Strollers

[biggins]

I was wondering if anyone brought their own, rented or used to park strollers for their trip? I'd like some opinions. Are regular size strollers a hassle on bus transportation? Thanks.

[Strmchsr]

We've always brought our own. We would have rented or bought one off-site had we not brought our own. Disney stroller prices are so expensive now you could buy a really nice one for the price of a couple of days rental. Strollers are a hassle on a crowded bus, but if it folds up it's doable. Not pleasant, but doable. The only advantage to the Disney stroller is you leave it at the park and don't have to worry about it on the bus.

[faline]

Fortunately, I've never had to deal with strollers on Disney busses. They can be quite a hassle but there are some things you can do to be prepared. Make sure you don't have lots of loose items that you need to move around (or pack) in order to fold up your stroller. Know how the stroller works so you can fold it up quickly. When the bus appears, don't wait until it's your turn to board to begin the folding process.

There is no good place to store your stroller once on the bus but do try to keep it out of the way of fellow passengers as best as you can. We once boarded a bus to find a huge, folded stroller lying flat in the middle of the bus aisle leaving oncoming passengers to figure out how to get over or around it??!!

Personally, I would want a stroller with me so I didn't have to lug sleepy children from the park entrance to the bus stop (which can be quite a hike) or from the bus stop at the resort to the room.

If you don't want to deal with a stroller on a plane, I'd suggest renting from Intercot sponsor Strollers and Groceries.

[iheartdisney]

We have actually done three options:
1. Brought our own. We found this particularly helpful when the boys were infants and very young toddlers.
2. Purchased one at Wal-Mart just outside of Downtown Disney because we forgot ours and didn't want to rent for our 8 day stay. We purchased two cheap umbrella strollers and then stumbled upon a family in the same boat on our last day so we just gave them the ones we purchased.
3. Rented from Disney. When the boys were older toddlers (too old for a stroller at home but needing one at Disney because of the walking distance traveled each day) we found the Disney strollers ideal. They are very comfortable for an older toddler where a typical stroller can be a bit cramped.

[mozman]

I always bring a stroller for my twin boys. they are 4yo now, so I'm looking to stop that soon. I used a side by side double stroller (MacLaren, if it helps). It folds relatively compact, more so than a Graco front back double stroller.

I've never had issues bringing strollers on planes (except the time Delta didn't load the stroller on the plane FROM the GATE! But that's a different story). As for buses, it is a bit of a hassle, but because it folds like an umbrella stroller I tend to stand it up beside me and out of the way of other passengers (as best as possible), so it is not so bad and doable.

I agree with others, that renting Disney strollers is very expensive. Option of buying an inexpensive stroller in FL works. I know that the Disney cast store always has tons of strollers for sale because people buy them and leave it at the park when done, instead of renting from Disney.

[Figment104]

I think it really depends on the age of the child you'll have with you. When we took DS last May he was 18 months old and we took our "nice" umbrella stroller (Chicco Liteway). It folds up pretty compact like an umbrella, but it has a full recline and some extra padding and what not to make it more comfortable. This worked out perfectly for us since DS was still able to sleep in it really comfortably due to the full recline, but it was light enough and folded up compact enough that it wasn't too much of a hassle on the buses and boats. It was also great to have it at the resort, and when we were in the airport!

Our friends ended up renting one from an offsite location when they went and they were really happy with it. I believe that they ended up renting a City Mini and that seems to be a really common rental style at Disney. We saw lots of people with these during our trip, but they definitely took up more room than our Liteway when traveling on Disney transportation. One of the big advantages to it over our type of stroller is that you still have the snack tray, so if your LO is young enough where you still really need the snack tray then that may be the way to go. I wasn't sure how it would go with DS being 18 months, but he did totally fine without having a snack tray. Sure we had to chase his sippy cup a few times when he pitched it out of the stroller, but overall it worked fine.

For the price, I personally wouldn't be renting a stroller from Disney. Like PP mentioned, you could buy a really nice one for the amount you would end up paying by the end of the trip.

Hope that helps!

Hope that helps!

[AgentC]

I think I have done it just about anyway I could over the last few years. We've brought our own (large and umbrella depending on the age), rented at the parks, rented off site.

For me, strollers are always a hassle on the buses, though small ones are easier to deal with. We normally have a car so I am lucky that I can just avoid the buses.

The first thing to take into account is how your child uses the stroller and what you use at home?

Is he going to nap in it? If so does he need a full recline? DO you need a storage room? Do you need cup holders? (I've missed those since my youngest stopped using her stroller!) If you use only a basic umbrella stroller at home, and your son won't spend a lot of time in it, you might be okay with a basic one brought from home or bought in site. My kids liked to sleep in their strollers so I always preferred a full size until they were 3 or 4.

We brought ours for several years until I discovered that off site rentals are not that expensive and give you a lot of stroller for your money. They are high end so they fold quite easily and are not super heavy.

Park strollers are expensive. You can often rent an offsite stroller for a week for the same price they charge for 3 days in the park. The park strollers are large but there is no recline. They are hard and don't have much storage. I think the park strollers are best for older kids. They would not be my first choice for toddlers.

[twinboyz]

It's been awhile since I used a stroller since my twins are 15, but when we did go when they were younger, we used the simple small umbrella type strollers. They fold up so small and I never felt like we were in the way. Some of the bigger type strollers appear cumbersome and are always in the way on the buses. We also had Grandma & Grandpa to help carry everything or a kid so it worked for us.

My kids couldn't fall asleep in the strollers anyways, so laying down wasn't a necessity. I understand that most folks now have the bigger'regular' strollers to keep the kids comfy and happy.

Good luck with your decision.

[biggins]

Thank you all, I actually thought about taking a little umbrella stroller for the airport and when we travel on buses specifically, and then maybe renting a large one from that website for the evenings and around the BC/YC , BW area. I'm hoping to stay at the BC, take him to other parks in the mornings and end up in epcot area most nights, then he can fall asleep in larger stroller and we an stay out a bit.

[MaleficentFan]

We used www.strollersandgroceries.com when we went in February 2013. Got a double stroller, with plastic covers just in case of rain, delivered to our resort on the day we arrived and picked up the day we left. They put your last name on it in a protective sleeve so you didn't have to worry about losing it and we tied a pink ribbon on ours so we could easily locate it in the sea of strollers! $85 for the entire week with insurance in case it was broken or stolen we were not responsible! Very nice stroller and my 6 year old DN fit in it with room to spare so it can fit a pretty big kid! Hope this helps!

[dixielandings]

We have also done the stroller thing every which-a-way! Last trip, we rented from a local company (not Strollers and Groceries - but I imagine they're comparable) and it was awesome! They take into consideration what you'll need for a theme park visit - storage space, rain cover, etc. - and even though we had our own car, this stroller was easy to collapse - I figure it would be decent on the bus. They also delivered to our resort before our arrival AND came to pick up at a different location at the end of our trip!

The deal with strollers is - if you have to have one, you just do, and you deal with the inconveniences (like breaking it down for buses and trams) the best you can. All the advice in the above posts is accurate by my experience.

[Maggie T]

We used Kingdom Strollers last Oct. for our 15 month old then and we all loved it. It was like new, comfortable for her, cheaper than the ones at WDW, and was very easy to handle. That was her stroller for the whole week. It was worth the cost and better than the one we left at home.