To stroller or not to stroller?

[mirak]

I hardly think that having a child in a stroller for a week is going to turn them into an obese, diabetic, inactive adult. But way to be judgmental.

Live and let live?- you've got a strange way of showing it.

I didn't say live and let live. Somebody asked for advice and I gave them mine, first and foremost was "talk to your doctor." Could be a perfectly good medical reason. Or maybe these are the kids that grow up to be "able-bodied adults renting ECVs." I'm just envisioning a future trip to Disney Wall-E style. But just my two bigotted judgmental cents.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I didn't say live and let live. Somebody asked for advice and I gave them mine, first and foremost was "talk to your doctor." Could be a perfectly good medical reason. Or maybe these are the kids that grow up to be "able-bodied adults renting ECVs." I'm just envisioning a future trip to Disney Wall-E style. But just my two bigotted judgmental cents.

The OP asked for opinions and you had every right to express yours.

This stroller question is asked here constantly; if you don't care what other people think, why ask?

 

[cattywampus]

No one is going to care one iota while you are the parks.

We rented City Elite (75 lb capacity) and were so glad that we did. Our 6 year old walked a lot during the day but always chose to jump in on crowded walkways and also into the evening. He fell asleep numerous times on the way home (we stayed at GF). This is a very active child who is a blue belt in karate, wins top honors in his school running club, swims and is a bundle of energy. He is very lean (I would kill for his low body fat percentage) but WDW is not real life. We also liked being able to bring extra clothes, snacks and water and he loved pulling the sunshade down and having a quiet spot.

The only place you are going to find disapproval and judgement are some people on this board. Ignore it and get the stroller.

 

[Cedarmom]

Great question, OP! I've been debating the same question! It's our first family trip to WDW and my kids will be 11, 9, 6, and 4. My 6yo is small and I can see her tiring quickly too.

So to take your question further, does anyone think it'd be better to have two individual umbrella strollers or one big double stroller? We bought umbrella strollers (when we just had 3 kids) for Disneyland. It worked really well. So I was thinking of just taking 2 umbrella strollers this time. Good idea or should I just take our double stroller? I just think our double seems so much bulkier.

On the advice of the disboards, we took two umbrella strollers on our last trip with a 6, 3 and 9 month old. We never even took the second stroller out of the room. I had a carrier for the baby and just used that when the 3 yo got tired, which wasn't nearly as often as I thought it would be. They were able to alternate use nicely and we weren't pushing around two strollers all day. With a 4 and 6 yo, I'd just take 1 umbrella and let them share.

Now that my youngest is 5, we are going without a stroller at all, but I have in the back of my mind the plan to rent a Disney stroller on Epcot day (for the world showcase) if it's looking like it's needed.

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

Bring a stroller or rent for sure.
Around age 7 was when it seems they can manage the walking without it being a hindrance to the family.

 

[jennilouwho]

We went last September and took our sit and stand. The baby was in the front, but it was nice to have for our 6 year old when he would wear out. We did 2 weeks in the heat and sometimes it was nice for him to ride, especially getting off the bus to our room at the end of the day. It was a beast to deal with on the bus though and I am looking forward to next time when we would just have an umbrella stroller.

 

[njmom76]

We rented a double in 2013 for our then 8 month old DS & 5 yo DD. I didn't have one in 2014 for DD (DS didn't go) and she was fine, but absolutely exhausted after 12 hours in MK! We are renting another double this year for them at 2 & 7. DD really doesn't need it, but it will be nice to have when battling summer crowds!

 

[MomBird]

I would rent the stroller. He might only need it 1/4 of the time, but Disney is simply a lot of walking, plus add asthma on to the mix. I took a double stroller when my son was 6 and my daughter was 1 and it worked out great. He jumped in every so often for a quick ride and then he hopped back out to walk for the majority of the time.

My son was small at 6 (probably only 45-50 pounds) so he could fit in the front/back style double stroller with no problem, but I think MOST people will not be judgmental about a larger kid riding. He is a kid and kids get tired.