Sick and Tired of Being Attacked by Strollers

[deegack]

I was just at whole foods and an old lady bashed into me while I was looking at produce. Maybe we should ban grocery carts while we are at it. I mean if it was summer and I was wearing flip flops I would have lost a chunk of my ankle.

And she didn't apologize she just kept going.

 

[goofyernmost]

I KNEW IT!!!! When DS6 and I came off Expedition Everest, it's no surprise that the plush Yeti Monster balls were staring at us from 3 different directions and climbing out of the barrels onto the floor. At $19.95, I wasn't going to get out of there without buying one. When I said No... DS said he wanted to ride EE again. Since there was no line for EE... he got a 2nd chance to convince me (maybe he knew that since rides always exit into a souvenir shop). Feeling somewhat guilty about saying No (and paranoid of those things staring at us...) I felt compelled to reward DS for his bravery riding EE the 1st time (and 2nd time). I have a feeling if I said No again... he would have asked to ride EE a 3rd time.

Sociologists and social psychologists could have a field day at WDW. For all I don't know... WDW employs them to study crowd behavior to increase souvenir buying, improve safety, and other things. I know they employ statisticians to crunch numbers for planning staffing and analyzing pedestrian traffic flow for bus routing.

I should spend more time just kicking back on a bench with a Dole Whip and being a people watcher.

First timers (like I was in 2008) are quickly institutionalized into WDW norms. I notice it because people can't help forming a line even when there is no line. Tusker House (with POD stations instead of a line buffet) is a perfect example. I've seen long lines form at one end while all the pods ahead have no one at them.

I must be odd because I never ever had a problem with walking straight through any ride ending gift shop. Didn't matter whether the kids were having major fits about wanting something. Walked right through. No problem. No guilt, ever!

 

[YodaGirl]

I must be odd because I never ever had a problem with walking straight through any ride ending gift shop. Didn't matter whether the kids were having major fits about wanting something. Walked right through. No problem. No guilt, ever!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

The next time a reckless guest hits us with a stroller, I'm going to chase them down . . .

1) I have a better solution.
2) I purposely carry a glass of grape or cherry soda.
3) When hit by a stroller are ECV, it gets tossed on the person.
4) I cannot help it, as it is a reflex action to being struck.
5) It is their job to get out the stains.

 

[sunsprinkle24]

1) I have a better solution.
2) I purposely carry a glass of grape or cherry soda.
3) When hit by a stroller are ECV, it gets tossed on the person.
4) I cannot help it, as it is a reflex action to being struck.
5) It is their job to get out the stains.

I like this. After all, it was an accident that I spilled it...

ETA: I wouldn't spill it on the kid of course...

 

[W.E.D.]

guess why they are comming.

lol!

 

[klmall]

Interesting! I just read this entire thread and thought about it carefully. We returned last night after 6 days at Disney and 2 at Universal and never once had an issue with a stroller or ECV. A couple times someone accidentally bumped my arm and apologized; that was it!

 

[DisneyFamily123]

1) I have a better solution.
2) I purposely carry a glass of grape or cherry soda.
3) When hit by a stroller are ECV, it gets tossed on the person.
4) I cannot help it, as it is a reflex action to being struck.
5) It is their job to get out the stains.

A dole whip would do more damage but why waste a good snack credit?

 

[KellyNY]

1) I have a better solution.
2) I purposely carry a glass of grape or cherry soda.
3) When hit by a stroller are ECV, it gets tossed on the person.
4) I cannot help it, as it is a reflex action to being struck.
5) It is their job to get out the stains.

great solution and you can always send security after a "marked" person, easy to catch and then security can actually pretend that they want to help to clean the shirt and get contact info to send shirt back when they will actually give it to OP, crazy talk, crazy talk.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Sociologists and social psychologists could have a field day at WDW. For all I don't know... WDW employs them to study crowd behavior to increase souvenir buying, improve safety, and other things. I know they employ statisticians to crunch numbers for planning staffing and analyzing pedestrian traffic flow for bus routing.

I should spend more time just kicking back on a bench with a Dole Whip and being a people watcher.

I am not a psychologist and I did not stay at a Holiday Express last night, but I find the habits of people while on vacation at WDW to be fascinating and sometimes frightening.
As far as the souvies go, it was pretty easy to train my kids not to expect them when they were younger. Now that they are teens they make fairly good decisions about such things on their own. Although, none of us in the family are immune to the siren call of WDW's alluring impulse buying opportunities.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

I did find a similar thread called Attack of the Strollers...
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2732526

 

[YodaGirl]

I did find a similar thread called Attack of the Strollers...
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2732526

There are many threads about strollers.

I'm surprised that your first search yielded nothing.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

There are many threads about strollers.
I'm surprised that your first search yielded nothing.

Sometimes the disboards search works great, sometimes not. I found the thread by doing Live Search on the Internet, not using the disboards search engine which yielded results but only related topics (stroller rentals, best stroller to bring, etc.).

 

[ppony]

While I get that some people are discourteous or just plain inattentive with their strollers, when I read posts from people enumerating all the times they've been "run down" by a stroller I have to wonder if maybe they aren't doing something to make that more likely. Like the guy I watched at Studios who zipped into about 12" of open space in front of a stroller and then proceed to use some very unDisney language in the direction of the stroller driver when his ankle got clipped, or the couple who did the same thing to a wheelchair at Epcot rope drop. I could just imagine those people posting about their experiences with those reckless drivers too!

Precisely, see my comments below.

I understand your frustration but as a father of 4 who has been pushing a stroller through WDW for the last 10 years, you also need to understand how many times people will suddenly stop dead in their tracks and/or dart in front of you unexpectedly. Many times people are so wrapped up in their own vacation experience that they can ruin someone else's.

AMEN!

This exactly. For every person that was hit by a crazy stroller nazi there is a good hearted stroller pushing person who has hit people because people keep cutting them off.

The bad behavior is not just on the part of the people with the strollers. There are a lot of idiots who seem to think playing chicken in the park with strollers is a good idea.

YUP!

I've actually never hit anyone w/ my stroller and oddly, I've never been hit either, even before my stroller days. BUT....I've had my stroller hit MANY times when I've been stopped dead. Then people get angry at me. I wonder how many of those people though I was hitting them when they were in actuality, the ones that walked into me? As I try and navigate the crowds and stores w/ my ATV/stroller which does NOT maneuver as easily as a single perosn can, Iv'e seen that someone was going to run into me or turn and do so so I stop since I have nowhere else to go and whammo, they run straight into me as they aren't looking in the direction that they are headed in. They almost never apologize so I'm assuming they must think I ran int them because after all, they weren't looking at me or even in my direction so how do they know I wasn't moving when I wasn't? they don't, so they probably think I did it to them.
THis is not to say that the OP didn't legitimately get run into, multiple times, but there is another perspective (as others have chimed in with as well).

I'm certain some parents use the stroller as a battering ram to get through crowds, but the vast vajority don't because quite pointedly, it's not just an inanimate object they're shoving into people, it's their children! They are NOT easy nor fun to navigate through the parks but when you need one you need one.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

Posted on another thread today:
"Man, the strollers this time were a bit much. On two different occasions, we were in a huge group of people and a mother with huge stroller would ram up our legs yelling "Excuse me, excuse me" or the one "Please move! COMING THROUGH"... Ummm lady if we could move faster we would and the traffic is crawling because there was just a parade. Slow your britches and calm down. Now, please back off our heels."

These are the people I'm talking about... who are so wrapped up in themselves... that they don't care about anyone else.

 

[bumbershoot]

These are the people I'm talking about... who are so wrapped up in themselves... that they don't care about anyone else.

And if those people had no stroller, they'd still be the same. This is a personality thing, not a "what the person is pushing" thing.

 

[WDSearcher]

Posted on another thread today:
"Man, the strollers this time were a bit much. On two different occasions, we were in a huge group of people and a mother with huge stroller would ram up our legs yelling "Excuse me, excuse me" or the one "Please move! COMING THROUGH"... Ummm lady if we could move faster we would and the traffic is crawling because there was just a parade. Slow your britches and calm down. Now, please back off our heels."

But did the people complaining mention being angry enough to chase down someone and make them apologize? Or did they suggest that the next time it happened, they would detain the offender and call 911? Based on the quotes you've put here (which I do realize are out of context), it would seem like those folks were simply relating anecdotal info about the crowds and that -- while annoying -- the stroller population did not cause them to alter their behavior, constantly watch behind them, or send them limping to the curb with multiple injuries. In other words .... it happened, they were annoyed, they got over it.

These are the people I'm talking about... who are so wrapped up in themselves... that they don't care about anyone else.

And if those people had no stroller, they'd still be the same. This is a personality thing, not a "what the person is pushing" thing.

Exactly.

 

[dskib]

If you're getting battered by strollers multiple times a day, every day, then it's pretty clear that the problem is you.

I've been to WDW more times than I can count, with and without a stroller, and I've never hit or been hit. All parties involved need to pay attention. I pay attention. Never had a problem.

I did see a girl one time pushing her stroller across Main St. It was crowded, though not standing room only crowded. She was maneuvering herself through and said "excuse me" at least 4 times. She finally shouted it twice. Dude never moved and she finally clipped him. I can't say I felt bad for him.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

If you're getting battered by strollers multiple times a day, every day, then it's pretty clear that the problem is you.

I've been to WDW more times than I can count, with and without a stroller, and I've never hit or been hit. All parties involved need to pay attention. I pay attention. Never had a problem.

I did see a girl one time pushing her stroller across Main St. It was crowded, though not standing room only crowded. She was maneuvering herself through and said "excuse me" at least 4 times. She finally shouted it twice. Dude never moved and she finally clipped him. I can't say I felt bad for him.

Well, consider yourself lucky... in 40 days at WDW (our 1st 4 trips), we were never hit by a stroller either. This last trip, DW was hit twice. And the 2nd time caused a pretty bad cut to the back of her heel. The problem was NOT us. We were walking up the hill toward Fantasmic and an impatient idiot not paying attention to what they were doing rammed into the back of DW causing her to stumble and have pain for the rest of the night.

You think that's OK? You want to blame me for someone else acting irresponsible? Seriously, what's wrong with some of you people? You're at a crowded park pushing a heavy stroller -- watch what you're doing. I pushed DS in a stroller on 2 trips and never hit anyone... know why? Because I payed attention to what I was doing.

If you cause injury to someone else (not talking about a scratch or bumping into someone), you should stop... especially if you hit someone hard or knocked them down. Don't pretend you didn't realize you hit someone. If someone causes a serious injury to my DS or DW who were knocked to the ground by you....you will stop or I will follow you until security arrives.... And if security can't force you to cough up your information, I'll hold Disney accountable. No, I'm not really going to physically detain you.... but you're not going to knock someone to the ground because you're an impatient idiot and not be held accountable.

And it's not about getting compensation. I have plenty of health insurance and money to pay my own medical bills.

Many people are just plain inconsiderate these days, selfish, and entitled. It's amazing. Fortunately, they are small in number at WDW.... but they are there based on reading many different threads here.

I'm not out to convince anyone to agree with me. I really just wanted to hear what other experiences people had. Oh well.... there's more interesting threads on disboards. Sorry I started this one.....

 

[maxiesmom]

If someone causes a serious injury to my DS or DW who were knocked to the ground by you....you will stop or I will follow you until security arrives.... And if security can't force you to cough up your information, I'll hold Disney accountable. No, I'm not really going to physically detain you.... but you're not going to knock someone to the ground because you're an impatient idiot and not be held accountable.

Good luck with that.

I do think that most people who are hit with strollers are just innocent victims. However, if someone is getting hit multiple times on any given day, or during one vacation, they do need to stop a minute and realize they may be doing something that is unkowningly putting themselves into harms way.

Sometimes it is the falt of the person without the stroller.