Stroller VS Nap time

[roxazul]

I will be going to Dsiney for my daughter 5th birthday.

Do I really need to bring a stroller (umbrella type) ? if I plan on going back to the hotel every day in the afternoon for her to have a little nap.

I know my daughter is lazy and that's why I tend to stick to the idea of a stroller... but is WDW that big ?
How many square feet are the parks ?

 

[hippiechick72]

does a whoooooole lot of square feet answer your question?

I'm not sure the correct answer for this question, but I can tell you that I was just at WDW last week with a 4 year old daughter. She walked everywhere and never complained once. We spent 6 days walking throguh parks and she was happy as a clam walking with us holding her dad's hand. If you really have a lazy kid, then take your stroller. It's better to be safe than sorry, especially if you are only taking an umbrella stoller, those are lightweight and don't get in the way too much. Besides you can always leave it in the hotel if your kiddo does better than you think she will. My 4 year old constantly wanted to ride rides, so it wasn't like we were jsut walking miles upon miles everyday.

I would say that if there was one park out of them all that you wouldn't need it for sure(but then again this depends on your child, you her better than me), it would be Hollywood Studios. This park to me seems the smallest. And also this park there are lots of shows to go watch, so you are aleady sitting a lot.

Hopefully this helps.

 

[guelde96]

I think I heard somewhere once that Disney World is the size of Manhattan. I've never been to Manhattan but that sounds big to me.

There is a lot of walking at WDW. However, when our kids turn 5 we no longer bring a stroller. Our youngest will just turn 5 before our next trip and we are already prepping him for no stroller.

 

[F1Julie]

We started leaving the stroller at home when DD was 4.5. I was hesitant to do it, but it turned out to be so much easier. DD did great without it and we got around so much faster since we didn't have park the stroller and then find it again. If you are worried about the size of the parks, you could try taking a walk every day before your trip. Start out going for 15 minutes and add 5 minutes each day to build up endurance.

 

[Taja]

If I remember correctly, WDW is about 47 sq. miles. Parks are measured in hundreds of acres.

MK and DHS are very do-able without strollers, depending on the child. EPCOT & AK are larger and spread out more. A stroller could be a good thing.

We had a tiny 9-year-old (about the size of most 5 or 6 year olds) with us last December and she did fine. We adjusted to her pace, though. Her legs are much shorter! It was a strolling and enjoying trip rather than a commando trip.

 

[jack hannah bananah]

I find it easier to bring a stroller than listen to my kids whine

And they will complain - it is a lot of walking!

 

[2dogmom]

I have always preferred to bring a stroller if they have a tendency to fall asleep easily at night (like on a ride - Spaceship Earth, TTA come to mind) I don't want to be carrying my child back to the resort. I also like a stroller to keep track of my child in a crowd, either in the parks, in line for the transportation, or at the airport. Yeah, sometimes it is a hassle, but it was always a big help for me.

 

[tomboy_m]

My DD 4 1/2 used one during all of our trip last month. She is not typically a lazy kid and love to go for long walks. She got a stomach virus the first day we were there and it wiped her out. That $20.00 umbrella stroller saved our trip. It also made it much easier to get from point A to point B without a lot of wandering and nagging when we were in a hurry. She loved her stroller and now uses it to push around her dolls and her cat. It is far easier to push a kid in a stroller than to carry them. In our case with DD worn out from an unexpected illness, it allowed us to be much more active. without it we would have been carrying her or staying in the room.... if we would have had to carry her we would have been cranky and if we would have stayed in the room she would have been heartbroken. The stroller is pretty much demolished.. but for $20 it lasted the entire 10 day trip and the airport there and back. It was really nice to have in the airport too, I could either have her in it or our carry ons.. much easier than trying to carry them and hold onto her hand as I a was trying to catch a flight halfway across the airport.