With the storage under the strollers (tons bigger than you think) and these cup holders, we never needed a thing hanging on either stroller altho I admit to laying things for short periods on the "hat" as my daughter called the sunshield. Great great strollers, best investment I ever made. Valco cup holders, 2nd best investment. I had several people ask what they were and where to get them!

PS the refillable resort mug fits perfectly and swivels around so the handle keeps it in securely. Loved that. Also with a back pack thrown in bottom of stroller, even when I tossed something over the handle occasionally, the strollers never tipped.

 

[0hmyheck]

Thanks for the information about what snaps on to the Maclarens. I don't like the organizer as it's just a big mesh bag but a drink holder, that would be nice for the colas.