Updated! Traveling with the UPPAbaby Vista Stroller

 

Updated again – final update!  Our kids have mostly grown out of the Vista now, but it remains one of the best baby purchases we made. It’s durability, it’s cleanability, and expandability with the Rumble Seat made it a real favourite for us!

This review has been updated!  The original review was written about a year ago.  For our thoughts on how the stroller has held up and additional things we’ve learned to love about our UppaBaby Vista, keep reading!  (Any product bought after one of the Amazon links is followed helps to fund ianandwendy.com – Thank you!)

Recently we took a road trip to the Grand Canyon and Santa Fe.  We took along our Vista stroller from UPPAbaby.  The stroller comes with both a bassinet and a regular stroller seat.  We also bought the car seat adaptor which allows you to use the stroller with your car seat.  The stroller frame itself weighs 18lbs, which isn’t light, but considering the big wheels, shock absorption and easy steering, isn’t that heavy, either.  It folds easily and didn’t take up too much room in the back of our mid-sized SUV.

The stroller seat and the car seat adaptor can both snap in both ways – facing you or facing forward.  You can fold the stroller with the seat attached, but only if the seat is facing forward.  Since our daughter is still a baby, we like to have her facing us, which means that you have to take the seat off first.  It’s not hard, but it does take two hands.  When the bassinet, seat or car seat adaptor are snapped in correctly there are two little red circles – one on each side of the stroller – which turn green.  We find it really nice to know that everything’s safe and ready to go.  Plus, there’s no need for an additional strap to secure the car seat.  Not only does it seem safer to us for the seat to actually snap into the frame, but it also means less chance of waking up a sleeping baby!

Before this trip we really found it annoying that you could snap the car seat adaptor in “the wrong way”.  We couldn’t imagine wanting to have it facing forward.  Then we went for a walk along the Rim Trail at the Grand Canyon.  Our daughter had fallen asleep in the car (a rarity for her).  We didn’t want to wake her, so we snapped in the car seat adaptor.  Only thing was that the sun was on our backs, making the sun shade useless.  A quick turn of the car seat adaptor and she was in total shade!

Although we have (and use) the Phil and Ted’s travel cot, the bassinet made sleeping at the hotel super easy.     Had she been younger we would have used it in the stroller during the day, too.  We used to before she became much more interested in looking out at the world around her.

The Vista has a large basket which makes it easy to take all the stuff you need with you for the day.  We didn’t even need to carry a backpack this time!  The back of it can be pushed down to allow you easy access to everything, too.

The only thing we really wish UPPAbaby would make is a mesh sunshade.  In fact, when we first bought our stroller the mesh bug screen that is included was described as being for the sun as well.  It turned out to be only SPF 5 and is now no longer described as a sunshade.  Even though the fabric sunshade is very large and extends way out, sometimes the angle of the sun just makes it hard to get complete coverage.  We wind up covering our daughter up with blankets which means that she can’t see and doesn’t get air circulation which makes it very hot and uncomfortable.  As you can see in the photo above we tried a stroller umbrella with limited success, but a mesh sunshade would be perfect.  (Update: We have just purchased the UppaBaby Bubble which is an infant car seat shade.  We hope this will help with sun coverage when baby #2 arrives shortly.  We will keep you updated!)

All in all, we were really pleased with the way the stroller performed.  It’s super easy to push, even on surfaces that aren’t or are poorly paved.  The basket is large and carries a lot of stuff easily.  The bassinet gives you an easy solution to sleeping in the hotel.  The car seat adaptor and the forward or rear facing seat all give you lots of options to keep your little one shady and comfortable.  But best of all – it’s all machine washable!  All the fabric can be taken off and thrown in the wash.  So when you get home from your trip a little grubby, it’s no problem!  We’ll definitely be traveling with our UPPAbaby Vista stroller again – we’ll only be sorry that our little one will soon be too big for the bassinet!

UPDATE:

We’ve now been using the UppaBaby Vista for more than a year now.  We’ve had lots of comments on the price of the stroller – was it really worth it?  Recently were also asked if a year later the stroller was still performing well.

Well, in answer to both questions –  “Yes!”  Most emphatically, YES!  You know, sometimes you spend the money but you’re not really sure if it’s really worth it?  Well, that’s what we did and we are happy to report that it was worth every penny!  Not only does the stroller handle everything from uneven pavement to gravel to dirt paths with ease, it also has the most ENORMOUS basket.  Think you don’t have that much stuff to carry anyhow?  Well, when your child goes from being a baby to a toddler (in the blink of an eye!) and you want to go shopping when they really need to nap, you’re going to LOVE this basket!  We routinely do our shopping using the stroller rather than a cart.   This is fabulously convenient.  We’re also about to have our second child and are very happy that we can just add on a “Rumble Seat” and bingo – a double stroller that isn’t any wider or bigger than our current one!  Plus, now we have a shopping cart with seating/sleeping for two! 😉

Living in a sunny climate we also REALLY appreciate how enormous the sun shade is on the UppaBaby Vista.  Not only is it great for keeping the sun’s rays off your little one, it’s also helpful for blocking out the world, making it easier to nap in a busy store, or street, for example.

The other thing we love about the UppaBaby Vista wasn’t at all obvious to us when we first bought it.  The stroller stands on its own when folded.  Not only is this extremely useful when you’re storing the stroller, but it turns out to have another impact, too.  When the stroller is folded, the wheels are exposed.  They’re not sandwiched in the middle like on some strollers.  This means that you don’t have to lift the stroller all the way into your trunk (boot) in order to put it in your car/van/SUV, etc.  All you have to do is to lift it as far as the entrance to the trunk, and then let it roll the rest of the way.  The UppaBaby Vista isn’t heavy compared to many full-sized strollers, but at 25lbs, it’s not exactly light, either.  Especially if you happen to be very pregnant with number 2!  Not only that, but strollers aren’t compact boxes you’re holding close to your body.  It’s awkward and you have to lean way over to lift some of them up and into your vehicle.  For instance, our daughter now weighs at least as much as the stroller, but we would have much less trouble lifting her up than lifting the stroller.  Some of the other strollers we’ve looked at (for instance, the Bugaboo and the City Select) fold differently and can’t stand on their own.  This is a problem not only for storage, but also is a problem when it comes time to put them in the car.  Having to lean way over to actually lift them right into the vehicle would be a major issue for someone with back trouble, someone with shorter arms, or someone who’s pregnant!

On a somewhat related note, you don’t have to completely empty the basket in order to fold the stroller.  We recently tried out a Baby Jogger City Select (and from our research the Bugaboo has this problem, too) and we had to take EVERYTHING out of the basket or it wouldn’t fold – right down to the instruction manual that comes with it!  Well, we always have extra snacks, a blanket and a water bottle in the basket of our UppaBaby Vista.  We never take them out to fold it and we’ve had absolutely no problems.  This is really useful, since it means we never need to think about it – those “emergency” items are always there – because we never take them out!

We also like how high up the UppaBaby Vista keeps your child.  There are the obvious advantages to this – you don’t have to lean over very far to get to them, for example.  But one thing we really like about it is that it makes the stroller more obvious when you’re in a crowded place.  For instance, at a crowded market, it’s easier for people to see the stroller – and not realize it’s there by tripping over it!  Being higher up also means your child is further from the wheels.  Which means they can’t reach them, so there is no need for wheel guards like on some other strollers.  Even when using the UppaBaby Vista Rumble Seat, wheel guards aren’t necessary.

We have been VERY, VERY impressed with UppaBaby’s customer service.  We have had some minor issues and they have responded promptly, courteously and amazingly helpfully.  For example, we also own the UppaBaby G-Lite – a FABULOUS umbrella stroller.  (See The UppaBaby G-Lite Umbrella Stroller – an Amazing Travel Stroller that will make you very happy you didn’t choose the Maclaren Volo for more information).  Well, after a recent trip it was no longer standing on its own.  We emailed UppaBaby on Friday after the close of business.  By Monday morning when we woke up, we already had a response – they were shipping us a new one, with apologies that it might take a little longer since the color we owned was out of stock!  Well, within a week we had a brand-new stroller delivered to our door.  Amazing!  That kind of service alone would sway our purchase!

We feel that, for us, the UppaBaby Vista’s price tag is justified by its performance.  We also felt that it becomes an even better value when we considered we didn’t need to buy a bassinet since it came with one.  Also, we have seen many friends invest $300-$400 in a stroller only to have to buy another one, for another $300-$400 when baby #2 comes along.  Yes, the UppaBaby Rumble Seat does cost $130, but that’s much less than most people would spend on a double stroller – especially one with the performance of the Vista!  So, overall, we felt that while the initial price may seem steep, when you consider what you’re getting and the years of use you will be able to get from the product, it’s not unreasonable.

We hope this information is helpful!  Please let us know what you think of your stroller – we’re always happy to hear from others!