Do you need a stroller at Disney? Even for a big kid?
Should you rent or own?
If you have young kids, of course you’re planning to use a stroller at Disney. But, even if your child no longer uses a stroller at home, you may want to consider using one at Disney. Nearing the end of the day, it’s guaranteed your child is going to be exhausted. And you will be, too. Faced with the option of carrying a 6 or 7-year-old or pushing a stroller all day, we prefer the latter.
In fact, we had already sold our daughter’s stroller long before our first trip to Disney, at which time she was 4. Therefore, we decided to buy one for our first Disney trip, and even decided to make it a double, though we only have one child. The extra seat is for our “luggage” including Epi-Pen bag, a bag of wipes and allergen-free snacks, and souvenirs. We found a great umbrella double stroller, new on eBay for $30 or $40.
We chose to buy one and haul it down for two reasons. The first was purely economic – we paid $30-40 for a new one vs. $30 a day rental for the same thing. However, the most important reason was our daughter’s food allergy. With a rented stroller, you can’t guarantee the cleanliness. Disney cleans them every day, but we would also have to do our own daily detailing. Additionally, some rentals disappear, at which time Disney will supply you with another at no additional cost. But then you get to detail another stroller.
If you have to fly to Disney, you might need to factor in the cost of paying to check your stroller as luggage. Another option is to ship it ahead of time.
However, the value of having your own, clean stroller is knowing your child isn’t going to run across that one food allergen left by another kid, that both you and Disney failed to find. Plus, you don’t have to carry your 45 lb. child, plus “luggage” out of the park at night.
