Stroller help

[Mrspeaks]

My husband and I are taking our two girls who will be 5 and 3 at the time of our trip in September. They both weigh around 30 pounds. I don't know what stroller we should take. We have two umbrella strollers without sun visers, a double bob, and a city select with two seats and a skateboard. The umbrellas would be easy, but we don't have the pull down to protect from rain and sun. Also, I wonder if it would be a pain to both need to be pushing a stroller. If either want to walk, neither of us have a hand free to help. The bob is huge, but pushes nice, they have room and a nice cover to come over each for sun and rain. The city select would be nice in the park, but a pain to get in and out of buses because you have to take the seats off. I would be willing to buy something used if it would be better than our options. Our strollers years are coming to a close except for Disney and the zoo. Would a sit and stand meet our needs? A double umbrella? Would the bob be too big to navigate through crowds? Our girls are small, but I also need to consider weight limits especially if I invest in something new for our park years to come. Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!

 

[MrPTato]

Have you looked into renting a stroller? If not a good option, I would go with the umbrella strollers. My then 2.5yo did not use a stroller even though we have brought it the last two times. She can keep up and doesn't complain. Maybe just bring one to the park and they can alternate?

 

[Mrspeaks]

I thought buying used might be cheaper or around the same price as renting.

 

[Imagineer5]

I have a City Select and LOVE it - bring it every trip (Minus one, when I brought an Umbrella since I was dealing with buses, and HATED it!). However, DD was still napping at the time so having the comfy seats was nice. That being said - I always rent a car bc I can't stand Disney transportation (SO SLOW). If I was dealing with the buses (which I never will do, but IF...) I wouldn't bring the City Select in the double configuration due to having to take off the seat(s) to fold.

I would suggest considering the City Select with 1 seat and glider board, the Bob double if you think that's doable, or perhaps renting. I am considering purchasing a used City Mini double for this reason, for future visits when it's just me and my girls - as it is much easier to fold for airport/car rental/ bus travel. In your case if you are not planning on a third, I might just rent a City mini double unless you want to bring one of your bigger strollers.

 

[Mrspeaks]

I have a City Select and LOVE it - bring it every trip (Minus one, when I brought an Umbrella since I was dealing with buses, and HATED it!). However, DD was still napping at the time so having the comfy seats was nice. That being said - I always rent a car bc I can't stand Disney transportation (SO SLOW). If I was dealing with the buses (which I never will do, but IF...) I wouldn't bring the City Select in the double configuration due to having to take off the seat(s) to fold.

I would suggest considering the City Select with 1 seat and glider board, the Bob double if you think that's doable, or perhaps renting. I am considering purchasing a used City Mini double for this reason, for future visits when it's just me and my girls - as it is much easier to fold for airport/car rental/ bus travel. In your case if you are not planning on a third, I might just rent a City mini double unless you want to bring one of your bigger strollers.

Do you think the city mini double is smaller/lighter than the double bob?

 

[AshleeH]

We had a Joovy Caboose when our boys were a little older than your kids and we loved it! Great place for the older one to sit when he didn't want to walk and a great place for him to sit for parades or snacks. I do not recommend renting - Disney prices really add up for stroller rentals and you have to turn them in at the gate. There is nothing worse than carrying a sleeping 5 year old out of the park and all the way back to the hotel room via whatever transportation you have.

 

[AshleeH]

Oh - and I would not take two umbrella strollers for these ages! That means that one parent will consistently have to keep up with one stroller, even if there's not a kid riding in it.

 

[Imagineer5]

Do you think the city mini double is smaller/lighter than the double bob?

Yes I think so. And it folds more compactly. I have a city mini single and I absolutely love my city select over it - but the easy fold and lighter weight definitely give it some positives when I am dealing with it on my own!

 

[SweetMissy]

I have no idea what strollers you're talking about since I babywear when kids are young, so I only have a simple umbrella stroller that MIL bought. We've rented from kingdom strollers, either single or double depending on the ages. They're nice....fold really easily and push/turn like nothing. IMO it's much easier renting then having to haul a bulky stroller all over while traveling.

 

[MarBee]

My kids are 6 and 4. They never use a stroller anymore except for Disney. We have the city mini double, and it is great! Much of the time my daughter walks, but it's great for when she needs a break or when we have to get to a reservation or ride quickly. It's also awesome when it rains (we bought the cover)- the kids (and our stuff) stay completely dry; likewise for keeping the sun off of them.

 

[5disneykids]

Funny I saw this post today! I just bought our Disney stroller for later this year (my 2 youngest will be about the same as yours). I consider myself a bit of a stroller guru but others say I'm crazy and obsessed LOL

I have 6 kids & have owned many, many strollers! Currently, I use the bugaboo donkey double the most (at home). But it's not feasible to take to WDW, and really none of my current ones are what I wanted for WDW - so I ended up doing a ton of research, pushed them all & looked in person and decided on the City Mini.
I compared to the Maclaren twin models, Combi double models, Britain B agile & Joovy.

I looked for weeks (or even a couple months) before I found a good deal & I finally got the City mini used for $75!
It's in perfect condition, just needed to take off the fabric & put it through the wash & now it looks brand new. So, I got it for less than I would of rented it for, and it's another in my collection!!

I was looking at specific things that I knew we would need: we're a taller family, so seat height and handlebar height were important, ease of folding and carrying, handling, width and child weight limit. Storage wasn't great but I am getting some after market stuff for it, so hopefully that won't be an issue.

 

[Glynis4]

Following! Our trip isn't until November, but my kids will be 5 and almost 3 at that time. We have an older city elite double, which is amazing (I can push it one-handed!), but heavy, like, I'm pretty sure we can't fly with it. Then I have a city mini single which I also love, and will probably end up taking. And then I will also take a carrier for the 2 year old, for when the 5 year old needs a stroller ride (ie walking back and forth from the hotel). I'm *hoping* the 5 year old will be happy to walk most of the time!

 

[TheHamm]

There are plenty of double BOBs around the park, you may be happier with this over the umbrellas with their rougher ride and need for 4 hands. If you plan on Disney busses I would skip the city select due to folding if you can- still doable as your kids should be able to get themselves on the bus, but unpleasant in my experience. The citi mini double is widely available to rent at slightly less than you will find it used (@ least in my used stroller shopping) and it saves you from having to schlep it around from car to airport to hotel. By renting a stroller is just magically in your hotel room when you arrive and picked up from hotel when you leave.

 

[MarBee]

Just an FYI when you fly with a stroller it doesn't come on board with you. You push it up to the plane when you start to board, and then they take it and put it underneath. Our city mini double is pretty big (but wonderful to push), and we have never had a problem.
Obviously do what you think is best, but just consider there will be times that both of them need a rest at the same time, and wearing the two year old may be super hot.

 

[meljean]

We had an umbrella double stroller made by Combi. I can't remember the official name but I'm sure you could search it. The stroller was super light, and folded down small. Both seats reclined, had baskets and cup holders. It worked perfect. I didn't want 2 umbrellas for the fact if 1 wanted to walk there was no free parent available because they were pushing a stroller.

 

[DisneyJen0504]

We use a Double City Mini GT at home and rent one in WDW. It is easy to get on buses and great shade from sun and run. Plus it is comfortable for them. Would not recommend an umbrella stroller or not having the option for them to both ride the stroller. Its so much walking!

 

[willmccready]

I say go with whatever you think will be best when in use, don't worry too much about size. I went around and around last year about strollers and ultimately decided to take our big, clunky BabyTrend double jogger. It was a pain to fold sometimes and big getting on and off of the bus, but everyone was very accommodating. Ultimately the inconvenience of the size didn't outweigh the benefit of having plenty of room for the kids and stuff and being able to recline the seats and have a sunshade.

 

[jvz82]

We rented a double Bob for our 2 and 4 year olds. It rides sooooo nice through the park. It is big, but not any more of a pain than any other stroller. We have a double umbrella stroller and even though it's small, it feels really heavy to push and I much prefer the Bob. It was harder to haul on the bus than a smaller stroller would have been, but I really liked having it for the parks.

 

[Gracie09]

Go with the bob. It's a pita for 20 minutes a day but the rest of the time it makes life so much easier. We had a city elite double (city mini on steroids) and although the buses were a bit diffcult it was manageable just plan for it - everything out and packed before you get to the front, one person deals with the stroller the other the kids, stroller person stands in the back unless the bus is empty etc- makes it much easier.
We took a double macclaren the last trip and dh said at the end it was easier for the buses but that's about it. The pushing was hard, it wasn't as easy to maneuver and the baskets were useless

 

[TheHamm]

We had an umbrella double stroller made by Combi. I can't remember the official name but I'm sure you could search it. The stroller was super light, and folded down small. Both seats reclined, had baskets and cup holders. It worked perfect. I didn't want 2 umbrellas for the fact if 1 wanted to walk there was no free parent available because they were pushing a stroller.

Combi Twin? We took one and found it lovely for busses but preferred our city select double for the bigger sun shades, easier pushing, and my favorite feature of making my kids both face out so they cannot touch each other.