ABC Kids Expo 2009: Orbit G2 Next Generation Stroller

New Orbit G2 Stroller

I think it’s safe to say that, while many people love the Orbit car seat, their first stroller left a lot to be desired in the eyes of many consumers. Well, after taking a long look at the next generation Orbit stroller – the Orbit G2, I think I can say that it will likely make many new parents much more happy. In fact, it’s so loaded with features I don’t know if they’ll all fit in one blog post. But I’m willing to try.

The biggest difference with the last Orbit stroller, is that in addition to being able to rotate your child 360 degrees you can now tilt the child back and forward. Although not exactly revolutionary, it’s something that had been missing from the previous model. And when you combine it with the 360 degree rotation, you could (in theory) take your front-facing child who has fallen asleep in the stroller, recline them back and then rotate them so they are facing you. All without removing the sleeping kid from the stroller. It’s a feature I would have loved to have back when my kids were young.

But that’s just one new feature. Orbit apparently spent a lot of time listening to it’s customers and added a ton of new features into the G2, many of which I included pictures for below. My favorites are:

1. The no-air tires, which have a whopping 4 shock absorbers PER TIRE. I leaned on the the thing and it took it without a problem.

2. There’s a new cup holder that holds one big drink this time, all inside a dish for which provides a handy place to put your keys (or, as I imagined it, a few reserve goldfish crackers).

3. A new snack tray for the child, that has a lid that can be secured when you want to take it off the stroller without spilling every cracker crumb inside.

4. A totally sweet stroller under-bag that comes off with the push of a button and becomes a tote bag / diaper bag. Even if you just use it to carry the crap you were storing under the stroller while you leave it at a stroller-check in a restaurant or something, it’s a really cool feature I haven’t seen before.

5. A vented back panel that you can zip open for hot days, or zip closed for rainy ones.

6. A new and improved gate-check bag for airplanes that has a big “GATE CHECK stroller” sign on it so the baggage handlers won’t confuse it for regular luggage (hopefully).

7. A new hard foot rest that’s extendable as your baby grows.

8. Buttons on the stroller handle that make it much easier to extend the stroller handles.

9. A new red color (which apparently is popular for strollers).

Just like the old one, it will also work with your Orbit car seat, and in my opinion it looks like just the improvements Orbit needed.

It will be available sometime in early 2010 (likely around January) and it doesn’t have a price yet. Check it out at OrbitBaby.com/G2 (and sign up for the mailing list if you’re so inclined).