Stroller logistics

[kokotg]

I'm planning our first trip to WDW for September, and this is my first post here! I know strollers are much discussed here, but maybe someone can weigh in on my particular dilemma. Our 3 boys will be 5, 3, and 9 months in September. We don't own a double stroller....when we're somewhere with a lot of walking involved I generally sling the baby and bring our Maclaren along for the almost 3 year old to use if he gets tired. Which generally leads to the almost 5 year old insisting that he's tired, too, and an argument over who gets to ride. I know everyone will be happier if my oldest has a place to ride at the parks when he gets tired. I have an Ergo (backpack carrier) for the baby; between my husband and me, I would think we can carry a 9 month old all day in it if need be, but I might be overestimating us. It'd certainly be nice for him to have a place to ride sometimes, at any rate. So......I guess these are my options, as I see them:

1. buy a double stroller and bring it, rotating out which kids ride in it. baby mostly rides in the Ergo. pros: I'd have an excuse to buy a double stroller cons: we don't really need a double stroller, it looks like I'd need a fairly expensive one (probably another Maclaren) since I want the 5 year old to be able to ride and he's close to 50 pounds, I prefer to travel as light as possible--don't want to deal with it on buses, etc.

2. rent a double stroller for parks, maybe bring our maclaren for outside of parks if we need it: pros: cheaper than buying our own (though we'll be in the parks 6 days, so not all that much cheaper, really), convenience cons: no stroller on the way to and from parks (we're staying at the WL, fyi), I've heard the rental strollers are no good for babies--would it just be impossible for the 9 mo to ride in it?

so....there's my novel about strollers. any thoughts? thanks for making it through!

 

[gris gris]

A few thoughts.....I've never carried my babies but will it be too hot in September to have the baby in a sling or on your back?

I bought a Maclaren Quest for the sole purpose of our Disney trip so I'm not going to give you any good advice in regards to "having an excuse to buy one" LOL!

DD was 4 months old when we brought her and we rented strollers - it probably wasn't a good idea for her. In MK the stroller was hard & wide, we ended up buying a towel to cuddle her into it. In MGM the stroller was like a jogging stroller and she did okay with that.

Good luck! This year we're bringing the Mac with us and will have DD4 and a 6 month old.

 

[dawnball]

A sling can be pretty warm in September - I carried my 17 month old in one last September and I spent a lot of time carrying an open umbrella to give her some shade and carrying her outside the sling to cool her off some. If you avoid the hottest parts of the day and take it easy it's ok though.

For this spring (my now 2yrold and her nearly-3 cousin) we're going to get a second Volo and link them togther with stroller connectors. The connectors are made by prince lionheart and cost about $10. It gives us the flexibility of either having 2 single strollers (in case one child is passed out in the stroller, someone can take the other kid off in a second stroller, you can break them apart in crowded situations) and a double stroller (you only need one person to push it, the kids can entertain each other, etc). Then we have two single strollers after the trip instead of a double neither of us needs.

 

[3littleHalls]

That was me last year, my kids were 5, almost 3 and almost 1. We used our double and a buggie board(I brought our front carrier for waiting in line) and it worked very well. I know the arguement over the older kid being tired. So, this year we did the double(Mac TT) and a single(triumph). If you don't want to purchase the double, I would take your single and then rent the double. Depending on how long you are there for, it might be cheaper to purchase a cheap double. Or if you will use the double a whole lot, I would invest in a quality one. The Macs hold up to 55 lbs. My 6yr old is 50lbs and the strollers don't seem to struggle at all with her weight. I agree with the others, a sling might be too warm and that will equal fussy. Have a nice trip!

 

[princessjv]

My 1st thought would be bring your single and purchase a nice double side by side that has an umbrela fold (easier for loading on and off busses). The reason I suggest this is b/c most 3 & 5 year olds will need to ride in a stroller for at least some of the time at WDW and by time you are done renting one for your length of stay, you are darn near close to having payed for one to buy...

However, you will then need to manuver 2 strollers on the WDW transportation, with an infant...yikes... So you may want to rent a double while there, depending on your comfort with loading the kids on and off the buses.

As for the baby carrier, I would for sure bring it for the waits in line, BUT you will not want to have that baby on you and exposed to the heat/sun the entire time. We were there last Oct. with a 10M old and it was HOT having her in her baby bjorn!

Good Luck and have a great trip!

 

[Hannathy]

I wouldn't worry about getting a stroller for the 5 yr old. We did not have a stroller for our 5 yr old and he did fine. With all those little ones you won't be running any marathons so he should be able to handle it. My little guy kept up with 2 teenagers and 3 adults.

 

[kokotg]

thanks everyone! I think I'm just going to suck it up and buy a double stroller. it looks like I can get last year's maclaren for under $200, and it would cost me over $100 to rent a double stroller for the whole trip (and I won't even have a stroller to show for it!) If the 5 year old were the only/youngest one I might think about not having a stroller for him, hannathy--he usually does fine walking until the second he sees his brother climbing into the stroller; then his poor little legs just suddenly give out on him . I'm going to try to prepare him for walking on his own a lot, too, but I know there will be times when everyone will have a better time if he gets to rest for awhile.

 

[4theloveofdisney]

I know I'm a bit late in weighing in here on your decision but I just wanted to add that we also have three kids who are now 3, 6, and 8. I feel your pain but I would not rush right out and buy a double stroller that you do not need. What I would do is bring your stroller from home and rent a double when inside the parks. We have a double stroller and did bring it once but after that we stuck to the single plus a rental. It's just much easier, IMHO. The kids do need to sit and they will get tired. Having the stroller for the baby and the double park stroller for your other two is the perfect situation. Asking a 5 year old to walk around at WDW all day is really just going to ruin your day unless he walks all the time and rarely wants to ride. As far as doing stuff outside of the parks, at least you will have one stroller that you can use with the baby or three year old and since you said you carry the baby a lot, a double really wouldn't be all that necessary.

Just my thoughts - save the money that you would have to shell out for the stroller and put it to use in the parks. HTH!

Just wanted to add: if you do decide to buy a double stroller, it really was very easy to use and take on and off the bus etc. for us. Even though they are bulkier, it wasn't any harder than the single. Just FYI!

 

[bartleby1]

My kids were 5, 3, and 9 months on our trip last year. We rented a double for my older two and brought a full size stroller for our little one. We also brought our single maclaren for outside the parks for my older two to share if they needed it.

I know exactly what you mean about your 5 year old suddenly having no stamina as soon as your 3 year old gets to ride. Our first day at the parks last year, we figured we would do AK and since we would be leaving around 5 pm and it was day one of our trip, we decided to not rent and let them share the maclaren as needed. Well, 15 minutes into the day, I was ready to strangle them, lol! They did nothing but fight over the stroller. They made us miserable and both were in tears. We all definitely were not feeling the magic that day, lol!

Anyway, renting was the best thing we could have done because they handle like a dream! It was sooooo easy to push and my kids are on the tall side but they felt comfortable in it. It is expensive to rent, but we will be doing it again this summer because it was so convenient and easy to push. I would have been exhausted pushing them in our double.

You probably will want something comfy for your 9 month old to be able to nap in and has good sun protection. We brought our full size stroller for that reason. Also, we needed the storage space for all of our stuff.

 

[In Luv with Disney]

Great decision on buying a double! Now that you have 3, you will probably be using the double more than you thought! If you buy the Maclaren double, it carries up to 110 pounds (55lbs per seat), which will last you quite a while. I actually just got a cheap double stroller...my DS is 4 1/2 and DD is going to be 1 in a month! I won't use the double much, but I figured for trips to the mall when I want to keep him contained and I will probably bring it to WDW as well when we go in December. Even though he will be 5, there is A LOT of walking. I read in a guidebook that you will probably walk about 9 miles each day!!! That's a lot for a little one!

I would use the double for your 3 year old and for the 9 month old. Then, if your older one gets tired, he can swap with one of the other kids for their spot. This way, you're not carrying baby around with the baby carrier all day which CAN'T be comfortable for you OR baby. I agree, it is GREAT on lines, but not for navigating the parks for most of the day.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

 

[kokotg]

well, this isn't helping--you all have me all conflicted again . just kidding--I'm getting lots of new things to think about--guess I'll hold off on making a decision for the moment, since I've still got 5 months to decide. I do hate to buy a stroller I'll rarely use just for the trip, but, on the other hand, if I resell it when I'm finished with it, I'll likely come out ahead of where I'd be if I paid to rent one. If only we were planning one more baby, I could definitely justify the expense (hey--maybe I can justify one more baby to dh by pointing out that we need to get more use out of our stroller ). thanks again for all the suggestions!

 

[4theloveofdisney]

well, this isn't helping--you all have me all conflicted again . just kidding--I'm getting lots of new things to think about--guess I'll hold off on making a decision for the moment, since I've still got 5 months to decide. I do hate to buy a stroller I'll rarely use just for the trip, but, on the other hand, if I resell it when I'm finished with it, I'll likely come out ahead of where I'd be if I paid to rent one. If only we were planning one more baby, I could definitely justify the expense (hey--maybe I can justify one more baby to dh by pointing out that we need to get more use out of our stroller ). thanks again for all the suggestions!

Oh no! One thing that I would like to point out is that even if you bring a double, you are still not going to have enough room for all kids at one time and after walking around all day, your kids are going to be tired and so are you! I don't know why but my kids have always fought over who gets the extra seat and it gets old FAST! That's what we discovered and that is why we brought the single - for the babies comfort and then just rented the double for the other two. Again, HTH!

 

[tink&cinderella]

Now that the warm months are upon us you can also look for a double stroller or a single with one of those step/seat at the back for an older child at a garage sale or second hand store.

Just a thought- it may save some money

Tink& Cinderella

 

[kokotg]

Oh no! One thing that I would like to point out is that even if you bring a double, you are still not going to have enough room for all kids at one time and after walking around all day, your kids are going to be tired and so are you! I don't know why but my kids have always fought over who gets the extra seat and it gets old FAST! That's what we discovered and that is why we brought the single - for the babies comfort and then just rented the double for the other two. Again, HTH!

if we go the rent a double route (which I think is how I'm leaning right this second, though of course I'll change my mind by tomorrow, I'm sure) then we'll definitely bring the single stroller along on the trip (we're driving down--we're in atlanta, too!) Might try out the double stroller to rotate kids around in plus Ergo baby carrier for the first day and see how it goes, then decide whether to bring the single with us after that. One of my least favorite parts of having so many little kids is all the STUFF you have to haul around with them. I never even carried a purse before, and now I'm tied down to all these diaper bags and strollers. ah well, I guess they're worth it . we're also planning to keep the days in the parks pretty short--go back to the hotel after lunch to rest--so maybe that will help my oldest's stamina (and keep us from carrying a baby around in the hottest part of the day, though, being in georgia, I'm pretty used to having sweaty little people attached to me by now. did I mention I ordered my new Ergo in black ? now that was some good thinking )

 

[4theloveofdisney]

if we go the rent a double route (which I think is how I'm leaning right this second, though of course I'll change my mind by tomorrow, I'm sure) then we'll definitely bring the single stroller along on the trip (we're driving down--we're in atlanta, too!) Might try out the double stroller to rotate kids around in plus Ergo baby carrier for the first day and see how it goes, then decide whether to bring the single with us after that. One of my least favorite parts of having so many little kids is all the STUFF you have to haul around with them. I never even carried a purse before, and now I'm tied down to all these diaper bags and strollers. ah well, I guess they're worth it . we're also planning to keep the days in the parks pretty short--go back to the hotel after lunch to rest--so maybe that will help my oldest's stamina (and keep us from carrying a baby around in the hottest part of the day, though, being in georgia, I'm pretty used to having sweaty little people attached to me by now. did I mention I ordered my new Ergo in black ? now that was some good thinking )

Hi Neighbor!! Wish I still had my double - I would have lent it to you - lol. I gave it away to a neighbor though. Sounds like you have a good plan and like you said, coming from Georgia, you are used to the heat. You're right about having to bring so much stuff but it's worth it and it does get better. Have a great time!!

 

[kizmac]

Don't buy the double stroller! If you are planning on another baby then go for it, but with a 5 and 3 yr old, you will not need it, at least outside of the Disney trip. They are too much money for the good ones and you won't get your use out of it.

Here is what I would do..Leave the backpack carrier home.......bring the sling definitely. You will use it a lot if you are used to slinging at home. We always go in September and if you use something like a Maya without a ton of heavy padding, it will be fine. You won't want to wear baby all day so you will need a stroller for him. Ok, so you have a single Mac. That's a great Disney stroller! I would take that for sure for the 3 yr old. Now for the 9 month old, I would without any doubt buy the Peg Pliko P3. It has the foot pegs on the back that the 5 yr old can hop on if he needs a lift and that would take care of when the 5 yr old needs a rest and the other two are in the strollers. It's a great, light weight stroller that still has the umbrella fold and snack tray. Very easy on the WDW buses. It will run you around $289 online...maybe less for an 05 model but you will get many years of use out of it and the resale on them are pretty good so you can Ebay it when you are done with it.

I don't see renting as an option unless you think the 9 month old would be ok in the Mac. Then your other option could be Mac for the baby and rent a double for the week, but the $ you'll be giving to Disney could go towards the P3 that you'll eventually be able to sell. I don't think you'll be sorry if you go that route. It's exactly what I did for our last year trip. My kids were 14,11,8,5,3 and 15 months. I used the P3 and a Mac Volo and it worked out great! Littlest in the P3 and the 3 & 5 yr took turns in the Volo or jumping on the P3 footpegs. Have a great trip, whatever you decide!