UPDATE 8/25/2009:  This benefit has been changed.  Now instead of a free stroller, you get your stoller rental at half price.

If you’re traveling to Disneyland with small children - consider leaving your stroller at home and renting some of the Disneyland strollers.  The strollers you can rent at Disneyland are nice, they’re convenient, - AND best of all, you can rent them for FREE.

Disneyland stroller (courtesy of LaughingPlace.com)

The Disneyland strollers are nice.   What’s nice about them?  They are sturdy, have big wheels, and have a big space below them and a pocket on the back.  They are relatively light weight for the size - this became important on our last trip when our stroller was three stroller rows deep after cast members had to get creative (I’m sure they do it every night during the busy season) to make room for them all outside of POTC.  I was relieved we didn’t have a monstrous stroller since I had to lift it up over the two rows of strollers.

The Disneyland strollers are MUCH more convenient than packing your own.   You don’t want to take up valuable trunk space if you’re traveling by car (that’s a big one for us) - and if you’re flying in, that includes your rental car, you don’t have to fold/unfold the stroller to get on the tram, you just don’t have to worry about a stroller at Disneyland - they’ve got it covered.  If you plan on doing a lot besides Disneyland - go ahead and bring the umbrella stroller - but leave it at the hotel when you’re at the park!

You can rent Disneyland strollers for free.  That’s right.  For free.  It’s one of the free perks of the Disneyland Visa Card.  Just head to the right after entering either Disneyland or Disney’s California Adventure, and present your Disney credit card.  You get two free Disneyland stroller rentals per day - as a cardholder perk.  Look at it as a free annual pass for strollers!  Strollers are $12/day without the Disney Visa.

Some things to keep in mind for strollers:

• You can take them between parks.
• They have a visor to help keep out the sun OR drape a baby blanket over it to keep out the breeze also.
• Tie your backpack onto the back of it and have a place to keep stuff - leave it at a ride while you go do something -people don’t come to Disneyland to steal - you can feel safe leaving it unattended - AS LONG AS YOU CAN FIND IT AGAIN.
• After returning to the park to see if I could find our baby blanket in the lost and found, I realized I now had the blanket but would have to carry it around with me while I rode on a couple rides.  As my family was back at the hotel for the evening, I used my card to rent a free stroller, I put the baby blanket in it, and parked it next to Main Street Station.  NAUGHTY.