DeborahAnn

Now that I have volunteered to bring three strollers down to meet my son and his family at the Orlando airport the logistics created by my good intentions is giving me second thoughts.

I'm trying to make this 10 day Disney trip as stress free as possible for a family with three boys ages 5 and twins 2. With car seats, luggage, blankies and baby Tads each they will not be able to travel light for a few more years.

I have three lightweight strollers, not umbrella style but combined should weigh less than 50 lbs, which will fit inside a hockey goalie bag. I am wondering if this is the best way to check all three strollers as one piece of luggage or should I just strap them together so it's obvious what they are or just check each one individually and have my husband and me share one single large suitcase as our remaining luggage allotment.

Any suggestions as to how to make sure the strollers make it to Disney World in one piece would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Deborah

TobieT

Hi Deborah,
Each airline might have a different way of handling the size/weight of the strollers, bundled together or in a hockey bag. They might even allow you regular luggage and one piece of "sporting equipment" which is what a golf bag would be...right?
So I would call or email your carrier and have a print out of the response to verify your luggage configuration.
For other general information about the stroller situation, have a look here:

http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/strol_faq.htm

There are some recommendations for renting one for the older child since the double strollers are larger and can carry the family extras.

How nice a grandma are you?!

GoTravel

How about shipping them?

DeborahAnn

GoTravel and Tobie, thanks for the suggestions. I didn't think of the shipping idea. I have spent far too much time on both allears and disboard researching this trip. Good idea to call the airlines and have a discussion about the strollers.

I have the tendency to think that the airlines are there to make my life more difficult not to help solve my problems Deborah

vivi

I read your post to my daughter who is a gate agent, she says the goalie bag is the best idea.

DeborahAnn

thanks vivi, that is a help. I did call Southwest and was told I cannot gate check a stroller unless traveling with a little one using it. I'm having second thoughts about the one stroller I am borrowing which doesn't fit in the goalie bag and I thought I could gate check.

What started out as a desire to be helpful has gotten just a little complicated. We may have to box and bubble wrap the odd sized stroller for checking through. And yes, according to my husband I am making this a bigger issue than it should be. Thanks again for the suggestions. Deborah

gail

May I suggest family rethink entire plan. When traveling with little rugrats, I found a stroller at the airport very useful. Good for racing thru airport when little legs will not move fast enough to get to gate on time, napping in when plane is delayed, and walking long distances in airport to get to baggage claim, car rental, whatever else.

If they think it is bad carrying car seat, etc, imagine how they will feel when one or both twins decides they need to be carried. And when necessary, strapping kid into stroller can act as temporary jail when they keep running off while you are waiting in check-in or other line.

Five year old should be fine with walking in-transit. In fact, even he could help push the stroller while parents do the pack-mule thing thru the airport.

My suggestion is for them to check luggage, car seats, put twins in stroller to gate, and meet you with additional stroller in Orlando. In fact, I might even consider renting stroller at Parks for 5 year old as necessary.

padams421

Why not just rent strollers at WDW? You should at least consider renting for the 5 year old. Is there a reason he needs a stroller (such as a handicap?)? A normal 5 year old probably won't want to ride in a stroller all the time. My sons wouldn't be caught dead in a stroller at age 5.

bgans

Your son might want to consider renting strollers at WDW, especially if any of the ones you are bringing are at all expensive. It's not uncommon for strollers to "disappear" when left unattended - people grab the wrong one, thinking it is their's or intentionally "upgrade" their stroller. Most people I know either bring very cheap umbrella strollers or rent while there. Anyone I know who has brought a good stroller has regretted it. Investing $50 in 3 umbrella strollers might be a good idea.

GBelle

Although renting strollers at Disney seems to make more sense than the hassle of shipping, Disney’s cost of $10/day for single and $18/day for double stroller rentals seems awfully high.

You could purchase three umbrella strollers for less than $20 each at Toys R Us, have them shipped directly to your location in Orlando (hold for arrival), and if you don’t want to bring them home, donate them to a local charity. Or if you must ship, pick up some pre-owned models at the local thrift store.

P.S. Some advice I received when we visited Disney with my then 4 or 5 year old was to go for the stroller anyway, even though they are “too old” for it. With all the walking you do at Disney parks, their little legs get tired quickly. He wanted to push it early on, then decided that riding wasn’t bad after all.

DeborahAnn

Believe me we have put plenty of thought in this. At times dealing with the three boys is similar to herding cats. The 5 year old has lots of energy, has done several 5k walks for JD but even so he will appreciate a free ride by the end of the day. The problem with renting strollers at Disney is that you can't use them outside of the park. The boys will be spending enough time out and about in the evening that having strollers will be a plus.

Umbrella strollers are just too flimsy; plus the cheapies seldom recline. The only nap one of the guys may take in any afternoon might be while in the stroller.

thanks for the suggestions. Right now I have two strollers in the goalie bag and one boxed as checked luggage. We are not traveling light but we are mobile Thanks again, Deborah

DeborahAnn

Just back from WDW. Thanks for all the suggestions regarding our need to transport three stollers for our grandboys. We ended up being very grateful for all three sturdy but lightweight strollers as we were out and about far past their usual bedtime several nights. Even the 5 year old had no "image" problem being pushed around when he was too tired to walk.

My husband concocted a box 45 inches long for the chico stroller we borrowed from a friend. Our luggage was loaded during a heavy rainstorm and I wish we had just put the stroller in plastic as done by others on our flight. I imagined the cardboard turning to mush out on the tarmac in such a heavy rain. Of course, the stroller we worked so hard to protect from damage was the only piece that FAILED to arrive when we did but did much later that same day.

The goalie bag was a super way to carry two strollers. Luckily we checked the size restrictions for Southwest before our flight so we knew to make the bag as small as possible because it would have exceeded the size allowance. We also curb checked our luggage. I don't think the bag looked as big outside as it would have at the indoor counter Coming back from Orlando the Skycap did ask if we had a body in the bag

We brought the strollers for the sightseeing convenience and stroller rental savings but also to help DS and DDIL. Mission accomplished.

We had a wild but wonderful 10 days at WDW. Thanks again for your help. Deborah

TobieT

Deborah Ann~
Glad to hear all went well and you had a fun holiday with your family.
<<Coming back from Orlando the Skycap did ask if we had a body in the bag >>> Sense of humour is a necessity in that job!