HINT: It might not be where you think.
As someone who travels frequently with two young children, finding ways to pack less is akin to finding ways to keep my sanity. I remember what my first trip traveling with our 6-month old daughter was like, before my wife and I learned how to pack with kids. The pile of stuff loaded on the cart was so high that things kept falling off. Thank goodness my daughter was too young to understand the words coming out of my mouth.
I’ve learned a lot since then. You don’t have to pack 7 of everything when traveling with young kids, even though my wife still has the obsession habit to do so.
We’ve picked up a bunch of packing tips since then and are much more efficient packers. One of the things we folded into our routine was renting a stroller for certain trips instead of hauling one. Additionally, we don’t own a double stroller, and one can come in very handy when trying to tackle long days at Disney with young kids. So, where should you rent a stroller from?
Let’s start with the worst choice. Disney World will rent you a stroller, and it’s a complete rip-off:
- A single stroller will cost you $15 a day ($13 for multi-day rentals).
- A double stroller will cost you $31 a day ($27 for multi-day rentals).
- The strollers are hard shell plastic, not very comfortable.
We’ve rented strollers on a couple of previous trips and found two companies that both provided us with good service and clean strollers.
The first is Magic Strollers. They’re approved by Disney, which means the bell stand at Disney World Resorts can accept delivery on your behalf and you can drop them back off at the bell stand as well. They rent City Mini strollers, which are very functional. They’ll lay flat for a nap and fold up easily. Fees:
- A single stroller is $25 for the first day, then $6.50 each additional day.
- A double stroller is $40 for the first day, then $7.50 each additional day.
- You can pay a $25 fee to cover damage and theft, which relieves you of any obligations should something happen to the stroller. This is a safe bet given how many strollers are at Disney World.
Their drop-off time at resorts is 10am, pick-up at 2pm. This means you can essentially get 4 days for the price of 3 (or 5 for the price of 4, etc), if you don’t need the stroller before 10am on the first day you rent or after 2pm on the day you return (safe bets if you’re flying to Orlando). For example, pick up a double stroller on Tuesday, drop it off on Saturday, and your fee would be $62.50.
The other provider we used was Apple Stroller. They rent the same strollers as Magic Stroller in single and double. Their pricing model is a bit different. All rentals are “free”, however:
- You pay $5 a day for insurance on a single stroller.
- You pay $7 a day for insurance on a double stroller.
- You pay a $5 delivery fee and a $5 pick-up fee.
Their website looks a bit suspect when you first visit, especially given the “free” price. But, we’ve rented from them successfully in the past. They offer delivery and pick-up service to many of the properties in the Disney area, not just the Disney World Resorts. They do appear to have a smaller inventory than Magic Strollers, as we’ve tried to book in the past and found Apple sold out.
Bottom Line
Don’t rent a stroller directly from Disney. The prices are way too high for an uncomfortable stroller. We’ve had good experiences with both Magic Strollers and Apple Strollers. The City Mini strollers can take a beating and you can’t underestimate the impact a stroller can have on a tired child. It won’t help your legs feel better, but it will help keep your kids from getting overly cranky. It can’t solve a screaming kid when you tell them you’re not buying them a $20 Mickey balloon, but isn’t that the fun of parenting?
The post Where Is The Best Place To Rent A Stroller For Disney World? was published first on Pizza In Motion.
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5 comments
Since you can gate-check a stroller for free, why bother? You’ll appreciate being able to put the kid down if you have to spend any amount of time at the airport, especially when it comes times to do the bin dance at security. But if you want to travel light or have tight connections, I get it. But for the price of Magic Stroller, another option would be to just pick up a cheap umbrella stroller and toss it in the trash when you’re done. Requires a side-trip though. As for insurance, we parked our double stroller at the parks hundreds of times over the course of years being annual pass holders and never had an incident of damage or theft.
Marvin, couple of points. Our kids are of the age that they don’t need a stroller in the airport, so it’s another thing we don’t need to carry through the airport. Second, we don’t actually own a double stroller. These also fully recline so the kids can take a power nap so we can have longer days at Disney. We’ve never had a stroller stolen either, but the fee is low enough that it can be worth not to have to worry.
We just came back from Disney and used Orlando Stroller Rental. Same double CityMini stroller, and they’re also a Disney Preferred company… we picked up and dropped off the stroller at the bell desk of the hotel.
Just another data point.
Thanks, dmel. Assume all was fine with your rental?
Yup, it was fine. Rain cover was included (and needed; it *poured* for a full 30 minutes at Epcot. It also included a little storage accessory with two cupholders, and a take-home “Orlando Strollers” very small bag with straps… not worth keeping. We choose this company solely on the recommendation of the Dreams Unlimited travel agent.
The only thing not smooth with the experience is that I woke up at 6am on the day we were flying home, realizing I had only rented the stroller through the prior day (to save $$). I rushed it to the bell stand, who told me Orlando makes a few trips per day, so only time will tell if they charge me for an extra day or not.