Unhappy With Happiness
Published October 07, 2005
Mr. Oberleitner did get some e-mail regarding his August 23 story about
Disneyland Annual Passholders and baby strollers, Disneyland:
The Backside of Happiness. As you might have guessed, not everyone
was happy with his conclusions. The following response, unlike some we
received, makes the best use of language we can use on a family friendly
site.
I had found a link to this article through screamscape.com. At
first I thought this article was well rounded when discussing how some
Annual Passholders have a sense of entitlement. But this exists
in all facets of life. I'm a member at the YMCA and was at my
swimming class yesterday, when there were other members of the Y who
felt they were entitled to swim in our area, even though it wasn't free
swimming hours. One particular man was quite rude to a swimming
instructor who asked him to swim in some other lanes - which were open.
So he just got up and left. I just think there are some very rude
people out there, and they need to feel some sense of false self worth
by acting out on those they think are below them.
Now as for the last part of the article discussing strollers, that
was definitely one-sided. I'm a mother, and have brought my child
with a stroller to Disneyland 4 times this past year (and a former Annual
Passholder as well). Every time I've gone to Disneyland I've seen people
bringing their strollers down (the escalators) in the Mickey and Friends
parking lot with their children in them. Now the rude and vulgar-mouthed
people mentioned in the article are idiots, as are anyone else who would
leave their children in their strollers because the signs are there
to protect their children, not to make it a convenience since they don't
want to wait in line for the elevator. And just because these
people didn't see the signs, they should have more common sense than
that. But this couple probably would have taken their young children
on Splash Mountain if this could be slipped by the Cast Members.
I have always used the elevator, except for one time when the elevator
was broken and we folded the stroller which my husband carried, and
I carried our son. And I don't ever remember seeing those signs;
my husband and I just knew better and didn't want to harm our child.
As a parent, having a stroller is a convenience for you and your child:
it's a good place for your child to sleep when he's tired and store
the numerous stuff you need for your kid.
But as I'm sure your aware, Disneyland and the surrounding area were
not originally designed to support the enormous amount of people that
now show up through their turnstiles, with our without strollers.
And I'm sure you've been to Walt Disney World and have noticed how much
bigger the walkways are at the Magic Kingdom compared to Disneyland.
It might be curious to look if these complaints of rude parents with
strollers exist at Walt Disney World as well.
However, Disneyland is a great place to bring your toddler and young
child. (The more I type I'm sensing the writer of this article doesn't
have children. But maybe I'm wrong.) And I feel pretty confident
that the two people running into each other with their strollers at
Disneyland (the one the "matronly" woman commented on) would
have been rude with one another if they ran into each other without
strollers. As for the rise in complaints about rude parents with strollers
that feel they are entitled, I am sure this has increased with the rise
in attendance because of the 50th anniversary celebration. When
there are lots of people in a crowded area, with or without strollers,
there are bound to be more obnoxious and rude people.
Your next article should be about how people in groups stop in the
middle of walkways at Disneyland (usually without strollers) to talk,
or look at maps, or whatever. It makes it difficult to get around
them and I sometimes run into these people. If they would just
move over and be polite! This is my biggest pet peeve at Disneyland.
But as I stated earlier, there are all kinds in a crowd. As a
friend of mine who's a checker at Ralph's (supermarket) once told me
- all types of people need groceries, from the psychokillers and
maniacs, to the sweet and elderly, so don't be surprised by people's
rude behavior. And sometimes these people feel a need to go to
Disneyland.
For the record, as the writer of this letter, who did not furnish a name,
surmised, Mr. Oberleitner does not have children of his own. However,
he tells us that thanks to years of visiting the Happiest Place on Earth,
he's everybody's favorite uncle when out of town family and friends with
kids come to visit.
"Over the years, I've pushed my share of strollers around the Magic
Kingdom," Oberleitner said. "Even before I started writing about
Disneyland, I made sure to practice safe stroller operation. Hey! Like
the man said, there's somebody's kid in the front of that thing."
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