Stroller For Two

[Dewy]

We will be going to WDW in October with our DS (2.5 years old) and DD (14 months old). We have a double stroller but were thinking that it might be better to bring two strollers, An umbrella stroller for DS and lager Graco stroller (it's light weight and collapsable) for our DD. We were thinking that manuvering the larger double would be more difficult in the crowds.

Any thoughts/experiences?

Thanks to all who reply.

 

[bartleby1]

We preferred taking two lightweight single strollers rather than our double, but it really is personal preference and it depends on what you have available to you or are willing to purchase.

My double was a Graco tandem which I felt was too big and hard to push for a trip to disney. By the time I figured in the weight of the stroller, the kids and all of the stuff we needed to cart around for the day, my arms would have been killing me pushing it. We opted for a maclaren umbrella stroller for our older child and the baby trend lightweight stroller for the little one. I bought my baby trend for about $40 for a disney trip for my son when he was 14 months because it is lightweight, has a decent size basket for all the stuff when needed, reclined, and had parent and child trays for drinks and snacks.

I would take a test drive for a long walk with your two children in your double to see how you feel. Be sure to include the extra bags you will be carrying for a day at disney to see if it will work for you. Personally, I hated my double, but used it out of necessity for mall trips, walks, etc, when I was by myself. Maybe if I had a different double I would have used that for disney, but I really liked using two lightweights.

 

[Minnie824]

We brought our side by side double stroller with our 4 yo and 1.5 yr old DDs in Nov. We really didn't have trouble with crowds, or stores. We had more issues with them messing w/each other! The first couple days was more difficult, then they settled in. It was easy for transportation...I carried 1.5 yo, and held 4 yo's hand, DH got to handle the stroller. The other thing is them walking around...they both wanted to walk a lot more than we assumed...having 2 strollers, and both of them walking may be more difficult. Next trip, they'll be 5 and 2.5, so were bringing one small stroller and they can take turns if needed.

 

[DisneyPhD]

We have taken a double a few times with no problems. (peg pergo aira tiwn, a very good stroller we really like it.) We did breifly consider 2 strollers. One thing to keep in mind that is we split up and one adult does a ride and one adult takes both kids that can be very difficult. If you slpit up 1 adult, one 1 kid each that isn't as bad. I liked just having one stroller to worry about.

 

[cinjam]

Last year we did a double stroller, side by side (Combi Twin Savvy) and it worked out fine. Fits through all doors, on the boats, no problem with crowds. This year though I am going to try two umbrella strollers (Maclaren Quests), but I also boght the stroller connectors if for some reason DH disappears (LOL) and I am left with both. Last year, with the SBS, at one point we wanted to split up - and that posed a slight problem. This year the kids are 5 and 2 - and we have a feeling we'll be splitting up - we'll see how it goes in 2 weeks!!!!

 

[rt2dz]

And I MUCH prefer one larger stroller to two smaller strollers. With two strollers no one ever has a free hand, it's harder to split up, navigating through crowds, imo, is harder with two than one, I don't trust the stroller connectors, more to keep track of. Of course, whenever I hear (read) of someone complaining about double strollers or travel systems, it's always a Graco. I don't have Gracos. I have an evenflo travel system, and evenflo tandem, a schwinn double jogger, and about to buy a peg pergo side by side. I have a baby trend lx sit n stand and a baby trend single jogger also, but I HATE those!!

Anyhow, my big question I like to ask is "do you really want to spend money on another stroller?" Will you use it regularly or is it just for this trip? Does your regular stroller bother you much during regular use? If not, it will be fine for Disney. What do you have to give up (souveners, character dining, hotel upgrade, etc) to get the stroller?

Only YOU can decide what will work best. Everyone has different tolerance levels--with 3 ages 4 and under, active lives, & living in the suburbs, I use a stroller regularly and it just doesn't bother me. A city dweller who rarely uses a stroller will feel differently. Just yet another interpretation of life.

 

[The VWL Five]

We have done 2 single umbrellas and one double umbrella (ad connectors when we took the singles which made them a double too). Worked fine both ways for the many times we used them.

 

[java]

We had planned on bringing two singles with us when we headed to Disney- then we went to Hershey that way.... It didn't work for us and I am glad we tried it out first in a smaller scale environment. We spent half our day looking for a stroller- Becuase as the toddler was getting off a ride and racing to the next one...I would follow along with baby in stroller- and Dh and other 2 kids would be running along and then someone would say"where's the other stroller???" And we couldn't remember what ride we had left it at. Now this happened several times throughout the day (and no we were not drinking!) So we decided one- together would be easier to keep track of in Disney- especially since they are notorious for moving your stroller to "stroller parking"- which is not marked and is usually not anyplace you would expect it to be. So I vote one double will be easier-And we used the Combi Savvy too. It is lighweight for a double and quick folding which we needed.

 

[luvdmouse]

I just bought the Kolcraft Jeep double umbrella pretty cheap at my Toys R us that is closing. I wanted a lightweight compact stroller for my twin 5 year old boys. My old one died last trip. we've done a double on many trips. I can take boys on a certain ride or sit with them while DH takes older sibling on bigger rides.

 

[timandlesley]

I vote for the side by side stroller too. The first year we went we had the standard double stroller w/ older child in the front, it was horrible to maneuver and the little one had trouble seeing parades from the back or seeing in general. The side by side was GREAT. both recline so they could both nap if need by, The children are easy in/ easy out in it. We love it. We also bought a double stroller rain poncho to put over top of it, the clear kind, so we could just put that on the stroller and keep going and the kids could see out when it was raining.

 

[loopner67]

I vote for the easier one for you to push. Why I say this is because our umbrella strollers are a little lower and I have to crouch a bit to push them. I'm not nearly as comfortable pushing the umbrella stroller as I am pushing the larger stroller (Graco, back to back). Also, my Graco has storage underneath and the umbrella strollers do not. Being able to free up and not carry anything is important to me.

Just my two cents. By the way, we go against the norm and just rent a double stroller in the parks, but my boys are 5 & 7, so the fit better in the park strollers (they aren't really suitable for little tikes). The park strollers have cup holders in the back (like pockets) that I really liked and my Graco doesn't have any cup holders.

Have a great trip!

 

[princessjv]

We have a double side by side that it an umbrella fold, I think it is called MacClaren Travel Twin...? We absolutely loved it a WDW! It was fairly easy to get on and off Disney Transportation and love that it has a full recline for our infant to sleep.