Ages of your kids for Stroller use?

[WonderlandisReality]

It’s really going to depend on the child. Years ago my sister and I walked at 6 & 8 no problem until I had an asthma attack mid afternoon and my parents rented a stroller to salvage the Epcot day. My kids are 7 & 8 with significant developmental delays. The younger is the size and developmental level of a 3.5-4 year old with multiple cognitive disabilities so strollers are in our future for a while. When the older child outgrows strollers we will still need a rolling walker or chair for her. My nephew is 2.5 and could probably out walk anyone on a park day, his older brother was stroller free at 3. It really depends on the individual kid.

 

[sullyfam]

Ages are too high for me to vote. For my older 2, they were 5 the last time they used the stroller for part of the trip. Our youngest will be 5 on our next trip and I plan on renting one only if needed and probably only for maybe Epcot. I can't imagine pushing an 8, 9 or 10 year old around in a stroller and I can't imagine my kids even wanting to pushed around in a stroller at that age (my 10 year old daughter would be mortified) but to each their own! (Obviously for children with developmental delays and physical impairments, it makes total sense!)

 

[Koogs]

I'm 39, can I get a stroller??!

Our 8 year old is too big,85lbs and 56" although I'm sure he'll be tired at times. He was probably too big at 7, but we didn't go that year. He rode on the back of the sit and stand stroller at 6 and he was too big for that per the manufacturer's guidelines, but it was still needed sometimes.

Still bringing the sit and stand for the 3 year old and 10 month old. I wonder if we should go with a full double stroller, but I don't have one and I feel they're bears to fold.

 

[DisLiss]

For the most part, ditching the strollers (and in some place, a wagon) was such a great thing. "Yes, no more lugging around that thing!!", but every so often when I'm packing a day bag I think to myself "I miss the stroller basket--you could pack everything in there!".

 

[tinkerjo]

For the most part, ditching the strollers (and in some place, a wagon) was such a great thing. "Yes, no more lugging around that thing!!", but every so often when I'm packing a day bag I think to myself "I miss the stroller basket--you could pack everything in there!".

That was the only thing the dang stroller was good for. I did love leaving my bag in the bottom basket. Nobody ever touched it and anyways it only had snacks, extra clothes, wipes, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, etc in it. Over the years my day bags get smaller and smaller. My only one at home now is DS 12 and other than our cell phones and magic bands, I may try and go bagless this year. I am tired of lugging it around, putting my leg through it on rides, and worried about it getting wet. I am curious how people fit their older kids in a stroller though. My DS has been over 5’ since he was 9-10 years old. We had trouble at age 4 squeezing him in a standard stroller and I think he may have been over the weight limit even then.

 

[ivegotayen]

I kinda want one just to store water, snacks, etc in and to have if our younger kid feels like snoozing. He's 7 and is great at conking out with a little motion when he needs a rest. It's unlikely he would use it to get from place to place. He has a genetic syndrome that affects his knee development, but he seems to be able to walk pretty good distances. We'll probably play it by ear and see.

 

[kyton]

4 years old - your voting options are way too old for me to vote.

 

[dhardawa]

I debated taking the stroller when my son was 3 1/2. I ended up leaving it at home and was so glad I did. He ran circles around us and would have been in constant meltdown mode if he has been forced to sit in a stroller.

I took my daughter for her first trip when she was 4 and never even considered a stroller.

That said, all kids, parenting styles, and how families do Disney are different. We are easy going and skip the busy times. We don’t do rope drop and stay until close.

 

[TwinkleKS]

I agree with most of the previous posters. Unless there is a medical necessity, your age ranges are waaaaay above when we stopped using strollers. We stopped at the 4/5 age range. Haven't used one since. The "younger batch" of kids are 9 & 11. Other than the fact they are too big, if I told any of them to get in a stroller they would be mortified. We walk around 7-11 miles a day at Disney with no issues from our kids.

 

[maswanson11]

My daughters were 9 & 6 for our first visit and I did not even consider bringing or renting a stroller. They both did 10+ hours each day in the park with no trouble.

 

[gtpoohbear]

I don't know many 10 year old who would willingly sit in a stroller, I think most would be mortified by that age. I know mine would, anyway. They could run circles around me all day long by the time they were 5/6 years old. If anyone needs a stroller, it's ME, lol!

For actual numbers... DD's first trip was at 4.5yo, and we hadn't even owned a stroller since shortly after she turned 2. It would never have occurred to us to need one at Disney, and she had no problem walking the whole trip. We did take a stroller for DS's first trip at 2yo, but only used it on a couple of days when we didn't plan to go back to the resort for naptime. And then we brought it again when he was 4yo, only to use for the MVMCP, when we were planning to stay out until midnight and knew he likely wouldn't last that long.

 

[Yinn]

I was just about to say that those of you who stopped at 4/5 are nuts!

Then I thought about my last trip. We brought one, but my 4 year old was barely in it. I spent most of my time walking to find the stroller and moving it closer to the next ride that she was already at and in line for.

She really only used it to fall asleep in if we stayed in parks late.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Depends on the kid and the sibling dynamics. My middle daughter stopped riding in a stroller around 4. Her last stroller we brought to the park was a sit-stand, THINKING my older son (6 at the time) would stand, she would sit. He was having none of it - if anyone was sitting, it was going to be him.

9 years later, my youngest, now 6 year-old stopped riding when she was about 5. We brought a stroller for her right before she turned 5 but mostly used it to carry stuff. She used it but could have walked - no problem. 6 would be an absolute max age I would think for any kid (special circumstances excepted, of course).

 

[maxiesmom]

I don't think there is any one age that is the cut off. Kids are all different.

Families are different too. Some may not have a problem taking breaks and doing the parks at the pace of the littlest one. Others may want to go faster, so they rent a stroller to enable them to do that. Neither way is wrong.

 

[KTurner223]

I think each family can decide for themselves what works best for them. We used a double stroller on our last trip and my 3 and 6 year old rode in it. Our 8 year old walked. It was nice to have them in the stroller so they were contained moving through crowds and it was nice to have place the 3 year old could nap some days when he got tired. We liked having the stroller to store our stuff as well. To each his own.

 

[ClapYourHands]

DD will have a stroller for this upcoming trip. She’s 4, and I’m on my own this trip. I’m not carrying her when she whines, and I want a place to park our stuff, too.

This will be the last trip with a stroller.

My boys were 6 and 7 on their first WDW trip, and were completely fine. It honestly didn’t occur to me that either would need a stroller.

Last trip, my boys were 8 and 10. The first day, we got to AK before rope drop for EMH. We did pretty much every ride in the first two hours, hoped a bus to AoA for drawing class, went to HS where our FPs were. Checked into the Swan. Went back to HS for some more rides. Pulled a FP for Frozen, and hoped to Epcot where we rode it then watched fireworks before heading back to our room. We logged something like 15 miles according to my watch. Yes, the kids complained by the end of the night that their feet hurt. No, we didn’t keep up that pace for the rest of the trip. No, we are not particularly fit or athletic. But if you suggested to me that I should consider getting a stroller for my 4th and 5th graders, I would probably look at you funny.

 

[Itsnotmykitchen]

4. I was 5’2 when I was ten so the idea of a ten year old being in a stroller is mind boggling.

 

[Beachmom0317]

We went last month and had a double for our 3 and 5 year old. I should’ve gotten a single, our 5 year old didn’t use it. It was such a pain storing it in the hotel room since it was in the way and I hated having to fold it up and empty it out to go on skyliner. Next trip kids will be 5 and 7 and I’m not renting one from Kingdom anymore (though if you need to I have had nothing but great experience with them!), I think I’ll just rent one in park if I need to on a long day.

 

[maxiesmom]

4. I was 5’2 when I was ten so the idea of a ten year old being in a stroller is mind boggling.

Again, kids are not the same. At 10 years of age my oldest niece was the size of her 5 year old sister. And she did share the stroller with her sister during a trip that year as she was having horrible leg pains that, according to her doctor, were growth pains.

At age 24 she barely breaks 5 foot tall. People are not the same and we shouldn't think like they are.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Again, kids are not the same. At 10 years of age my oldest niece was the size of her 5 year old sister. And she did share the stroller with her sister during a trip that year as she was having horrible leg pains that, according to her doctor, were growth pains.

At age 24 she barely breaks 5 foot tall. People are not the same and we shouldn't think like they are.

I haven't seen where anyone here has said or implied all kids are the same. A 10-year-old who is the size of a 5-year-old and suffering from horrible leg pains would fall into the category of special needs, and I don't think that's what this thread is about.

OP referenced a 10-year-old whose own parents think he'll be fine without a stroller, and kind of implied that they should consider a stroller because of the amount of walking. OP's follow up asked about mean age for stroller use, so we're looking for the average. The poll options are skewed so high that most of us can't vote.

@Itsnotmykitchen was bigger than the average size of a 10-year-old, and I think that was added to give some perspective of what 10-year-olds can look like. I don't know much about OP, but I have observed that people who have not yet experienced a particular age with their own children sometimes don't have a good idea of the capabilities of typical kids in that age group. Again, I don't know OP, but I'm basing this off the fact that the poll options start at 7/8, when most of the responders seem to be saying 4/5.

If my 10-year-old (95th percentile height; 99th percentile weight) had a medical issue I wouldn't make him walk just because of his age. I would probably have to rent a wheelchair, though, because he wouldn't fit in a stroller.