Stroller etiquette

[xipotec]

Last visit I almost had my knees taken out a few times by stroller nazi's. They seem to have mis-interpreted a stroller for a battering ram.
I almost landed on one poor kid whos mom back ended me ( no apology offered)
How is one suppose to avoid these wheeled death machines?

 

[AngieMouse86]

In all my trips to DL and WDW, I've only been nudged by a stroller once or twice. I have, however, been on the receiving end of a wheelchair footrest far too many times. Never gotten any kind of apology, either.

The worst was earlier this year at DL. I was literally rammed into, as in on purpose, because the walkway had been going slow and had ground to a halt about 30 seconds before impact, so it's not like you couldn't see the flow of traffic in front of you. Just straight up used the chair as a battering ram. My achilles hurt like heck too, but I didn't realize until a few minutes later that I'd lost a nice chunk of skin and was bleeding. Not even and "I'm sorry" from the lady pushing the chair.

 

[deakam]

I have been hit so many times it isn't even funny. What is funny is that I actually have a backside that requires one of those "wide load" signs and yet they continue to..."sorry, didn't see you there". I have seriously considered just sitting down on top of their kid. "sorry, you knocked me off my feet." For added payback I have also considered tossing my drink over my head and into their face as I fall onto their kid. What keeps me from doing it is the thought that I might hurt the child and after all they have no control over the parent that has no consideration for others.

I find that if I stay out of the middle, move closer to the buildings, I actually get hit less. Going over the bridges I stay close to the railing.

 

[robinb]

Last visit I almost had my knees taken out a few times by stroller nazi's. They seem to have mis-interpreted a stroller for a battering ram.
I almost landed on one poor kid whos mom back ended me ( no apology offered)
How is one suppose to avoid these wheeled death machines?

Don't go to a place which is filled with small children.

 

[Figment43]

Don't go to a place which is filled with small children.

That's about it. You can't avoid strollers at WDW.

This doesn't work with Disney rental strollers, but it works with strollers that have one of those plastic bars across the front or a hard basket underneath. If traffic grinds to a halt, I lift the heel of one foot off the ground while leaving the toes firmly planted. That way, the bar or basket hits the sole of my shoe and not my ankle.

The other trick is to just be aware of your surroundings and check behind you if you're coming up to stopped or slowed foot traffic. If you see a stroller coming up, try to move to one side or the other.

 

[AngieMouse86]

The other trick is to just be aware of your surroundings and check behind you if you're coming up to stopped or slowed foot traffic. If you see a stroller coming up, try to move to one side or the other.

I don't understand why the person in front should have to be hyper aware of what's behind them, when the person in back is the one with the better vantage point of whether their stroller/wheelchair/anything push-able is going. Only perhaps if you know you're going to need to stop unexpectedly, you should obviously quickly move to the side, but in general walking? I don't have eyes in the back of my head but people behind me have them front and center.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

~LOL. It doesn't hurt to be aware of who is around you. Seriously, some people will run you over. You can be standing and not moving at all in the thickest crowd ever, and someone in that crowd will attempt to push through the crowd in order to get ahead, it's unbelievable but it happens.

~The best way to avoid most of the strollers at Disney is to get to the parks early in the morning or at rope drop and late at night during EMH, plus going to Disney during a slower time of year helps a lot, too.

 

[LoveToDisney]

I got rammed with a runaway stroller way back when WDW was just Magic Kingdom and the strollers were those really heavy strollers. It really cut the back of my tendon and was a mess. I have never, ever been comfortable with anything moving behind me...stroller, wheel chair, motorized chair, etc. because I am so concerned I will be hit. I'm always looking behind and moving away from them. Usually the owners are busy looking around and enjoying the sites of Disney and simply forget they are moving. The foot traffic slows down and they don't.

 

[jennylyn_b]

I've seen these crazy death strollers. We have a stroller and have been the victim of unwanted bumper strollers. We don't bump into others or run ppl down. Our child is in there for crying out loud! LOL we have also been victims of ppl that have cut across or changed direction suddenly and decided that kicking, nudging or pushing the stroller out of their way is ok. That's just as wrong as a crazy stroller person ramming a person walking. People just seem to think they are the only ones there. We try to laugh it off and not let them ruin our fun.


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[sephorachick]

Last visit I almost had my knees taken out a few times by stroller nazi's. They seem to have mis-interpreted a stroller for a battering ram.
I almost landed on one poor kid whos mom back ended me ( no apology offered)
How is one suppose to avoid these wheeled death machines?

I got knocked into people & tripped by stroller people with no apology. It is hard not to say something after awhile so I feel your pain! Just let it go. Don't let it ruin your time there.

 

[ffcheff]

As a person who has had to push a double stroller through the parks my view is different. I wonder why people just walk in front of me then just stop or cut right in front of me. It would not hurt to give people pushing a stroller a little extra space or consideration.

 

[seashoreCM]

You with the help of your brother in law and/or Disney Security could educate them on the spot or at least extract an apology.

 

[pyrxtc]

I remember having to push a stroller through the parks and I was always surprised at how many people tried to change directions they were walking while I was pushing the stroller straight and they got hit because they didn't look down to see it there. I got hit many time when the stroller didn't fit but the person behind me wasn't watching to see me stop to wait to get through places. It was annoying but I know I couldn't do the parks without it then.

 

[ttintagel]

The other trick is to just be aware of your surroundings and check behind you if you're coming up to stopped or slowed foot traffic. If you see a stroller coming up, try to move to one side or the other.

I'm supposed to turn around and look behind me now? Should I just put on my toe shoes and pirouette down the street so I can see all around me at the same time? Doesn't the person behind me have any obligation to look ahead of her?

 

[rdearth]

Yeah, I'll stop ramming people with a stroller when they stop cutting right in front of me.

 

[ttintagel]

One of the big problems is, the strollers are way heavier than a stroller should be. A stroller should weight as much as a small baby and a little aluminum. Pack a couple of healthy seven-year-olds and a day's worth of food and shopping for a family of four into one, and you've got something that is both hard to navigate with and capable of causing serious pain.

Also, the reason some people use them is because they don't want a child's walking pace to slow them down. So, it makes them feel like going really fast.

 

[Lifeangel1]

My husband was tripped by one in 2009.The stroller was next to him and suddenly the person pushing the stroller made a quick move to get to a space in front of DH. He is a big man and went down hard. His ankle was nicked by the stroller and he ended up with cellulitis. Again, no apology. No checking to make sure he was ok. It was awful. He did almost fall on the child in the stroller and that would have been his fault, I'm sure.

 

[rdearth]

I've bumped people in lines, people have bumped back into the stroller, too. It happens, people apologize, no big deal.

But the one I remember most and still feel bad about was when a father was walking with his tween daughter. They were in a hurry to get somewhere and cut across the stroller I was pushing. Of course I tried to stop because it's not like I want to be hitting people with my kid. Dad made it across, but daughter didn't. She got clipped kind of bad and some part of the stroller actually broke the skin.

I apologized profusely because I felt bad for the girl and even if it's their fault, I don't want to hurt anybody, but I could tell the dad was thinking I was somehow negligent.

For some reason, many people see strollers (and probably wheelchairs and scooters, too) as some kind of vehicle that they can jump past like they're slow moving trains or trolleys.

There are also, like in this case, people who aren't thinking about the rest of the people in their party, so they might be able to jump by a stroller, but the people lagging behind aren't going to make it.

Oh, well, things happen when you've got hundreds of thousands of people and no traffic lanes or stop lights.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm sure that the vast majority of people pushing strollers are well intended people. But it's so easy to forget that there are many, many other people around you when you're trying to juggle a couple of kids, figure out which way to go, etc. But that doesn't completely excuse rudeness. I have been nailed more times than I can count. The best are the parents that take close to the Hub/Castle spots for the fireworks. Then, when the huge crowd tries to disburse, these parents are now forcing their way through huge crowds, in the dim light. And they don't much care who is in their way. I actually got run into by one mother, with a double stroller...I tried to get out of her way, but got wedged in by an ECV!!! That mother just pushed though, hitting me in the legs, and said ...'Can you pleassssse move???? I have to get my kids to bed!!!! Please step aside, now!!!' Seriously???? Yeah, where do you want me to go??? Sit on that poor man in the ECV???
Sure, people cut in front of strollers. People cut in front of me when I'm just walking. But that doesn't mean I get to charge into them!!! I am always aware of my surroundings. Maybe too much so. I try to avoid strollers completely. But, when a family, with a triple stroller, stops in the middle of the street, and I go to move around them, as they look at their park map, and they suddenly start moving again??? Right into me??? Sorry, but I don't consider that cutting in front of you.

Or, consider the parents that think it's hysterical to allow their child to push their younger child, in the stroller, at a very high rate of speed!!! I heard the 'Hang on tight Lydia...you don't want to flip out!!!' yelled as the older child ran off, down the walkway, pushing Lydia in her stroller, at an open gallop!!!!

So, while many stroller families are very well mannered, it only takes a few to make them all look like dolts!!! Just like it takes only a few pushy ECV people to make it look as if all ECV riders are rude and pushy!!!

 

[ttintagel]

Or, consider the parents that think it's hysterical to allow their child to push their younger child, in the stroller, at a very high rate of speed!!!

What really gets me is when they let the younger child push the older one.