Strollers

[Tink78]

Hi
Just wondering what to do about my eldest son.
He'll be 5 1/2 when we go but he's not very good at walking (he gets quite whingy and wants to be carried), but we'll already have a buggy for our almost 3 year old and a wheelchair for my Mum.
There are 7 of us going but my hubby will probably be pushing my Mum and I'll be pushing my youngest son.
I tried a buggy board but my eldest son is too heavy and it was impossible to push the buggy with them both on it.
Any tips?
Thanks
Karen

 

[scoobydooby]

Get a Disney double stroller. Big enough for average sized five year old. A weeks rental works out cheaper than daily if you will use it every day. Not suitable for small baby though. No one will stare. There are loads of older children in them than you see in normal life.

 

[Elise79]

Get them to take turns in the single and take breaks.

We have just come back and DD turned 5 in June and walked everywhere. The only time she was carried was back from the bus when she fell asleep on it one night.

I would not want to push a double with DD in let alone 2 kids!

 

[scoobydooby]

I think the above suggestion would be really stressful. Three and five year olds are not developmentally equipped to be good at taking turns, especially in an unusual environment. I had no trouble pushing a double stroller. Also. The fact one child at aged 5 finds the walking fine doesn't mean another will. Taking two children is more work than taking one too, especially if one
Parent is responsible for caring for another adult. I am not of the view your situation is comparable to the OPs really.

 

[Pinkgirl]

What do you do at the moment? Does he walk to school? If he is out of a buggy at home, do you think he would be happy to be in one on holiday? Also, you say you are a party of 7. Are they other 2 adults who would be willing to push a second buggy or even your mother's wheelchair and they could share some of the burden?

 

[Laurafoster]

We are renting a double stroller for my 3yo and 9month old in Sept. We dont use one at home so opted to hire one instead of buy.

We are renting through Orlando stroller Rentals (as a few friends recommended them). They worked out cheaper than the Disney ones for our long trip and they drop off/pick up from your hotel.

 

[Lolsmum]

We took our two at 6 1/2 and just turned 5 and had no stroller. What we did do was do a lot of walking leading up to it, to get in practice for Disney, and took a break when anyone needed it. Given the amount of time most of us Brits are there, it's not like we have to get every park done in a day, which can be an issue for the Americans. We were there in August, so the heat was pretty intense. In October it should be a lot easier.

Over a 10 night trip each of my kids was carried into the hotel once and each had a very short time of being carried in the park, as in 2-3 minutes.

Unless you know absolutely that your older son will refuse to walk, I'd spend the next two months building up stamina and building up the idea that big boys walk, bring a single buggy and take it from there.

 

[Tink78]

We do a bit of walking, but he just prefers to have a ride - who wouldn't. LOL!

They won't share a buggy either, we've tried that before - too many arguements.

I hope that we can manage with one, and that when my eldest son gets a little tired he might be able to sit on my Mum's lap (she's not disabled as such but has very bad knees and is waiting for a knee replacement operation so I know she won't be able to cope with all the walking, so she'll be using the wheelchair occasionally).

So I'm thinking he will be able to hitch a ride every now and then in the wheelchair.

We don't want to hire a double buggy as it will make things even trickier with the wheelchair too, plus it's an extra expense as we already have a buggy for my youngest son.

I think we'll cope then with the buggy and wheelchair and I'll toughen up my eldest a little and make sure he has some super comfy shoes.

Thanks peeps. x

 

[Lolsmum]

Without knowing your mother's situation I didn't want to suggest hitching a ride with her, but mine have done that with my mother before.

 

[Tink78]

Without knowing your mother's situation I didn't want to suggest hitching a ride with her, but mine have done that with my mother before.

Oh no, she's just fine. Just dodgy knees.

 

[~Piglet~]

We do a bit of walking, but he just prefers to have a ride - who wouldn't. LOL!

Our DD is the same We took a buggy last trip when she was 5 and 3/4 but made a compromise that she would walk during the day and use the buggy of an evening. This worked quite well as there's no way I could have carried her when she was tired.

 

[Magic Megadegs]

All children are different and as someone said unless you are staying offsite and having to pay for parking, the pressure is off us Brits to complete marathon park days. Although it will be harder with 7 people to co-ordinate the needs of everyone, generally it would be the needs of the most vulnerable (young/old/infirm) who dictate the pace. If they need a rest, take a breather and maybe play hunt the hidden Mickey from a seated position.

We are going in a couple of days with a 5 and 8 year old and as it happens my 8 year old has less stamina than the 5 year old. I would more than happily push either or both around if it meant we could maximise enjoyment for everyone. As someone said there are far older children in the strollers than you would normally see and that is down to a combo of heat / parks being very busy / aching legs and just the general sensory overload that let's be fair WDW provides. Kids cope differently, don't feel judged.

If you change your mind and want an extra buggy whilst there, they have them in Walmart starting at $20 which 3 years ago was $10 less than the one day Disney stroller rack rate. I won't be long buying a double this year if we feel our children need it, even if we mostly use it for ferrying frozen water bottles around!

 

[Stitch's Greatest Fa]

Like others have said, every child is different. Dd will be almost 5 this year, last time we went she was 2.5 we took the stroller then and apart from day time naps which she was still having at that age, she wanted to walk and we spent most of the time pushing an empty stroller. Remember it is not constant walking, you will be sitting down in attractions and to eat and as mentioned, you can buy cheap strollers in Walmart (I personally always think those Disney rental strollers look really uncomfortable). I don't know if they still do, but Disney also used to sell basic strollers for around $35. My Dd will be walking and am not entertaining the idea of any stroller buying or renting, but that is just me...DD knows I will not put up with whinging, if she is really in need of a rest we will carry DS for a bit whilst she rides, also DS has just learned to walk, so he is more than happy to practise his new skill! However, you know your own child so you must do what works for you x

 

[Julia Ann]

I agree with the previous post, if you mom is happy for a bit of a cuddle with your child for a few minutes then that might be a solution. also although your child moans about walking now, he may be very excited and distracted to even think about the walking when he is there. Also I read in the Unofficial Guide to WDW that some people have bought a disney stroller off somebody returning it to the drop off point when they no longer require it, say for $3 and then returned it for them or sold it on again.

 

[ClaireW]

We rented a double from an off-stie company when our DDs were 3 and 5 because we knew that they would probably both be tried at the same time and not want to swap in and out of a single. We didn't find it was too heavy/difficult to manoeuvre and had the added bonus of enabling us to go at adult pace when we walked between resorts/across parks, etc.

 

[Zeebs]

We find ours will walk most places if they can't see we have a stroller with us. (which we have for our daughter who is delayed and tires easily, or I tire of her taking an age to get anywhere lol) But if the stroller is there they constantly want to sit in it if she isn't it.

Last time we went we had a hired double from Orlando Strollers which was a fantastic stroller and our own single and we had fights on which stroller they got to go in.

When we go next year the I will be taking a stroller for Ariana and doing nothing for the boys who will be 6 and 8, we don't go hard out every day we tour from opening until about 2.30 and that is the end of day at the parks generally.

Kirsten