Yet Another "Which Stroller" Thread

[sakura-panda]

I'm sorry. I did a search and ended up with more questions instead of less. After reading many, many stroller threads, I went to Babies 'R Us and I still can't decide whether or not to get a new stroller for WDW.

Our current stroller is a royal blue Kolcraft umbrella stroller -- free with purchase and coupon from BRU, retails around $20. DS loves it -- whenever he sees it he wants to ride in it. However, it can tip if I'm not careful and he is old enough to be pulling on and making a mess of the wimpy sun shade.

Here are the three choices that I am looking for opinions on.

We were going to buy the Chicco C5, but they were out of stock. One thing we like about it was that the handles were taller and more comfortable than our current stroller. We also liked the $89.99 price tag.

The Jeep Liberty Limited Urban Terrain Stroller was fun, but it is also kind of bulky. And DS looks like he may already be outgrowing it.

Finally, I liked the Maclaren Quest, but the handles were too short. Short handles are the number one reason why I am looking to get a new stroller, so this is a big deal.

However, some of the posts that I read today hint that the handles may actually be extendable? I can't seem to find any information online and I thought that I tried to pull the handles out and couldn't -- but I also couldn't collapse the thing so it could be that I just didn't see how to do it.

Can anyone offer any advice, encouragement, enlightenment?

Thanks!

--Katie

 

[SteeleTig]

I actually would recommend the Maclaren Volo over all of those, it's big enough for your son, has high handles, the seat back and sides are mesh so it'll be cooler for your son in the sun, has a big sunshade and the price is only $99.99 right now at BRU.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t.../002-1549551-3546466?v=glance&s=baby&n=542444
It also comes in other colors, we just got a new Volo last weekend and it's a light silver/grey and the dark black/grey mesh. They also had lime green, hot pink, red and pure black.

 

[sakura-panda]

I actually would recommend the Maclaren Volo over all of those, it's big enough for your son, has high handles, the seat back and sides are mesh so it'll be cooler for your son in the sun, has a big sunshade and the price is only $99.99 right now at BRU.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t.../002-1549551-3546466?v=glance&s=baby&n=542444
It also comes in other colors, we just got a new Volo last weekend and it's a light silver/grey and the dark black/grey mesh. They also had lime green, hot pink, red and pure black.

Thanks for the suggestion! That one was sitting right next to the Quest, and the handles were at exactly the same height -- both are too low to be a worthwhile improvement over the one we have now, and the Volo even looked like it would be more uncomfortable (we didn't try it him in this model.) Unless those handles are adjustable, I can't see where it would be a benefit over our current one.

--Katie

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Hi,
We just bought a Maclaren Techno XT since it has adjustable handles. DH is 6'4" and has no issues with the height. We got ours from Allbee Baby for $164.99 with free shipping- much less than babies r us. We really love this stroller!!

 

[long4disney]

How tall are you? We have the Maclaren Volo and it pushes like a dream, and my dh and I are both tall and have never had any problems hunching over while pushing the volo, or kicking the back wheels. I am 5'8" and my dh is 6'3" and we both love this stroller. The mesh fabric is actually very comfortable for my 3 1/2 year old dd. She stays cool in it, plus it dries right away in all those disney quick downpours. Also wipes clean right away if they spill anything in it. It is the best stroller in our opinion, plus it has the carrying strap on it for the the buses. It only weighs under 10 pounds.

I just posted on another thread about an inexpensive stroller for a 3 1/2 year old, and babydealz.com has 2003, 2004, and 2005 volo's for $64.99-$84.99 with $5.00 shipping, in many colors. I love the poppy red since it is the easiest stroller to spot in the stroller parking areas at wdw. Another online store bestbuybaby.com has 2003 and 2004 volo's for $69.99- $79.99 also with free shipping and no sales tax.

If you get the 2005 or 2006 models they come with a hood also!

Good Luck and give the Volo a try. You will love it for toddlers and children as old as 5 or 6!!!

 

[sakura-panda]

Hi,
We just bought a Maclaren Techno XT since it has adjustable handles. DH is 6'4" and has no issues with the height. We got ours from Allbee Baby for $164.99 with free shipping- much less than babies r us. We really love this stroller!!

Thank you for the suggestion -- this sounds like a good deal and I'll have to check it out!

--Katie

 

[sakura-panda]

How tall are you? We have the Maclaren Volo and it pushes like a dream, and my dh and I are both tall and have never had any problems hunching over while pushing the volo, or kicking the back wheels. I am 5'8" and my dh is 6'3" and we both love this stroller. The mesh fabric is actually very comfortable for my 3 1/2 year old dd. She stays cool in it, plus it dries right away in all those disney quick downpours. Also wipes clean right away if they spill anything in it. It is the best stroller in our opinion, plus it has the carrying strap on it for the the buses. It only weighs under 10 pounds.

I just posted on another thread about an inexpensive stroller for a 3 1/2 year old, and babydealz.com has 2003, 2004, and 2005 volo's for $64.99-$84.99 with $5.00 shipping, in many colors. I love the poppy red since it is the easiest stroller to spot in the stroller parking areas at wdw. Another online store bestbuybaby.com has 2003 and 2004 volo's for $69.99- $79.99 also with free shipping and no sales tax.

If you get the 2005 or 2006 models they come with a hood also!

Good Luck and give the Volo a try. You will love it for toddlers and children as old as 5 or 6!!!

Thanks for sharing your experience -- no matter how many loops you do around the store, it's still hard to guess how you are going to feel after pushing a stroller around a hot, crowded park all day.

As for me, well....I'm only 5'4" and I didn't have any problems pushing the Maclaren around, although I did think that the Chicco was a more comfortable height. DH is 6', and since he was a bit unhappy with the $199.99 price tag, he didn't actually try it himself. He would have if it looked like I was serious, but to be honest, I wasn't thrilled with ANY of the strollers that were there and these were the three that I finally settled on.

Maybe I'll take him back and we'll try again. We still have a few weeks, and last night DS was tired and cranky, so the stroller game got old very quickly.

--Katie

 

[SteeleTig]

The Volo is actually a very comfy stroller judging by the kid's reactions in it! I'm 5'8" and have "short" arms, lol, compared to my DP, who is 5'7" and thinks all my sleeves are way too short on her... and I have no problem with the handle height, they're actually an inch higher than our Bugaboo Frog's handle.

 

[sakura-panda]

The Volo is actually a very comfy stroller judging by the kid's reactions in it! I'm 5'8" and have "short" arms, lol, compared to my DP, who is 5'7" and thinks all my sleeves are way too short on her... and I have no problem with the handle height, they're actually an inch higher than our Bugaboo Frog's handle.

OMG! Our tickers are the same!

Gosh, look at all this support -- that Volo looked all tangled up AND it was behind a post that supports the shelf, so I just didn't even bother trying it when I decided the other one was too low. I guess I will be making another trip there soon....

Looking online, I see that they have a "lime" colored one that looks yellow in the picture -- ds's latest favorite color is yellow and that one is sooo pretty...

--Katie