What to do stroller wise?

[Dakota731]

we have never been to WDW with a toddler before so what's the easiest and cheapest way to have a stroller? Bring one, rent one or buy in gift shop?

 

[travelgirl06]

If you own one, bring it. Rentals are pricey and if you rent from the park I don't think you can take it outside the park (I.e. Walking back to car or bus at the end of a long day). I assume they have limited selection in the gift shops and it's probably marked up. If you don't have one, you might ask around to friends for one to borrow or Shop around for a used one.

We take a Maclaren which is a umbrella stroller that reclines and has a sunshade - that way if anyone gets sleepy they can lay back but it's also easy to fold and pop in the trunk at the end of a long day.

 

[wendow]

Well, cheapest option is to take your own, and then it is available to you in the airport (if you are flying). We have taken our own and rented (and been to WDW many times with little ones). We have never rented in the park as we do like to have it outside of the park too.

If you decide to rent, I would rent from an offsite vendor. We have rented from Apple three or four times. Price was $7 per day last time (and that cost included insurance). We did not want to deal with a stroller in the airport (or parking and taking shuttle to the airport) so we did not want to take our own.

 

[tanyaandallie]

We always took our own. I could not stomach the price of renting one when I had a perfectly wonderful stroller to take with us. If you don't have one that folds down fairly decently then renting might be a good idea.

 

[lanejudy]

what's the easiest and cheapest way to have a stroller?

"Cheapest" is bringing your own stroller. No added expenses incurred.

"Easiest" is subjective. Some people find a stroller quite helpful getting from point-to-point at the airport, and will gate-check it when boarding. Others loath having one more item to wrangle at the airport and find it easier to navigate travel sans-stroller and rent at the destination. There is some risk of damage when gate-checking a stroller.

Last I knew there was only 1 option available to purchase in the resort gift shops, and it was pricier than the same/similar model purchased at home. However, it is probably less expensive than renting.

Renting from an off-site vendor is likely less expensive than daily rentals in each park. But that means dealing with the stroller during transportation to/from the parks, so some people find "easier" to be leaving the stroller behind each night when returning to their resort and picking one up again the morning. Others think "easier" is a stroller to help get a tired or sleeping kid from the bus stop to the room at the resort. I all depends on what you want from the stroller, when and where.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Bring your own stroller and gate check it if flying.

We rented when we did a 3 day trip back in 2008. It worked fine but they aren't too comfy and they are pricey. After that we took our own stroller.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

How old is your toddler? We cut the stroller chord when our youngest was 3 months shy of her 4th Birthday and never regret it. We made sure she had a good pair of shoes and I carried her every so often, but we made sure not to "rush" and take breaks and she did fine. It was great not having to deal with a stroller and never regret doing it when she was that age. It was also a trip in March, so the temperatures were not too bad either and she did not get so tired as quickly. If anything, my kids both slept great after walking all day/night !

When we did bring strollers on trips, we usually just gate checked ours at the airport and brought it along. At one time, there was a "stroller swap" page, where people were sharing various strollers between strangers. We did this one time too and it worked out well.

I'd say, if you child can walk all day with breaks, don't worry about needing one.

 

[KarenAylwood]

We took our son at almost 3 and rented from Kingdom Strollers. The experience was amazing and the stroller was top notch. If I was going to cut somewhere on vacation, the stroller wouldn't be it. We didn't want to worry about ours getting damaged and didn't want to lug it around the airport. Our son did great walking on his own and carrying his own little roller bag in the airport but we got a lot more done in the parks with a stroller. It was also key for carrying all of our stuff with us. It was $60 for 4-7 nights and they gave us a Citi Mini which was amazing, so easy to collapse for the buses.

We live very close to a large theme park and still bring our stroller with us even though DS walks most of the time. There's so much ground to cover- we walked miles and miles in WDW, I would rather have the peace of mind knowing that we can throw DS in the stroller if we need to. Also our son is quite heavy at almost 40 lbs at 3.5. I can barely carry him halfway around our neighborhood if I needed to, which is only 0.2 miles!

 

[LovesTimone]

My friends rent from a off site vendor, I think they use kingdom strollers, and have been super happy with the stroller and service they received. They had a family vacation with all the their kids and grandkids and rented 2 doubles and 2 singles from them and it worked out great. They dropped of at resort and picked up easy peasy..

They use cheapo umbrella strollers ( that they bring from home) for the airport, and shopping at the outlet malls.

 

[OKgirl]

We typically bring our own Britax stroller because we love it but we did rent a baby jogger double stroller when I had a newborn and a 5 and 7 year old. We rented from Orlando Stroller rental and it was a great stroller! I often carried the baby in a baby wrap but my 5 and 7 year old loved to sit in the stroller during parades and it was a good stroller for both a tiny baby and bigger kids. That was the last year my 5 year old would use a stroller at Disney. However, my husband had to wrangle that large stroller on the bus and I was glad it was him and not me! Prior to this, we had a wonderful Combi double stroller for my boys which was great for Disney and folded into the size of a golf bag. Unfortunately but the time my youngest was born that stroller was DONE...

 

[Lvsdisney]

Both times (DD was 18 months,then 2.5 years) we took our own. I loved having in the airport and our is a smaller stroller so it was easy to fold and bring on buses. I love having a stroller cause that's where I store everything (snacks, drinks, extra clothes depending on time of year). I joke that I will still bring it even when they are teenagers!

 

[jmmess]

We always took our own. I could not stomach the price of renting one when I had a perfectly wonderful stroller to take with us. If you don't have one that folds down fairly decently then renting might be a good idea.

I agree! Why pay for what you already (may) have.

 

[ceecee]

We took a cheap umbrella stroller with a basket to carry things around in. It worked great at the airport, then we cked it at the gate. I bought a lite weight one thinking it would last for one trip, I got 4 trips out of it and sold it at my garage sale when we were finished with it. It was super easy when riding the buses, small compact and light. My daughter slept in it and it worked great.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

Just remember, if you do rent a stroller and are taking it off/on the Disney Buses, please practice folding it up/breaking it down. It is almost comical to watch people destroy a stroller trying to get it on a bus as they don't know how to break it down. They will not let you take a stroller on the bus if is not collapsed down. Not only is it comical, but it holds up the lines for everyone else. Just a friendly public service announcement.

 

[ElenaRN]

We stopped taking our own after the 2nd time our Uppababy got damaged through gate check. We then started renting from an off site company. We love it. They are Citiminis which are great strollers. They come with a rain cover and a little cooler bag. Worth the price for us.

 

[JME727]

I have a follow-up question related to the OP - hopefully you'll find it helpful too!

If we rent a stroller on site, does it mess up logistics if we're rushing to a ride at rope drop? Meaning is the stroller rental area outside or inside of the ropes at each park?

 

[ElenaRN]

Rental spots are inside the ropes.

 

[tcufrog]

I don't like the park strollers. They're big, heavy, and unwieldy monstrosities. I prefer the City Minis most stroller rental companies offer. They are low profile, steer great, have a one handed fold, recline, have great canopies and baskets and are pretty lightweight given the fact that they aren't umbrella strollers. The only kicker is that all of the City Minis look the same in stroller parking lots so bring something to make your's stand out. I used to have one and loved it. When I was pregnant and took DS3 (at the time) to DC for vacation I was able to carry DS 3 in one arm and fold and then carry the stroller with the other hand when we had to go down some subway steps.

 

[sweetpeama]

If you have a decent stroller that you are comfortable using I would bring it. I did not and most of the places we go including our local farmers market a stroller is not the easiest way to travel. I have had too many people get 1/4 to 1/2 an inch in front of my stroller but to one side and then step sideways right in front of my stroller resulting in my hitting them and then they go off on me for hitting them so I just wore my kids in a sling until they were old enough to sit in one of the wagons you could get by leaving your keys. Besides it kept the dogs that people who can't seem to read or comprehend what they read bring to there. There are signs everyone that state According to health code regulations no dogs with the exception of service animals. When you see someone read it and hear them go oh who cares I am bringing my dog anyways because this rule is stupid you know that there are people who are bringing non service dogs. These people are also the ones who will have a fit when your child is crying because their precious little fur baby is practically in their lap licking their face ( he's just friendly and wants to say hi your kid needs to get over it).

 

[sweetpeama]

<a href="http://s23.photobucket.com/user/sweetpeama/media/DisneyTrip2010/DSCN0446.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b383/sweetpeama/DisneyTrip2010/DSCN0446.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo DSCN0446.jpg"/></a>

My special needs daughter at 2 years old asleep in a stroller we rented from Travel Babees on River Cruise ( We were using the stroller as a wheel chair)