Which Wagon do I Want? :)

I used to have that green little tikes one and it was fine for the kids, but *hard* to pull...so I've been a stroller lover ever since...I'd rather push than pull!

But here's my situation: We walk to the pool in summer...it's maybe a quarter mile on sidewalks or paved path through the park. We are loaded up with beach towels and snacks and Leah will be 18ish months old. It's just more gear than I want to load onto my Mountain Buggy (which doesn't really have 'good enough' air circulation for lounging around on a flaming humid afternoon at the pool).

So I'm thinking something with air tires, or at least rubber, and at least a clip on umbrella for sunshade. A hidden compartment for keys is a plus, cupholders would be nice. Durable, of course... but mostly I want it to be easy to pull, otherwise I'll scout out a Quattro Tour at the used baby store .

This one seems to get the best reviews... http://www.amazon.com/Radio-Flyer-2...e=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1177273072&sr=1-8

That one looks cool but i have never used it. This is the one i use with the twins and we love it. The seat can fold up for storage or to sit in seats because it has belts. I will be taking the twins to the pool in the summer and will be walking there with this. I dont know if you have looked at it already though. good luck
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3541214

Oooh, that looks nice, I love the seatbelts! I also found this one http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...50231?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

Big storage, but no seatbelts....hmmmmm

this one is so cool! Ive seen it IRL but only from a far... I dont know if they even make them anymore or not but it is a stroller wagon that is collapsible.
it just looks nifty and it isnt well known of so I thought Id throw it out there http://www.fisher-price.com/us/products/product.asp?id=35970
dont know where to get one other than ebay though.

We have the seatbelt one. Very nice.

My neighbor has the same one, but the seats are blue instead of red, and it has a blue storage bucket thingy on the back.

I love the cupholder too... it's cut so that it will hold a round drink, but it will also hold a juice box. It's neat.

Jools, we have that Discovery Wagon that you linked to in your first post. It is the Cadillac of all wagons in my opinion.

We absolutely LOVE, I mean LOVE ours. It has the quiet rubber wheels, and the wagon is HUGE. I can literally put a snugride and two toddlers in there. It would be perfect for Leah and all your gear.

It has super high sides so I have never worried about my kids falling out. It has a space saving handle, and is also very Tall. That was important to DH and I since I am 5'9" and he is almost 5'11".

The handle is also very comfy to pull and has never hurt my hand even after really long hot walks.

There is a super cute storage compartment underneath that is very nice sized. It is big enough to put ice and drinks in there. It also has a drain hole in it. We mainly use it for keys, cameras, cell phones, ect...

The two built-in cup holders on the side of the wagon really come in handy for the kids.

The lack of seatbelts really doesn't bother me at all, because of the super high sides. My kids have been tought NOT to stand up, and I have never had an issue with it. I have heard though of people installing seatbelt themselves?

Another great feature is that all of the sides are removable. You can use it like a bench (which I sit on and it holds me well), and also makes a great place for the kids to eat. It also functions well for Diaper Changes.

Dh and I have also used it for landscaping. It is great for hauling rock, mulch, landscaping tools, etc... I would also imagine it would pull well in the snow as well.

This is our SUV version of a stroller. It is quiet on walks, and the kids love it. I would say the best thing about this stroller is it's great size. We have also got many compliments on it, and people asking us about it.

For $99(we paid more than that )you certainly can't go wrong. Here are some pix of my kids in ours. In some of the pix you can just get an idea of the size.:

They all look nice.

Lovinwaves' photos would "sell" that wagon for me, though (if I was looking buy one, of course)! Those pictures are great! They show how well the wagon would work in "real life."

I like the first one that you were looking at because it is sooooo big, you can put lots of stuff in it to haul where ever you need. I have had 2 2yr olds, a 3yr old and a 4yr old in that wagon and they still had room, so it is big and has lots of room

joolsplus3 said:

Oooh, that looks nice, I love the seatbelts! I also found this one http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...50231?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

Big storage, but no seatbelts....hmmmmm

Click to expand...

That's the one we have. The under seat storage isn't that big. I haven't seen the other one to compare the two side by side, but this one does work well for us. I can take pictures with my 3 in it tomorrow if that would help you. My kids are older (9, 7 & 4 years), but they love to pull each other around in the wagon!

UlrikeDG said:

That's the one we have. The under seat storage isn't that big. I haven't seen the other one to compare the two side by side, but this one does work well for us. I can take pictures with my 3 in it tomorrow if that would help you. My kids are older (9, 7 & 4 years), but they love to pull each other around in the wagon!

Click to expand...

Does the door stay closed? Someone on Amazon said the door kept opening...musta been a fluke. Yeah, I'm thinking Bitsy (7.5 and 50 lbs) will be catching a ride as often as she can, so was looking for something bigger... I thought the door would be major fun for Leah, she's a door opening hound. Though that simple design of lovinwaves' is also appealing!

The door has never caused a problem, and we've had the wagon for a couple of years now. We got it before we left Germany (May 2005). I don't remember how long we had it before the move.

I looked around long and hard before we purchased our wagon...

http://www.amazon.com/Step2-Wagon-F...e=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1177354685&sr=8-1

We went with this one over the few Radio Flyers posted because it had the side door and a spot for our kids to put their feet. There is storage under one of the seats as well. Dh and I went back and forth over the RF w/ the folding seat backs...but decided that the Step 2 wagon would work better for us.

We got it this past Halloween so we haven't used it as much as some others, but it was AWESOME for trick or treating. Our son wasn't yet 1yr so he loved being able to ride along as sis ran from door to door.

It has seat belts and cup holders and you can get an additional "trailer" as well. I'm expecting to use it a lot this summer!

We love love love this one for use from home only. With the kids coming so quickly together, this one works great to get everyone to and from the park.


I made a padded liner for the inside and we have some seatbelts quickclipped to the sides. We also made seatbelts to work as drink holders, although I'd like dh to just build a box for one corner with cupholders and storage.

It's massive! You can fit a LOT of kids in there, without even having to worry about the weight limit!

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200311443_200311443

I have the "seatbelt" wagon as well. (The one "broken" has) I got it when DD was about 1 and we used it at least once a week to go to the water park the year she was 18 months-2. I have a pic somewhere of her asleep in it. She would get so worn out she'd fall asleep walking through the parking lot to the car. I went by myself with just DD, so I put towels, cooler with lunch and drinks, my big beach umbrella, her lifejacket and her all in there. You can buy a canopy for it now too which I will be getting when DS is old enough to sit in it. I also used it at least a dozen times at the beach. It's better than a stroller there. It was hard to push in the sand with all my stuff and DD in it, but I would just make DD walk and it was okay. (Again, I would go by myself with DD and a friend, but they always had all their kids and stuff...)

I also used it at the mall when I would babysit her "friend" for a few days at a time. Not as nice as a stroller, but it was do-able and better than having one walk or trying to wrangle a stroller and two 2 yr olds. LOL.

Oh, and if places don't allow coolers you can sneek a small one in if the seats are folded down because there's a hidden cubby (Shhhhhh) and the cupholders are priceless!

I have this

http://www.amazon.com/Step-2-Cross-...e=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1177372445&sr=1-2

It rocks!!! The bottom is a storage compartment. The entire side frame snaps on and off for easy storage. The handle actually folds under the frame so it fits in my trunk! It even has 2 seatbelts!!!

You want to get the first one you linked to. You want one where the handle actually steers the front wheels. I used to use a ring sling through the cup holders to make a seat belt for my youngest when he was about a year old. I used to use it to go to the pool all the time. It was great for that and the kids loved it. We also used it to get stuff to and from our garage to our apartment with the sides off, it was great.

We have had ours for almost 4 years and it is still in great condition.

Rachel

Here are the pictures I took: http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i210/Live-momma/Wagon/

I meant to get a picture of the under seat storage, but the cat got out, and I had to chase him.

joolsplus3 said:

I used to have that green little tikes one and it was fine for the kids, but *hard* to pull...so I've been a stroller lover ever since...I'd rather push than pull!

But here's my situation: We walk to the pool in summer...it's maybe a quarter mile on sidewalks or paved path through the park. We are loaded up with beach towels and snacks and Leah will be 18ish months old. It's just more gear than I want to load onto my Mountain Buggy (which doesn't really have 'good enough' air circulation for lounging around on a flaming humid afternoon at the pool).

So I'm thinking something with air tires, or at least rubber, and at least a clip on umbrella for sunshade. A hidden compartment for keys is a plus, cupholders would be nice. Durable, of course... but mostly I want it to be easy to pull, otherwise I'll scout out a Quattro Tour at the used baby store .

This one seems to get the best reviews... http://www.amazon.com/Radio-Flyer-2...e=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1177273072&sr=1-8

Click to expand...

I have this wagon and we love it. I purchased seat belts and installed them, and we've never had a problem. We take our wagon everywhere! That is a really spacious wagon, both my boys have plenty of leg room. Whatever wagon you purchase, make sure you check the tires and that they are rubber. The plastic tires are really loud and I would be worried about the effect on a child's hearing from sitting so close to them.

Here's a couple pics of our wagon: (the seatbelts are black)

I held off as long as I could, LOL....

I WANT the Radio Flyer Discovery wagon. I don't care that at 6.5 and 5, my kids really have no need for it. That sucker is big and bad! I tried my kids in it a year ago and they fit! I keep discovering awesome little kid stuff when I don't NEED it.

By the way, my SIL had the green Step 2 wagon...I REALLY didn't like it. It didn't have enough leg room for both kids, so they would end up kicking each other. Noisy too. The Radio Flyer with the flip up seats: same thing (no leg room, not noisy though). I think my kids have big feet or something. LOL

msbeltran said:

I held off as long as I could, LOL....

I WANT the Radio Flyer Discovery wagon. I don't care that at 6.5 and 5, my kids really have no need for it. That sucker is big and bad! I tried my kids in it a year ago and they fit! I keep discovering awesome little kid stuff when I don't NEED it.

By the way, my SIL had the green Step 2 wagon...I REALLY didn't like it. It didn't have enough leg room for both kids, so they would end up kicking each other. Noisy too. The Radio Flyer with the flip up seats: same thing (no leg room, not noisy though). I think my kids have big feet or something. LOL

Click to expand...

I'm beginning to think this might be the one I go with...I do love the bells and whistles (er, seatbelts and doors, lol) of the other ones, but in the end I think I'll be happy with simplicity and a wagon I can easily use for gardening and housework afterwards (uh, dh can, I don't DO yardwork, lol).

You guys have been SO helpful with all your input! Now to decide if it's cheaper to buy at a store or online.... hmmmmm...