Stroller with 6-year old....

[sharon_wv]

Nope, not asking what you think about whether we should take a stroller for our 6-year old.

We were at Disney last week with our 6 year old without a stroller. She's definitely old enough and has the stamina to walk through the parks from 7:30 AM until the nighttime fireworks event at each park. That's where the problem came in. Because there are lots of people taller than a 6-year old, she always had a tough time seeing Wishes, Illuminations, etc. and I needed to pick her up in order to see. Once she got comfy while I was holding her, she would start to zonk out and either fall asleep or nearly fall asleep. I ended up carrying her to the buses and then from the buses to our room. I'll tell you it's a FAR walk from Mexico to the buses in Epcot!!! It's also far from Fantasmic to the buses in DHS (although I didn't carry her that night, but had a little girl whining the entire walk about how tired she was, which was just as miserable).

In a way I wish we bought a cheap umbrella stroller and stashed it at some inconspicious place in the parks to sit for the day (maybe at It's a Small World or MK or something like that). Then at the end of the day, I'd scoop it up to use for that long walk to the buses and from the bus to our room.

If it dawned on me before the end of our trip to do that, I would have made a trip to Walmart for that cheap stroller.

Opinions on adding this as a tip for future travelers?

 

[smitch425]

Nope, not asking what you think about whether we should take a stroller for our 6-year old.

We were at Disney last week with our 6 year old without a stroller. She's definitely old enough and has the stamina to walk through the parks from 7:30 AM until the nighttime fireworks event at each park. That's where the problem came in. Because there are lots of people taller than a 6-year old, she always had a tough time seeing Wishes, Illuminations, etc. and I needed to pick her up in order to see. Once she got comfy while I was holding her, she would start to zonk out and either fall asleep or nearly fall asleep. I ended up carrying her to the buses and then from the buses to our room. I'll tell you it's a FAR walk from Mexico to the buses in Epcot!!! It's also far from Fantasmic to the buses in DHS (although I didn't carry her that night, but had a little girl whining the entire walk about how tired she was, which was just as miserable).

In a way I wish we bought a cheap umbrella stroller and stashed it at some inconspicious place in the parks to sit for the day (maybe at It's a Small World or MK or something like that). Then at the end of the day, I'd scoop it up to use for that long walk to the buses and from the bus to our room.

If it dawned on me before the end of our trip to do that, I would have made a trip to Walmart for that cheap stroller.

Opinions on adding this as a tip for future travelers?

My advice when it comes to strollers is just to do what you think is necessary to have the best trip possible. Every kid is different. My 6 year old hit rope drop on an EMH morning at DHS and then went to MNSSHP and stayed up until 2am and we were stroller free. If it were up to me, we would have went to sleep at 1am, but he wanted to tally the candy.

It is no one else's business if you put your kid in a stroller as long as you are not ramming into them with it.

 

[sharon_wv]

My advice when it comes to strollers is just to do what you think is necessary to have the best trip possible. Every kid is different. My 6 year old hit rope drop on an EMH morning at DHS and then went to MNSSHP and stayed up until 2am and we were stroller free. If it were up to me, we would have went to sleep at 1am, but he wanted to tally the candy.

It is no one else's business if you put your kid in a stroller as long as you are not ramming into them with it.

Very true... That's too funny about your 6-year old wanting to check out all the candy after a long day like that! We all crashed every night when we got back to our room and it felt like we slept for 10 minutes when it was time to get up and hit the next rope drop.

 

[smitch425]

Very true... That's too funny about your 6-year old wanting to check out all the candy after a long day like that! We all crashed every night when we got back to our room and it felt like we slept for 10 minutes when it was time to get up and hit the next rope drop.

We were planning on sleeping in the next day. We were in the park less than an hour after opening.

My DS (now 7) has no off button. He just goes, goes, goes all the time and he will chit chat in bed until you say "If you don't stop talking I am going to ground you." We were staying at my parents' house not that long ago and he was sleeping with me. At 12:36am he finally stopped talking. 4 minutes later when I was almost asleep he rolled over and loudly asked "Mom, what's your favorite kind of popcorn?"

It startled me and I jumped. We hadn't even been talking about food before then.

I have the most random kid ever. Thank goodness DD is quiet. She couldn't get a word in even if she wanted to.

 

[Alexander]

I am pondering exactly what to do with my DS (just turned 6) when we visit in August. He can certainly walk all day, and it is soooooo much easier not having to navigate a stroller through the crowds (although then you also have no storage for your things), but I am worried that with the heat he might prefer to sit back with his fan sprayer and be pushed around. We have a McClaren that I love and it is perfect for our WDW trips, but I really don't want to drag it through the airport, etc. Oh, what to do, what to do?

 

[VLee]

I say go with a stroller. I just returned from a trip last week and had my granddaughter who had turned 5 in March. For this last trip, I bought a nice stroller for about $40 on Amazon (didn't want to take the McLaren) but it was nicer than the cheaper ones at Walmart and also taller and easier to fold. It even had a cup and basket storage and small head shield. My daughter and son-in-law had laughed at me for bringing it along. But I knew better because I have been to Disney more than them with kids and know how tired they get. It is easy for them to nap during the day when they get tired and also easier on me to push a stroller than pulling children by the hand. Believe me, I have gotten off many busses with sleepy children and having a stroller is so much easier.
Before the trip was out, guess who was asking to "borrow" the stroller when they took the kids to Downtown Disney?

 

[ZoZo]

In a way I wish we bought a cheap umbrella stroller and stashed it at some inconspicious place in the parks to sit for the day (maybe at It's a Small World or MK or something like that). Then at the end of the day, I'd scoop it up to use for that long walk to the buses and from the bus to our room.

If it dawned on me before the end of our trip to do that, I would have made a trip to Walmart for that cheap stroller.

Opinions on adding this as a tip for future travelers?

I don't think you'd be able to "stash" a stroller some place and have it be there at the end of the day. WDW CMs are pretty good about rearranging things as needed, like strollers. They're also super-careful about things like unidentified bags left unattended (actually have CMs with bomb-sniffing dogs investigage them!). So if you leave something somewhere, I'd bet that a CM would find it and take it away.

Regarding whether you should get a stroller for your child, I say do what works best for your family! Heat, humidity, and lots of walking can make the most even-tempered kids (and adults!) cranky, and that sound like a good solution.

And if you get negative replies to your question, don't let them bother you! You do what you think is best.

 

[delmar411]

DS6 is super whiny when he's tired and we've pretty much decided that for our enjoyment we bring his stroller. He's also a clockwork sleeper too which is fantastic at home but sucks on vacation. So having the stroller gives him a place to crash out without having to cut the evening super short...his bedtime is 8pm and at home you literally kiss him good night and he's gone in less than a minute.

Anyway, in the hotter weather it can be a good place for them to hide out and get some shade too.