Stroller

[Dawncad]

Hi, we are planning a trip down in Sept. Our six year old boy has Autism. He weighs about 98 lbs. Is it worth getting a stroller for him? My husband heard that it is very cumbersome pushing a stroller around Disney. Can anyone offer me advise or suggestions? Thanks for your help. We are going the third week of September.

 

[debbiemomto4]

If your son needs a stroller or a wheelchair to get around than I don't think that it really is an issue. Of course some strollers are harder to push with a 6 yr old in it. A pediatric stroller that can be rented is better if your child has outgrown a regular stroller.
Crowds are less in September but I have gone in the summer and pushed one. Mostly if your child can't walk for more than 6 hours with some rest or he is going to meltdown and needs that safe spot than he needs one.
Its a lot of walking for an adult never mind a child and if the child can't voice his pain and frustration it will end up being harder on the parent.

 

[ratlenhum]

I pushed my 80 lb 7 year old around for 8 days last August. It wasn't that bad. We had a place for our stuff and pushing that stroller was easier than walking holding his hand, trying to hold his hand while he bounced, skipped, flapped, tried to wander in a different direction, or just stopped walking for no apparent reason. It was tiring and made me sweat a little but so would have walking holding his hand. He's safer and happier in the stroller. Especially with the visor part over him, it's his own little space to sort of just veg for a few minutes.

He did walk a lot but when he got tired or a little flighty we'd tell him to sit and he'd happily climb in. He also wasn't in it constantly. We'd park it, do one area of a park, then stick him back in it while we moved from one major area to another.

 

[KPeveler]

You can get a stroller off-site if you do not want to bring one or rent Disney's every day. You can get a card which allows you to take the stroller in lines at Guest Services. this will allow him some "personal space" in crowded queues and pre-show areas, and will keep him from getting too tired...

I manage a wheelchair in the parks, and my wife has no problem pushing my through crowds, so I am sure you will do okay, and having a place for him to feel safe would be a big help I would think!

 

[SueM in MN]

in post #2 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread, there are links to some companies that rent Special Needs strollers. THere is a link in my signature to get to that thread or you can find it near the top of this board.
A 98 pound child will probably be too large to fit in the WDW park rental strollers. There is a picture of the strollers in post #2 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread.

These are meant for larger kids, and like the others said, would provide your child a safe haven place where he can be separated a bit from the other guests and from the stimulation all around him.

Depending on how tall he is, you may also be able to rent either a wheelchair or a transport chair (similar to a wheelchair, but with 4 small tires). Most of them are at least 16 inches wide seats, which may be too wide to be comfortable for a smaller child.

 

[TannersRfans]

My son is 9 and for the last two trips (he was 7 and 8) we rented the double stroller at each park. He's too big for the single so we had to go with that. We're looking at renting one through the site mentioned here, just to make it easier. We'll be doing Univeral, too - so having our own stroller would be the easiest. My son tires really easily (he's a cancer survivor and has some left side weakness) and can't make it through the parks for that long without a stroller. Our last trip was in December this past year and the crowds were crazy for the Christmas Party - but at least with the stroller, I know where he is. In a crowd like that, holding hands didn't feel safe enough for me. He has issues with crowds when it's dark, too - so he feels safe in the stroller!!

 

[snow_white's_mom]

I would defiently do a stroller, but you know your child better then anyone else. It really helps my daughter from getting over tired and gives her a place to get away from everything sometimes, which makes her and everyone around her more plesant lol.