Last April we went to Disney World. On our trip we rented the double strollers in the Magic Kingdom. We are headed to Disney Land in Feb. and we were wondering if we can rent double strollers in DL and/or CA Adventure? We have heard that DL and CA only rent single strollers. If this is true, does anyone think a couple strategically placed zip ties would somehow fasten two single strollers together side-by-side? Any help would be very much appreciated.

We are going to be there from Feb 19-26, 2006. Does anyone have any crowd info or weather warnings. We need to appropriately dress 4 little kiddos and want to make sure we pack what we need.

Thanks all. :-)

Last April we went to Disney World. On our trip we rented the double strollers in the Magic Kingdom. We are headed to Disney Land in Feb. and we were wondering if we can rent double strollers in DL and/or CA Adventure? We have heard that DL and CA only rent single strollers. If this is true, does anyone think a couple strategically placed zip ties would somehow fasten two single strollers together side-by-side? Any help would be very much appreciated.


This is true, there are no double strollers to rent at DLR or DCA.

The zip tie thing would probably work. I dont' know if security would have an issue with it if they saw it. I've never tried it.

Standard adriennek disclaimer (you can't start a thread about strollers without me chiming in... it's like a law or something...): I am sooooooo not a fan of renting strollers. You don't say where you're staying, but keep in mind that Disneyland is not nearly as large as Walt Disney World. Many properties are an easy walking distance from the parks and it's often easier to walk than to deal with shuttles. Having your own stroller that you can take with you out of the park at the end of the day can be a big advantage.

Adrienne

We are staying at the Best Western Park Place. We have a 6 mo old, 2 yr old, 6 yr old and 7 yr old. We found that at WDW it was so much easier to have a stroller for everyone (the older ones were tired of walking and it was nice to have something to keep track of them in the crowd). The babies need something to hang out in since they won't be going on all the rides and we need something to keep from breaking our backs lugging them around. :)

We are worried about having our personal stroller stolen...we've heard it is quite a problem at DLR. WDW was great and there was only one time that we had a minor mix up and the guy came back with it and apologized then snagged his own and was off.

Thank you so much for your input! :)

We are worried about having our personal stroller stolen...we've heard it is quite a problem at DLR. WDW was great and there was only one time that we had a minor mix up and the guy came back with it and apologized then snagged his own and was off.

Where did you hear that it's "quite a problem"? I can think of one poster in particular, Barbossa, whose personal stroller was stolen. (And for others who have posted that theirs have been, I'm sorry I don't remember! I know there have been a couple others.) I've heard more stories of rental strollers getting "borrowed" because for whatever reason, people think it's less of a crime. GrumpyUTBoi in particular has had several rental strollers taken.

I know that having personal strollers stolen happens, but I'm really reluctant to call it "quite common". I've been taking Peg Perego strollers to Disneyland for over 7 years and, knock wood, haven't had one misplaced yet.

Adrienne

We are staying at the Best Western Park Place. We have a 6 mo old, 2 yr old, 6 yr old and 7 yr old.

I forgot to respond do this part.

This property is absolutely walking distance from the main gate. If you've got sleeping babies in that stroller at the end of the day, you can roll them straight to your room if you have your own stroller. And if any older kids are cranky, you can pull a baby out of the stroller to carry and let the older one walk. (BTDT, too. I have three so sometimes the baby gets carried when the 7 y/o gets grumpy at the end of the day!)

Adrienne

I too am going in February, but with only one little one. I was debating the stroller issue as well, because I have a pricey Jogger that I really don't want to get messed up via flight, or stolen at the park. I decided to just buy an inexpensive stroller for the trip, which ended up costing less than renting one there for three days. I am not sure if they make an inexpensive double stroller though!;) I personally think having your own stroller would be a great advantage because then if your little ones are sleeping when you leave the park, you don't have to go throuh all the hastle of removing them (and all your stuff) from the stroller. You can just wheel them to the hotel and drop them in their beds!:)
Yes, Best Western Park Place is VERY close to the main entrance! I tried to get a room there, but they were booked already:p

Thanks for all the helpful input. We think we will just take our own. It was so nice to wheel the kiddos through WDW and never hear "my feet hurt...I'm tired" :)

We are totally looking forward to this trip. The kiddos have a countdown calendar and everything. We just wanted to work out the logistics and make sure there weren't any glitches in the trip.

Thanks again!

This is true, there are no double strollers to rent at DLR or DCA.

The zip tie thing would probably work. I dont' know if security would have an issue with it if they saw it. I've never tried it.

Standard adriennek disclaimer (you can't start a thread about strollers without me chiming in... it's like a law or something...): I am sooooooo not a fan of renting strollers. You don't say where you're staying, but keep in mind that Disneyland is not nearly as large as Walt Disney World. Many properties are an easy walking distance from the parks and it's often easier to walk than to deal with shuttles. Having your own stroller that you can take with you out of the park at the end of the day can be a big advantage.

Adrienne
Hi there, first time poster, long time lurker here...

I know this seems to be a big debate on this board--the rental, vs taking your own, but what I'm wondering is--are the rentals really that bad? We are driving to DLR in June from our home in Colorado, so quite a trek and the throught of trying to pack two strollers in our van along with all of the luggage that we will need is not appealing in any way. The only stroller we have that our five year old would fit in is our jogger and that things is HUGE (even when folded), not to mention expensive (I, too, have heard in several other places that theft is a problem for strollers at DLR). And then we will have to also pack one for our three year old and we can squeeze him into one of them that we have and I wouldn't be upset if that was stollen, but again, with all the other things that we will be packing (five of us total--my mom is coming with us), I just can't see taking up room with that thing unless there is a really compelling reason that the rentals are so awful that we just *can't* put our kids in them. If I had an infant, then I could see that, but with a 3 and 5 year old?

I'm just curious--we will pack them in if it is that big of a deal, but would rather not. With three adults to two kids, we are more than willing to carry them back to the hotel when we go back (probably in the afternoon for naps and then obviously last thing at night). We are staying the Carousel Inn, which I understand to be walking distance.

Thoughts?

Its really not that the strollers there are bad. They are jogging type strollers, and you are right- not great for an infant, but fine for an older child. Where they become bad is at night when you have to turn them in, and walk back to the hotel with a child that is to tired to walk or worse, is asleep.

The other thing I didnt really like, is the storage space. There isnt a lot of space and the hole to get the items in and out of is in the back, so things can fall out. We used one on our last trip, and it worked fine, but next time I think I'll save my $7 a day and bring my own. My 3 year old (almost 4) is a BIG kid- 43 1/2" tall, and 45 pounds. That is a lot to carry after walking all day.

Save the space in your van for the luggage, you have a great adult-child ratio. You have people to push both kiddos if necessary. I did see that buying the cheap $5-$10 umbrella strollers from Wal-Mart and packing those is a great way to go.

We are flying and we have a horrible adult-child ratio... 2-4. ;) At minimum, we will have to take our double stroller for the 6 mo old and the 2 year old. No one should brave an airport with two babies and two elementary kiddos and not have a stroller. So for that reason we'll take one...however, considering that the two adults will also be dragging the luggage all through the airport, space is a big consideration. If we put our two older to work dragging their own suitcases through the airport then the extra stroller for them would be a burden.

Obviously, we are like a roller-coaster on this issue....one minute we want our own...then next we want to rent. We know one thing for sure, it was a huge blessing to have the older kids in a stroller in WDW. We always knew where our kids were in a crowd and they were never tired. The only thing they had to complain about was the food ;)

We do have a cheapie umbrella that we might take, as it packs small and the three year old does fit in it (not great, but he does). I don't envy your trip through the airport!!

Neither is all that heavy to carry when we'll have to do it--37 and 30 pounds, so it is do-able for hotel walks.

Now I just need to figure out how to get one of those counters...

Maybe you should take your double, and rent a single that the older two can share? They wont need it full time like the two littles ones will.

acpalmer...did you know that you can get a stroller for free each day if you have a Disney VISA. I am told that is common knowledge but :confused: Thought I would throw it out there (just in case). :)

I had heard about the Disney Visa thing, but we don't have one. I think I read it on either this board or the Disneyland one. Thanks for the info, though, I appreciate you posting it for me!!

I like the stroller debates too, so I just wanted to add that I agree to bring your double since with a 6 MO you really need to keep that baby comfortable and a sleeping baby is WAY lighter than a sleeping 7YO. Consider bringing a sling (you can put your 2YO in a sling too) or bjorn with you for the baby since you will be standing in lines where you won't be able to have the stroller anyway and then there is back up if your older ones need to ride.
I am a believer in buying a cheepie "Disney" stroller, and if you wanted to do that route, you can buy connectors to hook two of them together.
I actually met a family in the park that had two umbrella strollers, two adults and four children. I was sitting on a bench by the matterhorn waiting with my niece when I see this family, strollers seperate coming through the park. They park them, hook them together with connectors and the mom pushes the two strollers over to the bench I was sitting on while the dad jumps into the matterhorn line with the other two kids. I told her that was so smart. She said that they love it because when you only have two adults and one leaves it is impossible for the one adult to move the strollers, but then they can still weave through crowds by simply seperating the strollers. I thought that was a great idea.

I used to take my double side by side to the park. It worked great because I was by myself most of the time with two small kids. I brought my Snuglie with me for line standing. I also had a sling but you can't put the sling on your back. I did not have too much trouble with it except there is one door in Main Street it would not fit through. It is also easier to run people over with it. :~D I have seen people with two umbrella strollers hooked together with these plastic stroller attachment thingys. They are actually made to attach the strollers together. However, umbrella strollers could not accomodate my 4 year old as well as the double stroller. Besides, they liked pulling down the awning for nap time. Ah the memories!

Thought I would share what works for us in the stroller department. My single storller is a (now very worn) Peg Perego - the kind with a small step on the back for an older kid to ride on. Early on in using this stroller with 2 kids, we figured out that if you hang a backpack on the handles of the stroller it can work as a "seat" for the kid who is riding on the back step. Pretty Sneaky Sis. I have recently put this stroller on hiatus for everyday use in preparations for our March 1st trip. After 5 years of use I would hate for it to go out the week before our DL trip!:D

We have done DLR all the ways mentioned. I agree with the wisdom of bringing your own double stroller. I don't feel that the rental strollers would have adequate storage space for all the baby gear you may be toteing (sp?) around. For me personally, I just like my own and knowing where I put everything.

When we did air travel, we took the 2 umbrella strollers, with connectors. Checked all the luggage with the sky cap and then only had to deal with car seats and kids. If you can get one of those carts at the airport for the car seats, I would do so (I'm not sure how many you have, we had 3 at the time).

Today, my kids are 6, 6, and 4 and we don't do strollers anymore. We just plan our day with plenty of time for them to sit down (storytime, parades, etc.)

Best of luck to you and your family!!! You're gonna have a great time.

~ Jo5