Uppababy Vista. Why I hate the stroller that I love.

This is my opinion, if you don’t share it, I don’t particularly care, I just want other moms-to-be to know some drawbacks and maybe consider additional testing in store before buying. 

Unless of course you’ve found a fix to my frustration… then yes please share! 

I bought the Uppababy Vista V2. 

I bought the Mesa V2. 

I bought the stroller travel bag. 

I bought the rumble seat, when baby #2 came around. 

I bought the upper adapters to maximize space for both seats. 

I bought two snack trays for the kids. 

I bought the cup holder for me. 

I bought the stroller parent organizer. 

I bought the Piggyback board. 

I have a toddler and a baby. The toddler wants independence but also their own special chair. The baby gets so much special treatment, you’re damn right my toddler gets their own chair and a piggyback board. 

I thought I loved the stroller. I WANT to love the stroller. I paid a LOT of money for this stroller. 

I honestly don’t know if a better one exists?! Yet I find myself frustrated and hating this stroller. All the time. 

With one seat, most of this system works flawlessly. 

As soon as you add the second, things go down hill. Which seems counter-intuitive since that’s literally what the Vista is made for. If you didn’t want multiple seats wouldn’t you opt for the Minu or Cruz? I don’t care for an answer because the use of parents is different from the manufacturer design and intent, and they market and sell this for parents with multiples.

With multiples…

1. When you have a newborn and a toddler, you can’t use the rumble seat and the bassinet. Yes, even with adapters. You can use the bassinet when you’re alone with baby (no bottom chair installed) but not on a family walk with both kids in it. Period. 
2. Two seats? They barely fit with any leg space unless they are both very, very, upright/vertical. 
3. You can barely use the footrest for the top kid, and the top kid just kicks the bottom canopy. 
4. If the kids are seated completely vertical, you can use the canopies. Even slightly reclined? You can’t use the bottom canopy because the top seat doesn’t allow enough gap/space to raise the canopy over the bottom child’s head.
5. You either can’t recline the top seat, or can’t use the parent organizer. There’s basically NO gap between the top seat and the handlebars, and the parent organizer obv hangs below the handlebars, even if handle is extended to the max. So reclining the seat means you hit the top of the organizer. There’s nowhere to put it where it isn’t on the way. 
6. If you want to lay the stroller flat in your trunk you either need to remove the rumble seat or lay the whole stroller frame and every thing on top of the seat/bumper bar/snack tray. Even if you remove the chair, you’d be laying on top of the rumble seat adapters. 
   • Uppababy tells you to remove the rumble seat every time. Lovely. 
   • I get that this isn’t the END of the world. But this is no longer a “quick fold and stow”. It’s a “disassemble and take up the entire suv cargo space” because you need so many steps. Keep reading. 
7. When you add the piggyback on top of two seats, it can’t fold AT ALL with everything installed. The piggyback folds upright and presses into the back of the toddler chair at the top. It presses right into the back of the seat. With one seat, it’s meant to fit in the gap between the chair and the handlebars. This no longer exists when you have two chairs even with the adapters. 
   • I’ve seen the YouTube and SnuggleBugz videos. Watch closely, they literally just push it into the top seat to say “look, it can work!” to sell you a stroller. 
   • Uppababy tells you to remove the toddler seat when folding to make space for the piggyback. Lovely. 
   • So to be clear, I need to remove BOTH seats and two adapters to even fold this into the trunk, any time I take the kids out. Again, no longer a convenient stroller. For this price?…
8. There’s no head space for the tiny toddler to stand on the piggyback without leaning backwards, out/away from the stroller. Or for the parent to walk properly even with the handlebar fully extended. We still do it, awkwardly, because my toddler loves the combo of riding and freedom, but it’s disappointing, and that just feels bad. The stroller should extend further and fold toward the parent or something to make this make sense. The piggyback is $200 CAD, not a cheap addition for something so poorly designed. 
9. The Snack Tray… cup holder is too small to fit anything wider than a baby bottle. Funny because that’s EVERY cup my baby and toddler have. Cups end up laid sideways in the snack section because it can’t fit in the hole. Rubber grips should make it so something “too big” doesn’t just bounce out but the are oversized baby bottle grips. They barely bend. 
   • No to all these cups: munchkin 360, munchkin weighted straw, honey bear straw, zak designs straw cups, munchkin click lock. Definitely not an open cup, even if it fit it would be so hard to remove even the parent would likely spill it. 
10. My parent cup holder broke and snapped off after a year of use. Also the stroller is so wide and the cup holder goes on the outside of the stroller and adds yet another 3-4” to the width. So it will bump against the inside of the car trunk, or door frames while strolling, if you aren’t careful. We were, but who knows, maybe this is another contribution to the reason it broke?
11. LAST. To use the travel bag. It only fits the frame, one bumper bar, one chair. No adapters and no second seat, nor piggyback, nor cup holder, nor snack tray. They sell you a second travel bag for your “extra” rumble seat that you had to purchase in the first place. Honestly, leave the rest at home or pack elsewhere. If you do manage to squeeze them in the travel bag you risk it getting broken anyway. Also, here’s the amazing method on how to use the travel bag: 

• Get to the airport gate with your kid(s) and all the other travel gear, snacks, diaper bags, etc. (remember leave your cup holder and piggyback at home unless you have space in a luggage [hah]).
• Fine a space like 4’x4’ minimum. You’re going to need it. 
• Remove everything. Kids are now loose with your partner, in the airport, with all your stuff on the floor. 
• Remove the seats and adapters from the stroller. Install one seat in a specific position without adapters. Stash the adaptors in a carry-on I guess.
• Remove the BACK WHEELS from the stroller and pack them in a separate pouch. The wheels, yes. Come on! At this point, you will be squatting and manoeuvring all around the stroller on the airport floor.
• Lift the frame into the floppy bag. Remove bumper bar and place that in a separate pouch in the bag. 
• Maneuver in circles on the ground to zipper the giant floppy bag closed. You’re done. It’s in. It’s bigger than your suitcase and you’re still chasing kids with too many bags in hand, but it’s done. Bring it through the counter and check it at the gate in front of the plane. 
• Oh. It doesn’t stand on its own. So while balancing your kids and passports and boarding passes at the counter, you’re balancing the giant bag now, too. 
• When you land, wait for the giant bag, then reassemble everything right at the gate because you can’t really move with your kids on the loose in an airport and a boatload of bags and gear in tow. 
• Curse at the whole process and bring an umbrella stroller next time, or get your uppababy scratched everywhere from airline handling. It’s too much to deal with.