Stroller for 5 yr old

[hops&dreams]

Gonna go against what others said. My son went at four and five and didn't use a stroller once. He never even asked. But, you know your child better than anyone. It won't hurt to have one...even if you never use it.

I'm gonna side with Lazer on this one. We took DD for her first trip less than a month after her 6th birthday (she was in Kindergarten). We didn't bring a stroller on purpose - didn't want to mess with it. Heck - we didn't even HAVE a stroller anymore! Anyway... DH made a deal with her - if she walked like a big girl all day, he would carry her from the exit of our last ride/attraction all the way back to our room. So, it became a game to her. We weren't walking non-stop all day either. We were stopping and sitting on a ride, in a theater, in an attraction, on a bench, in a restaurant. But it DID all add up - we were averaging 7-12 miles a day! (I wore a pedometer).

Also, keep in mind that on ONE day, DD wore crocs instead of her normal sneakers. At the end of the day, her foot hurt, and was swollen. Next day, she said it hurt, but wasn't too bad when we had her normal, supportive sneakers (asics) on. When we got home she complained with less supportive shoes, so I took her to an ortho. We found out her foot was broken. She had a stress/overuse fracture. But she still walked on it all those days at Disney!!! And for the record, she broke her foot AGAIN on our 2nd trip... same foot, different bone. She now wears orthodics, and we're bringing her walking boot and air cast wraps, just in case, for our next trip.

I don't know if I helped my argument/opinion, or hurt it! Takeaway - make sure your kid has good, supportive shoes, and carry moleskin/bandaids, just in case. It's good advice for all vacationers, really!

 

[Goin2Disney2006]

This is my problem too. My girls are 5 and 8. There is no way DH and I can carry them if they get tired. They get tired when we walk around the outlets...lol I was going to rent a double stroller and have it delivered to the hotel for us to use. We did it last trip and it was great but they were 1 and 4 so it was a necessity. It is a $100 for the week and it will also hold our bag so we don't have to carry it around.

 

[hops&dreams]

I also wanted to tell you op, that I have a friend who went when her kids were 6 and 4 and brought strollers, even though both kids outgrew them at 3. She used the umbrella strollers every day and her kids napped in them. Personally, I would have felt silly asking my elementary schooler to get into a stroller, and she probably would have refused anyway. But then again, we are relaxed park tourers, as we go during an extremely low crowd season.

Good luck with your decision.

Pp (just above this post) , please remember that as you go from one destination to another, it is highly unlikely that you'll be walking more than 10 mins at a time. There will nearly always be an attraction to stop at, a show to go in, a monorail to ride, a bus to sit on. At the very least a bench to rest on. But as pp have said, you know your kids best and what you can expect out of them. My dd would have been ready for that kind of walking by age 4 or 5.

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[g8rben]

We went last May and our kids were 4, 6 and 9. Our daughter was 4 but almost 5. We rented a double stroller from Apple Scooters (they do strollers too for pretty cheap) that was delivered to POR and there upon our arrival at the Bell Stand. None of our kids were in strollers anymore and our youngest hadn't used one in nearly a year, BUT you're going to be walking A LOT! To a PP's point, get good shoes and socks for everyone. At the same time, all 3 of our kids were in the stroller at different times (even the 9 yo!). It's easy to push them around the parks and there are "stroller parking lots" near all the major attractions. Did they need the stroller? Probably not, was it fantastic to not ever hear the kids complaining about being tired? Absolutely! We did fly and then rent a car, so we did not have to deal with taking the stroller on the buses, and with only one child it might make sense for you to do what other's have suggested and go with an umbrella stroller. But my wife and I also appreciated the storage of a larger stroller. If you do rent, go with one of the outside companies like Apple or Kingdom Strollers. They are very nice strollers, delivered right to your hotel so you don't waste anytime renting and returning in the park. Also, you can push you child all the way out to transportation at the end of the day. If you rent more than 3 days it usually works out to be cheaper than the park strollers, also park strollers are plastic with no padding etc. At the end of your trip you leave the stroller at the Bell Stand of your hotel, and the rental company will pick it up from there. Very convenient. We were VERY glad we had the stroller the whole time even though our kids were basically past the stroller years. WDW is just a whole other experience and one of the biggest roadblocks to a great trip are exhausted, unhappy kids.

 

[gdrj]

We have the same dillemma. DH does not think our youngest, who will be 5 next trip should have a stroller but I know she will be tired and since we are driving, I'm just going to throw one into the van.

Your DH will thank you when your youngest falls asleep in EPCOT and he can sit or stroll with a beer while you shop in a store!

 

[kitayama]

I have never been to Disney World, but I go to Disneyland often. My daughter is 4 and a half, and she has trouble lasting an entire day at the park. She can easily do a half day, but when the crowds grow at night, and she is tired, we need a stroller for her. People do not always look down when they walk, and I find myself worrying that she will accidentally get hurt. Call me paranoid, but I feel more relaxed when I do not have to worry about my tired daughter getting out of the way of a large careless teenage kid. (Who I really can't blame for not knowing to look for little kids.)
We are planning a trip to Disney World this Summer, so we have been testing many options from expensive ($800) strollers to rather inexpensive ($80) strollers (don't ask how much I have ended up spending on strollers) on Disneyland's Monorail, busses from the Toy Story parking lot (which appear to be similar to Disney World's busses,) and trams. The best stroller we found so far was the City Micro stroller from Baby Jogger. It has storage, but not so much storage that it becomes difficult to unpack so it can be folded (it also folds easily.). You can easily attach a parent console to the handle bars. It can be laid back so my daughter can take a nice nap. It also doesn't cost too much so I don't worry about it breaking/losing it. For your sanity at night, take a stroller! Worst case scenario, you leave it in the hotel room and use it to carry luggage in the airport.

 

[frozengurl]

I rent a double stroller from Kingdom Strollers and at this point I wouldn't want to do Disney w/o it! Our next trip my oldest DD will be 7 and my youngest 4... I will still rent the double stroller even though my DD is 7 (she's a tiny 7 anyways... She still wears size 4)
We do park out stroller someplace and walk around the several rides in the area (like fantasyland) but the when we move on to say Frontierland we get the stroller the girls jump in and we stroll over there and park the stroller there for a bit and walk around that area.
It's also WONDERFUL to have for those late nights that I'm stretching the girls so we can enjoy wishes and the electrical parade etc. They sit happily in the stroller w/ a snack bc they are tired from the day... Then after wards it's easy to just stroll them to the exit (w/o the fear of losing them) and they don't complain one bit!
I am totally a pro-stroller mom for WDW!!!

 

[SplashMtn40inches]

I'm taking my son (4) in late May for his first time. With how large the park is, I decided that a stroller is the best option, given his inability to keep up even at the mall. I don't want him to be too tired or cranky and not enjoy the sights and rides so a bit of hassle in lugging a stroller on the car/ferry/bus/elevated train/airplane/shuttle bus is worth it. Sometimes arriving a few minutes sooner to get that Fastpass can really save you hours later on; something he obviously can't comprehend.

The downside is, is that he will be in front of me so I won't get to see his face when he sees things. Upside is, he'll get to see more things.

I'm going to see about a cheap used umbrella stroller or free one if I can manage to find one. If it gets beaten up or misplaced, not a big deal. And when I'm done my trip and about to head back to the airport, I will try to give it to another family at the hotel.

 

[Goin2Disney2006]

My friend just got back from Disney World and she wishes she had a stroller for her 7 year old. Even with all the stops on benches and rides she was so exhausted.

 

[4loveofdisney]

Well when making this decision everyone told us to wait until 4. With our first we did but dd was 2. Everyone said she would not remember. The next year she was saying lets go here and last year we went. I could not believe it. So ds2 went when he was 6 months and 1 year. At six months did a lot of shows and character dinners. Loved disney playhouse. 1 year he was walking and loved all the great infant playgrounds outside more mature rides like splash mountain. Remember under 3 are free. Remember switch passes. Bring a stroller and I took a sling. But if you are disney lovers your kids will have to be too. Lol

 

[4loveofdisney]

If you are not stroller picky and you have access to a car you can buy an umbrella stroller and then just discard ( we give to another family on the last day). Take the stroller! I really miss taking mine as it gave me a place to put all the stuff and a place to meet if you get separated.

 

[FutureMayor]

Take the stroller. It's just a nice option to have. You don't have to have it with you all of the time, but if you find it helpful, it's there.

We have one that we bring for our 7yr old daughter. I use zip ties to keep it from opening when we check it on flights. The irony is that the same zip ties are on it when we start packing for our next trip.

It's no secret that a vacation in WDW requires a lot of walking. We have found that having a stroller enables us to keep our daughter's energy level high and have a much more enjoyable vacation.

My wife and I marvel at the number of people who yell at their kids in WDW. We've turned it into a little game. Maybe some of that comes from pushing them just a bit too hard...

 

[GillianP1301]

I say take one, it sounds like you're already questioning/concerned about fatigue, so why chance it?

We used a stroller with DS last year and he was 5 1/2 at the time. He hasn't used a stroller at home since he was 2, but it was still nice having one at WDW. It stayed parked a lot (we would go to one area/land and park it and tour and then pick it up to move onto the next area), but it was very handy for getting in and out of the parks and walking to our car, etc...

This year, he will be 6 1/2 and has said he doesn't feel he needs one, so I'm going to attempt without it. He does long full day walking type outings with no issue, but I'm concerned of having 7 days in a row of that. I figure if it becomes an issue, I can always rent when I'm there. So that could be another option for you, try without and if it's not working out then rent (or if you're bringing your own, leave it in the car/room as backup).

 

[Disuser]

I'd take it along or rent one there. Her little legs will get tired. You can use it to carry items to and from the parks.

 

[3Gsandme]

We rent a stroller in park if we need it. I have a 4.5 year old and she really needed it. So did the 7 year old. It's a lot of steps for little ones.

 

[SplashMtn40inches]

I just bought a used umbrella stroller for $10. It's a bit of a pain to lug it with me on the airplane etc, but I basically have:

• stroller use for 4 days for $10 (versus renting $15 x 4 days)
• I can use the stroller from hotel to park and vice versa
• no concerns about it being stolen as it's very bare bones
• even if it gets stolen, it's a $10 loss
• even if it gets stolen, I'm giving it away at the end of my trip

 

[princessmia331]

My daughter is turning 5 while there and we bought one just for the trip

 

[lauris87]

Your DH will thank you when your youngest falls asleep in EPCOT and he can sit or stroll with a beer while you shop in a store!

Awww....for some reason, reading that sentence just made me want to be at Disney.. ..now! .
And to the op.....I think a stroller for a 5-year old at the parks is a fabulous idea. I was unsure about doing this last year when we brought my 5 year old son. Before I went I thought 'he's too old for that'....but I'm so glad we had it. I honestly feel our trip would have been ruined if we did not use a stroller each day for him.

 

[Alicatt]

I have a 5 1/2 and a 3 1/2 year old. We're brining a stroller that has a stand/sit part in the back for the older child. We are intending to RD at MK, eat lunch at 11 and head back for a nap at 2. I'm sure that we will need the stroller for the evening (5-11 PM) but do you think it's suicide to not bring it in the morning? I'd rather not drag it on the crowded morning bus and it would be nice to wear them out for their nap. Most of all though, I kind of want to walk into MK for their first time holding hands and not looking at the back of their heads.
What do you guys think?

 

[mollybug2]

I bought a Maclaren Volo on eBay several years ago. The sellers had used it as a Disney-only stroller. Five trips later it is still great! My kids haven't used a stroller at home for ages but we still bring it to Disney. It is nice to keep our belongings in and the times a child is in it, it is a lifesaver. I especially love it at the end of the night in thick crowds. So nice to know your child is safely riding in it! If you have any question, bring one. If you choose not to bring it to a park one day, no big deal!