Stroller from home vs WDW stroller

[Tenluvsdisney]

Hello,

We are going to WDW in May with a 3 yr old and I am trying to decide on taking our own stroller or just rent at the Parks. Can you rent for the length of your stay instead of renting day by day? Are the WDW strollers comfortable, easy to maneuver, etc? Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks!

 

[TJA]

We have never rented a stroller at WDW, so I cannot comment personally on them. We take our own double jogger from home each trip. The reason we do this is because we do a lot of non-park walking and our girls are still too young to handle that. Are you staying onsite? If so, which resort? Truthfully, at age 3, I couldn't imagine not having a stroller for leaving parks and walking to bus/car/monorail/boat for transport back to the resort. especially late at night after the shows when young children are extremely worn out. If you are staying in the boardwalk area, which is where we frequently stay, there is a TON of walking over there. You can walk to both Epcot and MGM, around the boardwalk/lake area, etc. We love watching Illuminations and/or Fantasmic and then letting the girls fall asleep in the jogger while we walk back to our resort. It's very relaxing.

 

[Sammi2]

Hello,

We are going to WDW in May with a 3 yr old and I am trying to decide on taking our own stroller or just rent at the Parks. Can you rent for the length of your stay instead of renting day by day? Are the WDW strollers comfortable, easy to maneuver, etc? Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks!

I just can't see paying $10 per day to rent a stroller when I own so many LOL! Plus the park strollers are hard plastic, whereas yours is probably much more comfy. I'd take a maclaren umbrella (or similar nicer umbrella type)- they fold one handed, compact, quickly. And if you get there and decide its a pain to have your own stroller, you can still rent and leave yours at the room.

 

[GrammyJudy]

They do rent for length of stay for $8. At three can they walk to bus etc because you do not want to carry.

 

[solfan68]

We took an umbrella stroller last summer and it worked out great. I couldn't imagine lugging a full-blown model onto the transportation, but I know there are people who do.

 

[laughinplace199]

Will you be flying? I always liked having my kids in strollers at the airport. It was easier to keep track of where everybody was and you can use the stroller handles and/or storage baskets to help lug your stuff through the airport.

Also, I wouldn't rent one if you already own a stroller. The rentals are hard plastic and not too comfy if your little one wants to take a nap. Also, it's nice to have a stroller for non-park places like Downtown Disney or just to walk around the resorts.

If your regular stroller is really big or there's another reason that you don't want to bring yours, I'd recommend getting an inexpensive reclining umbrella stroller for your trip. I bought 2 of these when my oldest two kids were 3 & 1 (they're 8 & 6 now). We used them for several years and now I will be bringing 1 of these strollers to WDW for my 1 y/o DS.

 

[juligrl]

I have never rented in the parks because we've always taken our own stroller for the same reason PP posted - we need the stroller at the airport (not to mention back at the hotel too). Lot's of walking and lugging of stuff at the airport so on both trips the stroller has come in handy.

 

[TheAdkins']

We have always taken our own stroller from home. When we go back in the fall my DD will be 3 1/2, and I am thinking of renting at the park. My husband is not interested in struggling with the stroller on the buses. My DD is quite independent and would be just fine walking to the buses and at the resort. I may bring an umbrella stroller for use at Downtown Disney since it won't take up much room in the car and room.

 

[wardfamily1]

I have a question to ask. I want to bring my stroller for my DS4 in December. We'll be flying NWA, are they going to try to charge me extra to bring the stroller on the plane or is it going to count as my carry on? They will let me bring it on the plane won't they ? By that I mean will I have to have it checked or can I bring it up to the boarding area?

 

[Dad_of_4_girls]

we took a sroller for our twins once. One day in the MK and we rented everytime after that- and would do it again.

They were 3 at the time -- for a baby - take your own and deal with the bus/etc - just for comfort.

A toddler - go with the rentals - the fee is for the day - so if you park hop you just leave it there and get a new one at the next park

 

[may_baby06]

We are taking our DD (21 months) to disney in feb. and i plan on taking a cheap stroller with us for the airport and downtown disney, but other then that we plan on renting them in the parks. I have heard a lot of good things about them, except for the hard plastic. but that's nothing a sweatshirt can't fix. We also plan on going back to the hotel in the middle of the day so I don't plan on her sleeping in it. Hope this helps.

 

[juligrl]

I have a question to ask. I want to bring my stroller for my DS4 in December. We'll be flying NWA, are they going to try to charge me extra to bring the stroller on the plane or is it going to count as my carry on? They will let me bring it on the plane won't they ? By that I mean will I have to have it checked or can I bring it up to the boarding area?

Never flown NWA but assuming policy isn't that different from airline to airline - we have always gate checked the stroller (or strollers). When you're checking in at the counter and dropping off your checked baggage tell them you'd like to gate check the stroller. They'll give you a tag for it (or have you get the tag when you get to your gate) and you can use the stroller right up to the door of the plane. Very convenient. Call your airline and ask if you are unsure. The stroller didn't count as luggage for us and gate check was free.

 

[wardfamily1]

Never flown NWA but assuming policy isn't that different from airline to airline - we have always gate checked the stroller (or strollers). When you're checking in at the counter and dropping off your checked baggage tell them you'd like to gate check the stroller. They'll give you a tag for it (or have you get the tag when you get to your gate) and you can use the stroller right up to the door of the plane. Very convenient. Call your airline and ask if you are unsure. The stroller didn't count as luggage for us and gate check was free.

Thanks, I'll give them a call to be sure.

 

[Doogan]

On our last trip, as were were piling drinks, packages and raincoats on the stroller during my wife and I were wondered if we would have to continue renting strollers even after our kids were big enough to walk all day just so we'd have a place to carry everything.

On our first trip with kids we were budget minded and took our own stroller. But it was a royal pain getting it on and off buses and trams. I'd have to get the kids out of the stroller, take the diaper bag bag out, fold up the stoller, try to cram it on the tram/bus...not a pretty picture. Ever since then we've spent the extra money to rent strollers in the parks. The park strollers are a dream to push, too. We always attach something to ours to make it easy to find amongst the herd.

Occasionally, I wince at the cost but every morning when I see those other dads wrestling the double strollers while holding up the line to get on the bus while we "stroll" onto the bus and sit down, I'm reminded why it's worth the money.

 

[all4fun]

You can see pics of the strollers here: http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/strol_faq.htm

For a 3+ yr old I think they would be fine. I can't speak from personal experience because we have never rented one. We like having one in the airport, and it comes in really handy after leaving the park gates at night too (especially walking from the Epcot:WS entrance back to the Boardwalk). Getting on and off the busses can be a pain, but once you develop a system it's not that bad IMO. I even rode the bus with our big jogging stroller and ds(4) all by myself on our last trip and I was able to do it w/out a problem. One thing I found that made things a ton easier was to bring along a canvas tote bag and before we even go to the bus stop anything that had gotten tossed into the bottom of the stroller got put in that bag, and then I hung it from the back of the stroller before we left the park. Once out of the park, we would have the stroller folded before the bus even drove up if possible (which most often it is). If you have two adults it is not that difficult. Of course it also helped us that our ds is big enough that most of the time he didn't need to be carried (although he still has his moments, lol).

hth!

 

[blana]

We just got back with DS (2) and DNiece (1). DH & I brought our Capri, which you can get for about $60, and my BIL & SIL rented. They thought we were nuts. We thought they were nuts. Yes, at the bus stop, we had to get DS out of the stroller to fold it up. Wow. Real difficult. They had to get DN out of the stroller back at the stroller rental place. Same deal, we just got to push him an extra 100-200 feet without worrying about it. Always had plenty of time to fold it. We really liked having it to push around the resort at times, too. Since he's not used to us being in the same room as him, he didn't go to sleep well, so we went for lots of walks around the resort at night. The stroller was my savior then, because I'm not strong enough to carry him that far. But, as I said, my BIL & SIL thought we were nuts because it was just SO much work to deal with on the bus. Or that was how they saw it.

 

[redwingfan3991]

have a question to ask. I want to bring my stroller for my DS4 in December. We'll be flying NWA, are they going to try to charge me extra to bring the stroller on the plane or is it going to count as my carry on? They will let me bring it on the plane won't they ? By that I mean will I have to have it checked or can I bring it up to the boarding area?
__________________
NWA wont charge you extra for the stroller. It wont count as a carry on either. Each person is allowed 2bags under 50lbs PLUS a carry on. Not included in the carry on is: stroller, umbrella, diaper bag, purse, and usually brief cases. If you are connecting thru Detroit, Minneapolis, or even Memphis, make sure both legs are on mainline and not the commuter, as commuters have a differnt set of rules for carryons...excluding strollers. Either the mainline or commuter will make you gate/planeside check them and they will be at the top of the jetbridge when you get off. You can always go their website NWA.com and check it out


That being said, I am planning on renting a stroller for my son when we go..if he needs it. He is to big for the umbrella strollers, and thats alot of walking for a 5yr old. I figure he will be more receptive to walking to the bus stop from the stroller rental place than he would from the back of the park to the bus stop. If he needs to be carried, it will be easier for me to carry him to the bus stop than all thru the parks.

 

[Grand Canyon]

Our double stroller was in-line so we never had trouble getting it on/off the tram. We stay off-site and have our own car so that is not a worry. We love having a stroller. We keep a small cooler in the bottom with her drinks (the concessionaires will fill up the ice if it melts out). We usually put snacks in one of those net laundry bags so it can be seen through at the gate and tie it to the handle.
And, as above, we need that space to put all the other accessories, etc.

 

[dis75ney]

Our DS is 7 and too big for a regular stroller, so we decided to rent a double stroller for him as well as for all of the stuff we (well, my DH - he's the pack rat! ) will be bringing. DS has a TON of energy, but I still want him to have the option of crashing in the stroller while DH and I use our PMS (people manuevering skills...thanks, Dan!) throughout the parks. Plus, DH is diabetic, and rather than him constantly carrying his monster of a backpack with all his supplies, he'll have a place to toss it if it gets too hot or heavy for him. I am definitely wincing at the cost for an 7 day rental (we'll be getting in too late on the first day and leaving too early on the last day to make renting on those days worthwhile), but it'll be worth it to allow DS and DH to rest when needed - hopefully we can avoid some major meltdowns while at my happy place!!

Have fun on your trip!

Stacy

 

[mom2munchkins]

My problem is similar. By the time we go in '09 ds will be 5 and dd will turn 8 while we are there. They will be too big for a regular stroller but ds gets tired quick and well dd gets whiney fast..lol. I thought we could rent a double just in case we needed it but dh is concerned that they will be too big for the rented ones. I'm on the fence. I'm hoping someone can tell me if they have seen other children (5andalmost8) in storollers there. Dh is accusing me of trying to hard to hold on to my babies. LOL