Courtesy of Disney's Animal Kingdom
Throughout the years, it appears that one of the single most prevalent sources of contention between local theme parks and guests, but yet rarely gets mentioned, is the issue of strollers. Guests are continually troubled with the fact that their stroller is almost never where they parked it, they’re troubled with the restrictions against strollers, and they’re quite troubled with the manner in which strollers are corralled into tight, secluded locations.
Perhaps it’s about time to explain this issue in detail in order to educate our guests on why strollers must be managed.
Because of the nature of Central Florida tourism, a lot of children visit our region. I mean, a lot of children visit Central Florida, every single day. With most children, particularly children in early grade school and then all the way down to infants, strollers are a part of everyday life. So, if you combine these two factors, it stands to reason that there are going to be a lot of strollers out and about in our theme parks and other attractions.
It isn’t just a lot of strollers. It would be interesting to know how many strollers are being utilized in, say, The Magic Kingdom on an average day. Beyond that, it would be interesting to know how many strollers are used daily during the month of July compared to the month of October. Readers, strollers are a necessity for those with children, but when the amount of strollers is what it is in our theme parks and attractions, the issue has to be addressed and here’s why.
First of all, strollers (that are not used to accommodate a child with mobility impairments) should never be allowed inside of any buildings, rides, shows, theaters, or any other places within the parks and attractions where large amounts of people can accumulate. This is not just because strollers are an annoyance; this is because if something were to happen that caused an emergency exiting of the building, the first thing most people with children would do is remove their child from the stroller and abandon it, thinking (correctly) that they should have a firm hold on their child and get out of there.
That means that there would be dozens, scores, or even hundreds of strollers strewn about that everyone else would have to work around or climb over in order to escape. This means that people would be grabbing strollers, pushing them, throwing them, clamoring over them, and perhaps being tragically blockaded by them if the situation lost control. Strollers cannot be allowed within these attractions and other places because they pose serious risks to those around them. What’s more, when just one stroller is allowed, finding anyone who has a stroller outside and the strength of character to dismiss the supposed lack of fairness is as rare as a winning lottery ticket. Therefore, the strollers simply cannot be allowed inside, for a plethora of safety and consideration reasons.
So, strollers must remain outside. Since strollers are remaining outside, where that many strollers are kept outside must be managed. Virtually every theme park and other various attractions have specific places where strollers must be parked. The reason for this goes beyond safety considerations, although safety is the prime motivator. After all, the same considerations people would have inside a crowded building regarding strollers could also exist outside those buildings. If people had to exercise an emergency exit from a specific area, let’s say for a fire as an example, then the exit pathways could be hampered and endangered by the existence of wayward strollers in exactly the same way they could inside.
Then, there is the matter of appearance. While strollers are a part of daily life in theme parks and such, they shouldn’t have to be seen scattered everywhere, even if neatly scattered. Furthermore, if guests were allowed to take command of where strollers would end up, they would pose the safety threats almost immediately, since strollers would be piled up just outside entrances and exits, under trees and anywhere else people tend to accumulate and remove their children from the strollers. This is not an exaggeration; I have seen people pick up and throw a small stroller on a pile that has gone out of control. Strollers would be in everyone’s full field of vision at all times. Nobody could ever take a nice picture of anything without that picture commandeered by strollers.
So, just like the automobile (strollers for adults) has to be confined in a space set aside for automobiles and this has to be done in an orderly fashion, the same goes for strollers for children. There has to be a place where strollers are kept out of the paths of traffic, away from being the primary sight in any picturesque setting, and where they can be managed neatly and orderly.
This is why that if you walk up to something or somewhere you want to see and experience, and you simply push your stroller up against the closest corner or shrubbery, that your stroller is mysteriously gone when you return for it. It has been taken into the custody of those in charge of stroller parking, and they have surely parked it in the nearest stroller parking area. Virtually each and every attraction has its own stroller parking and rarely do attractions have to share a stroller parking area. This is a good thing for those with strollers, since they don’t have to travel far without their strollers.
Even if you do park your stroller in a designated parking place, the chances that it will not be where you parked it are rather high. Yes, it will still be somewhere within that stroller parking area, but the management and maintenance of a stroller parking area must be continually addressed. Strollers are constantly coming in and out of the stroller parking area, which means they’re continually occupying and then leaving vacant numerous places within the stroller parking area. Well, if strollers present were not moved to fill in the gaps and spaces, the entire stroller parking area could crawl quite a distance within just a couple of hours. So, as strollers are brought in and removed, the entire lot of them must be reconfigured to maintain a neat and tidy appearance, ensuring that all strollers are accessible through navigable rows and aisles, and space for arriving strollers is as convenient as possible.
Rest assured that park and attraction personnel are not trying to taunt or bully you by goofing with or hiding your stroller. Through the hard way, theme parks and other venues seen by large populations have learned that if they do not take a strong stance with the issue of strollers, strollers might very well take over. In fact, a good way to tell if a particular attraction or venue is being properly managed is when the stroller parking area is neat, tight, tidy, and easily accessible from several angles. If you see strollers in disarray, piling up, scattered about or left unattended beyond the appropriate stroller parking area, then things in that area are getting out of hand.
So, do yourself and everyone else a favor by taking a moment to consider where your stroller should be when you park it, and have faith that it will be within that same stroller parking area when you get back. This will surely make things better for you and everyone else courteous and considerate enough to do the same.
Comments
Stroller users can be quite rude and inconsiderate. Sorry to tell you this, but it's true. As a senior who usually travels alone or with a tween grandchild, I can vouch for the fact that nearly every time I go to a theme park, someone rolls over my foot with their stroller. Rarely do I receive an apology; it's almost as if the parent's stare tells me, "What are you doing in the way of my stroller?" I was surprised to hear your view that strollers are over-managed. In my opinion, they're not managed enough.
To be fair, I'll say that many seniors using electric mobility carts are road-hogs too. They also rarely apologize and act as if saying, "Can't you see me? Get out of my way!"
Yes, stroller-users are Disney's target audience. It's too bad you feel inconvenienced. But just remember, that stroller-users really do bump people. They hog the passageways, with their large families spread out beside them. They rarely apologize.
The stroller corrals are NEEDED!
You are right, Vicki, in that strollers are a challenge. However, I must have been unclear, since I also agree that strollers must be managed closely, and I don't see how I communicated feeling inconvenienced by this. In fact, the point of the article was to point out that stroller control must be maintained to facilitate convenience.
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