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So why weren't there many strollers back in the day?
- Thread starter Walt Disney1955
- Start date
Do they even allow dogs at WDW other than guide dogs?
SirWillow
Well-Known Member
There are other kinds of service dogs besides guide dogs- medical alert dogs for example.
Trackmaster
Well-Known Member
Is it just me, or does anybody else think that there should at the minimum be an upcharge for strollers (even if they're your own), wagons, bags, and backpacks? I know it would look like the park is nickel and diming you, but it would serve an important economic purpose. Extra baggage that people carry around them them takes up more space on the midways, trams, rides, and the monorail. Short of banning all large outside items, they can let the free market decide who really needs that stuff, and who can get away without it.
People who travel light shouldn't have to pay for the congestion of the people who need to bring so much into parks. Plus, people who bring strollers are more easily able to stay at parks 16 hours without leaving. If families had to stay 5-6 hours at a time before they had to rest, it would help with congestion, and would mean that more people were guaranteed a minimum number of rides with shorter waits.
People who travel light shouldn't have to pay for the congestion of the people who need to bring so much into parks. Plus, people who bring strollers are more easily able to stay at parks 16 hours without leaving. If families had to stay 5-6 hours at a time before they had to rest, it would help with congestion, and would mean that more people were guaranteed a minimum number of rides with shorter waits.
s8film40
Well-Known Member
I guess by that logic they could also charge for wheelchairs and scooters/ECV's too.
MattFrees71
Well-Known Member
Although in most cases those are necessities. The big honking strollers many families don't need.
fngoofy
Well-Known Member
My first trip was in 1977. There was 1 park, 1 campsite, 2 Disney hotels, and the monorail or a boat hit them all. We would plan on a half day to do one land. Then we'd take a break back at the hotel and go back out in the evening. I bet we walked less than 3 miles in a day.
Now we always walk more than 10 miles a day, usually closer to 12 miles. Our kid was only using a stroller at home for about a 18 month period, but for our annual WDW trip, we brought the stroller for like 6 yrs. It was not a big stroller, but it had a net under the seat that could hold 3 rain ponchos and a small pouch up by the handle that could hold 3 water bottles.
The storage was nice, but we really just used it because asking a 5 yr old to walk 12 miles and be happy at the end of the day is a big ask.
I think this is part of the reason for the increased stroller count. The parks are a bit bigger than in 77', so there are more people. The amount of miles covered in a day with 4+ parks has increased by 4x, so the stroller age of kids has ratcheted up, and there are more people treating them as pack mules as a way to cut costs.
Now we always walk more than 10 miles a day, usually closer to 12 miles. Our kid was only using a stroller at home for about a 18 month period, but for our annual WDW trip, we brought the stroller for like 6 yrs. It was not a big stroller, but it had a net under the seat that could hold 3 rain ponchos and a small pouch up by the handle that could hold 3 water bottles.
The storage was nice, but we really just used it because asking a 5 yr old to walk 12 miles and be happy at the end of the day is a big ask.
I think this is part of the reason for the increased stroller count. The parks are a bit bigger than in 77', so there are more people. The amount of miles covered in a day with 4+ parks has increased by 4x, so the stroller age of kids has ratcheted up, and there are more people treating them as pack mules as a way to cut costs.
Trackmaster
Well-Known Member
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.
s8film40
Well-Known Member
I only meant this jokingly as a way to highlight how your idea is discriminatory against certain groups of people.
It's elective to bring disabled people with you also, which is essentially what a baby is for most purposes. They can't walk on their own and need assistance with pretty much everything. This is obviously where stroller come in. Also bags are used for many items that are necessities like medication.
jaklgreen
Well-Known Member
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.
Shouldigo12
Well-Known Member
I think discrimination is a bit too strong of a word. Also, I don't think anyone here has an issue with babies being in strollers or carrying needed items with them. It's mostly the fact that 1. Some parents are putting kids who are old enough to walk in strollers, usually (going by the responses I've seen on here) because the parents don't want to have to take breaks and slow down for the youngest and 2. using giant stroller so you can essentially bring a locker with you. These two things are what people have a problem with, and why some want their to be (even more) stroller regulation in the parks. I mean, Disney can't really go and outright ban them because that would be stupid on multiple levels. But putting a charge on using them might convince some of the people who don't actually need to use them to leave them at home.
fngoofy
Well-Known Member
We used this stroller for many years with our child.
It's not a big stroller, in fact it was so cool in that it folded in on itself twice so that it made an elongated cube and you could easily gate check it at the airport, fit in a gate check bag you could sling over your shoulder.
But for those of you saying we used it because we "don't want to have to take breaks and slow down for the youngest." I have a problem with that.
If we are going to drop $5,000+ on a week at WDW,:
- I'm not going to ask my 5 yr old to walk 12mi / day, nor am I going to ask them to just sit and rest and be bored.
- We aren't talking about a 12 yr old riding in it. We used this stroller for ages 18mo - 5 yrs old at WDW.
- We always thought that more importantly, it kept him from getting stepped on my others in large crowds.
I think this is a ridiculous conversation for a place like WDW. They are simply banning the ENORMOUS sized strollers, the ones even bigger than they wagon looking ones (51'x31' is the limit now I think.)
As for the number of them, as I mentioned in a previous post, there are simply more people there now days, and there are no down seasons anymore. If strollers at a family place like WDW is bothering you, that's a first world problem.
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.
Shouldigo12
Well-Known Member
There was someone in this thread who admitted she planned to let her 9 nine year old use a stroller. That is most certainly not for the child's benefit. I was not calling you out in particular with my post, I was just trying to explain why people have an issue with strollera and why some are arguing for a charge to be put on them. I'm sorry if you felt attacked by what i said, but there were several posts that said pretty plainly that they were using a stroller because they didn't want to have to change their pace for a child, not because they were worried about their child being too tired or unable to handle it. That, to me, is where the problem is. Again, I wasn't trying to call you out, just explain why some people are taking issue.
fngoofy
Well-Known Member
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:
- Flash Photography / Screen use in a dark ride
- 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."
- Used to be line cutters, although really I don't see this as much as I used to like 10 yrs ago.
- Paying to park at my WDW resort.
s8film40
Well-Known Member
I don't think there's anything wrong with using strollers so they don't have to change their pace. In fact I think that's the true reason for strollers and benefits everyone rather than slowing down the pace and getting in the way. The real issue to me are people who use strollers as large shopping carts. There are people who bring a stroller in and just use it as a sort of "base camp" to go back to throughout the day for sunscreen, snacks water, drop off souvenirs, etc.
The real question is how do you fix this problem? I think rather than banning things (not that that's bad) Disney should look into why people are doing this and what solutions they could provide that might be better for everyone.
Goofyque'
Well-Known Member
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.
