Strolllers at parades

[justus3]

My DS's favorite thing at he parks are the parades. He loves to take pictures and wave at the characters. When we were there last Nov there where so many empty strollers along the parade line he could not get close enough to see anything. The worse part was that even when asked nicely to please move the stroller they looked at me like a was crazy. Isn't there a place where strollers can be left during the parades?

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

My children always sat in their strollers during the parades.

 

[Lora]

Usually anyone who's there along the rope has been waiting for a while to see the parade. To wait that long without a stroller for your little one would be difficult to cruel. My kids always sat in their strollers and we usually stood behind them. It's not easy to give up 45 min. to an hour (or more) to get a good spot for a parade, but it's what a lot of us do. We generally try to let small children in if we have a bit of room to spare, but generally if people have waited an hour for a spot, they're not going to want to give it up to those who come later. On top of that we're often shoved my people and their children who come at the last minute and want in (please don't think I'm saying you did this - I'm just sharing past experiences).

 

[kilee]

I would advise really just getting to the parade route early. Especially if it's the highlight of your childs trip. I would think a good solid hour (unless it's Christmas/Easter) would be enough. I know we like to sit along Main Street (or similar in other parks) to watch the parade. We have to arrive pretty much a solid hour early to get that seat too. It's well worth it though. We use that time to get a snack and relax.

 

[beattyfamily]

I always have a stroller. It's great for helping to save a spot that I'm saving for over an hour BUT once the parade starts, my kids are in it. They watch from the stroller so instead of sitting on the curb, they are sitting in the stroller.

I've never seen someone with an open stroller during a parade without a kid in it...

I don't really see an alternative as there's no other place to put them. Only alternative is to close them if you are not using them but if it's rented, you can't do that. Another alternative is to get there early so there isn't a stroller blocking you.

 

[DebbieB]

I've seen people put their stroller behind them lenghtwise so that no one can stand directly behind them and try to cut in.

 

[nemomama]

I totally agree with the previous poster who advised that you get to the parades early. Take some blankets to sit on and stake out a good spot. There is really no other place to put strollers along the parade routes, and the babies and children who use strollers have just as much a right to be at the parades as anyone else. As to people who have their empty strollers up close, hey, if they got to that spot first then they have a right to have their strollers there, in my opinion.

My DD usually watches the parades in her stroller, or sometimes DH picks her up so she can see better. When he picks her up, no way am I moving the stroller for someone else, there's no place to move it to!

 

[Stacey2grls]

Getting to the parades early is really your best defense. We arrived at all the parades 1 hour early, and Spectromagic and 1 1/2 early. We were in a great spot along Main st. Totally worth the time.

 

[taximomfor4]

I always have a stroller. It's great for helping to save a spot that I'm saving for over an hour BUT once the parade starts, my kids are in it. They watch from the stroller so instead of sitting on the curb, they are sitting in the stroller.

I've never seen someone with an open stroller during a parade without a kid in it...

I don't really see an alternative as there's no other place to put them. Only alternative is to close them if you are not using them but if it's rented, you can't do that. Another alternative is to get there early so there isn't a stroller blocking you.

We have left our stroller empty behind us...with all our stuff in it. My dd sits on the curb once the parade starts. But with my middle dd having pretty severe sensory issues, she absolutely cannot stand people squeezing into her. The stroller sets a boundary so that she does not have that problem. We stake out our spot about a solid hour in advance also, since there are 6 of us (and the stroller). We "camp" there, eat lunch on the curb, etc. Is it wrong for us to form a barrier with the stroller? I don't think so.... for 2 good reasons. 1. We have our food, etc and all our stuff in it (backpack diaper bag etc) so that stuff is not all over the ground and is safe. 2. This is how middle dd can stay for parades. We could STAND behind her and do that, but then our stroller is WHERE?? And how many people would try to squeeze between her and us since we would have to leave a few inches.

Beth

p.s Over Easter, and the MK eve parade, the kids were all called out into the street to dance the Hokey Pokey right in front of our spot. We kept the kids' jackets to mark their seats, but this teen that had been standing behind the crowd for about 20 minutes already Shoved, Pushed, and JUMPED into my kids' little spot on the curb. I mean, this happened the MINUTE the kids walked to the street for the dancing. Some lady I dont' know saw what was happening, and she and I both, in the nick of time, threw ourselves across the spot. He sat on that lady's leg. She gave him a piece of her mind, and he went back to his standing spot. So my advice -- if a front spot is important to you, get there really early and stake out your territory! AND THEN DON'T MOVE!

 

[Windy City Heather]

I love the blanket idea. We will be doing that next time. Along with our stroller behind us.

Every time we go at least 1 hour early and more like 1 1/2. One adult runs and gets food by the time the parade starts we barely have room for two people. I loose a lot of park time so we can all sit on the curb and it really annoys me that people come take our space.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

We start saving a seat on Main St about 1 1/2 before the parade begins by putting our stroller with a blanket next to it, one adult stays behind while the other walks around with the DD's.

We like to have the DD's in the stroller during the parades so they don't get pushed around.

I've never seen an empty stroller during a parade but I've seen plenty up to parade time.

 

[ceecee]

I've seen it a lot. Kids sitting on the curb and the empty stroller behind them. A few years ago, we were there 45 minutes early and right as the parade starts a lady brings her little girl up next to my DD "so she could see" we are so crammed and then she invites her husband and son to stand in FRONT of my DD. People turn bad during parades! This also happened at Epcot, we allowed a lady and her son in and four other people show up and got behind them and 2 of them smoked!!! In a non-smoking area!!

 

[Wishes]

Last summer during the Spectromagic parade a family was standing near us in front of their empty stroller. A man started complaining to them about it and it came close to an all out brawl! The man even began to try to physically move the stroller with all their belongings in it! I had to pull my son up onto the curb next to me and even then the stroller hit his leg! It was very scary and I just felt so badly for the people this guy was harrassing. They were just sitting there like hundreds of other people either in front of or beside their rented strollers waiting to have a wonderful evening watching this beautiful parade. How could you ever erase the memory of this big bully yelling at you? I have no problem whatsoever with people using their stollers during the parades. My kids are older now and we stand in the back and can see just fine. We've had many occasions when people have offered for my daughter to come up to the front to sit and I've always tried to do the same when we've had extra space.