So why weren't there many strollers back in the day?

[FettFan]

This.

Fact.

End of discussion.



-

It might actually NOT be fact... I posted that response a year ago in March 2018.

In May 2018, NPR released a news report that stated that the US birth rate was actually down.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo...ar-low-sending-fertility-rate-to-a-record-low

Here's a chart of US birth rates from 1990-2017. In those 27 years, the birth rate dropped from a whopping 16.7 per 1,000 people to 11.8 per 1,000.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/195943/birth-rate-in-the-united-states-since-1990/



Therefore I think it only fair to amend my answer and say that the influx of strollers is less likely because of post-millennium baby boom, but in reality it's because helicopter parents decide to bring a LOT of extra things for their children that the children may not necessarily need.

In short: the strollers are actually Graco-built versions of U-Haul trailers....

And the parents are essentially the neurotic Weimareiner owners from Best In Show.

"It's not in here. You left it at the hotel. You go back and you get her Busy Bee! GO TO THE HOTEL AND GET BUSY BEE!"

 

[Trackmaster]

Fair enough, thank you. I was pretty much replying to those you were quoting, not you in particular.
It is a silly debate though. I don't care if someone does put their 9yr old in one really. I think the physical size of the stroller will be a self limiter on the issue. You aren't going to fit a 14 yr old in one (and if you can, go for it.)
I seriously think on ride photography is a real enjoyment killer at WDW, far more than a bunch of strollers parked out of the walkway (WDW is very good at corralling them and keeping them safe.)
My order of WDW problems is:

1. Flash Photography / Screen use in a dark ride
2. Talking during a ride, show, or fireworks (especially when they are trying to out act the ride's audio, like during the stretching room in HM. "Hey, Olivier.... I paid to hear Paul Frees, not you."
3. Used to be line cutters, although really I don't see this as much as I used to like 10 yrs ago.
4. Paying to park at my WDW resort.

1. Yeah, phones are the worst. Its even worse at parks where the coasters are more extreme, and we're having issues with people dropping them, and potentially hurting people... and even worse: hurting the poor coasters and trains! The poor wheels have to be replaced every time a phone is dropped and falls on the track. Think of my babies! And yeah, some humans have lost eyes from coins and phones. And its usually people trying to take their own POVs despite YouTube already having multiple for every coaster out there.
2. Couldn't agree more. I'm a movie theater shusher too.
3. Yeah, I wonder if FP+ has helped with this. Cutting the line to meet up with your friends was a ghetto Fast Pass basically, so this at least gave them the ability to do that legally.
4. I never really stay on site so I can't comment. I just wonder... how is it any different than just increasing the price? Would you be less offended if they just kept the "free" parking but subtly increased the price?

 

[Hockey89]

We have never had an issue with young kids in strollers. We have never been rammed into by one or had them impact our stay at all. I don't get where this animosity is coming from. What does bother me are the people that A) walk 5 family members across, taking up the walk way and not letting others pass. B) People who just stop dead in their tracks in front of you. C) People that, when stopped, do not pull over to the side letting people have the walkway. I see these 3 things on a very regular basis and are more annoying then any toddler in a stroller.

At the Animal kingdom, two women used it as a ramming object any time they thought someone was "cutting" them. People were just walking on the paths and walking around them because they were moving so slow and they would ram their ankles. I would be shocked if that was the only time. It was something else.

But your points are well taken and happy all the time...

 

[Walt Disney1955]

There are other kinds of service dogs besides guide dogs- medical alert dogs for example.

Right, well the same kind of idea. I was just asking in general about it. I was quite sure dogs weren't allowed other than a medical reason.

 

[unmitigated disaster]

I think a lot of it is the commando mentality.

The other thing I'm guessing is that for some families this might be the only time they're doing anything really active all year. So, they just get used to popping junior in a stroller and going.

 

[Trackmaster]

I think a lot of it is the commando mentality.

The other thing I'm guessing is that for some families this might be the only time they're doing anything really active all year. So, they just get used to popping junior in a stroller and going.

Commando? You mean people going to parks without wearing any underwear?

 

[unmitigated disaster]

Commando? You mean people going to parks without wearing any underwear?

Maybe! After all, putting on underwear or pulling it up after going to the bathroom takes valuable milliseconds.

 

[mdcpr]

Maybe already mentioned, but there was a time when any self respecting able bodied kid over the age of 5 would have done anything to keep any other kid from seeing them in a stroller. Our general feeling is if they would be embarrassed to have their friends see mom wheel them up to school, they don't need it at a theme park.

Agree. Unless the 5 year old has a mobility problem, they don't need to use a stroller. We live in NYC and by the time my kids were 3, they were out of the strollers, climbing at least 3 flights of stairs, and walking a few miles a day. Now that they are 9 and 11, they are strong, healthy kids in good shape.

 

[Trackmaster]

Maybe! After all, putting on underwear or pulling it up after going to the bathroom takes valuable milliseconds.

I can't wait until I'm an old man and I can walk around in a bathrobe everywhere.

 

[danyoung56]

Closed robe or open?

 

[jaklgreen]

Maybe already mentioned, but there was a time when any self respecting able bodied kid over the age of 5 would have done anything to keep any other kid from seeing them in a stroller. Our general feeling is if they would be embarrassed to have their friends see mom wheel them up to school, they don't need it at a theme park.

Yeah, my kids definitely felt that strollers where for "babies" by the time they started school.

 

[jaklgreen]

At the Animal kingdom, two women used it as a ramming object any time they thought someone was "cutting" them. People were just walking on the paths and walking around them because they were moving so slow and they would ram their ankles. I would be shocked if that was the only time. It was something else.

But your points are well taken and happy all the time...

That is horrendous behavior and they should have been evicted for it. I don't doubt that it happens, but I give strollers and ECVs a wide berth. We are generally pretty good at paying attention to our surroundings and avoiding any collisions.

 

[Peculiar Penguin]

I for one am shocked, shocked, that the problem of dark ride photography has not been addressed at all... now that's the problem of our time.

This!! This is my biggest pet peeve. I would rather have my ankles run over than be blinded during a ride I waited an hour for.

 

[draybook]

Actually, not the same ballpark of logic at all. Its elective to bring backpacks and babies to parks. Its elective to push your five year old around in a stroller. Its not elective to be disabled, and parks must comply with ADA laws. So what goes on with medically approved devices is out of the park's hands.

All I am concerned with are devices that are optional for guests and that cause external dis-economies for others.

I lived in Boston for many years and got around on the T a lot, and I said for years that people with backpacks, bags, or strollers should have to pay a surcharge for their fare due to the congestion that they create.

It's elective to come to the parks with a disability.

 

[NormC]

Yeah, my kids definitely felt that strollers where for "babies" by the time they started school.

Exactly, if their friends saw them in strollers they would get picked on in class.

 

[Trackmaster]

It's elective to come to the parks with a disability.

That's true. Everyone will just lose their minds if you point this out, so I try not to touch that with a 10 foot pole.

 

[jaklgreen]

That's true. Everyone will just lose their minds if you point this out, so I try not to touch that with a 10 foot pole.

That's because no one likes the idea of personal responsibility. They are also confusing rights and wants.

 

[flynnibus]

It's elective to come to the parks with a disability.

That's dangerous thinking.. and EXACTLY why the ADA was enacted in the first place.

People were being excluded and reducing their quality of life because they were being excluded and they didn't 'elect' to accept those additional burdens. They were being discouraged from participating through lack of inclusion.

That kind of dismissive thought is exactly why the ADA sets out to make accessibility a DEFAULT - not something someone should need to 'elect' to earn or tolerate.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

Back then life was different. For one thing we didn't bring kids to theme parks until they were old enough to walk, use the bathroom, eat regular food and communicate with words. It was almost never even considered. My wife and I set an age of at least 6 years old. Mine were 6 and 9 when we went. They had strollers for rent back then, but, as I say the times were different and my kids would have been insulted if we had suggested a stroller. They did not consider themselves babies. There weren't any scooters because they basically hadn't been invented yet. Can't use what doesn't exist and there probably were fewer "obese" people because we didn't ride in strollers until we were teens. And without the scooter they just couldn't negotiate the parks as well. It was then, as it is now, a hell of a lot of walking. People with real problems in mobility simply stayed home with a wonderfully full life of starring at four walls. They only consolation that any of them had was that someday, those that felt superior to those "fatty's" will be there as well. If not overweight then some other thing, arthritis, injuries, whatever will make them feel shamed when trying to enjoy life while others looked at them, snarl and uttered words like fat and lazy.

Also, back the when people did go to Disney with older kids they left the baby home with Grandma so there were just less babies.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

We have never had an issue with young kids in strollers. We have never been rammed into by one or had them impact our stay at all. I don't get where this animosity is coming from. What does bother me are the people that A) walk 5 family members across, taking up the walk way and not letting others pass. B) People who just stop dead in their tracks in front of you. C) People that, when stopped, do not pull over to the side letting people have the walkway. I see these 3 things on a very regular basis and are more annoying then any toddler in a stroller.

Consider yourself fortunate because you are the minority. It happens to me multiple times every trip, one time I was sitting on main street waiting for the parade when a woman ran over both feet with her huge stroller , it pulled one of my shoes of (and broke it) I had to chase her down to get my shoe back, so yes I have issues with strollers.