Sick and Tired of Being Attacked by Strollers

[Finally08]

I must say this was interesting. Im sorry you had a few hit and runs....

My experience: At HS one day we were making our way down the street by 50's PTC. there was hardly anyone on the street and this guy just darted out in front of me pushing my mammoth double stroller with BOTH my kids in it. Well I hit him and he fell into my kids!!! He got up and told me to watch where I was going!! Thought my DH was gonna tie him around a tree!!!

I've had similar things happen. People who either run out in front of you, and a couple times we have had our stroller stepped OVER. Literally, someone on the side of us will cut over, partially hopping over the stroller while dd is in it and we are moving forward. She's been nearly kicked in the head by these idiots.

In Epcot last year we were in one of the countries quickly strolling through to get into a store because it was starting to rain. This much older couple was on a little walkway to my right and I could see them approaching the area I was going across and just kept watching, watching...I just knew they were going to step in front of me. They stopped and turned around to face the building they had exited and I thought I was ok, and right as I was even with them (within inches of them to my side) the old man wheeled around and started walking towards me before he ever even looked to see where he was going. His wife reached out and sorta grabbed his jacket and said something like "people will just run you over here!" to which I replied over my shoulder "and that's why you need to look before you step out into a pathway!"
No way they heard me though. I mumbled. And they were old.
So strollers aren't always the offenders...there's a lot of bad guest behavior towards people pushing them too.


Oh wait I can add a story where I was taken down by a stroller too, lol. Just this last trip I was getting ice cream at Ms. Pott's in Fantasyland. I paid at the counter and turned to walk away and fell sideways because someone had pushed their stroller RIGHT up behind me, then turned it sideways...so when I moved just a few inches, my legs hit it and I toppled. I almost dropped the ice cream in the glass souvenir cups I just bought. I started apologizing because my first concern was that I had partially squished a baby, but there wasn't one in there and the woman with the stroller never said a word and just looked at me like I had done something wrong. There was absolutely no way I could have even turned around and exited the line without her moving her stroller...so why in the world she was looking at me so crazy for falling over her stroller is beyond me.

 

[jmkst58]

Chasing down the person and physically detaining them was a bit of an exaggeration... but it bothers me that people will knock into someone and just take off. Some people in the world are just plain rude... and those people go to WDW too. If it happens again, I'm not sure I'll just let it go like before. I will at least confront the person if they are too rude to stop and apologize. I'll feel better.

i go to disney world several, several, times a year but i've never been hit by a stroller. HOWEVER-- i have 'experienced' countless individuals doing other careless and just plain rude things- yes. WDW is filled with careless and rude people. It is not just the people pushing strollers.

 

[deegack]

I've been hit by people walking, kids running, strollers and dh was run over by an ecv and we lost a day because he wrenched his back. Most people apologize and we all move on. I think the only people I have ever hit with a stroller have walked into me usually while texting or reading a map.
Maybe it because I live right near NYC but when you get a million people in a small space someone will get squeezed. You just need to relax and don't let it ruin your day.

 

[mmay60046]

I must be one lucky dude. I'm 42 years old and I can't even speculate on the number of times I've been to theme parks/water parks all across the country and I've never once been hit by a stroller nor have I ever hit someone else with a stroller I was pushing.

Of course I'm not one to ever be oblivious to my surroundings at anytime so that might explain why.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

The next time a reckless guest hits us with a stroller, I'm going to chase them down, physically detain them if they refuse to stop, and wait for security to arrive. At least I should be able to demand a police report in case I want to file criminal or civil charges. How have you handled these "attacks"? Have you ever stopped someone who hit you and then refused to stop? Is there a phone number for Disney security or would you just call 911 from your cell phone?

Wow! Overreact much?!?

Talk about going from Commando to Rambo! This thread literally made me laugh out loud.

People. Are. Crazy.

 

[Wadecool]

I must be one lucky dude. I'm 42 years old and I can't even speculate on the number of times I've been to theme parks/water parks all across the country and I've never once been hit by a stroller nor have I ever hit someone else with a stroller I was pushing.

Of course I'm not one to ever be oblivious to my surroundings at anytime so that might explain why.

Situational awareness is a not something that is utilized by some folks.

 

[ols386]

Situational awareness is a not something that is utilized by some folks.

And that goes for everyone, whether on foot, pushing a stroller, or riding/operating an ECV.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

I really stirred up a discussion! I guess this topic strikes many nerves.

Would I chase down and detain a Mom who accidentally knocked into me with her stroller and pretended she didn't (maybe embarrassed?) or even a hard knock to my heels if the person apologized? No.... I'll just go on stroller alert again.

If someone really knocked DS down hard to the pavement and didn't stop? If you hit a child hard enough to knock them down... you know it. You should stop. If I can leave DW or someone else with my son, I will follow you and call security until you stop. I don't want you doing it to someone else too. Be responsible for when you cause injury to another person. I don't want an apology... I want your information in case I need to take legal action.... accidental or not. I probably won't bother to waste my time to sue you... but you should have stopped and offered to help.

Thank goodness Disney does a very good job with safety and preventing crime. Other than being knocked by some strollers, five trips have been incident free and full of fun and good times. It's really hard for me to get upset about much at WDW.

I'll tell you though.. the ECVs scare me. I stay far away from them. Someone at work almost ran me over with one of those things and I yelled at her. Turned out to be a very high level executive. Good thing she didn't get my name.....

The next time a reckless guest hits us with a stroller, I'm going to chase them down, physically detain them if they refuse to stop, and wait for security to arrive. At least I should be able to demand a police report in case I want to file criminal or civil charges. How have you handled these "attacks"? Have you ever stopped someone who hit you and then refused to stop? Is there a phone number for Disney security or would you just call 911 from your cell phone?

DW was run into twice by different people with the big plastic Disney rental strollers. Both times caused pain but the 2nd time caused a lot of pain and a cut. Each time, the "attacker" took off. DS6 was standing waiting for the parade and someone came by running with a stroller and hit DS's arm. That person kept on racing down the parade route too... I almost chased them down but wanted to make sure DS was OK. At least have the courtesy to stop and see if we are all right!

 

[Blackbeltdisneygirl]

I only read through a couple pages of this thread, and it made me think of an incident we had on the monorail. It does not involve a stroller, but it did involve a very heavy backpack filled to the brim with various necessities. I wanted to bring it up, not to defend the actions of someone who may or may not have realized they hit someone with a stroller.

My family had just met up with my brother and his family for their first trip to WDW, and we were returning from the Polynesian where we had eaten at O'Hana. We were taking our second trip on the monorail (second only b/c the first was on the way to O'Hana), and we had a group of 12 in one car. Two women squeezed in with us, and stood up holding the poles in the car. My husband was wearing the ginormous backpack on his back, and aparently whenever he moved, he was knocking one of the women with it. I never saw it happen. My brother happened to see it, and this is what he said happened: He said my hubby turned to help one of the kids with something, and when he did, he whapped this rather tiny woman in the head with the huge backpack. He watched as the woman was spun in a complete circle around the pole! It happened more than once, and she never said a word! She probably just assumed my husband was really rude, and the only thing I can say is that either DH couldn't feel that he was whapping her, or he thought he was hitting the pole. My brother apologized profusely to the woman, and my DH was still clueless until my brother told us after we were off the monorail. He was like: "The poor woman went spinning around the pole in a complete circle, and then got whapped again and went spinning again." Of course my husband felt terrible! He wasn't able to apologize though b/c he never knew it happened. My brother only had a few seconds to apologize and explain that DH didn't realize he was hitting her, before we had to exit. We laugh about it now, but he still feels really bad that he hit her.

I am sure some people are aware of the fact that they are ramming people, and just don't care. There are some people who are genuinely sorry, or would be if they realized they had clipped someone. I wouldn't let it ruin my bliss if I were on the receiving end of it. In fact, in the Orlando airport, we were rushing with 9 people, 9 suitcases, 2 strollers, and various other items, and we were all compressed into a large but tightly packed group. I watched a woman head purposely straight into the center of our group and shove her way through when she could've easily gone around us as there was about 15 feet on either side of our group. She didn't apologize, and when I expressed my frustration in her behavior, looked like she wanted to fight me then and there. I turned around, walked away, and didn't let it ruin my bliss. She can be angry and rude if she wants. I certainly have the skills I need to win a fight, but that doesn't mean I need to fight. I'd rather take the high road.

I hope we can all let go of the little things that upset us when we are on our vacations. There's no point in letting it ruin your time, and in fact, would be a terrible waste of money and memories if you dwell on it.

P.S. If anyone out there was the woman my husband whapped with our gigantor backpack, he feels really bad, and we are sorry!!!

 

[Millermom0606]

I'd gladly take being knocked into over my kids burnt by smokers and knocked to the ground by adults (like they were this last trip multiple times). Or the lovely fellow who bumped into and then pickpockets my dh.

 

[GirlDreamer]

I've never been hit with strollers when I walk around in the parks, but I'm always very aware of my surroundings, so I probably just avoid them without really noticing them. I did have a woman behind me when I was watching a parade in MK though, she kept ramming her stroller into my legs the whole parade. Since it was the first time it happened, I didn't say anything though, as I was too shocked anyone would do that. If it happens again though, I'll politely ask for them to stop it.

 

[GSUJillybean]

The only time I have ever considered resorting to physical violence was when a passerby with a cigarette burned my kid's FACE, mumbled, "sorry" and walked off, cigarette still in hand.

Also, I've run into people with my stroller before-- I can think of two separate occasions. I always apologize, though.

 

[LauraR]

Strollers are the exact reason why I wear steel-toed boots to the parks! I'm rammed constantly but rarely feel the incidental encounters.

My DGF and I were walking through Frontierland in May before MSEP when she had the misfortune of being run down by some schmuck in a stroller without an apology. He hit her so hard she went to the ground. I picked her back up, turned around and the guy said something along the lines of "the stupid [female dog] cut me off, she deserved it". I calmly explained to him how extremely lucky he was to be in a family park and walked off.

My twin sisters were walking through Seussland at Universal a few days ago and were hit by the same stroller three times. They turn around and the woman pushing it says "if you keep slowing down I'll keep hitting you." Without missing a beat (and keeping with the theme!) my sis says "Pardon me I meant no harm, you're free to pass along your way. Having now exposed your charm, for your baby's future tonight I'll pray. Now move along with your little runt, I'll delay you no further you miserable..."

Wow, your sister is a quick wit---that was hilarious! Haven't laughed so hard in a long time

 

[Meshell2002]

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!

This happens to me when I drive the stroller....because I leave distance in front....so everyone jumps in front of me. My husband claims I'm definately not a tailgater. When he drives I act like I'm not with him, though to my knowledge he hasn't hit anyone, yet.

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.

This happens whether u r driving something with wheels or not.

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.

I also had a man in an ECV play chicken with my double city mini....needless to say I let him pass....I didn't want to let my children hear the 50 four letter undisney things he was saying in a Jersey accent during his road rage after the first set of Wishes.

That stinks and would make me mad enough to feel this way too.



100% agree. Sorry you had such a bad experience. I took a pretty good whack to the ankle myself on our last trip. Just chalked it up to being in the busiest part of the busiest park on the busiest day of our trip.

As a Dis Commando Stroller Pilot of a fully loaded double stroller travelling at full ive-been-planning-this-trip-for-11-months speed I find that I can avoid running into people by yelling medievel Norwegian battle cries and yodelling as I zip through the parks. I have also (knock on wood) never hit anyone but its probably only a matter of time. Even my ninja-like reflexes will be put to the test with our next trip. If (when) I do hit someone I'll not only stop to make sure they are ok but I think drawing blood probably calls for laying a couple Fastpasses on them as appropriate compensation.

Tip: Shoulder check as if you are in a car any time you are about to stop or start in any given direction. The odd sound you hear and the 100 lb inline Graco double missile of destruction barrelling down on you may be me.

 

[watkinsme]

Situational awareness is a not something that is utilized by some folks.

My husband is absolutely HORRIBLE at this.

It may because he is legally blind in one eye, or from a BAD concussion 20 years ago...either way...I spend most of my vacation keeping him from running over people or people running over us.

 

[stitch34]

I think if you are getting hit by strollers you need to pay more attention of your surroundings... not stop in the middle of walking. I have my son's heavy special needs stroller and can't stand when people stop in front of me. Have never hit anyone YET. but once you are walking and got momentum giong pushing that thing it is very tough to stop short when people stop dead in front of you.

Okay... haven't hit anyone... but I DID run someone's hand over once.
4th of July at DHS.... group of people sitting on the walkway - not on the sidewalk, but in the main walkway I'd call it, out kinda near the hat. Group of about 20 or so, sitting in a big huddle. I navigate myself around them safely... - I was about 3 feet at least away from the group - till last second another woman not only plops right down in front of me to join that group... she tosses her hand/arm back on the pavement behind her. Like she had no sense that people were walking right there, let alone a stroller. She literally plopped down right in the path people were walking!
Be aware of your surroundings! And we were walking in the same pathway that the throngs of people ahead of us were walking in. Nothing out of the ordinary with us, no weaving around madly through the crowd, just following along with the crowd of people slowly making their way through.

12 trips and none of us have ever been hit, sideswiped, run over by a stroller or ECV (yet!)
Other than our above incident.... I really take care to be careful. People pay a lot for their vacations and no one wants to end up with a serious injury from someone slamming into them with a stroller.

 

[Scrappy_Tink]

I really hope you're joking. How do you know you're not hiding a child that has some sort of disablity and needs that stroller? Would you also hide a wheelchair? For some children it's the same thing. I know my son needs one in Disney and if someone hid it he would have a tough time enjoying the rest of his time bc he wouldn't be able to handle all the walking.

Yes Ma'me, I was joking....or was I

 

[Poppin]

This is why I never go to Disney without hiring a Brazilian tour group to flank me on all sides. They're great at shock aborption.

 

[KellyNY]

I really stirred up a discussion! I guess this topic strikes many nerves.

Would I chase down and detain a Mom who accidentally knocked into me with her stroller and pretended she didn't (maybe embarrassed?) or even a hard knock to my heels if the person apologized? No.... I'll just go on stroller alert again.

If someone really knocked DS down hard to the pavement and didn't stop? If you hit a child hard enough to knock them down... you know it. You should stop. If I can leave DW or someone else with my son, I will follow you and call security until you stop. I don't want you doing it to someone else too. Be responsible for when you cause injury to another person. I don't want an apology... I want your information in case I need to take legal action.... accidental or not. I probably won't bother to waste my time to sue you... but you should have stopped and offered to help.

Thank goodness Disney does a very good job with safety and preventing crime. Other than being knocked by some strollers, five trips have been incident free and full of fun and good times. It's really hard for me to get upset about much at WDW.

I'll tell you though.. the ECVs scare me. I stay far away from them. Someone at work almost ran me over with one of those things and I yelled at her. Turned out to be a very high level executive. Good thing she didn't get my name.....

So, after all you do not need appology but compensation, right?
Cannot imagine anyone in a right mind exchanging contact info over stroller accident, it is not a car accident, you do not get seriously hurt, and nobody can force a person to give you info over a cut, so you could summon them a month later with all the possible pain and suffer claims. You know, I feel your pain when it comes to rudeness of not appologizing but honestly when it turns into compensation talk, no support from me.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

I only read through a couple pages of this thread, and it made me think of an incident we had on the monorail. It does not involve a stroller, but it did involve a very heavy backpack filled to the brim with various necessities. I wanted to bring it up, not to defend the actions of someone who may or may not have realized they hit someone with a stroller.

My family had just met up with my brother and his family for their first trip to WDW, and we were returning from the Polynesian where we had eaten at O'Hana. We were taking our second trip on the monorail (second only b/c the first was on the way to O'Hana), and we had a group of 12 in one car. Two women squeezed in with us, and stood up holding the poles in the car. My husband was wearing the ginormous backpack on his back, and aparently whenever he moved, he was knocking one of the women with it. I never saw it happen. My brother happened to see it, and this is what he said happened: He said my hubby turned to help one of the kids with something, and when he did, he whapped this rather tiny woman in the head with the huge backpack. He watched as the woman was spun in a complete circle around the pole! It happened more than once, and she never said a word! She probably just assumed my husband was really rude, and the only thing I can say is that either DH couldn't feel that he was whapping her, or he thought he was hitting the pole. My brother apologized profusely to the woman, and my DH was still clueless until my brother told us after we were off the monorail. He was like: "The poor woman went spinning around the pole in a complete circle, and then got whapped again and went spinning again." Of course my husband felt terrible! He wasn't able to apologize though b/c he never knew it happened. My brother only had a few seconds to apologize and explain that DH didn't realize he was hitting her, before we had to exit. We laugh about it now, but he still feels really bad that he hit her.

I am sure some people are aware of the fact that they are ramming people, and just don't care. There are some people who are genuinely sorry, or would be if they realized they had clipped someone. I wouldn't let it ruin my bliss if I were on the receiving end of it. In fact, in the Orlando airport, we were rushing with 9 people, 9 suitcases, 2 strollers, and various other items, and we were all compressed into a large but tightly packed group. I watched a woman head purposely straight into the center of our group and shove her way through when she could've easily gone around us as there was about 15 feet on either side of our group. She didn't apologize, and when I expressed my frustration in her behavior, looked like she wanted to fight me then and there. I turned around, walked away, and didn't let it ruin my bliss. She can be angry and rude if she wants. I certainly have the skills I need to win a fight, but that doesn't mean I need to fight. I'd rather take the high road.

I hope we can all let go of the little things that upset us when we are on our vacations. There's no point in letting it ruin your time, and in fact, would be a terrible waste of money and memories if you dwell on it. P.S. If anyone out there was the woman my husband whapped with our gigantor backpack, he feels really bad, and we are sorry!!!

This happened to me during our trip while in line to board the bus for AK . I didn't say anything to the gentleman who was wearing the big, tightly filled backpack and just simply tried to better distance myself because I knew it was an accident and we were all moving along close together in line to board the bus. I agree that there is no point in letting little things, especially accidents, ruin your time and make you get all huffy. WDW parks are filled with thousands of people moving around a lot of times in close, compact spaces. I expect that I may get accidentally bumped into here and there. I think some people just have hostile and confrontational personalities to begin with and look for ways to turn a sunny day into a cloudy one