renting double strollers???

[Mickyseeusoon]

I was wondering about renting a double stroller, how big are they, what are ya'll's experiences with them etc....................

 

[crisi]

We rented them last year for my 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 year old.

Pros:

They are huge. The two kids fit easily (everywhere but MGM where they are umbrella stroller things). We saw plenty of five and six year olds in strollers.

The were really easy to push - lots of double strollers aren't.

We didn't worry about folding a stroller to get it on the buses or stollers at the airport.

They are really easy for kids to get themselves in and out of. Both my kids could do the straps and get in and out by themselves. (This could be a con I suppose, but for us, it was a pro, since we didn't spend ANY time lifting kids in and out of the stroller, and they got in and out of the stroller ALOT)

No worries about the stroller getting stolen. If we couldn't find it (and we always could), the receipt would get us a new stroller - as well as a stroller in any other park we visited on the same day.

Cons:

They aren't cheap. About $15 a day. In the scheme of what we were spending at Disney, it wasn't much, but I know that for a lot of people $15 a day in stroller rental is significant.

You only have it in the parks. That can make the walk back to your room at the resort with tired kids a long, heavy one. (I'm not sure how much easier it would have been with our own stroller and bus transportation where we'd have needed to get tired kids in and out of the stroller, however).

You do have to rent it every day. We discovered at the stroller parks (particularly MK, where we started most mornings), before opening there were people dealing with "stoller express." My husband would give me his bag to have checked. The kids and I would do the security line, he'd give cash to the stroller express person and get the placard that goes in the back of the stroller. Once the gates opened, we showed the placcard at the rental station, and they gave us the stroller. Whole process never took much time (maybe an extra two minutes), but some people don't like the inconvience of renting (or don't find the stroller rental express and need to stand in the long line to rent).

They don't recline. They really aren't built for napping. They are also molded plastic and don't look very comfy (we had jackets and such and the kids didn't complain).

 

[NLK]

We brought our stroller from home for our 2 1/2 year old. Of course she wouldn't use it unless she took a nap. We used our stroller to lug around all our new stuff we bought. My 9 year old cousin cried everyday because she wanted a stroller. We finally gave in on the last day at Epcot. My 2 1/2 wanted me to carry her instead of walking or going in the stroller and the 9 year old wanted to go home. (Can you imagine going home instead of being in WDW). We decided to rent the double stroller hoping my 2 1/2 would ride in it and it would calm the 9 year old down. Well it was the best $15 of the trip. My DD loved being in the stroller with her cousin. They both thought it was so much fun. It was easy to drive and everyone was happy. We only wish we had rented one everyday.

 

[Cmbar]

What is stroller Express? We are going to MK on an early entry day. Do they have this then?

Thanks!!

 

[crisi]

We went back before early entry was there, but I would imagine they do.

Stroller express is a number of CM standing in front of the gates before they open. They have signs (stand under signs?) saying "stroller express" I don't think they can deal with room cards or charge cards, but they can take cash. They will take money, make change and give you a card for your stroller. You are standing in line waiting for the gates to open anyway.

The stroller rental place itself is inside the gates to the MK. So once the gates open, the line there gets quite long. With the card in hand, you stroll past the people waiting in line to pay for their strollers, show your card (receipt, something) to the CM handing out strollers, and walk away with your stroller. Might hold you back a minute or so, but people with kids in strollers are seldom making the Space Moutain dash anyway.

NLK brought up another pro. My kids have never been overfond of his own stroller (particularly my son). But the stroller at MK (or the stroller at the zoo or anyplace else its someone elses stroller) is cool.

 

[InstImpres]

Haven't needed the stroller in 2 years but when we did we had problems getting it. We always got a double in the morning but when we park hopped some afternoons there were only singles available.

Just FYI

 

[Waggy182]

Just wanted to let you know we have used an Orlando company to rent strollers and cribs in the past. They are A Baby's Best Friend www.abbf.com and they were wonderful. Everything was delivered free of charge to our hotel and was waiting for us when we arrived. One of the many great advantages was we had it with us 24/7 until we left; we did not have to leave it in the park if we park-hopped, and we had it other places besides Disney. They cost is significantly less than the parks, more comfortable, and I did not have to worry about the park having run out of them before we arrived.

All in all, it was the best money spent on our trip.

Have a great trip!

 

[fiveforall]

Before our trip, we bought two umbrella strollers from Walmart for 9.99 apiece. They were lightweight to push, fold up nicely, and we saved money by not having to rent a double stroller every day. We tied bright bandanas on them and never had trouble finding them. We're going to do it again this year.