Crowds & Lining Up for Rides (DLR) [Now - How old for Strollers]

[LOZZYPOP]

I have what seems to me to be a silly questions but I am a little bit of a worrier. I am going by myself with my five year old daughter next month and I want to be prepared for crowds and don't want to incite any rude guest confrontations by doing the wrong thing.

Posted photos of the park always seem to me to be incredibly busy and everyone seems to be milling around with no real pattern.

Are the end of the lineups for rides obvious? For instance, if I am in Fantasyland am I going to know where to stand to be in the lineup for Dumbo or Peter Pan if it is busy?

[adriennek]

Are the end of the lineups for rides obvious? For instance, if I am in Fantasyland am I going to know where to stand to be in the lineup for Dumbo or Peter Pan if it is busy?

Yes, they're obvious. If it's so busy that the lines extend beyond the rides, the cast members can often set up ropes to guide the lines.

Worst case, it's simple enough to ask if you need to "Is this the end of the line for..." But it's not usually difficult to figure out, even when it's busy.

Adrienne

[vegasmommytoDL]

I find that it's laid out very well and have had no problems determining where a line ends. I CAN say that sometimes a line can be misleading. Some rides (like Indiana Jones) can have a line outside but then the line also continues on the inside. You might think "this line is short" and you really have a long ways to go! Also, some rides (Pirates, Matterhorn, sometimes It's A Small World) have 2 lines and sometimes people just follow the person in front of them and end up getting in a line longer than they needed to get in. So for those kinds of rides make sure you pay attention to both lines. I know on Pirates I have even seen one line that was roped off in a way that the people had an extra loop to go through that the other side didn't have. So sometimes a line that looks longer is really shorter.

I have a 5-year old too. She does really well with the lines. Are you planning on using a stroller for her? My daughter has always had a stroller and I intended to get her one this trip (free with my Disney Visa card). My sister is coming and she says my daughter is too old for a stroller. Generally I'd agree with her when it comes to places like the local mall, but I can't see my daughter walking for 12 hours. She complains about walking and her doctor says she is kinda flat footed. I think making her walk sounds cruel, but I also don't want people to think I'm a bad parent for pushing a 5-year old!

[LOZZYPOP]

I have a 5-year old too. She does really well with the lines. Are you planning on using a stroller for her? My daughter has always had a stroller and I intended to get her one this trip (free with my Disney Visa card). My sister is coming and she says my daughter is too old for a stroller. Generally I'd agree with her when it comes to places like the local mall, but I can't see my daughter walking for 12 hours. She complains about walking and her doctor says she is kinda flat footed. I think making her walk sounds cruel, but I also don't want people to think I'm a bad parent for pushing a 5-year old!

I am not sure a stroller will be appropriate for my daughter - she is 39" tall and weighs 60 pounds. Yes, she is a big sturdy girl (not fat, just solid and TALL). But that is another thing that worries me - that she will get tired of being on her feet all day. Then again, I get tired too. We have four full days in the parks so I was going to play it by ear - take a rest break by the pool in the afternoon and see how we get on.

[Shinku]

Vegasmommy- I'm not a parent, I'm not going to pretend I'm some sort of child expert, but I will say this: only you know what's best for you and your child, and while family members may offer their two cents, you need to remember that YOU are the mom.

Just because you bring or rent a stroller doesn't mean that she's going to be confined to it the entire day/trip. Maybe it's just what she needs for a quickie nap before a parade, or while walking from the backside of DCA all the way to the front. Disneyland is certainly special circumstances on little bodies (and heck, big ones too) and they should be dealt with as such. Just my opinion.

[vegasmommytoDL]

Thanks Shinku for the little pep talk! I suppose I shouldn't let my sister get to me! My daughter doesn't spend all day in the strollers when I take her. Sometimes I'll park it somewhere and not come back for a couple hours. I suppose making her suffer and walk the whole time isn't something I should do just to make my sister happy! Besides, she (like most kids her age) doesn't pay attention when she walks around and having her in the stroller on longer walks helps HER not get run over!

This will be her first trip at the 46" needed for Indy and she can't wait!

Actually I'm interested in seeing how my sister will handle the trip. Her 2 boys are rambunctious! Her 3 year old is nicknamed "Hulk" and is so tough he can lift his own mother off the ground. He once THREW a flat of 24 water bottles. I'd like to see her confine him to a stroller when he sees something he wants LOL

[Rapunzelthorn]

I have a five-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter; we put them both in strollers when we went in October! We made the mistake of not renting one for my son last year when he was four and by the second day he was trying to climb into his sister's. Near the end of our second day we finally rented one and it was so much easier that we decided to rent him one from the get-go on our most recent October trip. He wasn't in it the whole time, but it sure made it easy to keep track of them both in crowded areas and helped decrease the whining as it really preserved his stamina and little feet! I vote yes on the stroller for the five-year-old! ;)

[mariad26]

I have a four year old and a three year old who are both huge my four year old is 49 pounds and 45 inches and he still rides in a stroller no one is going to watch what you are doing they are too busy trying to control their own kids..and the disney strollers are big you see big kids in them...have a great time!!!It is a long day and they do better when they can get off their feet and rest a bit...remember it's when we push our kids too far that they have melt downs...12 hours is a long time

[yenko427]

My son is 5 and he did not do the stroller the first two days and he was dragging by the third. I wished we had done the stroller from the get go and it would have been easier on him. We are going the second week in May and we will be doing the stroller. He still fits and is 48" and 58 lbs.

[vegasmommytoDL]

Thanks for the replies... I don't feel so "weird" now! I know they are large strollers, and even though I am bring my car and can bring my own stroller I find the Disney strollers easier to push!

[mask41]

We are definitely getting two strollers each day for our two 5 year olds - not only to let them rest, but I figure this is the best way to keep track of them!! When they want to get out and walk, that will be fine, but I know they will love riding around the park!!;)

[HobbitFeet]

Hmm. My son is not freakishly large, but he was squished in the rental stroller last year, at 2 and a few months. He was around 28 inches, 28 pounds at the time, but his shoulders must be broad, b/c he had to sort of make them smaller, to fit into the stroller. He couldn't really relax.

Because of last year's experience, this year I'm just buying a lightweight stroller to take with us, b/c he was just so squashed!



To the OP, sometimes I found the end-of-lines to be a bit confusing, but people will tell you if it's the end, if you ask. :)

[mask41]

Yikes, anyone else have problems with the strollers being too small? One of my twins is very narrow, a skinny minny, but his brother is broad and stocky -and he is the lazier of the two - could be interesting!!

[my2girls]

On our first trip after the second day we got a stroller for our niece who was 7. We already had them for my girls 3 &4. Being there for 12 hours was just too hard on her. And by then of the first night she could barely move and carrying her was nearly impossible. It made getting from land to land much faster and we were able to keep the girls together.

If you are only going for a couple of hours at a time with a rest inbetween then you probably won't need one but if you are going all day. It is worth the $$$. Also we would park our stroller at the entrance to a land walk around and then get back in. It is also wonderful to have to store extra water, sweat shirts and blankets!!

[vegasmommytoDL]

Just remember, if you have a Disney Visa card you can rent 2 strollers per day for FREE. Last time I did it they didn't even swipe my card or anything, it was really easy.

[LOZZYPOP]

I am not sure a stroller will be appropriate for my daughter - she is 39" tall and weighs 60 pounds. Yes, she is a big sturdy girl (not fat, just solid and TALL). But that is another thing that worries me - that she will get tired of being on her feet all day. Then again, I get tired too. We have four full days in the parks so I was going to play it by ear - take a rest break by the pool in the afternoon and see how we get on.

Good grief! I just read my own post. What I should have said was that my daughter was 47" tall - really tall for a four-almost five-year old.

I am just worried that she is too big for the stroller. What is the weight limit for them - does anyone know?

[acpalmer]

I have a 40 pound, 47 inch five year old and he fits in the stroller just fine. He's never complained that it was too small. And I've definitely seen much bigger kids than him in the rental strollers and they all looked fine. My 35 pound, 41 inch three year old has pretty broad shoulders, I think, and he fits quite fine in them, too.

[vegasmommytoDL]

And I've definitely seen much bigger kids than him in the rental strollers

*rolls eyes* I have seen teenagers pushing eachother around in a stroller. They thought it was hillarious but my thought was "I hope they didn't steal that from someone who was on a ride!" I have NEVER had my stroller taken and have NEVER had anyone pilfer through my stuff.

[yohomama212]

DS is 4.5, 40 pounds, and 42 inches. He sits just fine in the rental stroller, even naps in it when we're there late! There's not much storage space in the baskets, and the canopy rests on top of his head when it's out so we don't do that much. Other than that, I really like the rental strollers. They are easy to handle too! I have never had anyone mess with my strollers' contents. I routinely leave the diaper bag, shopping bags, whatever in the strollers when we're on rides, and the most that's ever happened is a CM moved it to make room for other strollers or a guest moved it to get to their own stroller!

Liz :cool:

[partyoffive]

My daughter who is almost 6 walked this year the whole five days!! She did awesome! I did make sure prior to the trip that she had broken her shoes in well and that they fit her well. I also started "training" for Disneyland this year - walking a few miles everyday and I think that helped both her and I. Stroller wasn't really an option for her this year as we had two younger ones in strollers.

[dsnyredhead]

It totally depends on the child. Some days, my three year old refuses the stroller and other days he drags himself refusing to walk. I say do what works best for your situation.

[VickiC]

Just to give you an idea how much walking a typical visit entails, on a recent 9 am to 7 pm visit with my 5 and 7 year old girls I wore my pedometer. It logged 15,000 steps, or about 7.5 miles. Both kids walked. We *always* have a sit down lunch at full serve restaurant if we are in the parks all day and that really helps. I will scrimp on everything else, but not that. Neither has napped since turning two, so that is not an issue for us. I find visiting the parks without a stroller or diaper bag with 2 kids who can now ride almost everything to be such a freeing experience. I never want to go back!

[backsthepack]

We have a very tall (4"2 and 58 pounds) son, who is 7. We still rent a stoller. Obviously, he prefers to walk but when we get into a huge crowd (such as the one that is usually present by Pirates of the Caribbean) he just plops down. This helps to keep track of him. Also, sometimes his legs do get tired. We do a lot more walking than the average person at Disneyland....LOL! We often go from one side to the other to ride what we feel like riding. Back and forth between the parks and the hotel several times a day, not to mention Downtown Disney a couple of times. So his legs do get worn out. Also, remember this, a stroller is a nice place to leave your soda/water, jackets and small items while riding rides!

[adriennek]

I have three - almost 3, almost 6 and 8.5.

This month we went with just one single stroller for the "baby". We left before dinner both times, so we weren't doing very long days. If we were doing long marathon days, I'd probably still bring the double stroller so that the almost 6-y/o could crash if he needed to.

The 8.5 year old hasn't used a stroller for at least a year, probably closer to 2. The baby was born when he was 5.5 so he sort of lost his seat in the double stroller when that happened. At the end of very long days he'd crab and we'd often stick the baby in the sling to let both older boys ride.

I'm NOTORIOUSLY anti-rental stroller and this example above is exactly why. As my kids have gotten older, they don't want a stroller during the day - and the part of the day when I'd want or use the stroller is the end of the day - so we'd have to turn it in and they'd have to walk back to the car anyway. At least if I bring my own stroller, I can take it with me when I leave the park.

Adrienne

[mom22gls]

I am not sure a stroller will be appropriate for my daughter - she is 39" tall and weighs 60 pounds. Yes, she is a big sturdy girl (not fat, just solid and TALL). But that is another thing that worries me - that she will get tired of being on her feet all day. Then again, I get tired too. We have four full days in the parks so I was going to play it by ear - take a rest break by the pool in the afternoon and see how we get on.

The rental strollers are quite sturdy, and she is not too heavy for it. My 8 year old weighs just over 60 pounds, and she still likes to ride sometimes. I get a double stroller, and she and my five year old fit in just fine. There is a lot of walking, especially at Epcot, and even an active child gets tired. The stroller is also a good way to keep track of your child in a crowd.