We are brining our kids for their first trip in a few weeks, we are only doing 3 park days, and I’ve set up our touring plans to minimize walking and be at a relaxed pace. The plans only have about 1 hour of walking each day, which spread through out so many hours doesn’t seem that bad to me.
We are bringing our car seat snap and go stroller for the baby because that is where he is most comfortable, but I’m considering also renting a stroller for the older two. I’m wondering if I should get a double or just a single and they can take turns? Do you recommend just the ones you can in the park or the City Mini type rentals outside the park?
I wasn’t planning on getting one for them at all because we are not criss crossing parks very much, but everyone I’ve talked to has said we need to!
Yea I just looked up the prices and it is so affordable! Another idea I hadn’t thought of before is to get a double with a glider board and carseat adapter, so if needed all 3 could be on the same one…but that would be a beast to push!
As long as every kid has some room to sit while you power walk !
I went back last Nov with my son, now 7 years old. He didn’t want me to bring the stroller, said he was not a baby, etc., etc…Well he spent the whole trip using it and he even thanked me for bringing it LOL !!!
I’m all about strollers. I have had a good experience renting from Kingdom strollers. I’d say go with a double.
Some people will possibly discourage you from getting a stroller. Some may say when they were kids four year olds walked, etc. I love strollers. I do not enjoy touring at the pace of a 4 year old. I want to be able to scoot in and out of crowds and have somewhere safe to corral them in a post-fireworks crush of people.
HTH.
I would also add that if you are only using the walking time to judge your needs, you are missing the part that is the hardest on legs I think- standing time. Add all your wait times and your walking times and that will give you a better estimate of how hard the day might be on their legs. They still have to waiting in the lines but at least with a stroller option they might get some rest for their legs in between the waits. We found the strollers invaluable for many reasons not the least was helping their legs get through the long days.
That is such a great point that I had totally not considered, all the standing / waiting time! Thanks for that point of view, we are definitely going to rent one!
We were all about the stroller for our 9, 7, and 5 in December. We brought our own double and single and found a way to fold and strap the single to the top of double. We didn’t use the single that much but when all three kids were getting tired and whiny, we were super glad we had a seat for each of them. You can also put your stuff in there if everyone wants to walk. I don’t know the cost, but I would probably pay a pretty penny to save the fights, energy, and trouble.
How old is your infant? I really cannot imagine a car seat being the most comfortable place for anyone for a whole day and potentially in the heat. An infant can go in a City Mini from birth if you want to put him or her on one side and alternate with your older two.
He’s 8 months (but not crawling yet) but he LOVES his car seat clipped on to the stroller! We’ve done a lot of long museum days with him like that and he’s been perfectly happy. Granted we’re not going to make him just sit all day, we’ll carry him in lines and on rides and give him breaks to play on his blanket if he needs them. I might try him in our big stroller before we go to see how he does.
Do you have a baby carrier at all (like a Tula, Lillebaby, Ergo, etc)? It is a huge help in line to free up your hands & take some of the weight off your arms! We still used ours for our 2 year old last fall and regretted the day we forgot it!
