Stroller Etiquette During Parades?

[shaycamp21]

This will be our first trip to WDW with a baby (3 1/2 months old) and be our first time manouevering through Magic Kingdom with a stroller. I want to know if during a parade you park the stroller (the stroller we will have is average size with the car seat that clicks in the top) and take baby out when watching the parade or if you keep the stroller beside you with baby in. No flames please just want to know what I am expected to do. Thanks.

 

[Axelrodb1]

We just completed what I hope to be our last stroller trip now that the little man is 6, and we always just parked the stroller beside us. It was easier as sometimes between the wating and the show when he was much younger he would want to rest, also after the parade ended it was much easier to get out of the crowd without having to go on a stoller hunt. The only time I have ever seen people getting mad over strollers was when people lined them up to save places while wandering the park right up until parade start, other then that it has never been an issue to have a child in a stroller watching.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

..... The only time I have ever seen people getting mad over strollers was when people lined them up to save places while wandering the park right up until parade start.....

And in that situation, I think CMs are very likely to move unattended strollers to designated stroller parking areas.

There are lots of strollers in the parade viewing area. But when DS was younger, I preferred to park the stroller somewhere for parades... he would not want to sit in the stroller... but the youngest he was at a parade was 3.

If you do park your stroller, make sure it's in a designated area. Just ask a CM, there are several places and not all are marked. On our 1st trip, a CM moved our "illegally parked" stroller and it was fun trying to find it! Actually, asking a CM near where it was illegally parked, they knew where a CM might have moved it.

 

[GirlDreamer]

A lot of people have the stroller with them during parades, so it's really up to you what is best for you and your child. As long as you're considerate of the people around you. I don't know how many times I've had someone with a stroller behind me during parades and they were ramming their strollers into my legs over and over again during the whole parade That said, most people do know how to behave in crowds

 

[disnut8]

OK - don't have a baby and won't again (mine has kids) but why not just put the stroller next to you and if the baby wants to be out, take the baby out? It would be obvious the stroller is yours and if the baby doesn't want to be in it, who the heck would complain? As someone who doesn't have kids, this would be a situation where I would look and think "the kid didn't want to be in the stroller" and then I would go on with life. Or, if the kid was in the stroller, I would think "people can see over the stroller" and go on with life. You get the stroller next to you whether or not he/she wants to be in it and you get complete access to it after the parade. Simple. And if we are there on the same day, invite me because I'd love to stand behind that stroller for a great view.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I tend to park the stroller so that it occupies a spot for 1 person. I then stand behind it. Whether baby sits in stroller or I hold baby doesn't matter. We are pretty good about letting as many folks squeeze in as possible. I arrive early to ensure that I have a spot. There really is no place else to put a stroller.

 

[Que_Sarah_Sarah]

Just to reiterate what other posters have said, if you choose to keep the stroller with you and are considerate, no one has any right to complain.

Be careful about last minute "child pushers", lol. Some parents will come up at the last minute (as in parade floats are on the street right in front of you) and try to shove their kids up front. Sometimes they even try to join their kids!

 

[Angryhenfan95]

Yeah, as long as you don't 'double park' (so to speak) with your stroller, then you shouldn't get many complaints. I would just make sure to keep it out of immediate walking areas, so like keep it almost right next to you and try not to take up too much space. Also, when the parade is over, don't be like some people and push the stroller into the person in front of you. That tends to make people angry.

 

[MissionMouse]

...Be careful about last minute "child pushers", lol. Some parents will come up at the last minute ...and try to shove their kids up front...

Good point and very common, often taking advantage of the smallest space around your children. A good reason to keep a stroller with you. Parade crowds are not friendly for small children.

 

[Sammie]

Good point and very common, often taking advantage of the smallest space around your children. A good reason to keep a stroller with you. Parade crowds are not friendly for small children.

Lately they are not even friendly for adults.

 

[Wadecool]

Be careful about last minute "child pushers", lol. Some parents will come up at the last minute (as in parade floats are on the street right in front of you) and try to shove their kids up front. Sometimes they even try to join their kids!

In this case, your stroller can also double as a defensive tool.

 

[maxiesmom]

If you are right on the curb, park your stroller next to it, and leave your child in it, or put them on your lap. Please do not do what we ran into during our last trip--We had a family with 2 kids in front of us, 1 in a stroller 1 not. The parents were seated the whole time we were waiting for the parade to start, unless one of them was making a snack run. Everything was great until the parade started. Then both parents hopped up, one scooped the child out of the stroller, and they started dancing with both kids. It made it all but impossible to see anything around them, as they were moving to and fro so much.

I understand people get excited and what to have a great time, but geeze, have a little courtesy for those behind you. If you are sitting waiting for the parade, then stay sitting. Or at the very least warn people you will be standing up to watch the parade. By the time the parade got to us there was no where at all for us to move to to get a better view. It was a bit irritating.

 

[goofy4tink]

I guess it all depends on your positioning. If you get there early enough, and can score curbside viewing, then leave the stroller right there, with the child in it. I wouldn't recommend putting the stroller on the curb and then removing the child.
I have seen people get to the curb area early, spread out some blankets, and then put two strollers, end to end, along the curb....saving about 10 spaces. Not too cool.
But, keep in mind.....if you get to the viewing area, and there are folks in front of you, you aren't going to be able to move the stroller up to the curb. I had one pretty bad experience with that. My dd and I got to the spot we wanted about an hour prior to the start of the Electrical Light Parade. A CM told us exactly where to stand since she was going to rope off the area, leaving a walkway right next to us. Okay...I'm good with that. Well, dd is 5'10'', I'm 5'8''. But, we got there early. About 10 mins prior to the start of the parade, along comes a sizable family.....about 4 adults with 5 or so kids, one in a stroller. They got in behind my dd and I. After a few mins of banging me with the stroller, the mom with the stroller flagged down a CM and complained that she couldn't see over the people in front of her...that her child, in the stroller, was completely blocked from seeing the street area. The CM asked my dd and I to try to scrunch into the space of one person...well, that didn't work. And again the woman complained. The CM told my dd and I that we had to sit down on the street. So, there we were, two sizable people, trying to fit into a 3' sq area... and the woman behind us still complaining that those adults should have given her the spots on the curb so her kid could see. And then, the toddler promptly fell asleep. And there I sat, trying to keep my long legs out of the street...same with my dd. And my bad knees are cramping up. It was awful. No more parade viewing for me. I am more than happy to move aside and allow a little one to see better, but for someone to come along, just prior to the start of a parade and then expect those who have been waiting to give up their spots so her toddler in a stroller can see?? No, not dealing with that again. My legs/knees were screaming the rest of the night.