Toddlers on Disney Busses

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Okay...tell me the truth.

How difficult is it to use Disney's transportation with two year olds. My husband and I are hoping to be in the World around September. We ARE driving there from TX. Once we get there though, we DO NOT want to drive ANYWHERE!!! (Since at the end of May we will be moving TO TX FROM FL! LOL)

But in all reality, how hard is it going to be for us to tote our kids and their stroller on and off of the busses/boats/monorails?

The kids are well behaved and I'm not the typre of person to travel with a small Wal-Mart in my stroller, just the "bear neccessities". (no offence to Wal-Mart toting people...I learned in the first six months of my twins' life that that just doesn't work for me!LOL)

 

[adventure_woman]

Hehehe. I am one of those "Walmart" toting people. (I have never heard that phrase before!). I went to Disney by myself with my DD - then almost 2. I had to carry the Graco, diaper bag and 1 other bag, so there was no way I could carry her too. She learned REAL fast how to get on/off the busses. There are 2 different types of busses. The OLD ones and the newer ones. The old ones are a pain in the you know what. They have big stairs to get on, and it is a little harder for the little ones to get on. The newer ones are SUPER easy! They are just one step from the ground and then you walk on. Sometimes I would just lift her up to the main floor and told her to walk and find a seat. No problem.

 

[KelleyGirl]

Its pretty easy to get on and off with the kids and strollers. We have a McClaren stroller so folding it up was quick and easy. I've pushed the stroller right onto the monorail, and folded it up for the buses and boats. It gets a little complicated if there are no seats available on the bus, and people don't always give up their seats for toddlers and/or moms carrying toddlers. So you may need some balance in order to carry a toddler and hang on to the handrails.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Hehehe. I am one of those "Walmart" toting people. (I have never heard that phrase before!)

Sorry...it was the best I could come up with.

I used to bring EVERYTHING I thought I kids would need until they were like 18 with me too. But...that got old fast. LOL... So don't feel bad! It's not meant to insult anyone. (I don't think you were...just thought I needed to say that.)

 

[brockash]

Okay...tell me the truth.

How difficult is it to use Disney's transportation with two year olds. My husband and I are hoping to be in the World around September. We ARE driving there from TX. Once we get there though, we DO NOT want to drive ANYWHERE!!! (Since at the end of May we will be moving TO TX FROM FL! LOL)

But in all reality, how hard is it going to be for us to tote our kids and their stroller on and off of the busses/boats/monorails?

The kids are well behaved and I'm not the typre of person to travel with a small Wal-Mart in my stroller, just the "bear neccessities". (no offence to Wal-Mart toting people...I learned in the first six months of my twins' life that that just doesn't work for me!LOL)

In my opinion, it's not as hard as doing the buses with a younger kiddo. We went last year when my DD was 17 months, and it wasn't all that bad, but when I was by myself with the stroller and her, it got a little tricky. She wasn't nearly big enough to get on the bus herself, but it was pretty hard carrying her and a sit n stand. This year we'll be going and she'll be 2 1/2 and I think it'll be better. Do you have 1 stroller or 2? If you only have one or even two that one of you could carry, I'd recommend one of you in charge of the stroller and one in charge of the kiddos. Really, I think you'll be fine. Have a wonderful trip!!

 

[verlee]

You should not have too much trouble if you have a stroller that is small, light and easy to collapse.

We had two strollers when we went in Jan. The umbrella stroller was a snap. We just strapped our travel bags on our shoulder, closed the stroller and we were good to go.
However, we did have a larger stroller. (It was a peg perego. It was not full size but it was big enough for our 6 yr old. ) Oh,..... I get shivers thinking about the trouble we had with that thing. If we had not borrowed it from friends for the trip I would have left it in a dumpster.We could not smoothly close it, and it was a pain to lug on the bus and try to keep out of the isle. It was nice in the park (my ds6 was ill) but we dreaded the buses.

Next time we go, we are hoping to only need one stroller, but we would not hesitate to use two umbrella strollers if we needed them. They are not a problem. If you are bare nessessities people you should have no problem with a small stroller.

 

[brockash]

Hehehe. I am one of those "Walmart" toting people. (I have never heard that phrase before!). I went to Disney by myself with my DD - then almost 2. I had to carry the Graco, diaper bag and 1 other bag, so there was no way I could carry her too. She learned REAL fast how to get on/off the busses. There are 2 different types of busses. The OLD ones and the newer ones. The old ones are a pain in the you know what. They have big stairs to get on, and it is a little harder for the little ones to get on. The newer ones are SUPER easy! They are just one step from the ground and then you walk on. Sometimes I would just lift her up to the main floor and told her to walk and find a seat. No problem.

Good point about the 2 different types of buses. I'm not sure which ones older or newer, but there's definetly a difference as far as getting the stroller on the bus as well. One of the buses has seats that face eachother, -much easier to get the stroller. The other bus is where the seats face the front of the bus, and those are not very stroller-friendly, and you have to be very careful not to hit anyone.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

You should not have too much trouble if you have a stroller that is small, light and easy to collapse.

We had two strollers when we went in Jan. The umbrella stroller was a snap. We just strapped our travel bags on our shoulder, closed the stroller and we were good to go.
However, we did have a larger stroller. (It was a peg perego. It was not full size but it was big enough for our 6 yr old. ) Oh,..... I get shivers thinking about the trouble we had with that thing. If we had not borrowed it from friends for the trip I would have left it in a dumpster.We could not smoothly close it, and it was a pain to lug on the bus and try to keep out of the isle. It was nice in the park (my ds6 was ill) but we dreaded the buses.

Next time we go, we are hoping to only need one stroller, but we would not hesitate to use two umbrella strollers if we needed them. They are not a problem. If you are bare nessessities people you should have no problem with a small stroller.

Oh we have MANY strollers in my house... The one I use the most is easy to collapse, but doesn't collapse very small. I also have two cheapo Wal-Mart(yes I do shop there) that I don't mind using, but they give the hubby a backache because they are so short. Maybe we'll upgrade those. IDK...

 

[emmababy]

I don't know when you are going or what kind of stroller you have but we just got back from WDW in April with a 2.5 year old and a 8 month old.

My hubby was on stroller duty and I was on kid duty. He collapsed the stroller, got it on the bus, and I got the kids. It wasn't as bad as I thought. We were there at a very busy time of year and not one time did I see any parents with kids left standing. Now, there were times where he had to stand with the stroller, but I always had a seat.

We had a sit n stand deluxe- no small stroller, but it worked out quite good. Another piece of advice- we got a backpack diaper bag, which worked out wonderfully- didn't have to worry about a shoulder bag swinging around and it had clips to clip on to the handles of the stroller, love it so much it replaced my other bag as my full time diaper bag!

 

[verlee]

A good test would be to see if you can close the stroller with one hand. My other hand was always full of kids, bags, toys, drinks.... Our kids always wanted to sit in the stroller until the bus arrived. So, the pack up had to be quick once the bus arrived. People are not too tolerant of waiting behind you while you struggle with your stroller.They just want to get on the bus. More then once my dh had to move out of line to collapse the stroller, so others could pass. The driver will not let you board with it partially collapsed.
The umbrella stroller we used had the tall handles. The short handle umbrella strollers are back killers! It is so worth the extra money. We ended up buying ours in Fl.(We did not think we would need two strollers but then ds got sick. So we were glad to have two.)

I should mention.... that many times other guests helped us by holding our stroller or changing seats ect. Thank You to all who did this! People were very helpful. They just don't want to wait in line any longer then they need to and for sure they don't want to miss their bus. We did not blame them

 

[tzolkin]

We bought two Maclaren Volos for our trip last year. We spent a little under $150 for both (which was less than the price of renting for 9 days, plus we've used them at home and will use them again this year for a 12 day trip). They were definitely worth it.

They fold up easily with one hand and have a strap to carry them on your back. That was nice because DH and I could each take one kid and one stroller or he could toss both strollers on his back while I sat with the kids. We never had any issues with the busses. (We had our own vehicle, but didn't use it once during our trip.)

The monorail is nice because you don't have to fold up the stroller. Several times we hopped from MK to Epcot and the kids never had to get out of their strollers.

 

[We_love_WDW]

It's not the easiest thing, but you do get the hang of it. Last year we had our 3 year old and an almost one year old. You have to have the strollers collapsed and ready to get on and if they can walk on the bus with your help to a seat - your husband can bring on both strollers. That worked best for us. Have fun! I can't wait for our trip in July/Aug!

 

[dsneygirl]

At the end of the night the busses work magic on getting toddlers to sleep

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

As long as you can get a seat for at least 1 adult to put the child on their lap during the ride then it isn't too bad. If all of you have to stand on a packed bus and try to hold onto a toddler and a stroller then good luck. We boarded an overcrowded bus from PORS to MK and had to stand - it was quite challenging to say the least.

I much prefer to drive to the parks rather than wait on the Disney buses but to each his own.

 

[abouley]

I was going to say that the hardest part of the buses will be when people do not give up your seats to let you sit. We had our 4 and 2 year old there this past Dec and I had to stand holding my 2 year old for about 20 minutes on one bus ride. A lady let my 4 year old sit on her lap and offered to also hold my very shy 2 year old (don't ask me why she didn't get up and let me sit with my 2 children on my own lap!!). I was almost in tears by the time we got off. Letting some stranger hold my child while I had to balance myself and hold my 33 lb 2 year old was not fun!

Typically my husband would fold the 2 maclarens as soon as we saw the bus coming and I was able to get the kids and diaper bag on the bus and he dealt with the strollers. It shouldn't be too bad as long as you can sit. I was very nervous about the safety standing holding a toddler as well. Hopefully you'll have better luck than I did!

Alison

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you really need to be able to sit on the bus, you may have to wait for the next bus. There are hidden disabilities out there, plus some of those sitting may have waited for the next bus so they could get a seat.

 

[abouley]

If you really need to be able to sit on the bus, you may have to wait for the next bus. There are hidden disabilities out there, plus some of those sitting may have waited for the next bus so they could get a seat.

You have a point. I was actually very grateful to the one lady on the bus who did offer to at least hold my child! At least she tried to help us out! The bus was not overly crowded but by the time it got to the BC, there were no seats. We were the first people on the bus at that stop and not a single person offered to get up. I was about ready to have my 4 year old sit on the floor of the bus when this lady offered her lap. We're the opposite type of people. My husband NEVER sat on a bus. He always stood holding the strollers Even on the monorail he wouldn't sit down until he was sure everyone else had a seat. We actually monorailed from MK to Epcot and then walked through Epcot to get back to BC one night just to avoid the buses again and drove to AK!!!

 

[PrincessNana]

I'll give you something to laugh about. We were in charge of our 8 month old grandson every afternoon at Disney World. We would go back to the campground while our ds , dil and granddaughter would continue their Disney adventure. To put it mildly, we were stroller challenged. However, we made it!!! We were able to collapse the stroller(holding up long lines of people and delaying bus routes) and get on the bus for the trip back. After two weeks, we finally got the hang of it.....this summer, we're still in charge of the stroller, but he can walk now! You might not want to get in a bus line with us though. The moral of my story is... if someone as inept as we were, could handle a contrary stroller, all the bags and a tired, crying baby ...then two parents who are used to doing this daily will have no problems and a wonderful time. Don't pay any attention to anyone who might be negative. Have a wonderful time at Disney!!

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I'll give you something to laugh about. We were in charge of our 8 month old grandson every afternoon at Disney World. We would go back to the campground while our ds , dil and granddaughter would continue their Disney adventure. To put it mildly, we were stroller challenged. However, we made it!!! We were able to collapse the stroller(holding up long lines of people and delaying bus routes) and get on the bus for the trip back. After two weeks, we finally got the hang of it.....this summer, we're still in charge of the stroller, but he can walk now! You might not want to get in a bus line with us though. The moral of my story is... if someone as inept as we were, could handle a contrary stroller, all the bags and a tired, crying baby ...then two parents who are used to doing this daily will have no problems and a wonderful time. Don't pay any attention to anyone who might be negative. Have a wonderful time at Disney!!

Thanks so much! I would have been very patient with you...maybe laughed a little though. I've been there with my twins. WAIT...every trip to Wal-Mart is like that. ("bothering people with kids and inept parents") Even more so since my husband is away.

Great point though. That's one of my biggest worries. What must people think...I AM going to let that go at Disney...I HOPE!!!

 

[aidtrismommy]

Another tip, try to only bring the essentials you will will need for the day. I used to pack an entire package of wipes, about 10 diapers, change of clothes, snacks, etc. Now I have learned to pack only what I need for the day and re-pack the next morning, that way you have extra room in your bag for other stuff so you won't have to carry it on the bus. Also dump drinks on your way out of the park and pack away juice cups so you don't have to juggle carrying that stuff. At the end of the day, I only wanted to worry about my kids, stroller, and backpack (stuff purse or whatever into diaper bag) And I always had my room key ready in my pocket so I didn't have to unpack everything in front of my door.