The great "stroller" conspiracy.

[007mickey]

I'm sorry that threads like this upset you. And I have a feeling that you are probably not one of those folks who uses the stroller for a battering ram, clogs up the pathways by stopping in the middle of a crowd, or just plain exhibits rude behavior. Unlike most of the stroller crowd, you have a NEED instead of a want. I'm sure you would much prefer to not have to deal with any of what you deal with. But you do for you child. And you should never feel bad for doing what you have to do.

I do understand what it takes for parents with a child with a NEED. But you must try to understand that these threads are not aimed at you or anyone with genuine need. And I'm sure you must see the stroller abusers, and be affected by them as well.

Every time one of these threads gets going, people who have genuine NEEDS for strollers, or scooters gets upset. Make no mistake, no one is pointing a finger at any of you. As long as you are courteous. Just because someone has a need, doesn't mean they can be discourteous. So try to understand, that no one is annoyed with you for having to do whatever you need to do. It's those who are abusing the privilege, and there are many of them.

So let's break it down.

There are way too many strollers, small and large. The parks are becoming way to crowded with them. How'd this happen?

1. More people are traveling with babies and toddlers, or special needs children who really NEED a stroller. These folks are not the problem.

2. More people are continuing to use strollers for children who no longer need them. While it's a debate about what the cut-off age is, I would argue that if your child is over 4, healthy, with no special needs and doesn't nap, you don't NEED a stroller. You just WANT one. Face it, no one is actually on their feet walking for ten hours straight. We all take breaks, watch shows, and eat. Very few stroller are built for a 7 year old, and yet there they are jammed into them. And this group is growing. This group is one of the problems.


3. More people are using strollers to carry more stuff they feel they need in the parks. On the one trip I used a stroller, I was guilty of this. I had a nice umbrella stroller and hung the diaper bag off the handle. But this isn't really what I'm referring to. I'm talking about people who bring in large strollers that they really use as a cart to haul multiple bags and coolers around. And this group will always say they need a stroller because their 9 year old kids get too tired. Sorry. You don't NEED one. You WANT one. This is another big problem group.

4. Stroller manufacturers have been making large strollers that provide convenience for older children. Here's a real offender. If they didn't make the giant strollers, they would be in the parks in the first place. I don't mean the decent sized double strollers. I mean the big SUV ones that don't fit through the doors, that one person can barely push on a flat sidewalk with no crowd. This is one of the bigger problems.

5. Parents have gotten more and more indulgent, and look for the easiest solution. (We all do it to some degree) This kind of fits in with number 2. Today's child has figured out that the louder they complain, the more their parents will cave in. So the 7 year old who is fully capable of walking the parks gets pushed around in a stroller, and forces the parents to bring a huge assortment of treats and drinks and whatnot into the parks so they can get immediate gratification instantly. Or they explode. Kids have unlimited will-power. We don't. My DD tries this all the time. Since I don't ever give in, she stops.

Now for those of you with a NEED, meaning a child with some type of special need, you are exempt. You are not part of the problem. You are probably being affected by the problem even more that the rest of us. You are also not in the majority.

I can hear it now. "Nobody has the right to judge anyone else" Well, we all do it, everyday. We do it here, and in real life. I'm just acknowledging a problem that is getting worse and trying to figure out why. And I know that when I read other peoples complaints, I try to think if I've ever done any of those things that bothers people. I have, and I have stopped. I have become a much better park guest thanks to threads like this. And I take no offense at anything I disagree with.

I believe that this problem will escalate. I believe Disney, at some point, will have to step in and begin to ban certain types of strollers unless the parent can provide proof of need. Or Disney may decide to ban all outside strollers and force people to rent their strollers just to keep the parks from becoming one big stroller parking lot. I'd hate for this to happen. I'd much prefer that we all just use some better judgement before taking all those strollers to the parks. And really, am I asking too much for everyone to just use some common courtesy when using whatever stroller you do use?

Bravo! Very well said and really caps off the thread well (although I know this won't be the end).

 

[brich]

For all of you who like to comlpain about strollers, those of us who use or have used stollers have our own complaints...

Only takes 5 pages before the post of reason appears... Bravo, well said...

 

[Phonedave]

5th trip, 4th trip with double stroller, fold up type with moveable front wheel. We usauly hit two to three parks a day. Going in three weeks with a 7 and 9 and we are bring the stroller. Kids get a chance to "pass out" and we get to keep going. Seeing the cost per day with the WL and park hopper passes we make the most of every trip. Considerate of others when moving. But could not see going with out it.

It all boils down to different ways of doing things.

My 7 and 10 y/o girls would look at me like I had two heads if I even SUGGESTED a stroller. They both stopped using strollers when they were around 4.

If you want to put yours in a stroller, thats you call as a parent.

As long as the people who do use strollers are considerate of those around them (and for that mattet, many people who don't use strollers could be a bit more considerate) then everything should be fine.


-dave

 

[PhilharMagician]

I aggree that the stroller situationis out of control. There are many children out there that need them and many that just don't. Whether it's because of lazy parents or lazy children it still happens.

Not to long ago my family and I were walking through adventureland and all of the sudden I felt this sharp pain in my ankle, then it moved right up my calf. Next thing you know I am on the ground with a double wide halfway up my leg. Onboard this double wide are a couple of backpacks and a (approx) 10 - 12 YO and driving is another 10-12 YO and the parents walking right next to them. The mother yells at the kid driving and they pull this thing off of me and walk the other way while laughing and leaving me complete stunned on the ground with a bloody knee. Now I am 6'4" and hard to miss and I got completely wiped out.

I would safely say that I get clipped at least once a day. Usually just a bump, but it happens.

We rented a single wide stroller for my DD up until she was 5. The last year that we rented a stroller we did it for only a few days that we expected to be in the park for long days.

I aggree with what EpcotTim said about parents pushing children beyond their limits. I sometimes am surprised that kids do not leave WDW scarred for life. Come-on people if you children are able to play sport in schools, walk around shopping malls, ride theirs bikes all day, play and run around the yard or neighborhood all day then most likely they can walk around WDW. If they get tired then go sit down on the hundreds of benches or stop into a restaurant or show to rest. The only way they will get stronger is to be active.

 

[manda0125]

I can only speak for myself! I will never question why a child is in a stroller no matter how old. I don't know that family and that child's needs. And I don't think anyone on here would ever state that Disney should ban strollers all together. My observation from this last trip is that the strollers seemed to double in size. And yes there were moments that I got fustrated because these huge things (and the rolling bags) hurt me or almost ran into me. But I didn't say anything to the person nor give a look. That is what happens when you go to Disney. You are going to get hit with a stroller or wheelchair, someone will cut you off in line, someone will try to squeeze in your spot 5 minutes before the parade. It's all part of the package now a days. But you can't let it ruin your trip. You are just cheating yourself then. Do I wish people would use a little more common sense with their rolling luggage and or strollers? Yes. But what can you do except move on. I don't think the OP ever meant for this to be taken so personally it's just a discussion. And I am sure just as us non- stroller people get fustrated the stroller people can get fustrated just as well. It's fun to be able to check your brain at the door when entering Disney but you can't leave behind your common sense nor your common courtesy.
Manda

 

[RiversideBunny]

As a general concept, many people have started approaching a visit to the WDW parks as though they are going on a week's trek through a desolate area and need to take all sorts of things with them.
Big back packs, big strollers.

The opposite is true. Inside a WDW park is not a barren land. There's everything that might be needed. It's a shopping mall.

IMHO

 

[eddiemcgarrigle]

I concur. I never have anything more than tickets, money, suncream, and camera as anything more is available to buy. If my son needs a drink or a snack there are countless places to get them.

 

[KCMO]

Perhaps they should just implement airline rules and limit everyone coming into the park to one "carry-on bag" that is capable of fitting in roughly the space under an airline seat. They could install the little cubby boxes the airlines use to test whether your bag will fit before you board at all of the turnstyles. I am sure some airline will go out of business sometime in the next six months so they could probably by the boxes cheap, second hand and repaint them with a smiling picture of the mouse telling you to loose your oversized luggage.

 

[SleepingMonk]

Just to clear a few things up, I have no doubt there are those select few families who have an actual medical need for the large amount of gear they pack. They are the minority to be sure.

As a Florida native I've been going to the parks since I was born, some 30+ years now and I've never seen it as bad as this last visit. People are getting lazier in my opinion and this is just another trend to make their day easier at the inconvenience of others.

I'm also not a rude oblivious guest who barrels my way thru the park. I was raised in a conservative southern home, still say sir/ma'am, always hold the door for a lady etc....but even Job would lose his temper after four days of these extra large stroller freaks.

 

[mroman]

I'm going to have to keep an eye out for this and perhaps snap some pictures for the thread. We'll be there tomorrow and this is my 18 month old's second trip to WDW so me and my wife have managed to keep the gear in check.

Also, I couldn't agree with you more when you mentioned more lazy people in the parks. Those electric scooter things should be used by those who really have a medical condition not for those who don't want to walk. At the rate we're going we'll probably end up like those people in morotized chairs from WALL*E....God I hope not!

 

[DisneyMusician2]

Sounds like a like someone just needed to rant about something today huh?

It also sounds like the op and several others here don't have children or have any idea what it takes to get through a normal day with one, let alone a day at disney park.

Are some strollers and the parents driving them way too big? Sure. Do you know that family or what they or the child needs. Nope. So let's stop the whining. There are plenty of other threads on this site for that.

Just wait, you'll understand one day.

Cheers!

I have kids and I can tell you mine don't need a stroller that big or much of the stuff some other parents seem to cart around.

There is an advantage to teaching kids resiliency. I know when I hit 5, I walked. My parents didn't do the stroller thing with me at that age no matter where we were. And to be honest, if you get your kids in shape, they can learn to handle it.

Will kids tire out? Of course they will. But I see no need to coddle them!

Don't assume people with different opinions don't know what its like.

 

[hwdelien]

I've seen what you're talking about too. But, you'll be happy to know that my son is turning 4 in August and when we go in September, he'll be walking. I've seen this kid run around in circles for hours and I'll be damned if I'll push him through WDW. So one less stroller for the OP to trip over.

 

[goreesha]

1. More people are traveling with babies and toddlers, or special needs children who really NEED a stroller. These folks are not the problem.

But her point is, you, who are walking around seething at all the people with their giant strollers, don't KNOW which of the parents using the strollers has a special needs child. So when she is in the park with her child, who does NEED the stroller, she gets to enjoy the paranoia of knowing that some of the people around her are angry at her while she is just trying to enjoy the park with her child. She also gets to enjoy the paranoia of knowing that someone at the park was so upset at the presence of her special needs child in the stroller, that they will come back home and complain about it to the masses on a forum.

No matter how much you try to tell her, "Look, it sounds like I'm complaining about you, but I'm really only complaining about the other people who look just like you when they get in my way," I'm sure that doesn't ease the paranoia of knowing you are constantly being judged by random people who don't even know you.

And let me make another point. In previous decades, it was far more common to hide special needs children away from public sight, at home or in institutions. The trend in the last couple of decades has been toward community integration, and most of the institutions have been shut down. So, in fact, there ARE far more special needs children out in public, including Disney World, than there would have been in the past. I say this as someone who worked with people with disabilities for many years doing community integration.

The real problem, as I see it, is that people are increasingly far less tolerant of other people. People increasingly can't stand being inconvenienced by other human beings. And this goes for the person walking down the sidewalk who sees a giant stroller in his way as much as for the elderly woman in the ECV who is constantly honking at the walkers.

 

[DisneyMusician2]

I've seen what you're talking about too. But, you'll be happy to know that my son is turning 4 in August and when we go in September, he'll be walking. I've seen this kid run around in circles for hours and I'll be damned if I'll push him through WDW. So one less stroller for the OP to trip over.

Well done! And have fun!

But her point is, you, who are walking around seething at all the people with their giant strollers, don't KNOW which of the parents using the strollers has a special needs child. So when she is in the park with her child, who does NEED the stroller, she gets to enjoy the paranoia of knowing that some of the people around her are angry at her while she is just trying to enjoy the park with her child. She also gets to enjoy the paranoia of knowing that someone at the park was so upset at the presence of her special needs child in the stroller, that they will come back home and complain about it to the masses on a forum.

No matter how much you try to tell her, "Look, it sounds like I'm complaining about you, but I'm really only complaining about the other people who look just like you when they get in my way," I'm sure that doesn't ease the paranoia of knowing you are constantly being judged by random people who don't even know you.

And let me make another point. In previous decades, it was far more common to hide special needs children away from public sight, at home or in institutions. The trend in the last couple of decades has been toward community integration, and most of the institutions have been shut down. So, in fact, there ARE far more special needs children out in public, including Disney World, than there would have been in the past. I say this as someone who worked with people with disabilities for many years doing community integration.

The real problem, as I see it, is that people are increasingly far less tolerant of other people. People increasingly can't stand being inconvenienced by other human beings. And this goes for the person walking down the sidewalk who sees a giant stroller in his way as much as for the elderly woman in the ECV who is constantly honking at the walkers.

People are less tolerant. But the increase in the ridculous size of strollers and the number can't be explained away by "taking the special needs kids out more". There are a large majority of parents who just don't want to deal so they use GIANT strollers which the WDW pathways simply weren't designed to be used with.

I don't think stroller size increases with a special needs child, at least not with the few I know who are so.

Perhaps giant strollers should be like other items, can't bring them in unless you can prove you need them.

And everone get judged by everyone else every day. It is a part of going outside.

Sorry, I'm just not buying on this one. And I've worked with plenty of special needs kids as a teacher.

 

[SleepingMonk]

...The real problem, as I see it, is that people are increasingly far less tolerant of other people....

:ROFLOL:

Oh yes, we aren't nearly PC enough as a nation. We really need to be even more tolerant of every imaginable penchant and peculiarity.

I'm ok, you're ok.....group hug!

 

[EpcoTim]

And let me make another point. In previous decades, it was far more common to hide special needs children away from public sight, at home or in institutions. The trend in the last couple of decades has been toward community integration, and most of the institutions have been shut down. So, in fact, there ARE far more special needs children out in public, including Disney World, than there would have been in the past. I say this as someone who worked with people with disabilities for many years doing community integration.

I see what you're saying, and I agree. But you also have to understand is that the special needs kids probably number in the small minority of the overall "to old for strollers" groups. Add to that the entitlement that some of the stroller users seem to think they deserve and it makes for a bad scene.

It's like the guy who said he hates driving behind a Camry, because they're always going 20 under the limit. Are they all, of course not, but hes had enough bad run ins with them to group the good with the bad. Is that right-No. But its a human condition to do so. Just like stroller users who think they are constantly being judged. Not everyone is judging them, most people don't care. Until you turn in front of them and help them plaster their faces to the ground.

It's like anything else, one bad experience can sour all the good ones.

 

[hwdelien]

Also, I couldn't agree with you more when you mentioned more lazy people in the parks. Those electric scooter things should be used by those who really have a medical condition not for those who don't want to walk.

I really find this pretty harsh. Last year when we went to WDW, my wife was between her 3rd and 4th back surgery. We drove in and parked in the handicapped parking area and my healthy looking wife at 32 years old got out and strolled into the park looking as healthy and happy as any other guest. She was able to do this thanks to a strong mixture of prescribed narcotics including a 75mcg Fentenol patch, percocets, and flexoral. Even with enough narcotics to drop a horse, by 3:00 the first day we were at guest relations to get a wheelchair and earlier every other day until by the 4th day we got her wheelchair on the way in the park. Each night at the resort she practically cried herself to sleep from the pain.

I only share this because, it is really hard to look at my wife or anyone, for that matter, and see their pain. My wife endures this because whether she gets relief this year or in five years, time still marches on. With every year older the magic and wonder that our children can see and feel dims and these opportunities will NEVER have a second chance. I salute my wife and every person in a wheelchair or on a scooter. We don't know their motivation any more than we know their pain, but odds are they are not there merely for themselves.

 

[EpcoTim]

:ROFLOL:

Oh yes, we aren't nearly PC enough as a nation. We really need to be even more tolerant of every imaginable penchant and peculiarity.

I'm ok, you're ok.....group hug!

Ah ah ah, hugging is an invasion of personal space.

 

[SleepingMonk]

Ah ah ah, hugging is an invasion of personal space.

Sorry folks, all personal space has been made null and void so we can make more room for strollers.

 

[sarabi]

I'm wondering if the OP has small children.

Kids need a lot of stuff to come with them (diapers, wipes, bottles, snacks (preferably in a cooler), toys to keep them amused in lines, first aid stuff... etc etc).

I agree that strollers two abreast are totally annoying, and I agree the strollers are large. On the other hand, I just want to say deal with it. At least you aren't the parents receiving glares all the time for simply taking your young one into the park. I would think that would be pretty annoying too.