Stroller regrets?

[hsmamato2]

I'm the minority here but never would I ever rent a stroller for a 7 year old in normal good health. Yes, legs get tired, but the child is 7. That said, my oldest was 6 when his baby bro was in a stroller,and when baby was elsewhere he'd hop in and scam some ride time when he could lol it made us laugh. I think a reasonably healthy and fit child doesn't need a stroller beyond age 5 at the absolute most. This is all very much my opinion.... and not everyone will agree. I personally don't like dealing with strollers in crowds anyway.

 

[here757]

We took a stroller... not for the kids. For my junk! I hate holding anything

 

[katyjeka]

We took a stroller... not for the kids. For my junk! I hate holding anything

This is the one thing we miss about a stroller. I remember years ago we bought a stroller that had red/black/white dots. I called it my mouse stroller. I was excited that it would be easy to find when we left a ride. Well, we pushed the wrong stroller around the World Showcase for over an hour before we realized we had the wrong one!! It was full of stuff, but not ours. We did a stroller exchange and had a good laugh when we finally found ours. Toys r Us must have sold a lot of "our" strollers that year as we saw a ton of them on our trip.

 

[ChasingDreams]

We had a stroller last year when my DS was 4, debating on this year but with all the walking he seemed to like to take breaks and we mainly used it during the day and kept it parked in the hotel at night.

 

[ScrampShopper]

We do 10 day trips to WDW, and we easily walk 10 miles a day for all 10 days. My DD, now 7 gave up the stroller at 3.5 at Disney World. DS, now 3.5 will still use the stroller for our upcoming trip because I am mostly alone with the kids on Disney trips, and it is easier to keep track of them when one is in the stroller and the other holds on to it. Plus DS is an excellent stroller napper. I plan to take the stroller in the mornings, return to hotel late afternoon (after he has already napped in the stroller), and leave the stroller in the room for the evening and night park time. This will probably be his last trip with a stroller. We stopped taking the stroller everywhere else about 7 months ago. I also just bought a tiny backpack for myself because we are done needing a lot of stuff. We do a lot of traveling so I have a good tested system worked out from the last few trips so I have a good idea of what will work on our upcoming trip. I hate dealing with a stroller, and can't wait until we are officially done with it! What I have found with my kids is that if a stroller is available, they will use it, but if I don't have it with me, they don't even ask for it.

My recommendation for everyone on the fence about a stroller, start out the trip without it and see how it goes. You can always order an offsite rental anytime or get a Disney rental at the parks if you need it. Your kids may just surprise you.

 

[WDWDancer]

We took my 2.5 yo great nephew. We HATED dealing with the stroller. My niece actually left the stroller in the room and wore him all day one day. She wore him for short times even when we had the stroller. She is now pregnant with twins, and says we won't go again until the twins are 4 so she won't have to deal with the **** stroller. Who knows how many times I will go without her before then--one so far. The magic on his face was priceless, but the stroller was a real pain. Many here will disagree. They are entitled to their opinion. This was our family's opinion.

This is us - when it was just our oldest daughter I would wear her husband would take a backpack. Now we have twins too and just did our first DL trip they were 1.5 and our oldest was 3. We took the stroller in once, then the other times I tandem wore the babies and my husband had the backpack and threw our oldest on his shoulders when she needed a break.

We also don't do full park days though - back to the hotel for naptime pool time

 

[marcyleecorgan]

I totally understand when the small people are so small that they could easily get swept away or crushed in the crowd... but ohhhhhh all the folding and unfolding and checking for that one more thing, and the snack bag and the sippy cup and OH he just dropped it on the ground,Mom, ew!!! and all the dangly toys and all the pockets you've jammed valuables into...

oh and we haven't even actually gotten to a Park yet!!! Let's not forget stroller parking, finding a place, finding your moved stroller, bringing valuables or leaving them... wow, like a 1/8th of your day is centered around this device....

it is not a military campaign. you will not die of thirst. you can buy practically anything you need there - except tobacco and chewing gum!

I like to think of the majority of portable baby furniture as parental security blankets, because we just find the routine of the stroller/bucket car seat/combo thing to be so... soothing. You figure it out, you get a rhythm, it just becomes easier to do it this way... you throw your shopping in it, it holds the drinks... you only have to keep track of the one thing all piled up as a bundle on wheels.

 

[J. Iminy]

I think Disney is just different. My older kids stopped using strollers basically by age 3.5, but continued to do so at Disney. On our last trip, we had a double stroller and umbrella stroller for a 7, 5 and 1 year old. It's just too much walking and, frankly, is more convenient for us adults. I really think of it as more of a convenience for my wife and me than for the kids. We can move through the park much quicker with a stroller than we would if we had to cajole the kids along. Our older kids could definitely do it (and are headstrong that they will), but they would complain at some point and be happy for the ride. Most importantly, not using a stroller for them would slow us down. We are single-focused in the park and try to move quickly from one attraction to the next. The strollers help facilitate a more efficient day. Plus, they are nice to hold bags and other items when we hit the rides as the other posters have noted. That also means, no backpacks in the sun!

That said, next fall, we will be going with an 8, 6, 3 and 1 year old. We plan on getting one double stroller and one umbrella stroller for the lot of them. We just couldn't talk ourselves into two doubles. That may mean one of them ends up on my shoulders from time to time, but so be it. The 8 and 6 year old will take turns walking and if they are too slow, I am fine putting one of the four on my shoulders if I have to.

 

[TulipMom]

Stroller shaming is one of my "favorite" things about the disboards. **eye roll**

Do what works for you. My 7 yo didn't need a stroller during our last trip, but our 5 yo did. At your kids' ages, I'd try to go without. You can always rent one from Disney or one of the outside stroller rental companies, if you decide you need one when you get there. That said, you know your kids best.

 

[AZMermaid]

We went in June with my 5 and 6 year olds. They are very typical kids. We also knew one stroller would cause problems, so we went without, figuring we could rent there if needed. Not at all necessary. They walked 71 miles according to the Fitbit. They didn’t complain one time. I think they just never even considered that kids their ages would use a stroller!

We did plan our days to minimize walking and did two park days/one off day. I think This helped a lot.

 

[mom-2greatkids]

We were soooo happy when the kids were old enough to go without strollers. So much easier!

Our kids got to ride in a stroller until they turned 6. Once they turned 6 no more stroller. It wasn't a big deal because we always brought single strollers and never a double. I don't ever recall our older child begging to ride in the younger one's stroller.

 

[AFwifelife]

I'll be using a stroller forever. Never has been a pain for us and the less tired the kids are = the more enjoyable the trip is for everyone.

 

[dbdisney4]

Can I place my stroller with our checked luggage and attach a Disney luggage tag, and have it delivered to our room with our other bags? Is it required to be placed in a bag or anything? I've only ever gate checked, but my youngest is 5.5 now... I don't want to deal with it in the airport, but I really think we're going to need it for a couple park days (thanks for all the opinions on this thread, it helped sway me into taking it for him.)

 

[chicagoshannon]

Kids in general have more energy than adults. I think my DD rode until she was almost 6 and only then because of her little brother. DS was done by 4. After a certain age a stroller is so much more of a pain. You have to park it and then hunt for it after the ride. Without a stroller you're just on to the next thing.

Now I have my fanny/waste pack and just go. No need for all of the extra things. I have some wet wipes, bandaids, sunscreen, advil, and wallet. That's it and it's SOOOOOO nice!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Once my kids hit 5 I stop with the strollers and I go bagless. Even on zoo trips, aquarium, etc. I refuse to push 50+ pounds of dead weight if I don't have to. It's such a pain and after doing our first stroller free, bagless WDW trip I realized how exhausting it was to push the stroller! I had so much more energy that trip!

 

[Nancyg56]

That's why God invented breaks. If the kids are tired out, head to the resort for a swim, to get something to eat, to take a nap. Let everyone refresh and then head out to a park again. No need to wearing anyone down so that they can't continue.

God should have made swim breaks relaxing then. LOL!!! Plus made the trek back to the resort shorter.

Honestly, strollers are controversial and I do not understand why. People know what works for their own family and know their own circumstances. Personally, at 7 and 9, in the OP situation, I would play it by ear. Stroller rental in Disney parks is not hard, and even though it may be pricier than renting one offsite, you are not stuck with the thing.
My DGD stopped using one when she was about 6, but I can tell you, when it was super crowded in the parks at night, if my son in law could not carry her, she was in the stroller when we were going from place to place. No way were we taking a chance she would get swept away. That happened to my daughter when she was young. SHe was pulled right from my sister's hand, and it was terrifying for her and for me and my sister.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

We skipped it last time for ages 7 and 9 and I really regret it.

The 9 year old is fine w/o, but I know there would have been a fight if 7 year old had a single and 9 year old had to walk. So we didn't get anything at all. 7 year old refused to walk. Like 5 minutes into the park first thing in the morning. I know everyone says oh just take breaks / go back to the resort and swim. That's exactly what 7 year old wanted to do. The entire time. Should we take a resort break 5 minutes after arriving at the park? The other 3 of us wanted to go on rides and spend time in the parks (that we have paid $400/day to be in!). Sometimes we would have to have an adult sit on a bench with 7 year old while the other 2 went on a ride. We were hoping that seeing the sibling get to do a ride would encourage 7 year old to at least get up and want to do that ride. Nope. 7 year old content to just sit on bench. We're not a commando kind of family but it would be nice to at least stay through lunchtime in the parks! I don't want to spend the entire vacation at the resort because 7 year old can't walk (unless we specifically plan that kind of vacation). So it was a battle the whole week. I don't know why we didn't just break down and get a stroller early in the trip. Probably because of reading so many comments about how ppl take stroller away at 4 years old and kids do fine.

 

[AFwifelife]

Probably because of reading so many comments about how ppl take stroller away at 4 years old and kids do fine.

As I posted above, we will be taking strollers forever. I can already see my 4 year old doing the same thing your 7 yo did. I grew up in a big family and remember squeezing into a Disney double stroller at 9 with my 7 year old brother, even though the stroller was originally for my youngest sister

 

[GrnMtnMan]

I can't see a 9 year old fitting in a rental stroller.

See a 9 year old in a stroller here...we can quibble about the fitting part :

She was 9 in this.

In our case, there's a physical issue why we've continued with strollers past age 6/7/8/9. But I wouldn't judge anybody who did it for
convenience. And there's a huge difference between kids' endurance in August versus December. The stroller is one way we make August tolerable.

 

[ngm]

Gave up the stroller when my youngest was 5, and then started going bagless too! So much easier! No regrets. My daughter was dancing out of the parks late at night.