WDW stroller or bring an umbrella stroller from home?

[mt mommy]

Our trip is the end of January. I am debating on the rental stroller. I need a double stroller for my 5 yr. old DD and my 3 yr. old DS. I know umbrella strollers are fairly inexpensive, but does anyone feel they are a pain taking to the airport etc? Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks.

 

[Poohbug]

I like to take a stroller with me-however I don't need a double. It's actually nice at airport-you don't have to worry about the kids running around-keep them in it. You can check at the gate when boarding and pick it up unboarding. Also rentals can add a lot of $ if you are on a budget-When I did rent I always thought it would be cheaper to buy a stroller down there and just leave it than pay rental fees(depends on how long you are staying).

 

[2bearsmom]

We leave tomorrow morning for DW and we are bringing our umbrella stroller. Our youngest is 18mo and there is no way I'm having him unrestrained in the airports! We still thought about renting a stroller or double stroller in each park but figure our 5yr old ds wouldn't really need it and it may just be a waste of money. Even our youngest will be too excited and always wants out of the stroller at the mall.

 

[LIBLULA]

I have always brought an umbrella stroller. We have never had a problem at the airport--just leave it at the door of the plane and it will be near the door when you get off. It was always easy to find, the disney strollers all look the same. We brought a colorful Dora stroller, it really stuck out, and was easy to find. Hope you have lots of fun!!!!

 

[Dode]

We brought our umbrella stroller when we took DS5 and DS3. It was great to have at the airport. We also brought it on the bus / monorail when we went to the parks. Then we left it at the stroller renting station and rented a double. We rented on the first day and did the length of stay rental. We ended up only using the double for the first two days, though (and got a refund for the unused days). It was easier to just use the umbrella at the parks. The boys took turns riding.
I would say the umbrella was most valuable when we were leaving the parks (tired kids). YMMV.

Susan

 

[Cindy's Mom]

What we do is bring our umbrella strollers with us to the airport. We do this because you get to go in a special security line (a short line), just asked one of the agents where you should go with the stroller (play dumb) and they direct you to a different line.

 

[hmillerbarilla]

I always bring a stroller too. This year was my first time with 2 kids and I brought my huge double stroller and I was so thankful I did! It keeps them strapped in at the airport and it is true-they take it from you and bring it back to you before & after boarding. I also really wanted all my storage that I have in my double stroller.

 

[mom*to*2*princesses]

I've been debating this too. We have two DDs, ages 3 and 6. I know that we'll need a stroller in the parks so we'll for sure rent a double there. What I've still been tossing around is whether or not we need to bring an umbrella from home. My #1 concern is that I think it will be a big pain in the airport. The 3 y.o. does not stroll at home--ever. In fact, it's a real pain to get her to sit in one!

I don't think the stroller will be handy for anything at all in the airport. OTOH, the airport inconvenience is only a short part of the whole trip. I do wonder if we'll want to have it available at the park after we turn the double stroller back in, on the few late-ish evenings we've got planned. Heck, if we do take the umbrella we might just leave it there when we're done so we don't have to deal with it on the way home.

I know I didn't help you at all, but I just wanted to say that I'm thinking about this too. Right now I'm leaning toward bringing it, since the main inconvenience will be at the airports. Maybe I'm making too big of an issue with that, but we've never needed to take a stroller on a plane before. Rather than gate check it, would it make sense to box it up and check it as baggage? Can you even do that? Hmmm.

 

[caitlinsmom]

We'll briing a stroller for use at the airport and for our 4 days in Naples after but will rent a double at WDW for use in the park. DD6 and DS2 will both ride in that for part of the day

 

[mt mommy]

Thanks for all of your input. I'm still debating. But the airport security line being shorter for stroller users is a really convincing factor!


25 more days until the Poly!

 

[sne26]

I have to say that I love having a stroller in the airport, and I can't imagine getting through to our gate without one! Granted my kids are only 4 and 2. We have decided to bring 2 umbrella strollers this time, instead of the double. I do say that a double is much more of a pain, but really only at security, because of how you have to fold it down, and hope it fits through the X-ray machine!

Using a stroller means we don't have to chase our kids down, and you can put your carry on bags in the basket, or have your kids hold things in their lap. Plus, we have often been able to bypass many people in the security line, because the guards notice our stroller, and send us to a special line. And you can use the stroller right up to the very moment you board the plane! They take it from you at the bottom of the ramp, and you get it back when you step off.

 

[MiniGolfMogul]

Just wanted to add another advantage to bringing your own umbrella stroller...

The walks out of the park to transportation and to and from transportation from your hotel. More than once I was thanking my lucky stars that we had a stroller when we were making that trek from the bus to our room at the end of a fun filled day in the parks. It made any lugging we had to do completely worth it.

 

[2bearsmom]

We got back from DW last Sat and I'm so glad we brought the umbrella stroller. It was great at the airport as my 19mo couldn't run around and we hung my and MIL purse on it, our carry on bags and my oldder ds's back pack too. After our flight they had it right out ready for us and back in went my ds. It was great to have him strapped in while waiting for the Magical Express bus to pick us up too. The security lines at both airports were not long at all and it was no problem folding it up to put it through. Our longest wait was because the couple in front of us that had huge bottles of shampoo and things in their carry-on, swearing at the security because they wouldn't let them through.

My dh had thought about bringing our regular Jeep stroller and I'm so glad I talked him out of that. It looked like such a pain for people who did bring big strollers when taking the bus back and forth to the parks from the resorts. There is usually no place left to sit and they really pack those buses full of people and we had to stand many times. I don't know where we would have fit a bigger stroller, while holding our ds and helping our older ds hang on.

We ended up renting a double stroller the last two days we were there. It was a great place for my youngest to curl up and nap so we didn't have to use a lot of time going back to the resort to nap and then hurry to make our dinner reservation. Plus my oldest could take a rest when he needed to, which we didn't think he would need, but after all that walking through the day I'm glad we had rented it.

Having the stroller with us was also very useful at Downtown Disney after dinner. We could walk around and not worry about our ds running off as it was so busy there and he was so tired he would have wanted carried.

 

[BCFD 88]

I would bring a stroller if it was me.

 

[PrincessTigerLily]

Just my 2 cents...
We went last September with DD4 (almost 5) and DS 13months, and we found it helpful to have a stroller from home for places like DTD, but in the parks we rented a double stroller. We just liked the convenience of renting and not worrying about someone walking away with our stroller or damaging it. We also didn't mind carrying the kids from the faraway parking spaces to the tram, but then again with 2 kids and tons of stuff I feel like a pack mule most of the time anyways.
Whatever you choose to do...have fun!!

 

[MelanieRI]

What we do is bring our umbrella strollers with us to the airport. We do this because you get to go in a special security line (a short line), just asked one of the agents where you should go with the stroller (play dumb) and they direct you to a different line.

Ok, I'll admit....this is totally me, too!! I'm a single mom w/ a kid flying southwest where there is no assigned seats. I tell you, we play the stroller card every year. It is the one time I cheat in lines. But that stroller comes in handy so much at Disney form holding our stuff to holding her when she's tired. I can spead walk to the busses at night and beat the lines even if we are in the back of the park when it closes. lol It gives her a place to sit when waiting for the busses and I can walk us quickly through the hotels, too. Every year, I say this will have to be her last year with the stroller - but I've yet to give it up. This year she'll be 8 and we're still talking about taking the stroller. But she is petite at 47 inches.

 

[Topo Bella]

I was surprised to find that I loved having a stroller with me at the airport and really didn't find it to be any problem. However, I was not real happy with the umbrella stroller once we got to the park. My umbrella stroller didn't have a sun visor and there was no rooms for bags anywhere. The park strollers have visors and are heavy enough that you can hang bags and stuff from the handles. We wound up leaving the umbrella stroller in the room and renting a park stroller instead (I rented a double which had the added benefit of allowing my 5 year old to ride, as well.)

I also found that my kids liked the park strollers better since they could get in and out of them easily (which is as much a con as it is a pro ...)

 

[Mike508]

Being from South Carolina we always drive down. And as always we buy alot of stuff while there especially for the grandaughter. We take a cheap umbrella stoller. Rather than hauling it all the way back to SC, on our last day as we are heading out of the park I will look around and try to find someone going in that does not have one and give them ours. I have yet to be turned down and they are usually excited about it.