News New Stroller Size/Wagon Rules and Enforcement - Effective May 1 2019

[Kingoglow]

There is literally no reason (outside of disability) for an 8- or 9-year-old child to be riding in a stroller. Even with autism and his horrible habit of latching onto something to complain about and not letting it go for months, my then 7-year-old handled walking the parks perfectly well with no complaints.

I can totally agree with this; although I think the cut off should be 6 years old...

People, if you kids can't handle walking all day then you are pushing them too hard. Go rest somewhere of insisting on bringing a plastic, double-wide tank (with fancy cup holder and charger ports) into an already crowded park. And no, you don't need to carry all the baby gear with you.

 

[John park hopper]

Better yet restrict stroller size to the umbrella stroller, admit will never happen. They were meant to be compact carry a small child and not all the junk people bring into the park. Used the umbrella stroller for my 3 sons and never had one tip over as some would claim happens.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

I can totally agree with this; although I think the cut off should be 6 years old...

People, if you kids can't handle walking all day then you are pushing them too hard. Go rest somewhere of insisting on bringing a plastic, double-wide tank (with fancy cup holder and charger ports) into an already crowded park. And no, you don't need to carry all the baby gear with you.

Our 5-year-old did park open to park close for 6 days our last trip - we just watch him to see if he needs a rest, and if he does, we find a place to sit for a few minutes and take one (he's got more severe autism than his brother, and it includes a moderate speech delay). We BARELY USED our stroller (slightly bigger than an umbrella), and more often than not, parked it and went off for a few hours before coming back to get it. Following your child's cues is HUGE to having an enjoyable trip - regardless of what gear you bring with you. I've lost track of how many parents I've seen yelling at their kids for being whiny when food/water/rest would have fixed the problem.

I'll be the first to admit, I WAY over prepared for our first trip when the above kiddo was 2 1/2. Too many diapers, too many wipes, too much in the way of first aid, too much everything - 2 freaking bags that we kept under the stroller. A lot of that was due to advice from other moms - you wouldn't believe how much extraneous junk we hauled with us! THE MOMMING PRESSURE IS REAL, PEOPLE! Our next trip, we pared it down to a small shoulder bag with 6 diapers, a small pack of wipes, snacks, sunscreen, a few band-aids, a change of clothes for our son, and extra phone batteries. Since we ditched the diapers, we're down to a bag that's more like a purse and hubby and I each wear a belly (it won't let me use the real word, lol!) pack for stuff that would normally be in our wallets. Next trip, the kids get to haul their own stuff if they want to bring anything.

 

[ppete1975]

I'm thinking that you don't have kids.
Even if a toddler can walk, you can't expect a toddler to walk around Disney World. Think about how fast a toddler walks...and now imagine the entire family walking at that pace so the toddler can keep up.

or you can carry your kid

 

[Allyp]

I'll be the first to admit, I WAY over prepared for our first trip when the above kiddo was 2 1/2. Too many diapers, too many wipes, too much in the way of first aid, too much everything - 2 freaking bags that we kept under the stroller. A lot of that was due to advice from other moms - you wouldn't believe how much extraneous junk we hauled with us! THE MOMMING PRESSURE IS REAL, PEOPLE!

I think this is another example of why people bring the enormous strollers as well. All the mommy bloggers/Pinterest posts have packing lists that are 20+ items long. We are local and have a two year old and go into the park often. We used to go with our larger uppababy vista stroller with a backpack of items and now we're down to a very small bag with a few essentials. And we hardly ever bring extra clothes too (still in diapers). If we absolutely need to, we buy more snacks and we've found that for last minute items, the baby care center has decent prices in a pinch. This goes for first aid kits too. I can't say how many times I've gotten a blister and just went to first aid. No charge.

These packing lists are for the maximum packer who end up not needing half the stuff they bring, but because the mommy bloggers say they'll need it, they need a larger stroller just to store it. I'm sure they realize that it was too much stuff and perhaps the next time they come they pair down their items and forget the stroller all together. But new family who's coming to WDW for the first time, doesn't know this and the cycle continues.

 

[MisterPenguin]

or you can carry your kid

Nah. They just wind up crushing my granola bars in the backpack and are constantly unzippering it.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

I think this is another example of why people bring the enormous strollers as well. All the mommy bloggers/Pinterest posts have packing lists that are 20+ items long. We are local and have a two year old and go into the park often. We used to go with our larger uppababy vista stroller with a backpack of items and now we're down to a very small bag with a few essentials. And we hardly ever bring extra clothes too (still in diapers). If we absolutely need to, we buy more snacks and we've found that for last minute items, the baby care center has decent prices in a pinch. This goes for first aid kits too. I can't say how many times I've gotten a blister and just went to first aid. No charge.

These packing lists are for the maximum packer who end up not needing half the stuff they bring, but because the mommy bloggers say they'll need it, they need a larger stroller just to store it. I'm sure they realize that it was too much stuff and perhaps the next time they come they pair down their items and forget the stroller all together. But new family who's coming to WDW for the first time, doesn't know this and the cycle continues.

And the sad part is that you get used to hauling all the junk, so you don't even become aware of the fact that you've over-packed for no reason - even just for a local trip to visit a waterfront or something. Disney actually helped me realize that I was doing exactly that, and the way we prepared for just going around town changed a lot too. It's the same with my boys...their first trip, they wanted to pack their entire toybox to bring with them, but by our next trip, they each only brought one stuffed animal, and that stays in the room. We stop by the resort gift shop when we check in and let them each buy a small $5 or $10 toy that they can carry to the parks with them to play with in lines or what have you and it's been working like a charm.

 

[Missing20K]

or you can carry your kid

I'm on vacation.

 

[Weather_Lady]

I think this is another example of why people bring the enormous strollers as well. All the mommy bloggers/Pinterest posts have packing lists that are 20+ items long.

These packing lists are for the maximum packer who end up not needing half the stuff they bring, but because the mommy bloggers say they'll need it, they need a larger stroller just to store it.

Amen to you both, @ImperfectPixie and @Allyp! We didn't even have a stroller the first time we visited WDW (our 4 and 6-year-olds were way past them by that point), yet between the "Mommy bloggers" and their shrill lists of "MUST-HAVES" and my Eagle Scout husband's "Always Prepared" philosophy, we brought ridiculous amounts of stuff with us to the parks -- misting fan bottles (because God forbid we walk around with dry faces), extra outfits (for those random drive-by condiment attacks), wet wipes (what did we think we were going to be wiping, with 2 potty-trained kids!??!), an entire First Aid kit (were we going into battle?), etc. I'm embarrassed to think of it now.

After that first day or two, we learned that my husband's cargo short pockets and my phone-sized crossbody purse were more than sufficient to hold all of the real essentials! But of course, if the Mommy bloggers admitted that the real list of "must-haves" is only about 3 items long, they'd be out of a job... and so would the stroller rental companies.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

A pair of diapers, wipes, cup and sunscreen. You really don't need anything else. This isn't Siberia.

 

[Andrew C]

A pair of diapers, wipes, cup and sunscreen. You really don't need anything else. This isn't Siberia.

What if the kid has a blow-out?

 

[DisneyJoe]

What if the kid has a blow-out?

Child care centers and other locations have plenty of items.

 

[Andrew C]

Child care centers and other locations have plenty of items.

well, first, I was just joking. But second, he left out a change of clothes from his list.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

What if the kid has a blow-out?

well, first, I was just joking. But second, he left out a change of clothes from his list.

Fair enough. A change of clothes. We've never needed them... YMMV.

 

[cmb5002]

or you can carry your kid

Or use a carrier. We'll be making our first trips as parents this fall and plan to use a carrier exclusively. In the past we'd walk in with no bags, and even though we can't swing that with a 1YO, we still plan on being as minimalist and mobile as possible. The stoller/pack mule hybrid has never been our thing and our bruised ankles swore we'd never use one ourselves. As much as everyone complains about strollers, I'm surprised more people don't give carriers a shot.

 

[trainplane3]

What if the kid has a blow-out?

Water ride/splash pad and Disney would be glad to sell you a new set of clothes!

 

[Andrew C]

I'm surprised more people don't give carriers a shot.

They can get very hot in the summer for the kid and the parent. And over time, it is hard on the back. Those are probably the reasons.

side note: My kid's first trip to DL was at 2 1/2 and to WDW was at 3. We used a small stroller (umbrella type) as I hate maneuvering large strollers in crowds. It is a pain, for me and everyone else.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Diapers, wipes, a change or two of clothes (for two kids, usually), and snacks was what we would put in our backpack for a day in a park. There's no true need for a 382-item packing list of crap to bring into the parks. My wife also used carriers, and I did sometimes, too. It made things easier on us as well, having two hands to deal with... whatever we needed to deal with.

 

[Ripken10]

They can get very hot in the summer for the kid and the parent. And over time, it is hard on the back. Those are probably the reasons.

side note: My kid's first trip to DL was at 2 1/2 and to WDW was at 3. We used a small stroller (umbrella type) as I hate maneuvering large strollers in crowds. It is a pain, for me and everyone else.

we used a carrier a lot, but it doesn't work for entire trip. One great example for us that a stroller was essential - when me and my wife went to get on a ride, and gave our son to grandmom...no way grandmom was putting him in a carrier. She needed the stroller so she could walk around with him. There was some stuff we might not have taken with us, but knowing grandmom would have our son at times, we can't have her having to look for supplies in WDW. She would refuse to watch him unless everything he needed was right there.

Note - I am not excusing people have huge strollers. just saying getting rid of strollers will never happen and is not an option for everybody. Also note with the growing obesity in the country, that even with the carriers being much better for your back and hip, for many people (unfortunately this number keeps getting closer to majority) carrying even in a carrier is not healthy for these individuals due to the stress it is causing their hips and backs. Me - I like to think I am pretty healthy, and always much prefer carrying than anything. But my background helps me understand that this option is not actually possible for most people these days.

 

[aliceismad]

The problem with the idea of using only Disney strollers is that many of the resorts are fairly large and people like to use strollers at those as well to get to and from the bus, food, etc. (A lot of adults complain about the distance from the lobby to the rooms at Kidani, for goodness sake, and that's just one building.) I could see someone staying at CBR or SSR with a little one wanting a stroller. I can see, though, how it would be helpful to have no strollers (and the whole folding ordeal in lines) on buses.

When we did WDW, kiddo was already potty trained, but we took an extra pullup and set of clothes just in case (cause lines and distractions are hard), wipes (mostly for hands and tables), sunscreen, and maybe a couple of snacks. However, if you look at any of the "save money at Disney" articles online, they talk about taking full lunches into the park, medicines and first aid kits, changes of clothes and shoes, ponchos, misting fans, toys, phone charger, water-filtering bottles, ponchos, blah blah blah. So some of these Disney newcomers pack all of this junk (probably in their oversized stroller) because they think that's the "smart" way to do Disney. I feel bad for them, really.

I do wonder sometimes if Disney does enough to publicize its rules.