2 parents - 3 kids.. stroller logistics help!

teenie0140

teenie0140

Member
We are going to Disney in December this year (week after Thanksgiving) with one 6 year old girl and twin 1.5 year old girls. We are driving down so we will have our double stroller (city mini jogger double) and then we are bringing a stroller for the 6 year old because we know she won't want to walk the whole time and we aren't about to be fighting with her while dealing with the twins too - so for everyone's sanity, we will have 2 strollers, 3 kids and only 2 parents. The numbers aren't in our favor haha. Any recommendations on how to handle getting on the buses (or do we just plan on driving instead since we'll have our cars?) We do plan on park hopping a few days based on our dining reservations so that throws a wrench in driving everyday.

To the parents who have done this before, give me hope we'll survive!!
 
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teenie0140

teenie0140

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Original Poster
dadisdad said:
Have you considered taking a small umbrella stroller to use with one of the 18 month old twins when your 6 yr old gets tired? When the 6 year old is active, the twins enjoy the baby jogger. When she is tired, one of the twins can be in a small stroller that is easily transported.


We were there in May with our 2 1/2 yr old and 4 week old and lugged a city select around with the second seat and a bassinet. With the two of us it was a bit awkward getting on the busses but we made it manageable. Essentially the hardest part of travelling to and through the parks is our expectations of the kids behaviour and forgetting about how the kids are experiencing the whole situation.

With that said, our experiences with the busses was excellent. The drivers are patient and the other riders were relatively easy going even at the end of the night. Our plan of attack was that one of us was responsible for the kids getting on the bus and sitting, the other took care of the gear. Stroller was folded in line as the bus pulled up and we were ready to go once it was boarding time.
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Good idea about the umbrella for the little ones. However, what do we do with that while it isn't in use? Put our crap in it and wheel it around? lol.
 
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teenie0140

teenie0140

Member
Original Poster
CaptainAmerica said:
You're going to be in the parks for much too long each day if you're park hopping directly from one park to another. Kids and parents need rest, your family is much too young to be doing opening-until-closing. Every day should have a mid-afternoon break for pool, nap, or just general "resting in air conditioning" time. If you're park hopping, your schedule should be Park 1, then break, then Park 2, not directly from Park 1 to Park 2.

I also suspect you have too much table service dining scheduled. Kids who are absolute angels at restaurants at home get antsy when just outside the restaurant doors is maximum stimulation and MAGIC.

Drive to every park EXCEPT Magic Kingdom.
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We've done Disney before. We'll be ok :) Just not with 3 kids but we've done it with our youngest and she napped in the stroller perfectly fine and the little ones seem to do the same when we are out and about. Also, we don't plan on doing open - close either. We'll be heading back early evening to the hotel on days we'll be in the park all day. Honestly, it's easier to be out then come back to the room, get settled, just to pack all of us up again. But we will see when we get there and plan on being somewhat fluid to change up plans as needed.

We do not have ourselves overbooked for dining either.
 
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teenie0140

teenie0140

Member
Original Poster
dryerlintfan said:
My daughter loves Disney. LOVES DISNEY. She'll tell you a million things that she loves doing and seeing there, but her top number one thing is always the pool. If you read the boards enough, you'll see that's a very common thing for the kids. So don't discount the value of down time at the resort.

And remember that while you're in the parks, you don't have to push the strollers around everywhere. When we go, 80% of the time our stroller is parked in stroller parking. We only really use it to get to and from the park from the buses, as those walkways are insane.
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We've planned 2 resort days. 1 resort day, then 2 park days, then 1 resort day, then 2 park days and then home. We've been trying to be good about not over planning learning from our past experiences.

I didn't think about not having to bring the stroller all over the park! Really good point.
 
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DryerLintFan

DryerLintFan

Premium Member
teenie0140 said:
We've planned 2 resort days. 1 resort day, then 2 park days, then 1 resort day, then 2 park days and then home. We've been trying to be good about not over planning learning from our past experiences.

I didn't think about not having to bring the stroller all over the park! Really good point.
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It works best when you do rides in clusters. For example, we park it at the carousel and then do the carousel, princess fairy tale hall, it's a small world, and peter pan, and then we move it to a different area when we're ready to do a different cluster. That way it's always close by, but we aren't pushing it. Just remember to mark it with something unique so you don't waste a lot of time trying to find your black stroller in a sea of other people's black strollers. And bring glow sticks to mark it at night.
 
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teenie0140

teenie0140

Member
Original Poster
dryerlintfan said:
It works best when you do rides in clusters. For example, we park it at the carousel and then do the carousel, princess fairy tale hall, it's a small world, and peter pan, and then we move it to a different area when we're ready to do a different cluster. That way it's always close by, but we aren't pushing it. Just remember to mark it with something unique so you don't waste a lot of time trying to find your black stroller in a sea of other people's black strollers. And bring glow sticks to mark it at night.
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Thanks! We’ve gone before and have unique stroller items already!
 
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johnny_most

johnny_most

New Member
Not sure if the City Mini Glider board is allowed in the parks anymore, or if it ever was, or where you could even get a definitive yes/no. That could be a solution for the 6 year old.
 
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teenie0140

teenie0140

Member
Original Poster
Man, this was my first post on this forum and it’s honestly not worth it. No one needs negativity when they’re trying to get advice on something. I’ve already said I will need a stroller for her so I am just looking for advice as I’m sure we are not the first family in this situation. Regretting even posting!
 
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WDWDad2907

WDWDad2907

Member
Sounds like this post has already run it's course :), but for what my two cents is worth I think you'd be a lot more comfortable driving, particularly since you expect to bounce around a bit (and therefore increasing the amount of times you'd have to ride the bus). My most relevant recent experience with the buses/children is the same stroller with 5 and 3 year-olds (and 2 adults). This was mostly fine, but could be frustrating when the buses are crowded (or if the 3 year-old was asleep). I couldn't even imagine what to do if your twins were asleep at the same time! I've only ever driven with 3 children, but I can say it was a lot less stressful and it was easier to transfer sleeping children to car seats without the disturbance of having to get them on and off a bus. So best of luck, and have a wonderful time on your vacation!

And for MK - if you don't want to park all the way at the TT you can use valet at Contemporary and monorail over. This is $10 more than regular MK parking.
 
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teenie0140

teenie0140

Member
Original Poster
WDWDad2907 said:
Sounds like this post has already run it's course :), but for what my two cents is worth I think you'd be a lot more comfortable driving, particularly since you expect to bounce around a bit (and therefore increasing the amount of times you'd have to ride the bus). My most relevant recent experience with the buses/children is the same stroller with 5 and 3 year-olds (and 2 adults). This was mostly fine, but could be frustrating when the buses are crowded (or if the 3 year-old was asleep). I couldn't even imagine what to do if your twins were asleep at the same time! I've only ever driven with 3 children, but I can say it was a lot less stressful and it was easier to transfer sleeping children to car seats without the disturbance of having to get them on and off a bus. So best of luck, and have a wonderful time on your vacation!

And for MK - if you don't want to park all the way at the TT you can use valet at Contemporary and monorail over. This is $10 more than regular MK parking.
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Thank you for the useful input!
 
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Queen of the WDW Scene

Queen of the WDW Scene

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
BTW I just saw that AK is testing out new strollers that are more like a regular stroller.
It has a padded seat, storage, and even a tray with cup holder.
May not want to count them out.
 
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Queen of the WDW Scene

Queen of the WDW Scene

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
drizgirl said:
For the bargain price of $15/day.
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$15 is not bad in the scheme of things especially if its less stuff to have to lug around.
Besides OP is going to either have to purchase a stroller she does not need or rent from a 3rd party so any way you look at it she is spending money.
Its just another option she should be away of.
 
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D

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
Queen of the WDW Screne said:
$15 is not bad in the scheme of things especially if its less stuff to have to lug around.
Besides OP is going to either have to purchase a stroller she does not need or rent from a 3rd party so any way you look at it she is spending money.
Its just another option she should be away of.
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Just a few days' rental could pay for an umbrella stroller.
 
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