Stroller for 7 and 5 year old?

[Heather Felker]

Should we be bringing a double stroller for a 7.5 yr old and a 5 year old? We will be flying from Wisconsin.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

That's a decision only you will know the right answer to. How are your kids with walking all day? How long will you be there? How long will you be in the parks each day? Are you the kind of family that prefers to slow down and take breaks and enjoy things at the kids pace or go quickly from attraction to attraction all day to try to fit it all in? Would you be bringing your own stroller or renting from the parks or renting from an outside company? These are all things to think about.

Personally, at 7.5 and 5, there's no way I would be bringing a stroller at all. Other people feel differently. In my opinion, yes the parks are huge and it's a lot of walking, but it's not a timed marathon. It's impossible to see everything in one day or one trip and it's no fun if you feel like you're constantly rushing around everywhere. We take breaks when needed, alternate between sit down shows and meals between rides and walking and it's doable.

We did have a single on our last trip for my son because he was just shy of 2 and he napped in it, plus he wasn't old enough to understand not to run off. My daughter was 7 and walked without complaint. Our next trip will be when my son is 3-4 and daughter will be 9 and I doubt we will take a stroller then. I think strollers are a pain to navigate around the parks and I would rather slow down and go at the kids' pace and see the park the way they do. Plus, it's great when they've walked all day and are ready to go to bed when we get back to the hotel rather than being full of energy from sitting in a stroller all day. It was tiring enough for me to push a 25 lb toddler in a single stroller. I'd be worn out midday and wanting to leave early if I was pushing a 5 & 7.5 year old in a double around the parks. But that's me. Plenty of others on here bring strollers for their older kids. It's definitely not a necessity though and it's totally possible to enjoy the parks without one.

 

[DisneyOma]

I'd bring a single for the 5 year old if the 5 year old isn't that active, but that's it. You can always have the kids take turns in the stroller, or rent one down there. But lugging a double through airport, etc? No thank you.

 

[DIS_AWC]

We were just at WDW for six days in April and went to parks each day with our 8 and 5 year olds. We did not use a stroller. I was a little concerned beforehand about my 5 year old begging to be carried at certain points, but we found there was so much to see and rides, shows, and meals to break up all of the walking that the only time we encountered a need to carry her was one evening after we watched IllumiNations in Epcot from WS (that's a loooong walk for a tired kid). We did take a mid-day break for swimming each day, so that helped re-energize the kids. The temps were also in the 80s with moderate humidity. If we had gone in the summer at peak heat and humidity, we may have had to get a single stroller for our younger daughter.

Obviously you know your kids better than anyone. We saw plenty of older kids in strollers when we were down there and you should do what you think is best for them. But I would give them the benefit of the doubt if they are fit and active in their regular lives at home. Yes, there is a LOT of walking at Disney, but unless you are planning to run everywhere from open to close, your kids should be capable of doing all of that walking with breaks. For us, not having to haul the stroller to the parks and worry about parking it before rides and shows and then finding it again afterward (which we had done on our previous trip when the kids were much younger), plus finding larger spaces for parades and night shows to fit our whole party with a stroller, was great.

 

[Klayfish]

This is discussed often, and hotly debated. My personal opinion is yes, absolutely. We had our kids using them until they were 8 and I have zero regrets. But that was our decision, it may not be yours. If you've never been, WDW is a huge, gigantic, enormous, monstrous, mega sized place. It's nothing like walking around a shopping mall or other amusement park. So stroller or not, just be mindful of how much walking/standing it is.

 

[saraheliz]

I'd bring a single to have but probably not bring it to the parks every day. A double? No way. Those things are enormous and a total PITA- we used one when my girls were 2 and 4 but wouldn't have if either of them are older. My kids are all really used to walking, though, and never really used strollers in normal life beyond 2 or so. Prior to both Disney trips we took when they were younger, we did walking "boot camp" and built up their endurance over 4-6 weeks around the neighborhood.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Age wise I'd say yes for a stroller but as saraheliz said, the double is a no way for me too, it's just too big and cumbersome and especially if flying, we drive so it's just a trunk space issue for us. We did a single umbrella stroller when they were around that age and it worked for them no complaints from anyone. I think it comes down to your park touring style. If you are go go go type of people then the double stroller is going to hold you back some, it's a pain to navigate in crowds and for getting on/off transportation but it's doable, people do it everyday all year long. You can not bring it from WI with you and decide if you need it, then rent one when you get there too. That's always an option.

 

[Minniemouse07]

Five was the cut off point for us using strollers. We did trips when the youngest was 4.5 and 5.5yo. We used it when he was 4.5 and had intended to bring it (just in case) when he was 5.5, but it was in storage and we forgot to pick it up in time for our trip. He never even asked for it and I was thrilled. That first stroller-free trip was so liberating!

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

You'll get wildly opposing views on this one, but, as others have said, this is really a personal decision that only you can make based on how active your kids are and how you plan to tour the parks.

 

[Nancyg56]

Personally, I would not drag one from home. I would plan to rent a double at the parks on the days I needed one because that way you will not need to bring it on the bus, monorail, etc. WE used one for the girls when they were 5 and 7, but not every day, and not in every park. It was triple digits, and humid as heck, so DAK was a nightmare for us, never mind them, and MK in the rain was not manageable for us.

 

[kat_lh]

I'd rent a single one. It's what we're going to do. For no other reason than to have a space to put our bags, etc. I imagine my 8 year old will use it more than my 4 year old - but she does love to be lazy, lol.

 

[Hoodie]

We rented a single from an outside vendor. Our oldest is on the spectrum though and sometimes he just sat in it to avoid people for a bit while his younger brother ran around. It actually worked out really well because they switched off.

We did end up getting a Disney stroller in EPCOT as well, mainly because it was the end of the trip, during food and wine, and both were exhausted. Our youngest pretty much slept through the entire afternoon we were there.

 

[omniscientmommy]

We have a 4 & 7 yr old. The 7 year old is really too tall for strollers so that wasn't an option for him. We rented a city mini gt from Magic Strollers for the 4 yr old. You could try renting a double stroller from whatever park your at if need be. I think they hold more weight and have a larger height tolerance.

 

[Lilsia]

You should ask your 7 year old if they would even sit in one. When my kids were that age they would not be caught dead in one saying that strollers "where for babies". We stopped taking a stroller when they turned 5 and they did great. Did not need them at all and we were glad to be rid of the hassle.

 

[pixiegoose]

Ours will be 5.5 and 8.5 on our next trip and we are not bringing any strollers. They were 2.5 and 5.5 on our last trip and we only brought a single for the younger one and it worked out fine. I’m so looking forward to having stroller free trips again!

 

[PollyannaMom]

At that age, I'd go without and just rent a park one if needed. On top of the fact that it's an extra thing to haul through the airport, I think getting on and off the buses with a folded-up double would be difficult.

 

[stace1214]

Those were my kids ages on our last trip. I was certain it would be way too much walking for them and I didn't want to deal with complaining so I rented a double. We ended up using it just twice. Both kids (my 7 year old is quite the complainer about basically everything) were great about walking and didn't want to ride at all. The two times we used it- our late night at MK- it downpoured the entire night and they were able to stay dry under the rain cover and then again at our late night at Epcot. It was our last night and they were really tired. They didn't really want to be there and were quite happy to sit and relax. It's really such a personal decision and depends a lot on your touring style. We like to rope drop, stay till 1ish then go back to our resort to swim and relax before heading back out for the night. If you're an open to close family, you really may want one.

 

[Nancyg56]

Those were my kids ages on our last trip. I was certain it would be way too much walking for them and I didn't want to deal with complaining so I rented a double. We ended up using it just twice. Both kids (my 7 year old is quite the complainer about basically everything) were great about walking and didn't want to ride at all. The two times we used it- our late night at MK- it downpoured the entire night and they were able to stay dry under the rain cover and then again at our late night at Epcot. It was our last night and they were really tired. They didn't really want to be there and were quite happy to sit and relax. It's really such a personal decision and depends a lot on your touring style. We like to rope drop, stay till 1ish then go back to our resort to swim and relax before heading back out for the night. If you're an open to close family, you really may want one.

We got one when it looked like rain as well. I loved that we could rent one at the park if we needed it, but we were not obligated to haul it back and forth to the resort, and that we only paid when we really wanted one. WHen we left for the day we just offered it to another family who poked like the kids could use a break.

 

[DisneyMom21]

We have rented double strollers our last 2 trips. First trip kids were 2, 5 & 7 last 3, 6 & 8. I will say to our surprise the older 2 would often fight for the chance to get in the stroller and even fell asleep in it after a long day. The double can be a slight pain getting on/off bus, but other then that it helped us more. We would even park it at times for a while and not use it if it was really crowded etc, and then come back for it later. Our next trip we will just bring a single, and when I told the older 2 they said they still wanted the double!

 

[Runnergal]

Just got back with 5 and 6.5yos. I did not want to lug a stroller on the bus, plus I had a feeling that if there was a stroller available they would be in it. I knew I could always rent one in the park if we needed it. Two evenings in Epcot I rented a double, but other than that we were fine without.