Strollers. They're breeding.

I noticed the other day one of my soon-to-be-a-parent friends was asking people for opinions on Facebook about which stroller to buy. Then today I was thinking about when I worked in a theme park and the hassles strollers caused.

Yes, we need strollers. Babies need them because they can't walk. We need them because we can't carry babies constantly (which is why I think most of us come with two parents. so they can take turns). But I am against taking them to theme parks for the most part. And more and more people are taking them.

I've worked in a theme park, I've been to a theme park AS a child and I've been to one WITH a child (a cousin. I am kid-free currently).

As a child, a liked having a place to sit in the shade. I didn't have to walk. It was cool. But as you get a little older, being told to "sit down" or "get in the stroller" can get embarassing. Depended on my age.

Going with a child, it's nice to have a place for them to sit. You can store their stuff in it. They have a designated spot so they don't get lost and you don't have to leash them. Simplifies it, right? Wrong.

-You now have to balance the stuff in the stroller so when the kid(s) get out it won't tip over and spill your $7 pop.

-You have to get it on and off buses.

-Transport it at the airport or in with your luggage in the car.

-You have to get it in and out of a car (rental, possibly).

-You have to watch it so nothing gets stolen (parks and park employees are not liable).
-You have to leave it outside of 99% of attractions and restaurants (fire safety and logistical reasons).

-You have to hope nothing happens to it in transit (these things are EXPENSIVE).

-You also have to take time out of your fun to find the parking area for, park and retrieve that stroller.

Honestly, watching my aunt haul that stroller on and off the buses, elevators, etc seemed like more trouble than it was worth. If your child is older than 5 or so, he or she should probably walk unless unable to. My cousin was 4 and recovering from a flu at the time, so it was probably a good call here. But I still advocate holding hands and carrying a backpack. Small toddlers? Baby back/front carrier or RENTING a stroller. Or DON'T BRING BABIES TO A THEME PARK. I was talking to a family that did in fact leave the 2 year old at home with grandma and brought the 5 and 6 year olds. Logic.

Finally, working in a theme park I had to deal with SO MUCH CRAP WITH STROLLERS.

-So many people have them that we had designated parking areas. Park it out of that area and we moved it into that area. This made people upset, scared they lost their stroller, annoyed we moved it, accidentally take the wrong one (there are only so many designs), and yell at us for moving the strollers into lines (just to clear the walkways).

-I was chased down for moving them, I was told "never to touch [their] stroller again", etc.

-People got mad because they couldn't take the stroller into the attraction. They didn't want to leave it unguarded. They didn't want to wake the kid up. Etc.

-People tried to chain them to things to they can't be moved or stolen. When you do we have to call security. What if some psycho tries to hide a bomb in one? We can't know the difference. Precautions.

-I was once yelled at for NOT moving a stroller to the exit of an attraction (they'd left it at the entrance and had to go around the building to get it).

-Sometimes we had too few people on shift to assign one to "strollers". And we'd get a clog of strollers in the walkways, because you can't leave your post to move them. Or we'd get told, by a guest, that WE SHOULD HAVE SOMEONE CLEANING UP THE STROLLER AREA. Make up your mind, masses.



Yes that's a steering wheel.
And I saw one of these in Disney. I parked it for them.



Buy stuff in the park you don't want to carry? Easy. Disney at least has a service that will hold that stuff for you. And if you stay at one of their hotels, they will freaking deliver it to you.

Long story short, I hope to only on a RARE occasion take a stroller with me to a theme park. If ever.