[wdwfanatic]

Hello to all! We will be going to WDW this Sept and will have our 19-month old with us. Should we bring our own stroller or use Disney's? Aren't they those hard plastic ones that don't recline?? Mouse hugs to all...

[roxie]

We always take our own big stroller (vs. the umbrella stroller). It reclines, is more comfortable, has a big storage bin underneath, plus it has our own germs! My daughter always took a nap in it, too.

[DarthTortoise]

I would recommend bringing you own stroller. Your own personal stroller would definately be more comfortable, you wont have to wait in to line to rent it, and then to return it, and also you will save $$ on the rental fee. This usually only happens when the parks are super busy, but they have actually run out of strollers before.

One suggestion: If your stroller is dark blue, make some way of easily identifying it. 90% of strollers are dark blue, and imagine trying to find your non-descript stroller mixed in with 300 other dark blue strollers in the little stroller parking lot at Fantasmic when its dark. I have witnessed this, and it aint pretty. And dont think tying a balloon to your stroller will do the trick, every other guest does it, and Animal Kingdom dosent allow balloons.

I think that is the most times I have ever used the word "stroller".

[DisneyTeacher]

Take your own!! The walk to the bus stop or your car can be a long walk when you have to carry a sleeping child. Then there is the walk to your room once you get to your resort, depending on your resort that could be a long walk. If you take your own you will always have it. We take a cheap umbrella stroller and it is never a problem on the bus and we always have it when we need it.

[roxie]

I forgot to mention to distinguish your stroller. We always to that. I found some bright blue shoestrings and a stuffed dinosaur keychain and tied them to our stroller handle. It made it SO easy to find ours in the sea of blue strollers!!

[Amneris]

They are hard plastic, but are semi-reclined (unlike umbrella strollers). Kids seem to fall asleep in them very easily. They're also have a lot of plastic around them and sturdy wheels so that if the stroller crashes into something/someone your child will stay put and not get hurt. On the down side, it's much bigger than an umbrella stroller so would be harder to manuever. Plus side is you of course don't have to lug your own stroller around. Down side is, as pointed out, you only have the stroller in the park, not for to/from park & resort etc. Many people buy a cheap umbrella stroller once they got to Florida rather than take their own on the plane, and then just throw the stroller out before returning home. This still works out to be less money than renting one would be, and this way you have it for all the inbetween park times too.

[karliebug]

Definitely bring your own. It saves big bucks and is more convienient. I recommend bringing an umbrella type stroller with a canopy as it is lightweight to lug on the buses and such. If you are driving everywhere than I'd recommend a larger more comfortable one.

[asp8tis]

Bring your own. We just got back last week and took our double umbrella stroller with us. Our 5 year old can't yet handle all of the walking at Disney and likes to ride a lot, too. I think we end up using our stroller as much outside the parks as we do inside. Walking from the bus stop to your hotel room at the end of a long day in the park could be difficult if you don't have your own stroller. We also used it when we did a lot of walking around Downtown Disney and even took it to Typhoon Lagoon with us (they don't rent strollers at those places). It makes it easier to get around and get to/from buses when the kids can just jump in and ride. Try to have a lightweight one that reclines and has an awning. Ours didn't have an awning, but we have a little sunshade umbrella that clips on the side of the stroller and that worked fine when it was too sunny. If you've got one that's lightweight and folds easily, it's really not very difficult to get around with it.

[daisyd]

Taking your own is always handy, at 19 months, your daughter will need one places other than the parks. If you are worried about the bulk of your own, you can purchase an umberlla stroller that reclines, with a sunshade, for $30-$40 online. Depending on how long you stay, the price may balance out with the rentals.

[inluvwithdisney]

Take your own and if you are flying it is also helpful because you can push it right to the gate and they bring it back right to you as you leave the plane!! We found this is very conveinent in itself not to mention saving the money on a daily basis and having it to get to and from bus stops and such!!

Last time we went there our stroller was in terrible shape and we almost decided just to rent one then we added up what it would cost and decided it made more sense just to buy a new one before we went!!! I actually think it was cheaper to do it that way!!!

[MickeyRon]

Okay... I'm sure you get the point... BUT.... TAKE YOUR OWN!

REALLY!! -- You will be so thankful!!

[queensmama]

Unlike everyone else I am all for renting a stoller! I didnt have to worry about keeping up with it and if your child is anything like mine they will want to push that annoying umbrella stroller everywhere which will slow down your day considerablly. IMO renting is better. They do the multi day rentals now which is cheaper too.

[BWSmith]

Last year, we went to all four parks with 2 children (3 yr old & 1 yr old).

We tried the Disney hard-plastic double-stroller at Animal Kingdom, which was adequate, but not as comfortable as our own padded, hooded Graco double-stroller, plus we had to carry the kids out of the gate once the stroller was checked back in, which would not have been possible if I hadn't been fully caffeineated...

If you're not familiar with the Disney strollers, they don't have "seats" like a chair, but rather are flat, where the kids sit low to the ground with legs fully extended (at least at Animal Kingdom). This design is better for sleeping and probably safer, but not as much fun for the child as sitting up to see all the action.

If you have kids this young, they are guaranteed to fall asleep, so be sure to plan your stroller choice with this in mind. (We got to enjoy some (overpriced) ice cream in that Frontierland show-restaurant while both kids snoozed in the stroller for a few hours before the parade.)

We used our own for the other three parks and we thought the overall experience was better, especially the long trips to and from the entrance. There were only two problems with using our own double-stroller:

a) Folding it up to get on/off the MK monorail from TTC (which was cooler and more mosquito-free in the heat of July than the ferry). Try to travel on the monorail when it isn't crowded.

b) Covering it in the frequent Florida rains (it doesn't matter if the Disney strollers get wet, but we weren't used to having our own stroller outside in the rain; have an umbrella or plastic cover ready in case you don't have a handy store nearby during a flash cloudburst)

The idea of leaving one's stroller unattended during an attraction scares the heck out of me, but everything turned out fine. Keep your valuables in a bag that you take with you, so that there's nothing that can be easily swiped.

Also, they say that you get a $1 deposit return on top of the $8 for the stroller, but that returned dollar is a "Disney dollar", so it isn't really a return at all unless you were already planning to spend that dollar before you left.

If you're interested in trying a Disney stroller for your own comparison, do so at the park where you plan to spend the least amount of time (i.e. not the MK). That way, you'll still have plenty of energy to carry tired children after you leave, or to deal with children who refuse to get in the stroller (which happened with my older child at MGM the year before).

Overall, I would recommend renting a stroller if you are a parent who either does not own a comfortable one for long-distance travel or left yours back home (or medical circumstances prevent you from loading/unloading your folded stroller on the monorail). Able-bodied parents who own a comfortable stroller that reclines to a sleeping position should save themselves the $9 and the headache of transportation to-from the gate.

Comments?

(EDIT: I forgot to mention that I'm from NC, we drove to Florida in our own car, and we didn't have to deal with the stroller-on-the-plane issue that a lot of you have.)

[tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by queensmama

Unlike everyone else I am all for renting a stoller! I didnt have to worry about keeping up with it and if your child is anything like mine they will want to push that annoying umbrella stroller everywhere which will slow down your day considerablly. IMO renting is better. They do the multi day rentals now which is cheaper too.

Its been several years since we needed strollers but I am in agreement with you about renting them. We always did and as the girls got older we would give them the disney dollar refund we would get when we returned it. When they started with the double strollers at WDW that was just wonderful.
we see so many people struggling with strollers on the busses, boats and monorails.

[tinkerbell0219]

Absolutely take your own!!!! I can recommend a really great one that we bought our 15 month old for our trip this June. It's by Safety 1st and sells for only $39.99 at Target. It reclines too and it's lightweight!