Tips about Food & Beverage, Mousecellaneous, Resorts, Souvenirs and Strollers
FORT WILDERNESS - If you're staying at Fort Wilderness or any of the resorts on Bay Lake and plan on staying to the Magic Kingdom until closing, take the ferry back to the buses, rather than trying to take the resort launches or monorail. We found this to be a much faster and less crowded method. - Jennifer Smith
Many people use either the seat (if the child walks a lot) or the basket underneath to stash stuff in. It may prove helpful to keep everything in your backpack or diaper bag at all times, so you only have one bag to grab when trying to make that last minute bus, etc.
Bring your own strollers! After lunch, we checked out the Kilimanjaro Safari before settling on the train ride to Conservation Station. Great accessibility for the wheelchair, my son simply rolled right on in his power chair, but if you have a stroller you must park it at the train station (tip: if you have your own collapsible stroller you are allowed to bring it along...a good idea since the hike in Conservation Station is a long one with a few hills). The ride was scenic, but no animals. After the train ride, we looked around & started the hike to Conservation Station but turned around since we no longer had our strollers (carrying 2 40 lb boys in 100 degree heat depleted our energy!). - Cherie and Joel Belcher
Strollers roll on fine and kids can remain seated on the ferryboats between TTC and MK. Strollers can also roll onto the larger boats that run the MK-Ft. Wilderness Loop. The smaller motor launches from Ft.W and the Grand Floridian cannot be rolled onto. Strollers and wheel chairs must be folded prior to boarding for motor launches and guests using wheel chairs must be able to walk onboard.
We have a lot of experience maneuvering our double-wide stroller around the "world" and in general it fits everywhere a standard wheelchair can go, but gets twice the dirty looks in a crowd that a regular stroller gets. Connecting two umbrella strollers together side-by-side makes them too wide for most turnstiles and gates, but fold and go on a WDW bus much easier than the double-wide. The Contemporary monorail station can be accessed by elevator.
Also, the AK walkway surfaces are really rough and tough to push a stroller on. I think that is why they rent out strollers with the larger wheels. - Jim Hunt
I have always rented a stroller when in the parks. I have found it invaluable to use for my daughter to take an afternoon nap. If you have a child who can sleep almost anywhere (like mine), try it. It also makes better use of time since you don't have to spend time leaving the park, going back to your room, and returning again after the nap. Sometimes we do walk around still, my daughter likes the movement when she sleeps. In the MK, there is a side street down main street that is usually very quiet and shaded to take a siesta. In Disney's Hollywood Studios, we go to the covered eating place outside of the Beauty and the Beast show/Tower of Terror. We have never found a single spot in EPCOT but my mother-in-law prefers to sit on the bench across from the Rose and Crown pub. Also, for safety's sake, most parents know this but never leave your child unattended while napping in the stroller. We used to take turns "standing guard" or just walk her around. - Corina Drozdowski
We have a 2 year old and took his stroller to all of the parks. Before we left home I bought a Black and Decker snake fan that we duct taped to his stroller and in the afternoons when he was tired and hot we would turn on his fan and it helped alot. It especially worked great when he fell asleep because it kept him cool and he could rest. We got a huge amount of comments from other parents saying that they wished they had thought of something like that. - Robin Sowders
A suggestion from our experience "strolling" around WDW with our 10 week old daughter last December 1998. We found that if we asked very nicely we were often able to bring her into restaurants and attractions right in the stroller. Cast members seemed only too willing to accommodate a sleeping infant in a stroller -- she strolled right up to the table at Liberty Tree Tavern, Akershus and Crystal Palace and into the Flight show at AK (we stood in the back). We learned that if we were polite about including her stroller (and discreet so as not to annoy those who had left their strollers behind), she was able to sleep peacefully through some wonderful meals and times for us. We know that December is the least crowded time at WDW, so this may not be possible in July -- but it can't hurt to ask -- you might be pleasantly surprised. When we were leaving Cinderella's Royal Table, the hostess mentioned that we could have brought her stroller upstairs -- we didn't even think to ask there (and we all would have had a better time)! - Karen, Ken and Baby Elizabeth
Our family includes 3 girls, ages 8, 2, & 1 and the baby 9 months. We will definitely be bringing a stroller with us. We rented one (or two) last time and although it is convenient, it was also a struggle. Not having a stroller to walk from the parks to the buses or from the buses to our hotel room. We stayed at the Coronado Springs and carrying two tired toddlers at the end of a very long day got old really quick! I would like to recommend the Combi Savvy Z stroller to folks who need to buy a stroller anyway. They are about $200, so they are not an inexpensive purchase, but what a travel stroller! They only weigh 7 lbs., folds up like an umbrella stroller, fit down the aisle of an airplane, and have a canopy hood!! - Tracey Taylor
When we know we are going to be at the park late, we will usually rent a stroller around dinner time for our oldest daughter who was 6 on our last trip. After a long day in the parks, the stroller usually comes in handy in those later hours. If nothing else, it allows our daughter to run around to the bitter end on rides and then have a nice comfortable ride back to the front of the park to catch the bus. - John T. Marrinson
Just thought folks might like to know that Disney's Hollywood Studios cast members will tell you to bring your stroller onto the tram portion of the Backlot Tour. The place we were told to place the stroller (on a "platform" directly behind our seat, about level with our heads) didn't really look like it was designed for that purpose, but we did as we were told. We then spent the entire trip listening to a very unpleasant woman behind us complaining loudly because it was blocking her view (of what, I don't know; most everything was immediately right or left, not directly ahead). My husband tried explaining to her that was where the attraction staff told us to store it, but she was inconsolable. In short, if you want yourself and others to enjoy the attraction fully, you might want to consider leaving your stroller behind, and coming back to retrieve it later. The tram does not let off at the same place it starts, but the extra walking is better than the alternative in my opinion. - Marci
When we dropped off our stroller at Fantasmic the CM asked me to empty out our stroller. Fortunately I asked why, noticing that other strollers had not been emptied. I was told that since it was a park stroller it would be folded and at the end of Fantasmic I would be able to pick up any park stroller and use it to leave. PROBLEM: The stroller I had was mine, a green 3-wheeled jogger, looking nothing like the strollers at Disney's Hollywood Studios!!! Good thing I asked or my stroller would have been gone. - Kramer
