I just
got back from my family vacation at Walt Disney World in Florida and I cannot
wait to go back! While I am incredibly happy to be home I am not ashamed to
admit that I am having a difficult time getting back into the swing of things.
Disney World somehow produces a happy magical feeling inside me that is
contagious. My entire family is ready to start planning our next trip! All of
the ups and downs, ins and outs, tips and tricks of my Disney experience will
be shared with you, just not all in this one post. This post is all about
strollers at Disney World: Single strollers, Double Strollers, Stroller
Parking, Stroller Locks, and Stroller Etiquette at Disney.
It
seems really silly to write a whole post about the strollers at Disney, but if
you are a parent of a little one planning a trip to Disney World and you plan
on bringing your kids with you a stroller is simply a must. I originally did
not plan on bringing a stroller with me to Disney, but after talking with my
husband and my SIL we decided to bring strollers {yes that is plural, because
we brought 2 strollers with us}. Those strollers were such an incredible
blessing! I am so glad that we brought them. So here we go…
Single vs. Double:
If you
are bringing one child obviously a single will do. But if you are bringing more
than one child a double is a smart move. My five year old son used the stroller
frequently at Disney. We have done six flags and other amusement parks and he
has walked around just fine, but at Disney he was exhausted with all of the
walking and needed to get off of his feet and rest a bit.
Also, it
is hot. There is little to no shade at the various parks and you walk around in
the hot sun a lot. Let me repeat that you walk A LOT! You are walking
constantly throughout the day and then waiting {while standing} in lines for
rides. It is a lot of time to spend on your feet. So if you are taking more
than one child 5 years old and under I would highly recommend taking a double.
Please
make sure that if you are taking a double stroller and plan on using it with an
older child/children that you check the weight limits on the stroller. Plan
accordingly. A broken stroller on a magical Disney trip does not a happy mommy
make. We took three little ones with us
and used both a single and a double.
Side-by-Side vs. Tandem Double Strollers:
Disney
is a very busy place and there are almost always a lot of people visiting the
parks on any given day. This means that the walkways can get congested and a
side-by-side stroller can be difficult to maneuver. At the same time tandem
strollers can be difficult to collapse and set up if they do not fold with both
seats attached. There is a lot that can go into determining which type of
double stroller will best suit your needs.
I spoke
to several mothers toting double strollers through the parks and their number
one complaint about their double stroller choice was how hard a side-by-side
stroller was to maneuver in the crowds and collapse on the bus ride. Also,
stroller parking at the park can be a bit more difficult for the wider
strollers {as in finding a good spot to park}. In the same breath these same
people talked about how great the side-by-side was for getting children in and
out of the stroller quickly and easily and how simple it was to collapse the
side-by-side double stroller. Once collapsed the side-by-side stroller still
takes up quite a bit of room and I observed the some parents having difficulty
maneuvering the side-by-side on the transportation buses and boats. A huge
bonus for the side-by-side stroller is that there is a ton of storage space for
bags and what not. I saw quite a few side-by-side strollers on my Disney trip
and quite a few napping toddlers in them – so it must be a pretty comfy
ride.
The
tandem stroller is a great idea for navigating crowds. You take up less space
and can weave in and out of traffic pretty easily. Finding stroller parking for
a single is pretty easy as well. Depending on the tandem stroller you use you
may or may not have storage space available for bags as some tandem strollers
tend to utilize the basket space for the second rider. Also depending on the
tandem, set up and collapsing the stroller can be a breeze or it can be chaos.
The more pieces you have to remove to collapse a stroller the more pieces you
are going to have to juggle while also trying the hold onto your children {this
is not very fun at the end of the night when your kiddos are exhausted and
falling asleep in your arms.
My
suggestion is to go with a stroller that is easy to collapse, preferably in
once piece {so that you do not have to take anything apart or put anything
together while trying to rush to make a bus or dinner reservations}. If you are
staying on site {which I highly recommend} you will need to collapse the
strollers when you ride the bus transportation at Disney World from resort to
park and/or park to park. The monorail and the boat rides did not require
people to collapse their strollers, but if there are a lot of people and space
is limited you may be asked to do so and it may be difficult to maneuver a
stroller while it is open.
We
preferred the tandem for our fast paced trip, but we were also rushing to and
from one fast pass to the next reservation and enjoyed moving at a brisk pace.
If you are taking a more leisurely approach to Disney a side-by-side might be
perfect for you – especially if you are planning on being at the park all day
and having your children nap in the stroller {we took a break mid-day and
headed back to the resort for nap time.}.
Stroller Parking:
I was
very intimidated by everything I read online about stroller parking. I don’t
know what I really expected, but I must say that the stroller parking was
great. It was usually clearly marked with a stroller parking sign, and if there
was no sign there was usually a nearby cast member that you could ask.
The
cast members working the stroller parking were friendly and polite and let me
know each and every time that my stroller may not be exactly where I put it
because they straighten the area up to make room for new strollers as they come
in, but it would be in close proximity to where I parked it. And it was. Every
time. I brought two Joovy strollers with me {the Orangie Groove stroller and
the Lemontree TooFold stroller with rear seat} so my strollers were bright and
easy to spot. Having such bright strollers probably made my stroller parking
experience a lot easier – as I never had to look too hard for my strollers.
If you
do not have a bright stroller I would recommend decorating your stroller with
something bright so it is easy to see. In my entire time at Disney I only saw a
few people tie an inflated balloon to their stroller. I thought this was a
fantastic idea as you only had to spot the floating balloon over the mass of
strollers. Shower curtains clipped to the strollers was a big hit on our first
day, but that might have had more to do with the rain. I bought laminating
pouches and made stroller tags that I zip tied to my stroller handles to deter
theft and for easy spotting in a crowd.
For
some attractions (we experienced this at Animal Kingdom more so than anywhere
else) you will stroll your stroller right up and into the line and a cast
member will take the stroller from you and park it near the exit of the ride to
collect once you are done. But for the most part there is stroller
parking at every attraction either along a wall/divider or
in a "stroller parking" group area. We found it easier to park in a
central spot and ride the rides in that area then come back for our stroller
before we left that section - especially in Magic Kingdom.
Stroller locks:
I
bought a stroller lock specifically for this trip and I used it ONCE. The only
time I used my stroller lock was when we were at dinner and I had to park on
the side of a building near the restaurant and there was no designated stroller
parking. Disney does not allow you to lock your stroller to any stationary
objects, but I had read a few places that you could lock your stroller to
itself. So I locked my stroller tires together using a BuggyGuard lock and I
ate my dinner and when I was done my stroller was waiting for me. This was the
only time I felt the need to use my lock. Every other time I left my stroller
at stroller parking or to get on a ride I left my stroller unlocked {but took
my possessions with me}. I usually did not have time to deal with a lock.
Running to and from attractions, to various character meet and greets, to
fastpass lines, to meal reservations… there was no time to dig out my lock, use
it, and high tail it back to my group. But I did feel better having it with me
just in case I wanted to use it.
Stroller Etiquette:
It is
busy and congested and if you are navigating a stroller please be conscious of
the people around you and try not to run over them. Disney is a magical place
for EVERYONE, even people who do not have little ones in toe.
If you
are weaving through people with a stroller - saying “excuse me” or “pardon me”
or “can I squeeze through here please” makes a HUGE difference. Politeness is
rewarded in kind. Ask nicely and give people a heads up and they are far more
likely to accommodate you.
If you
are strolling down the middle of the walk way please do not just stop and stand
there. The polite thing to do for all of the people around you {and directly
behind you} is pull off to the side so that you do not cause a pedestrian
traffic jam and so that you do not get run over by the stroller behind you.
Stroller
parking is everywhere and is usually clearly marked. Leaving your stroller in
the middle of a high traffic area is not a good idea and it will probably not
be there when you get back to it.
Strollers
on Disney transportation can be hit or miss. I knew I would need to collapse my
stroller before getting on the bus. I knew that I didn’t have to collapse my
stroller for the Monorail. The boat I was unsure of. The boat I used took me
directly from my resort to the Magic Kingdom and sometimes strollers were
collapsed and other times they were wheeled right onto the boat with little
ones resting in them. If you are using the Disney transportation you should be
aware of how many people are trying to ride and how much space your stroller
takes up. If there are no kids resting in your stroller, the polite and
courteous thing to do would be to collapse it to make room for more people.
I am
not delving into the world of stroller rentals, as I brought my own strollers
from home and did not need to rent a stroller while in Disney. I will say that
I saw plenty of off site stroller rentals being delivered as well as on site
Disney stroller rentals being utilized in the parks. I chose not to rent
because I have strollers and I love my strollers and I am familiar with my
strollers and did not want to have to learn a whole new stroller system while
on vacation. With that being said I will say that there are options for renting
if you don’t want to bring your own.
Disclosure:
I was not compensated in any way for this post. I am writing based off of my
own experiences and my thoughts and opinions may differ from others.
