Stroller for 4 & 6 year old?

[Tattylou]

We used umbrella strollers (2 separate).

 

[Moliphino]

At Disneyland Paris we saw a lot of people with soft-sided foldable wagons, which I thought was a great idea.

 

[bumbershoot]

If there are two+ adults, bring two strollers. They will have different needs and to push a double if/when the 6 year old decides s/he doesn't need it is silly.

We used a stroller at Disneyland through ds being 5. Never used them at home except for the jogger when jogging. He walked at home. He liked a stroller at Disneyland.

First wdw trip was when he was 6.5. We brought the maclaren umbrella and left it up to him as to whether we should bring it each morning. His choice, he never wanted it. It stayed in the entryway of the villa the whole 2 week trip.


Edited out typos galore.

Edited in...I don't slow down at the parks. So it wasn't just all miles but it was my pace, and he did fine with it.

 

[TulipMom]

Just as an FYI in case you want to check out more opinions, there are lots of stroller conversations over at the Disney for Families board. https://www.disboards.com/forums/disney-for-families.23/

We prefer a double jogging stroller. Our kids are only 1.5 years apart, so I've had many years of experiences folding and unfolding the double jogger. It's not a problem for DH or me to do so. It is annoying when you're on a bus, but that's only a few minutes of each day. Also, it can be a pain to chase down a stroller (they get moved frequently), so I think it would drive me nuts to spend time chasing down 2 strollers. I have never had issues with getting through crowds with a double stroller, but I've read other people here complain about it, so maybe that's a thing when the parks are more crowded? All that said, I am actually considering doing 2 single strollers this trip, so I'm completely contradicting myself! LOL I may rent a BOB jogging stroller and bring our regular stroller for the rare times my DS will need one (Epcot or a EMH evening at MK).

Also, people on these forums seem to have strong opinions about strollers. Disney is A TON of walking, especially if you have a week long stay when you're hitting parks at RD, kids getting less sleep, out of normal routines, it's hot, etc. If a stroller helps a kid have more fun while at Disney then I am all for it!

 

[RustManFan]

Depends on the child but mine wouldn't have stayed in a stroller past the age of 2...

 

[glocon]

Like Tulipmom said- it would be a pain to chase down two strollers when they get shuffled around- so if you go that route maybe bring Velcro or a bungee cord or something to attach them together when you park them.
I haven't ever brought a stroller (our first visit was when my guy was 5 and he wouldn't have sat in one) but that was a good catch by tulipmom!

 

[Curiouser&curiouser!]

We are in a similar situation for our trip in January. We rarely use a stroller at home even for the littlest one, but at Disney, they both will need something at one time or another.

Luckily, we knew a couple other families in similar situations and we are all traveling to Disney in the next 6 months. We all decided together to co-purchase the Chicco Bravo for 2 and we are all going to use it on our trips and then sell it consignment. We each took the time to go and check it out at the store with our kids to make sure we felt like they fit and we could push it easily. I feel like it is quiet a bit smaller than most double strollers as well. It got to the point that if the other families didn't want to go in it, I think I would have bought it alone and then sold it after our trip!

Edited to add: I am pretty sure my two are over the recommended weight limit, but after playing around for over 30 minutes at the store with them in it I am not worried!

 

[Nettester]

We rented the double at WDW when our girls were 6 and 4. It worked really well for us. Both girls thought it was a fun treat because both were beyond stroller age at home. However, DH and I wanted the option to move around quickly and criss-cross the parks to see everything that was important to us on our time-table. We had to to during peak season. Outside the parks we never used a stroller, so no need to buy

 

[Kae]

Rent as needed.

Kae

 

[maxiesmom]

Don't know why I hadn't even thought of just leaving one parked somewhere. That's a great idea.

Consider that Disney has no one watching strollers. It is not unheard of for strollers to be stolen. So if you want to park and leave one, make sure it is not an expensive one. And leave nothing in it.

 

[Rwsm2011]

I just rented a double city mini when my kids were that age. I know people have strong opinions that a 6 year old should not be in a stroller, but I would rather push him in a stroller than listen to him whine or have to carry him. When they're tired, sitting down and taking a rest isn't going to wake them up. He was a competitive swimmer at the time, so he had good endurance, but walking at Disney was just a whole different level and he needed a place to rest. We're renting a single this time and I fully expect both of them ( 8 & 5) to take turns in it. Not to mention, I hate carrying bags and like that I can move faster with a kid in a stroller vs walking.

 

[BadRomance]

I would personally do a double stroller. We primarily use the stroller for shade for our fair skinned, sun burn prone kiddos and not necessarily for walking purposes. We have the city select double and we hauled that across the country on the airplane and would not do that ever again. The next time we go to Disney world, we are totally going to rent one.

 

[Maxpowers]

https://www.disboards.com/forums/disney-for-families.23/

Thanks! Guess I should have gone there to begin with...

 

[LuvMyEAR]

From our first trips with young children, their parents picked up umbrella strollers at Wal-Mart. Not bottom of the line but very reasonable price. We brought along the clips that could join the strollers, and sometimes used the two as a double but otherwise as singles, which were very easy to manage. the strollers were meant to be disposable, but they were so nice, the parents decided it was worth taking them home on the plane. They made several more trips to WDW in following years and frankly, now that the kids are much older, we really, really miss having the strollers as parcel carriers!

Strolllers were also a huge help ensuring that our younger travellers were never pushed beyond their limits. That makes for a much more magical time.

 

[Maxpowers]

This single umbrella stroller X 2 idea intrigues me. The DW just ordered one of those Joovy ultra graphite platinum diamond gold edition sit n stand to test out, if we don't like it I'm going to suggest this method.

 

[TulipMom]

In case it helps you... I decided on our stroller plan yesterday for our upcoming trip. We're going to rent a Double BOB (we have one at home and feel most comfortable using that brand). Then we are going to bring our regular single Maclaren stroller. It's annoying to bring a stroller on a flight when we haven't needed an airport stroller for years, but it's pretty lightweight and folds easily. We'll do the Maclaren on days that my DS(7) won't need a stroller and then the double on the times that he will (Epcot, late nights, etc.).

 

[LadyCerri]

Last time we went, we had 2 and 5 and we rented a double stroller down there from a service and it worked great. My littlest will be newly turned 7 when we go and I think that's about the age when we're out but with 4 and 6, I'd be double stroller all the way. It transports your stuff and there's ample stroller parking.

 

[Matty B13]

We rented a double stroller for our 4 and 6 year olds this past May, and it worked out great! I also was able to eat as much as I wanted, and didn't gain a pound the whole week.

 

[maxiesmom]

At Disneyland Paris we saw a lot of people with soft-sided foldable wagons, which I thought was a great idea.

Wagons are not allowed at Disney World, if you mean something that parents pull behind them.

 

[Travelstovegas]

So much depends on your family & park style. We're taking our first family Disney trip in early December & will be renting a side by side dbl stroller for our children, who will be 6 & 4 at trip time. We have a sit & stand style stroller at home (that we love) but we want the option for both seats to recline, which is why we're willing to push the double. We anticipate our 2 kiddos using the stroller for quick cat naps or to get into some shade, and we will put them both in it if a crowd level is high and we don't want to worry about losing sight of them.

I mean this respectfully, but I don't understand why people chime in to say that certain ages shouldn't be in strollers. To my way of thinking, all families are different. Could be that one family's oldest child is the slowest and will drag down the pace all the time if they don't have a stroller. Could be that having a stroller helps protect Dad's back from carrying a kiddo everywhere. Could be that using a stroller cuts down on kid whining at Disney, even though they never use one at home. Could be that having a double stroller means no jealousy from a slightly older kid about how come the younger one gets to ride everywhere. Frankly, the bottom line for me is that if I do what I can to keep my family running smoothly, then we don't affect other guests negatively either. I've read a lot of posts on these forums about people seeing meltdowns from kids and how sometimes that affects their own experience, so I don't understand why anyone would NOT want a family to ease their trip in any way they could.

By the way - my sister has 3 kiddos (6, 4 and not yet 2) and she's going to rent a double stroller and bring a folding umbrella stroller that she will keep bungee-corded to the larger stroller. Then if she needs both strollers, she'll unfold it. So if you want to take 2 umbrella strollers, just fold one up & bungee strap it to the other one when one is not in use.