To stroller or not to stroller

[tmaxwell]

That is the question. We had rented a stroller for our 7 and 5 year old in August. My 7 year old was a little big for it but she made it work.

We head back next August and my husband is dead set against renting one. With the humidity, the walking, and the early morning and late nights I think it may cost us our sanity.

How did you all transistion from stroller to no stroller with your kids? Did you take them walking before your trip?

 

[tmaxwell]

Any insight is welcome.

 

[cattywampus]

I'd get a stroller.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

We returned a couple of weeks ago from a trip with DD7 and DS2. We had a single stroller for DS. DD was just fine. She was a little worn out at the end, but we have a rule that when anyone gets too tired to walk, we sit down for a short break. If you're still too worn out after, we go back to the hotel. I personally think most 6 & 8 year olds should be fine without a stroller. Generally, kids of that age are going to surpass the max weight limits for standard strollers anyway, and then it becomes a safety issue as too much weight can cause the stroller to break and the child could be injured.

If you want to increase the kids' stamina, you could take them for walks, play sports with them, go swimming, etc. One thing we enforced before our trip was that DD was not allowed to ride in or on the cart whenever we went to the store. She had to walk.

 

[Capang]

I took my 6 yo this summer and wasn't sure how she would do as she is not the kind of kid that can handle walking all day. She did great for a week. The last 2 days we rented a stroller at the park and she took little breaks when we went from land to land to land. It was easy and when we hopped they gave us a ticket to redeem a stroller at the next park. It was so nice not using one for most of the trip.

 

[Shanti]

That is the question. We had rented a stroller for our 7 and 5 year old in August. My 7 year old was a little big for it but she made it work.

We head back next August and my husband is dead set against renting one. With the humidity, the walking, and the early morning and late nights I think it may cost us our sanity.

How did you all transistion from stroller to no stroller with your kids? Did you take them walking before your trip?

No stroller. Take it at a pace the kids can handle, instead. I didn't even consider taking one when my son was 5, and I'm glad. Toting a stroller around the World is not my idea of fun.

 

[DisneyOma]

You'll see 6 and 8 year olds in strollers at the parks, being pushed by very tired parents, LOL! Why are kids that age less fit than their parents?

 

[Fosteringaprincess]

I would wait until closer to your trip to decide that. Personally we are stroller people for a long time, bc we are open to close people. We have 4 kids. And we tend to allow strollers until about 7 years old. My youngest is 3 and barely uses a stroller now, but of course I think she will at Disney. Next is my son and he just turned 7. Last year when we left Disney we said no stroller for him next year he will need to walk.... Well now it's almost time for Disney and I think we will take it one more year. He does not have the stamina that my other kids have had. He had several delays but has mostly caught up now! We are going to take it and park it though and see if we can get away with just my daughter's stroller on the 1st day. Like I said we can go out to do fun things ( very different than Disney of course) and she's fine so I'm hoping they can share. But if not we will have both strollers in the park. Strollers don't really slow us down....they actually allow us to get places faster bc we aren't waiting on little legs to run behind....lol. so we are ok either way...we just want everyone happy! This is our 7th family trip....so we've learned a lot!

 

[hsmamato2]

I wouldn't.... but my kids were always very active IRL everyday, and had no problems- we went at the kids pace when needed. My youngest,at 5 refused a stroller when we offered (we brought it) and that was that. These are only opinions of course- I saw no reason to treat them like babies when they're capable of playing outside for 8 hour days without problems. For 4 and younger, I think a small stroller for resting is handy but not completely necessary after a certain age.

 

[mjkacmom]

No stroller.

 

[maxiesmom]

I think the 5 year old would need a stroller. You can always set aside the money to rent one, and then just see how it goes.

I'd also let your husband know that no stroller means going at the pace of the 5 year old. Which will most likely mean going slowly. Stopping for breaks whenever needed, be they ice cream breaks or playing in the fountain breaks. And if he wants to hit the parks at open and close them down it will probably mean a long break in the middle of the afternoon. I can't see most 5 year olds staying in the parks all day without a stroller and without an afternoon break.

 

[jo-jo]

I'd buy a very basic stroller for the younger one. At the very least it's a place to hold jackets, drinks etc.

 

[okeydokey]

I would go without. You can always rent one a couple days in if you want. It's so nice not having to push one.

 

[TulipMom]

We are an active family with very active kids (just came in from a family hike!) and we believe in strollers at Disney. You know your kids best. My kids are 5 & 7 for this trip. My 5yo tends to whine more when uncomfortable (hot, tired, shoes hurt, etc), so none of us would have fun if we expected her to walk. WDW involves lot of walking, long days, usually less sleep than normal, etc. We'd prefer to do anything we can to help everyone have the most possible fun. Strollers are also a great place to store stuff or let an exhausted kid snooze.

But, that said, we have been intentionally going on more walks lately to prep for our upcoming trip in 5 weeks. We will have a stroller, but are hoping to leave it behind sometimes, too. Like, if we're going to MK for a few hours in the evening, etc.

 

[AZMermaid]

We went in June with my 5 and 6 year olds. We went with the mentality that's we'd rent onsite if needed, but see how it went. 71 miles over 9 days on the Fitbit. No one complained once. The last day... they ran full speed at the Boneyard in AK for over an hour straight. I have typical kids... DD dances once a week, DS plays little league, both did summer swim team this past summer- nothing amazing.

We did plan our days to minimize walking (certain lands each MK day for example). When they complained at home about walking.... we'd tsk, "oh boy, it's gonna be hard in Disney World for you." We took a few walks beforehand, but like 4. The never even considered the stroller an option so we found it totally unnecessary.

 

[Klayfish]

You'll see 6 and 8 year olds in strollers at the parks, being pushed by very tired parents, LOL! Why are kids that age less fit than their parents?

A bit presumptuous, no? We had our kids using strollers until they were 8 years old. Our kids are plenty fit, play sports year round...and the parents...well, we're more fit than 99% of adults, especially DW (well...OK, I'm probably 95%, but DW is 99.99%, so it averages out. ) . It was just a personal decision for us. WDW, as you know, is incredibly huge. We decided that we'd rather push them (and get our own exercise in) and keep them fresh than having them walking around in the heat and get tired/cranky. After all, as much as I passionately love WDW, the trips are really for them to make memories. We didn't want their memory to be how tired they were by the end of the 3rd day and how cranky they got. Worked great for us, and I wouldn't change it for anything.

 

[TulipMom]

A bit presumptuous, no? We had our kids using strollers until they were 8 years old. Our kids are plenty fit, play sports year round...and the parents...well, we're more fit than 99% of adults, especially DW (well...OK, I'm probably 95%, but DW is 99.99%, so it averages out. ) . It was just a personal decision for us. WDW, as you know, is incredibly huge. We decided that we'd rather push them (and get our own exercise in) and keep them fresh than having them walking around in the heat and get tired/cranky. After all, as much as I passionately love WDW, the trips are really for them to make memories. We didn't want their memory to be how tired they were by the end of the 3rd day and how cranky they got. Worked great for us, and I wouldn't change it for anything.

Agreed! (Though, I am not as fit as your wife. Haha!) WDW is a giant, tiring place even for fit adults and the strain of walking is greater on kids than adults. As is the change in sleep, schedule, diet, etc. We're not out to prove anything about our kids' fitness level &/or their ability to power through tiredness without complaint. We're there to have fun. Strollers help us have more fun.

 

[brinkley07]

We still take a stroller to the parks for my 4yo. He has plenty of energy, plays sports, and can go like the energized bunny, but WDW does tire him. We do take plenty of breaks, eat at TS restaurants, and go at a nice pace but between the heat and the excitement it's a great back up for us. I think it may be nice for your 5yo just in case. Plus we use it to carry our drinks and bag for the day.

 

[jo-jo]

Just curious, what strollers hold kids that are 7 - 8 years old? My 8 year old DGD weighs about 55 or so pounds.

When we were looking for a double stroller for the 4 and 1 year old, mostly I saw weight limit of 50 pounds per child. Some were less than that.

 

[Klayfish]

Just curious, what strollers hold kids that are 7 - 8 years old? My 8 year old DGD weighs about 55 or so pounds.

When we were looking for a double stroller for the 4 and 1 year old, mostly I saw weight limit of 50 pounds per child. Some were less than that.

We don't have it anymore, so I don't remember specifically what it was. However, it was a double wide...one step up from an umbrella stroller. Our twins were pretty big for 8 years old...I don't remember how much they weighed then, but it was well over 55lbs each...probably 80lbs each or so. They were a bit squeezed at the shoulders, but they still fit fine. The hardest part is pushing when the stroller has small wheels. Perhaps buy a used jogging stroller, which has large wheels. Much easier to push.

The weight limit thing listed on the strollers is legal liability stuff. Reality is they'll hold a lot more than what's listed. Our stroller held easily 175lbs, between the kids and the food bag we strapped to the back of it, and it never had any trouble.