Product Review: The UPPABaby Vista

Whilst pregnant with my first child, I spent hours and hours online reading customer reviews to decide which stroller to buy. We live in a hip suburb with sidewalks, parks and a nice downtown, so I felt I needed a stroller that would befit this lifestyle.  Ultimately, I was convinced that I "had to have" the UPPAbaby Vista stroller.  We purchased the 2010 limited edition Vista in 'Maya' - a nice bright yellow shade, but the question remains (and four other subsequent strollers later), would I purchase this stroller again if I had to do it over?



Quite simply, I am really not sure. Can't say I love it, can't say I hate it. The UPPAbaby Vista has some great features but its drawbacks are not small and I felt they interfered with my enjoyment and the functionality of the stroller on a daily basis. This is a big deal for a busy Mom. This is the main reason why I am so torn.  If the drawbacks were small, I guess I could overlook it and accept the fact that strollers are never perfect. So here is a summary of my thoughts on the UPPAbaby Vista so you can make up your own mind.

Pros
The UPPAbaby Vista is a beautiful aluminum alloy frame stroller, that handles urban terrain smoothly and effortlessly.  It is an amazing stroller to handle with just one hand - which actually comes in handy when juggling the Starbucks coffee or cell phone in the other.

The large under-stroller basket is one of the main reasons I chose this stroller and I won't lie, it is amazing.  I have taken this stroller to the Zoo, picnics and of course Christmas shopping and the basket easily fit bags and bags of merchandise.  This is great news for a mother doing Christmas shopping but still having to manage a baby and diaper bag in tow!

The wheels on the Vista are super sturdy too. They're made of rubber and you can definitely see it's a level up from those standard plastic-like wheels you see on most strollers. Collapsing the stroller, I admit, did take me a while to get the hang of.  Even after a year, it was still not effortless for me but I will give UPPAbaby credit for engineering a fairly easy kinda-one-hand collapsing method, but we will re-visit this point in the "Cons" section!




The other great feature of the stroller is the canopy.  It has a great mesh rear detail, which not only offers the child fantastic ventilation but also allows the child to see the mother and vice-versa.

My daughter used to love poking fingers at me during walks and would giggle so hard when I tickled her back through the mesh.  The mesh is easily, and securely, covered with a flap that is held down with velcro and nicely rolls up and is fastened with a cute little peg button. The canopy also contains an extendable sun visor, which really came in handy during the afternoon walks and also whilst Mini-V slept.

The seat itself offers the child the ability to sit completely upright or lay virtually all the way back. I really liked this feature of the Vista too.  When I took Mini-V to the Zoo, the complete upright position really offered her a terrific vantage point from which she got a good view of the animal enclosures, without the need for me to constantly take her in and out of the stroller.


And then when she fell asleep in the Vista, I would recline her back and she would be almost 90degrees back.  The only thing is the seat does not completely flatten out and her feet tend to be elevated, but if this ever bothered her, the countless hours she has clocked up asleep in the Vista definitely contradict that supposition.


The Vista offers a single-foot brake attached to the right rear wheel, which was also a wonderful feature.  The brake locks securely and is extremely easy to press, even in a sandalled or flip-flopped shoe! (A key factor in the summertime to most mothers!). You can also lock the front wheels to give smooth riding on bumpier terrain. Unlocked, the wheels turn smoothly, offering ease in pivoting the stroller around obstacles and bends in the sidewalk.

Other noteworthy features include the mesh and rain covers and bassinet included in the price of the stroller - something not always added with universal stroller systems. The rain cover really is also wonderful for the cooler weather, protecting bub from the outside elements. We certainly used it here in Michigan during Mini-V's first Christmas and it was not warm!!

It was a really cold night and the baby did great under the clear rain cover.

Cons
So you may be asking yourself now why on earth did she say she may not buy this stroller again? At this point, I want to say that us Moms have very simple and basic needs.  Sometimes, we don't really care about the engineering of a stroller, or the soy fabric in the bassinet.  Our needs center on a few key requirements:

1. Can I get this stroller in and out of my car quickly because my child has done a big poop and is screaming bloody murder?;
2. My husband actually works and is unable to be with me Monday-Friday while I run errands so am I physically able to collapse and open this stroller 5 times in one day without killing my back? Oh yes, and I have a screaming child in the car;
3. Where can I safely put my Cafe Latte? It's hot and my child is screaming?
4. Ooops, I am pregnant again, where will my second child go?
5. Is my stroller small enough to make it through the aisles of BabyGap?

So, if you are like me, I felt that spending $700 on a stroller was a little bit of a waste of money.  My husband and I travelled a lot with my first child so firstly, the UPPAbaby Vista was not a stroller to be easily travelled with. It is bulky, heavy, not really that easy to collapse with one hand.  The solution I guess is to buy a cheap umbrella stroller but I think that after you have spent $700 on a single stroller, you have guilt and remorse when you go ahead to actually buy that second stroller. We ended up loving a simple snap and go stroller when Mini-V was really little.  It was simple, had a good sized basket underneath and accommodated the infant car seat beautifully. All for around $65.

(Taken in Seattle)

Later on when we had to take a big trip to Australia, we bought the Baby Jogger City Mini. Wonderful stroller, crappy basket.  After the trip, we ended up using the City Mini for everyday use over the Vista due to its light frame and easy single-hand collapse feature.  I really loved the ability to pull a handle on the City Mini and literally have the stroller collapsed.  So many times I had done that whilst holding my child with the other arm. Brilliant. I really wished the UPPAbaby Vista was a little lighter and less bulky to collapse and carry. The other great feature about the City Mini is that it is virtually flat when reclined fully, so your child can really sleep nicely. Believe me, my daughter has spent many hours sleeping comfortably in the City Mini - during weddings, dinners, at the mall etc.

With our new City Mini on a trip to Australia. Mini-V is fast asleep in this photo.

When Mini-V was 16 months, we gave in and bought an umbrella stroller when we made a trip to India.  We knew our larger strollers would be difficult to travel with and they would get ruined with all the flights.  This point for sure highlights the fact that, had we only had the Vista, we would have struggled travelling with it.  We bought the Chicco Liteway Stroller as it had a (limited) recline feature and its canopy upgrade, in hindsight this was a great decision even though it was almost double the price of the lesser Chicco umbrella stroller model.  I have to admit, I am yet to use the stroller since returning from our trip to India, I guess it was easier to just go back to using the City Mini!

At the Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur, India

This might sound trivial but the cup holders on the Vista are a joke.  They are flimsy and really not safe for holding any drink, let alone a hot one. Plus, the stroller is quite wide, so having a cup holder dangling on to the side of a stroller really isn't a great idea. I wonder if the fancy engineers designing the stroller fell asleep when deciding on this detail of the stroller? Like I have said before, I guess this sounds trivial but really, it's the little features that count to a mother because when they are designed well, they make our lives that much easier. Truly.

Depending on how you view it, UPPAbaby Vista Rumble Seat is either a good idea or a bad one.  Originally, when we purchased the Vista, we had intended to let the stroller grow with us and our growing family. We thought when we fell pregnant again, we would simply purchase the rumble seat and keep using the stroller.  Then again, I was a childless pregnant woman who had no clue about these things.  When I did eventually fall pregnant shortly before Mini-V turned one, I soon realized just where the rumble seat would be fitted... at the bottom rear of the stroller.  Basically, Mini-V would practically ride in the basket! 

The Vista with the Rumble Seat fitted

Anyone with kids knows how impractical this is because a toddler wants to see the world passing her by, talk to people, wave at the dogs, get in and out to run to the park swings, see Mommy and of course, she her new sibling! We made the decision at that point that we had outgrown the UPPAbaby Vista and needed a double stroller. This time around, and wiser, we didn't buy a fancy one and doing that was a great choice because my two-year old likes to mostly walk and we only use the double stroller for the mall and the Zoo.  I would have just died if we had spent another $700 on another under-used stroller!

You expect that for that much money, your stroller should do everything for you, including change your baby's diaper.  Perhaps I had unrealistic expectations and just wanted the Vista to meet all my needs and it did not. Large baskets and smooth handling aside, I realized that buying a stroller is a very personal choice and when you have to do it, it is best to write a list of the absolute 'non-negotiables' and then find that stroller that checks off most of those on your list.  So while the UPPAbaby Vista has, in my opinion, the best stroller basket on the market and handles beautifully, I am not certain it is worth spending $700 for it. For everyday trips, I replaced it with my City Mini in the trunk of my car and left the Vista at home for neighborhood walks.  I am not sure I can justify $700 for an "occasional stroller".  That is my biggest problem.  I have a couple friends who own the Vista and they also found it useful to own a secondary, more compact stroller to travel with and for everyday quick trips.    Well, maybe this is the solution?