Stroller for a 7 yr old????

[shilomoon]

I'm taking my two boys to Disney in July and my oldest by then will be 7 and is a little tall for his age. He has autism and its been suggested to me by other moms that I should get a stroller for him --either rent or buy.

What would work for him?? A double jogger,, or do i have to pay disney prices for one of those carriage strollers?? Just trying to budget for this expense.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Family Loves Disney]

I wished you lived close by, you could borrow our Maclaren that I bought for ds when he was 7. I thought about renting a special needs stroller for him, but figured it was probably better if I bought one. I loved having it, you know autistic children tire easily so it was nice having one when he did get tired, plus we stored our "stuff" on it while he walked. He is now 9 and we plan on taking it with us again. The down side to having the special needs stroller is that it is big and bulky and we had to take pieces off to break it down to get on the bus to go to the parks, but we were glad we had it. This year, not only will we have the stroller, but we will have a service dog with us. I am apologizing now to those that will be stuck on the bus with us and all of our gear.

 

[kehlyrsmom]

My kids are 9 1/2 and 8 and both on the spectrum. We have gone the last four years and rented a stroller onsite it is expensive but you don't have to worry about it if you are using disney transportation. We have always rented a car though.

My daughter the oldest is very tall for her age and my son the youngest is the opposite. Last year 08 I got two single strollers, while my daughter was definately looked big in it she did not have a problem with riding in it. She tires very easily.

This year I rented a double thinking that neither of them would be in it much but they could take turns and spread out. Boy was I wrong they both pretty much rode in it the whole time and they were definately cramped.

I would ask if you could have him try out the single and see if it is comfortable for him or not since if you rent onsite it is $$ and the single is much cheaper. Also if you prepary the rental for your entire stay you save a couple three bucks a day which adds up if you are there all weak.

The other good thing is if say there is a day or two that you do not end up being in the park much and you don't use some of your rental days they will refund you the money for the days you did not use. We went offsite one day and our last day we were only there for a few hours so I talked the kids into jus walking it that day. Anyway ended up cashing in for the two days we did not use on our way out of the park that day.

 

[woodkins]

M dd7 is on the low end of the spectrum with sensory issues & we always do a stroller on our trips. We own a Baby Jogger City Classic since we travel to WDW alot and it was cheaper to buy it than rent it 3 times a year. I bought the Classic as the weight limit was 75-100 lbs. You can rent the Baby Jogger from rental companies. I highly recommend the stroller. My dd is 53" tall and 52 lbs and she fits comfortably and the stroller pushes effortlessly. I can't praise it enough. It has a HUGE hood that they can pull all the way over them and literally hide in their stroller cave.
I would not get a double jogger because there is a "divider" between the seats, so he really would not be getting a larger seating area if that is your goal. The disney double rentals are 1 large seat, but they are very hard and uncomfortable.

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

Orlando Stroller Rentals (link at the top of the page) has the Special Needs stroller which is quite nice and worth considering. Do you need strollers for any of your other little ones as well? I guess the mix you need would depend on how many other kids and adults (to push the strollers) you have.

We use a Baby Jogger City Mini for our two youngest (2 and 3 yrs) and we bring our own Baby Jogger full-size single for our 5 year old. I don't know if your son would fit well in the BJ full-size or if he'd need the Special Needs one - it would depend mainly on his weight as the full-size goes up to 75lbs and the Special Needs up to 100 lbs.

The Disney strollers are okay but they're hard plastic, not overly comfortable and the sunshade isn't the best. The benefit we found to using the Baby Jogger strollers, aside from the comfort factor, is that our oldest can pull the sun canopy down all the way to create his own little cave and shut out all the stimulation as he gets overwhelmed. Keeps him much calmer.

 

[twins2again]

Hi I have twin girls 6 will be seven in Feb. I always brought a twin stroller but this year bought a maclaren major, which is a much taller and sturdy umbroller type stroller holds up to 140 lbs. They are expensive but I bought one this year and will buy another next year. Was like $499. but its worth it, solid and sturdy and big. check out adaptive mall or southwest medical supply on line, I just heard too the wheelchairs are a dollar less than the strollers too rent, dont know if that is for a double or single stroller,youd have to check but you absolutely will be glad you have one of some type for him

 

[SmallWorld71]

As PP mentioned, Orlando Stroller Rentals has some special needs strollers for rent that are great for bigger kids. I know there is some info. about this on the disABILITIES board in their FAQ if you need more info. The nice thing about this option, is that you have it for when you are not in the parks too if you need it. (At DD, waiting for bus, going from bus to room if it is not nearby or child is sleeping etc...)

 

[shilomoon]

Thanks everyone for all your advice. I think we will definitely be renting from Orlando Stroller Rentals.