We are planning a Christmas trip to Disneyland and cannot decide what type of stroller to take. We have a six year old and a two year old. We have a great jogging stroller that I would love to take or we have a regular stroller for the two year old and an umbrella stroller for the six year old. Last time we went we took the regular stroller and ended up renting another one everyday of our trip for the older child. Do you think a jogging stroller is a good idea? My husband thinks it may be hard to get around the crowds and such with this stroller. Opinions please and thank you.

Do you think a jogging stroller is a good idea? My husband thinks it may be hard to get around the crowds and such with this stroller. Opinions please and thank you.

I have a personal bias against side-by-side jogging strollers. They're big and awkward and take up a lot of space on already overly crowded sidewalks and walkways. I've noticed on both sides - people with them who seem more frustrated trying to get through crowds than those with other kinds of strollers and the stroller haters who seem to be more annoyed by them than other kinds of strollers.

If it's the stroller you paid a lot of money for and it's the stroller you love, I understand why you want to take it. But if I was voting, I'd go with your husband on this one.

FWIW, my just-turned-6-y/o needs a stroller less and less. In fact, my eldest son was 6 when he got kicked out of our double stroller because his baby brother and took his spot. How old was your 6-y/o last time you went to DLR? This time (s)he might not be as dependent on a stroller.

Here's another thought: If your 6-y/o wants to use the stroller at all, chances are that it will be at the end of the day. Do you want to be dealing with the jogging stroller all day long when the child won't be using it? The past few times we went to DLR, we didn't even take our tandem double stroller! It's been nice to not need that giant ;)

Adrienne

We are planning a Christmas trip to Disneyland and cannot decide what type of stroller to take. If you are going during a "slow" Christmas time, you might be ok using the stroller, but if its during the peak Christmas time, the jogging stroller is going to cause problems. Large crowds and jogging strollers don't mix. Tandem wouold be much easier. And I agree with Adrienne, my kids started rebelling against strollers by 6-7.

Here is a thought and I hope you are okay with it. If you do not have a Disney Visa card, apply for one. If you never want to use it that is great but you get a free stroller rental just for having one, which will allow you to save the trouble of a stroller that you may or may not need with a 6 y.o.

I was going to suggest getting a Disney Visa too.

And just to be a pain, I'll tell you I hate tandem strollers in crowds. It's much easier, IMO, to control the side by side and move through a crowd than have people push through the front of a tandem. But my tandom is also a triple so it's a monster.

I have a larger SBS double, and have no problem pushing it in the parks. Granted, I am not always there on a peak day (sometimes though.)

FWIW...my air-tire double (not a jogger, but still rather large) is so easy to maneuver that I rarely have problems. (I also have no problem pulling to the side to yield to a large traffic flow).

I am not sure if your jogger is a double (I assume so with your question), but I personally would be OK w/ a double jogger...if it has a swivel front wheel. Those strollers are so much easier to move around than a single "regular" stroller.

Also, my kids are 2 and 8 months, so they are more serious riders than a 6 yo. :)

Thanks for all of the input. I started thinking maybe we should go with using two seperate strollers. The only problem is that my son is already about 42 pounds and the umbrella stroller just isn't going to cut it. Plus my the stroller we have for my daughter isn't really holding her weight well. She is about 26 pounds. So I was wondering what if I bought one of those sit-n-stand strollers? Any experience with those? Are those bulky? Hard to maneuver? We would have to fold it up to get on the plane also. We are going to be in Disneyland for 7 days so we have to have strollers. My son cannot make it that many days walking. He was 4 the last time we went and I carried him all the way through downtown disney to the disneyland hotel because he was just too exhausted to make it back. I would rather spend money on a new stroller that we will use agian than spend 70-140 dollars on rentals again.

Thanks for the advice. I love hearing from you.

I just bought one of these for my DD (2 yo) for our single stroller: http://expressivetoys.com/lamabubo.html

This works great for us for short trips (with DS in the stroller.) I don't know if that would be enough "relief" for a 6 yo, but just an option to throw out there!

Joovy now has the "Ultralight(?)" Caboose http://joovy.com/pages/pd_cabooseultralight.php that I have read good reviews on. The only thing I am not sure of is whether the child on the back has any room if the one on front is reclined (or if the front even reclines?) But, I have heard that the handling is pretty good compared to the original model (and it is lighter for travel.)

you could always pick up a cheapo to use only if your son gets tired (trips to the hotel). If you aren't too worried about it, you could always park it in a stroller parking area when he doesn't want it, but then you'd have it for the end of the day.

I just got a Combi Cosmo for my (now) 3 year old for our September visit. The rentals just weren't comfy for him even last October, and I *refuse* to bring my jogging stroller (dreamy, poor-man's BOB, In Step with the fixed AND swivel wheel) on a plane.

We'll see how it works. Goes up to something like 45 pounds.

If for some reason DS is still wanting a stroller when he's above the weight limit of the Combi (hmm, maybe it's only 45?), I might have to break down and get a MacLaren (hope not, even getting the jogging stroller pained my babywearing, hippie, soul, but I coudln't jog, or even powerwalk, with a 30 pound 2 year old on my back in the Ergo). I've heard good things about MacLarens for older/bigger kids.



But I really wouldn't take the jogging stroller. Especially on the plane.

This works great for us for short trips (with DS in the stroller.) I don't know if that would be enough "relief" for a 6 yo, but just an option to throw out there!

I haven't ever gotten one of these because I refuse to buy another stroller, LOL. But I think it would be a great option. My 6-y/o doesn't need much relief at the parks anymore, so I think this would be just enough to take the edge off.

Adrienne

I haven't ever gotten one of these because I refuse to buy another stroller, LOL. But I think it would be a great option. My 6-y/o doesn't need much relief at the parks anymore, so I think this would be just enough to take the edge off.

Adrienne

Thats good to know! So far, I really love this thing (helps in parking lots, etc. where a 2 yo doesn't want to listen.) :)

Problem solved. (I think.) We bought a sit-n-stand stroller at Target the other day. We tried it out on Monday by taking it to an all day trip to the zoo. It worked great! My oldest could hop on and off for relief whenever he needed it. It also made a great time-out when he was counted out to 3. He got in, I said, no talking for 5 minutes and we kept on going. When he saw he was missing out for those few minutes he straightened up real quick. I think it will be great in Disneyland. My son didn't seemed concerned at all that he may be too old for it. He thought it was cool because it allowed so much freedom for him. I know some people think he will be too old for a stroller but I don't think so. We are pretty hardcore when we go on outings and I don't want the kids to get exhausted. I would rather let him chill in this while we continue the day. It makes a happier kid which makes a happier Mom and Dad.:D

I think your solution sounds great!

Adrienne

We have a tandem stroller (just 2 seats). It's a lot better than having 2 separate strollers to lug around. I also like that it still only takes up the same amount of space as a single stroller. Ours isn't that much longer than our big single either. It's strange how large our old evenflo stroller was and it only seated 1 child. We were in DL a couple of years ago and we had 2 separate strollers, the big evenflo and the umbrella. It was a pain. I hate being in anyone's way and I just felt that our group took up a lot of space. Then our son was in and out of the umbrella, which meant we were lugging a useless stroller around. I also like to take turns pushing. My husband and I can get breaks throughout the day. It's amazing how much extra energy is needed to push those things all over the park. It's easier when you have less stuff to lug around in DL. Just my 2 cents...... ;)