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

[JD80]

No matter when you ask someone, people are always lazier now than they used to be; whether it's in 2018 or 1965.

That's a lazy argument.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

I vaguely remember my first time at WDW when I was a (very) wee lad back in '71-73... One of those memories being carried on my dad's shoulder in Adventureland near the Jungle Cruise. Pretty sure there was no stroller involved. I also remember a time at Kennedy Space Center where I was pretty sick (ended up going to the local hospital) and again - on my dad's shoulder. Might even have been the same trip.

 

[BraveGirl]

As a mom of two littles, I can think of 2 reasons...

1. When I was a kid, we went back to the hotel for naps midday. Parks were smaller, crowds were smaller and tickets were cheaper, so we could do this. Now my kids are out for marathon open-to-close days. They still need naps, but now they take them in the strollers to save time.

2. Today's strollers are so much better at being mobile storage units than the strollers of the 70s and 80s. My kids are 7 and 4 so we are almost out of the stroller years and I'm already dreading having to carry all our crap in a backpack instead of putting it under the stroller.

 

[JD80]

As a mom of two littles, I can think of 2 reasons...

1. When I was a kid, we went back to the hotel for naps midday. Parks were smaller, crowds were smaller and tickets were cheaper, so we could do this. Now my kids are out for marathon open-to-close days. They still need naps, but now they take them in the strollers to save time.

2. Today's strollers are so much better at being mobile storage units than the strollers of the 70s and 80s. My kids are 7 and 4 so we are almost out of the stroller years and I'm already dreading having to carry all our crap in a backpack instead of putting it under the stroller.

You can always still just bring a stroller.

 

[larryz]

You can always still just bring a stroller baggage cart.

FIFY...

 

[Bronson55]

Back then life was different.

Finally, an accurate intelligent response to all the hidden agenda questions so often posed on these forums.

 

[JIMINYCR]

I think it comes down to an increase in people being able to afford trips with younger children and how they now value the enjoyment of taking the trip. Years ago parents would be more likely to wait until the kids were older and then they could enjoy more of the park and attractions.

 

[Kingoglow]

I was seven for my first trip. My younger brother and I walked ourselves. We were not exceptional or athletic. I assure you that your kids can also walk. However, the problem arises when you force your kids to tour a theme park all day. 7-8 hours in a theme park is more than most Americans spend at work in a day. Plan accordingly.

 

[correcaminos]

Do scooter and wheel chair guest still get to go to the front of the line?

No they do not. In fact I find generally speaking wheels take longer to get through lines than regular people. If you don't fit through the regular queue you get a return time. Never FOTL access though in our experiences. The old GAC would give it though, but you didn't need one if you were in a chair/scooter.

 

[OneofThree]

Not buying into the idea that there are more kids that age visiting WDW. These days, I see more older people, more single people, and more people without kids than ever. Look no further than this forum and you'll find people wanting to push their 10 year old around in a stroller. I was 9 and my sister was 8 when we first visited. Our parents about ran everywhere all over the parks and typically did not return to the resorts for afternoon breaks. I don't ever recall my sister needing any sort of special care or emergency management personnel to rescue her from. . .get this -walking. I've got 5 kids. At age 6 -no more stroller or grocery cart. Why -because they don't need it and don't want it. If I had to guess, the reasons for the current stroller epidemic might because a) parents don't teach their kids how to behave and b) parents sit their kids in front of television and X-box instead of playing outdoors.

 

[JD80]

I don't have a point of view on the age I make my kids walk, my oldest is turning 5 next month. Family walks she started walking last year instead of the stroller, or riding her bike.

Our next trip, I'll have to try letting her walk, she'll be 5.5-6 yo at that point.

 

[Lisa t]

I've heard so many people say, but my 5, 6, 7, 8 year old can't walk that much. What??? In the 80's no one that age was in a stroller. We all made it through Disney just fine. They also didn't make strollers big enough for kids that old. Once you were out of the umbrella stroller, you were out.

 

[Lucky]

Also people tend to push their kids beyond the limits now. Back when I went as a child, we did't go "commando" all day every day or even close to that. It was still a vacation, not a marathon. So now they "need" strollers to keep going for 16 hours straight.

.

Great point. Guests are spending a lot more (even controlling for inflation) and they want to get their money's worth.

 

[Lisa t]

1/3 of the kids weren't also obese back then and were in better shape.

 

[crxbrett]

Like I said - I was there in person. It's not more obvious. Maybe my idea of overweight and obese is different than yours which is why I say this. I traveled with obese grandparents though. My mother was obese as well in many of our trips (though not the early ones) and same with my father depending on the year (he's in great shape now though). I've also been both obese and now average weight for my small frame. So I even notice things like health and bodies more than some.

Again photos/videos mean nothing to me as I was actually there and regularly since we started going in the 80s. Snap judgments based on pics and videos means nothing to me.

Yes we're more overweight now than maybe my first trip in the early 80s, definitely NOT in the 90s though and it wasn't just in the last decade or more that this *slow* change has happened, but I find it silly that you are using this as your arguments for strollers when IMO they have really little to do with each other. Other factors you even mentioned go into it more IMO.

Are you arguing statistical information though? Ignore my little video sample for a moment and look up the numbers. They do not lie. The percentage of obese people in the U.S. has gone from 13% in 1980 to 20% in 1992 to 30% in 2001 and up to 39% in 2014. Extreme obesity was only 2% in 1980, 3% in 1990, 5% in 2001 and then 8% in 2014. When you consider how many people there are living in the U.S., those percentages/numbers and the rapid increase since 1980 is eye-opening and quite staggering. Here are the stats if you want to see for yourself. Department of Health & Human Services statistics

The overweight/lazy and sedentary lifestyle on the rise in the last 15-20 years comes into play with the stroller argument because people are more lazy now than ever before for numerous reasons. And promoting laziness or approving of it or teaching it to our young ones basically enables them or rewards them with being lazy and thus contributing to weight problems in the future. The more people promote not being active, whether to themselves or to their children, the worse it will get for this country. obviously those who have suffered from injuries or accidents have no choice. But fast food, technology and other factors have really hurt the health of people in the U.S. and other parts of the world.

I am not saying laziness is the cause for all of the extra strollers in the park. On the contrary, there are quite a few factors. But laziness is definitely one of them without a single doubt. It's not silly as you say. It's anything but funny to be honest.

I think this thread has brought up the main factors for the excessive stroller use seen in the parks today.
Convenience. More socially acceptable now. People wanting the most value for time spent in the parks now since prices are so high. More people in the parks now than before. Laziness being more prevalent in today's culture. And possible safety concerns.

 

[correcaminos]

Are you arguing statistical information though? Ignore my little video sample for a moment and look up the numbers. They do not lie. The percentage of obese people in the U.S. has gone from 13% in 1980 to 20% in 1992 to 30% in 2001 and up to 39% in 2014. Extreme obesity was only 2% in 1980, 3% in 1990, 5% in 2001 and then 8% in 2014. When you consider how many people there are living in the U.S., those percentages/numbers and the rapid increase since 1980 is eye-opening and quite staggering. Here are the stats if you want to see for yourself. Department of Health & Human Services statistics

The overweight/lazy and sedentary lifestyle on the rise in the last 15-20 years comes into play with the stroller argument because people are more lazy now than ever before for numerous reasons. And promoting laziness or approving of it or teaching it to our young ones basically enables them or rewards them with being lazy and thus contributing to weight problems in the future. The more people promote not being active, whether to themselves or to their children, the worse it will get for this country. obviously those who have suffered from injuries or accidents have no choice. But fast food, technology and other factors have really hurt the health of people in the U.S. and other parts of the world.

I am not saying laziness is the cause for all of the extra strollers in the park. On the contrary, there are quite a few factors. But laziness is definitely one of them without a single doubt. It's not silly as you say. It's anything but funny to be honest.

I think this thread has brought up the main factors for the excessive stroller use seen in the parks today.
Convenience. More socially acceptable now. People wanting the most value for time spent in the parks now since prices are so high. More people in the parks now than before. Laziness being more prevalent in today's culture. And possible safety concerns.

Why are you lecturing me so much? Please stop.

I don't agree with the stroller issue being related to obesity. Also please read the whole post before you start to lecture on something I already said was true. It's kind of annoying. I originally quoted you because you said there were no obese people in that video and there were. I'm not sure why you were taking such offence to what I am saying because of that.

 

[JD80]

It's such a silly discussion. Who cares? Disney has made it easier and easier to accommodate young families. That's why you see more strollers.

There are far far more young kids of appropriate age in strollers than older ones.

 

[Reedy Creek Rob]

For us, we chose to use a stroller so that we could maintain our "warrior" method of touring WDW. My wife and I were frequent visitors prior to having kids, and are both energetic and focused on getting a lot done. We know where we want to go, and how to get there quickly. Putting the kids in a stroller meant that we could keep up our admittedly fast pace without torturing the little legs of our kids.

On our last trip, our kids were 7 and 4. We would have skipped a stroller for the 7y.o. but figured it wasn't any harder to push a double than a single. This year the big guy will be on foot and will likely be the last year of stroller use for the little guy.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

Alright, we'll see if my opinion is shared here. We took our three kids last year. They were 6, 3, and 20 months. I wouldn't even dream of asking my 6 year old to be in a stroller and he never asks either. He'd look ridiculous. Our three year old was 3 years 9 months at the time. Call me cruel, but she was walking pretty much all of the time. She got tired at the end of the night on the last couple of rides and literally just buried herself into my shoulder. Our 20 month old was the one in the stroller. Our three year old was only in the stroller at the end of the night because she passed out and I just put her in there because she is heavier to carry than the baby.

My honest opinion here is that a stroller is a nuisance. It got in the way, and it gets in the way of other people. It's bulky and you have to park it everywhere. If we didn't have our 20 month old with us I would haven't even gotten one. No need to have one for a light three year old that is used to walking and is easy to carry if she is tired (I did it the last hour of the day).

So do others share my opinion here? My three year old is now 4. She's permanently out of a stroller. Our now 2 year old is on her way out and it will be pretty borderline whether she is in one on our next trip in October when she'll be 2.7 years old.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

By the way, yes we are more obese and overweight. I am built like an NFL lineman so it isn't as if I can't drop some weight. But the most noticeable thing is kids for sure. I grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. By the 1990s people were getting pretty fat. I think it is worse for kids now for sure. In the 1980s the truth is kids weren't fat. Rarely was there a fat kid let alone an obese one. Parents just let us run around without a care in the world. We were outside and no one had a cell phone. Your parents let you use the home phone and that was it. You contacted your friend by riding your bike to his house. Honestly, this was just 30 years ago, it is how it happened. I know it sounds archaic, but that was normal.

Then if you go back to the 1970s people are even leaner. Kids too. So yeah, it is no myth we are fatter. We are fatter, but the average man is weaker than 40 years ago because they did studies on the strength of a man's grip back then compared to today and today's man lost. Probably because the inactivity of our jobs compared to more manual labour 40 years earlier?

Anyway, yeah, we're fatter either way.