How much of a pain is bringing a stroller?

[kangaand2roos]

We are leaving in about 2 weeks and will be bringing a stroller for the airport but is it really worth lugging the thing on and off the bus or should we just rent one for the parks? My kids are almost 2 and almost 4 so they will definately need something. I have a double jogger and a double regular stroller neither is exactly light but can be carried on and off the bus if needed. Any advice?

 

[happymom52003]

Different things work for different families, but here is what works for ours.
We take two lightweight travel umbrella strollers (here are the ones we have:http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog...Id=85184&categoryId=85219&subCategoryId=86216. They fold up easily and have a carrying strap. Yes, taking strollers on buses is a big pain. But I would still rather take my own, because they come in handy outside the parks too. Now I must admit....we stay at the WL and take the boat to MK, and we rent a car and drive to the other parks....so we rarely use the buses. But our first trip with the kids we did not rent a car, and we had to use the buses.....we just tried to not travel on them during super crowded times (like right after park closing).
If you do not want to purchase new strollers, than I would take whichever one of your strollers is the easiest to fold up and carry.
Have fun!:wave:

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Bringing your own saves having to stand in line each day to rent and return a Disney stroller

 

[HRT+3]

We brought our own, I do not like the thought of my child riding in one that has been ridden in by everyone in the World, snobby sounding or not, AND..they ones disney has are not very comfy looking. Nothing like strolling a napping child through Disney.

 

[cristina47454]

We purchased $15 dollar umbrella strollers at the local Orlando WalMart. Nothing fancy, but my kids don't nap anymore, so I wasn't so worried about trying to get them to fall asleep. This trip I had my 48" almost 6 yr old and my 40" 3 1/2 yr old in those cheap strollers and they held up pretty well. One day I was by myself in the parks, but my brother was going to be joining us later in the day. I knew my older daughter would need a stroller as the afternoon wore on, and I managed to push my 3 yo as I trailed the other stroller to a convenient parking spot. Worked great!

 

[krisrunsdisney]

We have used both umbrella strollers and a double stroller (not a jogging stroller type). Reason for not using the jog stroller~ours is too bulky and not easy to fold down. The double stroller, while a bit large, folded easily and fit the 2 kids with no problem. We had plenty of storage space and the seats reclined for naps. Cup holders (for you not the kids) are a great accessory (get one or 2 if your stoller doesn't have one). Now we use an umbrella stroller. The first 2 are old enough to walk it. So the little guy is in his own stroller. Again, a storage bag off the back, reclining seat, cup holders for us (one on each side of the push handles). The stroller cost about $20. The cost of renting each day is not too much less than that.

You will have to fold down the stroller when on busses. Ours have been easy to fold. Just don't load the storage area too much. On the monorail or boats you can leave the stroller open usually. We just like that we don't have to wait on any lines for rentals (a real pain when it's busy) or worry about there being no strollers available during really busy times. We will on occasion rent a double stroller if the bigger kids (7 and almost 6) seem too worn for walking but still good for touring. HTH!!

 

[Gator]

I think it was good to bring a stroller on the bus. However, next time I'll need the double as well, so that won't be as easy to tote around. But I'll take it anywhere vs standing in line so the kids can sit in a fiberglass seat all day.

 

[hansel1]

We are leaving in about 2 weeks and will be bringing a stroller for the airport but is it really worth lugging the thing on and off the bus or should we just rent one for the parks? My kids are almost 2 and almost 4 so they will definately need something. I have a double jogger and a double regular stroller neither is exactly light but can be carried on and off the bus if needed. Any advice?

I am bringing a stroller from home so we don't have to carry our son from the bus to our room and vice-versa. Depending on what resort you are staying at your room can be a good distance away from the bus stop.

 

[Fluxuated]

you won't need one for the 4 year old, so grab an umbrella stroller for the 2 year old, and your done.

 

[mousebymarriage]

In the past I have brought my own stroller( a big comfy one)from home when my kids were infants but, when they were about 3 years old I would rent the double stroller from Disney. I liked having my own when they were really little because of the napping situation, the Disney ones are hard plastic and DO NOT recline at all. However the hard plastic made it easy to clean them with antibacterial wipes before my kids got in, and I would just bring an old beach towel for them to have a little seat cushion. My kids are now 11 and 6 years old. On our most recent trip in April I brought a cheap umbrella stroller from home just in case my son who was just 2 months shy of his 6th birthday got tired. I am sooooo glad I did! He is very active but, a little bit of a thing (only weighed 39 or 40 pounds on our trip). He was happy to sit in the stroller when he got tired (especiialy since his 11 year old sister had to push him). He even napped a few times, including the entire time we walked and shopped our way around the countries in Epcot. I am still undecided if I should bring that umbrella stroller for our upcoming trip at the end of January.

 

[ann0d1]

We bought an umbrella one at the local Walmart in Orlando pd 12-15 dollars and it was Winnie the Pooh-had a sun lid too! Gave it away at the end of the trip. SO much cheaper! and you don't have to lug it through the airport!

 

[shoppingnut]

I can't tell you how many times I've seen people struggling with the double jogger stroller on the buses. It's better to have a smaller one that closes easily or two small umbrella ones.

 

[DisneyGigi]

I can't tell you how many times I've seen people struggling with the double jogger stroller on the buses. It's better to have a smaller one that closes easily or two small umbrella ones.

Totally agree. The smaller the stroller the easier it is and DD looked just as comfortable in the umbrella as she did in the big elaborate we had at home. As a matter of fact I think we abandoned it for the one we bought for WDW even at home.

 

[Marley's Ghost]

Rent Rent Rent

3 Kids ages 6 3 and 1 1/2 when we went. We had taken a large folding stroller b4 and had found it cumbersome at best while it was nice to have at the airport it was a mess up the stairs at the resort and on the bus.

The nice thing about the park strollers is you can prepay and when you get to the park or DTD you flash your paper they stamp and off you go the strollers do not recline and may need to be rewiped however this is midigated be the abbilty to have a place for the kids to sleep eat and watch peoples feet go by

We will never not rent a stroller from WDW. ( I stand back and admire my runon sentence and hope I have helped) :king:

 

[Bonnet]

Do the umbrella strollers work well at Walt Disney World? I know some of the parks I have been to it is rough pushing the lighter strollers.

 

[Fievel]

I personally hate umbrella strollers, I find them really hard to push. Of course, I'm spoiled by my jogger, and I would NEVER hesistate to bring a jogger along again. It's a bit bigger, but they push so much nicer that you'll be glad you brought it.

The only pain is getting on and off buses, but there are tons of other parents on the buses with strollers - the funny part is that you can strike up conversations with other parents that get to hold strollers as your loved ones hold the wee ones. It's like a "club" at times

 

[KC82271]

Done it three times with my own Graco Lite Rider. Can't complain. Easy to carry - great for the ride back to the room at night! Not to mention Downtown Disney for storing all the packages underneath.

 

[kangaand2roos]

Well we are back from our trip and I actually ended up buying a second hand Maclaren double stroller which is kind of like a sturdier, more expensive umbrella stroller. It worked out perfectly and I am SO glad I didn't rent because my almost 2 year old ended up taking naps in the stroller. The bus situation wasn't bad either it seemed like half the people had strollers anyways and the stroller we had wasn't too heavy for a double.

 

[danpam1024]

you won't need one for the 4 year old, so grab an umbrella stroller for the 2 year old, and your done.

A 4 year old walking ALL DAY:ROFLOL: Bring your own, you know how much junk you have I'd rather struggle w/ a stroller on a bus, than a tired kid in the afternoon!

 

[George]

I personally hate umbrella strollers, I find them really hard to push. Of course, I'm spoiled by my jogger, and I would NEVER hesistate to bring a jogger along again. It's a bit bigger, but they push so much nicer that you'll be glad you brought it.

The only pain is getting on and off buses, but there are tons of other parents on the buses with strollers - the funny part is that you can strike up conversations with other parents that get to hold strollers as your loved ones hold the wee ones. It's like a "club" at times

There is a huuuuuge range in how easy to push umbrella strollers are. We have 3 and only one is WDW approved.

A 4 year old walking ALL DAY:ROFLOL: Bring your own, you know how much junk you have I'd rather struggle w/ a stroller on a bus, than a tired kid in the afternoon!

I agree with this. On our last trip we took and umbrella for the 4 year old and our relgular stroller for the two year old. For the umbrella stroller, we got a mesh bag on the back for action figures. I will admit that part of the stroller equation for "older littl kids" depends on how long you are willing to carry them. I'm pretty sure that without the stroller my arms would fall off, but maybe I could use this as incentive to get back in shape.

One more thing: We drove down, so we had access to our car. Much easier with the strollers, especially since we brought our frontline/heavy use stroller along. We only used the bus once and someone had to help me (our kids were sound asleep at this point and DW and I were each holding one).