Would you take a stroller for a . . .

[mom2ian]

3.5 year old to Disneyland? I hate having to lug the thing around the airport and such. However, he is only 3.5 and it might come in handy when he starts to lag in the park. I do have the option of renting one in DLand, but I couldn't take that one back and forth to the good neighbor hotel.

Recommendations? What have you done with preschool aged children?

 

[rainyday77]

We're going in a few weeks with my daughter who will be 3 in April. Our plan is to buy a $10 umbrella stroller when we get to L.A. from Walmart or Target.

 

[DangerMouse]

Yes, take a stroller. Nothing worse than carrying a 3.5 year old back to the hotel at the end of the night when your feet and back are killing you.

 

[disney-super-mom]

When our kids were preschool age (3+), we would rent a stroller to use all day in the parks, and then have them walk back to the hotel.

It was easier not to lug a stroller around with us when traveling. And since our kids were riding around in a stroller all day at the parks, it wasn't going to kill them to walk 7-10 minutes back to our room.

An umbrella stroller wouldn't be too much of a pain to travel with I guess, but those Disney strollers maneuver so nice and are so easy to push. That's the main reason why we always bagged the idea of bringing an umbrella stroller. Well that and the fact that we could rent two strollers for free per day using our Disney Visa card.

 

[Dizneydaz]

I would. My biggest problem going to WDW was when my DD9 got too big for the stroller. (actually too old, not too big) basically because I wanted it to carry my things. Otherwise I'm a pack mule.

I'll tell you a little secret...Sometimes I still get a stroller at DLR to carry our stuff. If we plan on being there all day and/or it's hot and we are carrying drinks, ponchos, etc. I get the free stroller rental with my Disney Visa card. One thing I really hate is to lose my drink because I'm going on a ride. I've tried setting it down and getting it after the ride is over but sometimes it gets picked up by a CM and thrown away. It's just so mcuh easier to leave it in the stroller. I've never been a back pack kind of person. They weren't popular with my generation-we actually had lockers at school. Maybe if I liked carrying a backpack or I had a nice strong guy to carry things (or kid) for me I would forego the stroller-but probably not!

Something you might consider-get the Chase Disney Visa card. Besides the free strollers rentals at DLR (you can get 2 a day) the card also gets you into the Meet 'n Greet at DCA. It's only for cardholders. Starts 1/2 after park opening and runs for 1-1/2 hours. Current characters are Pluto and then Chip and Dale. You can have as much time visiting with the characters as you want. They'll dance with the kids, etc. There's usually only a small wait, if any. You'll be given a coupon for a free 5 x 7 print. (one per card). You can get one a day for each account. You're supposed to use it for pix from the M 'n G but most of the CMs will let you pick a different one if you want. You also get Disney Rewards to spend on anything Disney.

Yes, it's a bummer not being able to take the DLR strollers past the security check point to go into DTD but it's still better than not having one at all.

As far as the airport goes-most of the time when we've gone to WDW it's been myself, my DM69, and my DD (currently 9). I found taking our stroller on the airplane a blessing. I used the stroller to help carry items to the plane. Then I would gate check it and get it when we deplaned. I didn't find it to be an inconvenience and having your own stroller does have it's benefits. It's also great for carrying things back and forth from the car. I would just leave it uncollapsed most of the time in the room. I would pack up the stroller the night before with everything we needed for the next day and then we would be ready to go in the a.m.

Oh, and one last thing-the stroller was great for when DD needed a nap. We didn't plan her nap time since we were dealing with a 3 hr. time difference. She would just fall asleep in the stroller and we would walk around with her or take turns on rides.

 

[WannaBeAPrincess]

I think it really depends on your own child. My 3.5 yo dd does just fine without the stroller. We rented one on our last trip and she refused to sit in it. She wanted to walk like the rest of us. Which was fine with me. After four kids it's kind of nice to be without the stroller after all these years

However, when my youngest ds was 3, he really wanted to sit down a lot. We always rented one for him, or brought our own.

My personal opinion is to rent, rather than bring your own. I don't like traveling with a bulky stroller. If they are going to sit in the stroller in the park most of the time, walking 10 minutes to get back to your hotel shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yes, take a stroller. Nothing worse than carrying a 3.5 year old back to the hotel at the end of the night when your feet and back are killing you.

Oh, I concur! And when the other option is walking approximately one inch per minute, with whining and complaining the whole time, you know that carrying them is the better option. I think my hips have finally recovered from the stay at Anabella, when hubby wasn't even joining us for a couple days but managed to convince me that the stroller through the airport would be such a pain that I should just rent inside the parks...

And since our kids were riding around in a stroller all day at the parks, it wasn't going to kill them to walk 7-10 minutes back to our room.

An umbrella stroller wouldn't be too much of a pain to travel with I guess, but those Disney strollers maneuver so nice and are so easy to push. That's the main reason why we always bagged the idea of bringing an umbrella stroller. Well that and the fact that we could rent two strollers for free per day using our Disney Visa card.

It defintiely depends on your kids, and only you, the OP, know your kid. d-s-m is lucky b/c her kids would actually happily sit in the stroller during the day, and therefore had energy at night! My guy wants to (try to) run around all day, making leaps (like a Jedi) and taking 1800 steps when 18 would work, etc...resists the stroller until he is absolutely wiped out...there's no energy left at the end of the day. I wish he'd do it like d-s-m's kids!

I've also never had an easy to push rental stroller. Wish I'd had one of those, too!



OP we've used a BabyTrend sorta-kinda umbrella stroller, and we now have a Maclaren Volo. The BT was nice b/c of the tray, but the Volo is nice and compact. My dude is prone to naaaaasty, wake up at 2am screaming, leg aches, just like I was (and sometimes am), if he does too much with his legs during the day (which he does at DLR...going back up to the taking 100 steps when he only needs one), so we're glad to let him rest when he will, and I think we'll use that Volo for Disney trips until he's at the very end of the weight limit.

 

[bonita_babe232]

I think it really depends on your own child. My 3.5 yo dd does just fine without the stroller. We rented one on our last trip and she refused to sit in it. She wanted to walk like the rest of us. Which was fine with me. After four kids it's kind of nice to be without the stroller after all these years

However, when my youngest ds was 3, he really wanted to sit down a lot. We always rented one for him, or brought our own.

My personal opinion is to rent, rather than bring your own. I don't like traveling with a bulky stroller. If they are going to sit in the stroller in the park most of the time, walking 10 minutes to get back to your hotel shouldn't be a big deal.

I totally agree with this!!! When i went with DS5 who was 3 at the time, we didn't use a stroller for him at all, but were gonna take DS2 who will be 3 when we go and i will get him one....... my older son is more active and on the go..... and we were in the parks all day with no break..... but he did fall asleep on the bus back to the hotel..... Where as my younger son is LAZY and i know he won't be able to long amounts of time without a stroller.... also my DH might not come and DS is horrible without him there lol he runs away and doesn't listen to us.... i havn't decied if i will rent or bring my own since were doing a few other things then DL but we will be getting something for him..... It just depends on your child i think...

 

[princessnicchia]

I've gone twice without strollers, once with my 4 year old, then again with her and her sister when she was 5 and little sis was 2 (almost 3). I did do a lot of carrying of my youngest last year, but a stroller wouldn't have worked for us because that one will not sit still (yet she likes being held because she is "taller"). And I like carrying her, because she is my very last baby. I agree with the PP, it really depends on you and your kids. It is an awful lot of walking, and I think some of it depends on how fast you want to get from place to place as well. I know if we'd had strollers we probably could have moved more quickly, but we are mellow Disneyland people. Well, the kids are mellow Disneyland people and I try to take it down a notch for them.

 

[Skylarr29]

Does anyone have a pic of DL strollers? I think we will have to bring our own because we will have a baby and if they are like WDW's then they won't work. TIA

 

[julw]

3.5 year old to Disneyland? I hate having to lug the thing around the airport and such. However, he is only 3.5 and it might come in handy when he starts to lag in the park. I do have the option of renting one in DLand, but I couldn't take that one back and forth to the good neighbor hotel.

Recommendations? What have you done with preschool aged children?

For sure! I wouldn't dream of going without one, especially for a three year old. Plus, it will serve as your "locker" to hold sweatshirts, snacks, etc.

Have fun!

 

[bumbershoot]

Does anyone have a pic of DL strollers? I think we will have to bring our own because we will have a baby and if they are like WDW's then they won't work. TIA

They are basically a jogging stroller. They are not appropriate for a baby (though many people use them for little babies, which makes me a bit ill, no, a lot ill).

 

[disneymom2003]

We had a umbrella stroller. I would take it even when our youngest was 5 or 6 . The reason was because she would walk around for a while then whine she was tired. It is very light weight and was nice to let her ride when she was tired.

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

What we did when my kids went was bring our umbrella. We checked it in at stroller rental and used our Visa to get the free one for the parks.

They will check your umbrella or other stroller and give you a claim ticket to claim yours at the end of the night. You can use the better Disney stroller for the parks. Then, you can then use the umbrella for the trip back to the hotel.

I had, still have, kids that are runners and have no fear, it saved me a lot of headaches in the airport and the the trip back to the hotel.

 

[ballarinamom]

Does anyone have a pic of DL strollers? I think we will have to bring our own because we will have a baby and if they are like WDW's then they won't work. TIA

They are just like the WDW ones

 

[ballarinamom]

What we did when my kids went was bring our umbrella. We checked it in at stroller rental and used our Visa to get the free one for the parks.

They will check your umbrella or other stroller and give you a claim ticket to claim yours at the end of the night. You can use the better Disney stroller for the parks. Then, you can then use the umbrella for the trip back to the hotel.

I had, still have, kids that are runners and have no fear, it saved me a lot of headaches in the airport and the the trip back to the hotel.

That is so funny because we did the same thing! But we shipped our stroller to the hotel so we wouldn't have to deal with it at the airport. It was waiting for us when we checked in. When the trip was over, we left it to a family in line.
DD is 7 and we just did this in November. We were there 7 days and that is alot of walking for anybody. She was definately alot more energized getting to take a ride across the park. Plus it was great for us to have a place to hold our backpack. We carried our cameras with us but everything else was left in a backpack on the stroller. And I can't imagine what the walk back to the hotel would be like without it

 

[evandmp]

Depends, if you usually use a stroller then he'll probably need one, if he's used to walking then he should be fine.I haven't brought a stroller to disneyland since my son was 2 1/2 and even then it was parked most of the time. I see a lot of people using them though, so I think it definetly depends on the child and their endurance.

 

[DorkyDisneyMom]

That is so funny because we did the same thing! But we shipped our stroller to the hotel so we wouldn't have to deal with it at the airport. It was waiting for us when we checked in. When the trip was over, we left it to a family in line.
DD is 7 and we just did this in November. We were there 7 days and that is alot of walking for anybody. She was definately alot more energized getting to take a ride across the park. Plus it was great for us to have a place to hold our backpack. We carried our cameras with us but everything else was left in a backpack on the stroller. And I can't imagine what the walk back to the hotel would be like without it

We didn't ship ours. I just flew with ours. I gate checked it so I could put him in it right away after getting off the plane. It was a lot less of a hassle for me than being on high alert the whole time.

We also took it to the parks and checked it with the stroller rental place inside Disneyland. We used the free Disney stroller, that holds more stuff and is easier to maneuver, in the park. Then at park closing we would go back and claim the umbrella and use it for the trip back to the hotel.

We flew with it home too.

Although if you didn't need a stroller after you were done at Disney I could see why one would do it the way you did.

 

[lntsmom]

Yes, you must!!! One idea...try Freecycle or Craig's List for a free or cheap folding umbrella...then leave it behind when you head home!

 

[cruise cruise cruise]

We will be taking one for my (will have just turned) 4 y/o. We actually bought a sit and stand so my (soon to be) 6 y/o can have a ride from time to time too. Figured if we are going to be pushign a stroller anyhow, might as well make it work for all. My youngest is very different from my oldest. I would never have taken a stroller for my oldest when he was 4, let alone at 6, but my youngest really does require one. Even if she can make it through the park (due to excitment) she will not make it back to the room and I certainly do not want to carry her.

I agree with the PPs that only you know your child. But, yes for our family we will be taking a stroller