UPDATE with Mini Disney Review: Can't believe I'm asking this..Disney stroller question

For all of you who suggested bringing our stroller...thank you thank you and THANK YOU. We brought it and DD totally used it. Not all the time but especially at night. It prevented DH from carrying around a very tall 6 YO

This was our 4th time taking DD to Disney BUT this was the best Disney vacation we have taken with her.

We drove down from NYC leaving at 4pm and arrived at Orlando around 9 am. We made a lot of stops though mainly to get caffeine and stretch. I must say we have driven down before but this was probably the last time we will drive down again. For some reason this time it was brutal. 95 sucks at night there are no lights and it's a booooring drive. IF I had to do it again I would definitely leave early in the morning like 3 am to get down to FL by 10pm.

Our previous trips with DD we stood at the Pop and All Star Sports. Pre-DD we stood at the POFQ. This time we stood at All Star Music. I must say I love the value resorts. They are the best bang for your buck. The grounds are clean, rooms are clean and contrary to what I thought we didn't share a bus with any other resort except for one day when we went to downtown Disney. The pools are big, clean and plentiful and every night by the big pool they had a movie showing.

The buses are pretty frequent and not too crowded although the resort and parks were pretty crowded for "off peak". The only time we ended up waiting for a bus for longer than 15 minutes was our night back from Epcot where we took advantage of the extra magic hours at night. We had to let 2 buses pass us by because it was so crowded but other than that we had a great experience with the bus service.

We ended up paying about $1200 for 4 nights and for 4 day tickets for the 3 of us. No free dining this time but honestly the food at Disney wasn't that $$$. We ate most of our meals at the cafeteria on the resort and even the dinners were surprisingly good and inexpensive (around $10)

This year Disney rolled out their new magic bands and they are AMAZING. You use them to get into your room, the parks and if you connect a CC to your account you use them to charge all your expenses. However the best thing was we were able to go online the night before and get fast passes for the next day which was awesome. You can also use them to get fast passes at the parks. They have special kiosks only Disney resort visitors can use. We were able to bypass some long lines this way.

We had beautiful weather. It was 80 plus degrees every day and went down to the 60s at night. Perfect weather.

DD really enjoyed herself this time and so did we. We brought her princess dress on clearance from the Disney store here and took it with us. She got dressed up in Magic Kingdom and looked so beautiful. She didn't want to get her hair done at the Bibbidi Boutique though.

If you're looking to go to Disney on a budget and can snag a value during free dining I say do it. Don't bat an eyelash.

We also went with a group of friends who stood outside the resort in a house they rented and they wished they did the resort. By the time they packed up in the car, had breakfast and parked at $15 a day per park it wasn't really worth it. Plus they had to rent a car which you don't have to do if you're staying on Disney property. They will pick you and your luggage up from the airport and take you back free of charge.

This was definitely one of our best vacations yet.


OK so for now until the next DC my stroller days are over...who am I kidding they have been over for 2 years..DD just turned 6!!!

We are driving down to Disney this week and my sister is telling me I should bring DD's stroller. I have a Maclaren Volo so it's fairly lightweight and I'm pretty sure it will come in handy for storing our stuff but I feel kind of funny bringing it. DD is 6 and tall and I don't know if she would even ride in it however Disney is a lot of walking and the last thing we want to do is have to carry around a tall 55lb 6YO. We do plan on closing down the parks and we are staying on Disney. Any advice?

Message edited 12/11/2013 12:34:28 PM.

Re: Can't believe I'm asking this..Disney stroller question

Bring it-it will save you from hearing whining and it will help you carry all of your things. We had a double with us and while the kids weren't always in it, it did help us hold our cooler, extra clothes and anything else we didn't want to carry when the kids weren't sitting.

Re: Can't believe I'm asking this..Disney stroller question

bring it! DD was 5 when we went and used it. going to universal this year when shes 6 and ill be bringing it again.

Re: Can't believe I'm asking this..Disney stroller question

Bring it!

Re: Can't believe I'm asking this..Disney stroller question

Personally, I wouldn't bother bringing a stroller for my 6 year old. It's not like you're non-stop walking. You take breaks, eat, wait line for rides, etc.

Re: Can't believe I'm asking this..Disney stroller question

BRING IT... We just got back from there and so many people ended up having to rent one at the parks because they DIDN'T think they would need it... Cost them a lot of money.. I saw so many people carrying their younger child while pushing the older one in the stroller... It won't hurt to bring it... There is a lot of walking and to take breaks all day long will take up a lot of time..

Re: Can't believe I'm asking this..Disney stroller question

we went to disney in april DS1 was 5y4m and is a really tall kid. DS2 was 2yo (also tall for his age)

In the am we would just bring on stroller for DS2. then we would go back to the hotel and DS2 would nap and when we returned to the park, we brought 2 strollers with us, and DS1 used it. It was just too much walking especially on day2 or 3, he needed the break.

We rented the second stroller from Apple strollers instead of bringing 2 with us and it worked wonderfully! I think DS1 was even more happy to sit in it because it was a special stroller (aka, not his old one - now his brothers stroller)

Can't believe I'm asking this..Disney stroller question

Thanks ladies I'm definitely bringing it after reading here. DH thinks I'm crazy but that's nothing new...

Re: Can't believe I'm asking this..Disney stroller question

Definitely bring one. Everyone with a 6 yr old we know used one. You can park it and go get it when they get tired. Many people I know rented at 7. You don't have to have it....but tired cranky kid vs rested kid...so worth it. We used ours only if going across the park or in huge crowds trying to exit the park. You could rent in park only if needed but that gets expensive and you can't leave the parks with it.

Re: Can't believe I'm asking this..Disney stroller question

We just went a few months ago and my older DC had just turned 6. We rented a double (my younger one is 3). We rented the biggest one they had. I will say DS hasn't been in a stroller AT ALL in years! But, the thing was INDISPENSABLE!!!! GOOD NOT HAVE LIVED WITHOUT IT!!!

Re: Can't believe I'm asking this..Disney stroller question

I guess I am in the minority but we just got back from Disney and my 6yo didn't have a stroller and was fine. I would just rent one at the park if you find you need one.

UPDATE with Mini Disney Review: Can't believe I'm asking this..Disney stroller question

Bump for update

Re: UPDATE with Mini Disney Review: Can't believe I'm asking this..Disney stroller question

I agree with you about the dark driving on I95....

we left around 6am long island, and got to st augustine(north of orlando) at midnight due to alot of stops.