Strollers: Rent or bring our own?

[Lincolnshire]

We are planning our very first family trip to WDW (yay!) for the first week of December when our kids will be not quite 2.5 yrs and 4 months. Because they will be so young, I want to have cushy strollers that recline, like the Citi Mini, so would not rent in-park. Two questions:

1. Should we save money by bringing ours from home instead of renting? Do strollers get stolen/permanently lost in WDW? We would be out a lot of money if that happens and this is already such an expensive trip! (We will have baby carriers too and our 2.5 yr is tiny so I'm not worried about no strollers in the airport.)
2. Would you recommend 2 singles or 1 double? We are staying at Wilderness Lodge and hitting all 4 parks, so I worry about getting a double on & off the busses.

Thanks!

 

[SamSam]

We have rented the double Mini twice in the last year for our twin grandsons, they were 2 1/2 the first trip and almost 3 the second time. We loved having the citi mini and didn't find it at all hard to get on and off of buses. I would take the boys with me and DH would handle the stroller. It folded easily and he had no problem getting it on or off the bus.

 

[PocahontasLookALike]

I would rent. I would wear the babes thru the airport and then rent a double thru an offsite co. I would prob opt for the insurance just in case.

At those ages the babes need a shady cozy spot to rest. The citi minis have great shade coverage. If you've never pushed a side by side double it will feel a little awkward at first but they are really easy to push and to fold.

Have fun! We took our daughter when she was 3 mos. it was so easy. And your 2.5 yo will have a blast!!!

 

[tourguide81]

It's really up to you. I think it's silly to rent something that we have at home that could be useful at the airport. We do baby wear a lot, especially in airports, but we use the stroller as a cart to schlepp stuff and free up our hands.

I don't think it's the end of the world to rent instead - just definitely go w/ the city mini double.

 

[Runnergal]

I own a city mini gt double, so I brought it with us in November for a 2yo and 7mo. But we were in wdw again in February with just the toddler, and the only single stroller I own is a Maclaren, so I decided to rent a city mini single. It was so easy, and quite reasonable(I think $70 for up to 7 days for the double). I used kingdom strollers. Its a nuisance getting through security with little ones and if you arent going to need a stroller at the airport just leave it home and rent one.

 

[Feberin]

We're going in May and we chose to purchase a stroller for our trip. We got a double Maclaren (we have a single one that we love) for our kids who are going to be four and nearly two years old. I bought it for $100 on Craigslist so I don't think it was that much more than a rental for a week and now we own it.

 

[minnie1012]

Great article on this topic:

http://wdwprepschool.com/comparing-stroller-options-for-disney-world-trips/

 

[cel_disney]

Will you be bringing a carseat for your kids on the plane? (I always do - its not a good start/end to my vacation if I have to wrestle with a toddler every few minutes on the plane)

If you are bringing a carseat, I would bring a stroller with you for the airport to help with 'stuff' for sure. Even if not, I still think the stroller is helpful for stuff. I do recommend a stroller cover for checking your stroller though so if you don't own one, factor this into your costs matrix.

I can't think of too many places where you would only want a single stroller at WDW with kids that age - so I would probably bring my own an save the 100$. We always brought our own 500$ stroller when we used a single in WDW (so about 5 trips). Then we started brining our single and renting a double (4 yrs and 4 months) and sometimes were able to leave the double in our room), but I can't see you having as many options for that.

 

[tanyaandallie]

What type of double do you have at home? If you have one you like, I'd bring it. We always brought our double because it just seemed silly to me to rent when I could bring my own. We had a maclaren sbs stroller and LOVED it.

I prefer a double so that one parent can handle both kids at one time.

 

[bacoach2014]

We are planning our very first family trip to WDW (yay!) for the first week of December when our kids will be not quite 2.5 yrs and 4 months. Because they will be so young, I want to have cushy strollers that recline, like the Citi Mini, so would not rent in-park. Two questions:

1. Should we save money by bringing ours from home instead of renting? Do strollers get stolen/permanently lost in WDW? We would be out a lot of money if that happens and this is already such an expensive trip! (We will have baby carriers too and our 2.5 yr is tiny so I'm not worried about no strollers in the airport.)
2. Would you recommend 2 singles or 1 double? We are staying at Wilderness Lodge and hitting all 4 parks, so I worry about getting a double on & off the busses.

Thanks!

Bring your own. I have made a few trips with small ones and yours will be more comfortable than the one you can rent. They were life savers for us and we got a double stroller because we had two young ones.

 

[kohlby]

I'd actually recommend just one single - but making sure it's one with full-recline and comfy for either child. We've done three trips with a child under 1 and a 3 year old and found that the baby wanted to be in the sling pretty much the entire time. If the baby wanted to nap in the stroller, then the 2.5 year old could walk for a little bit. (Or even use a carrier, as you mention that you already do that).

 

[luvmy2babies]

I highly recommend the city mini. People have all kinds of reasons for leaving their personal strollers at home. For our first trip in 2010 my son was 10 months. We had a Graco at home (one of the ones that comes with the infant car seat), plus I had his car seat with me for the plane so I rented a city mini because of the easy fold mechanism. I figured it would make taking the busses easier with me being the only adult and him not walking. I also had an Ergo carrier. Plus, being the only adult I could not handle the stroller and the car seat in the airport so I wore him through the airport and rented from Orlando Stroller rentals. Loved that stroller so much that by our 2012 trip when he was 2.5, I had my own. I rented a CARES harness for the plane ride and brought our city mini with us.

This year, he’s 4 and I’ve scheduled our flights at times he should be wide awake. I’m trying to decide if I want to let him walk the airport. When we have flown, my daughter usually pushed the stroller so I could handle the luggage, but I’m thinking of her having her own bag this year. He spent less time in the stroller last trip so I’m thinking of trying to find a MacLaren Volo or something similar with a shoulder strap to buy on eBay or Craig’s list or renting a GT and having him walk.

 

[GWhitten98]

We rented b/c we don't have a double, but needed one for the trip. We loved the one we rented and will probably rent again. DH bought one of those car seat rolling bag things which is very handy for the airport.

 

[mojper]

For me, better option is to take your own. Maybe is not cheaper, but that's only me.

 

[dizzyinwdw]

Last two trips with older DS 6/7 we only brought a single stroller for DS 3, now 4. Part of the reason we took our own was due to learning our youngest son has food allergies--I was concerned about residue from previous users. We ended up renting a single at the park for older DS when he was tired. Two strollers were also useful if we split up in the park for different rides (e.g. older DS wanted to do mountains, smaller DS Buzz, etc).

Trips before then (ages <5) we rented a double stroller and added the insurance waiver 1 out of the 3 times we rented. No problems. The double stroller was a pain getting in/out of buses and/or trams but worth it with 2 little ones. We rented the City Mini double.

 

[Angel Ariel]

We are planning our very first family trip to WDW (yay!) for the first week of December when our kids will be not quite 2.5 yrs and 4 months. Because they will be so young, I want to have cushy strollers that recline, like the Citi Mini, so would not rent in-park. Two questions:

1. Should we save money by bringing ours from home instead of renting? Do strollers get stolen/permanently lost in WDW? We would be out a lot of money if that happens and this is already such an expensive trip! (We will have baby carriers too and our 2.5 yr is tiny so I'm not worried about no strollers in the airport.)

We specifically rented so that we would not have a stroller in the airport. I carried DD in a Beco through the airport, and she slept in her carseat for the flight (she had her own ticket). We also didn't want to worry about ours getting stolen/damaged. We've rented City Minis from Kingdom Strollers and Apple Strollers, and had great experiences with both.

2. Would you recommend 2 singles or 1 double? We are staying at Wilderness Lodge and hitting all 4 parks, so I worry about getting a double on & off the busses.
Thanks!

I don't have experience with doubles (just 1 DD right now), but I would think 1 stroller would be easier to manage on and off buses than 2, even if it is bigger.

A side question - would a sit and stand stroller be an option? If you wear the 4 month old most of the time, the stroller would be available for the 2.5 yr old - but when the 4 month old is sleeping or something, the 2.5 yr old could ride on the back? I know kingdom strollers rents a City Elite with a rider board add-on option.

 

[kaa1187]

Taking our 2.5 year old on September and we are taking our own! Just went out today after researching which stroller to take, and bought a Jeep Sport stroller. It is awesome!! I have a Chicco cortina and a Graco jogger, and decided on something lightweight and less bulky.