Anyone ever had a stroller stolen at the parks?

[Wadecool]

I've got a question about those Buggyguard stroller locks. I know they allow you to lock the wheels together to make it hard to push the stroller. What keeps the thief from just collapsing/folding up the stroller and walking off with it that way? Most of these new umbrella strollers take 2 seconds to collapse down and carry by the handle, and the thief could just cut the cable later. Can anyone who has used these cable locks fill me in on how this works? Am I missing something?

 

[All American]

I love the Stroller lock!

My sister is giving my her Sit-n-Stand for our trip (her kids have outgrown it), and I do worry about something happening to it.

Our Maclearan (spelling?) was fine two years ago, but I did put a bright green note on it telling would-be thieves to buy/rent their own. The stroller lock definitely beats my current idea of a family picture zip-tied to the stroller in plain sight with a sign saying "If we're not sitting in or pushing this stroller, then whoever is, is a thief." (Well, okay, I wouldn't do that but the thought has crossed my mind. )

 

[eddiemcgarrigle]

We've never had a problem with my son's pram going walkabout but we did suffer a theft from it. My son had owned a little blue teddy from 6 weeks of age, he never went to bed without it and it was barely left out of his sight for more than a minute. He loved it. It was threadbare, ripped and very weary looking but still someone stole it from the secure pocket between the handles of the pram. My son was distraught and this incident very nearly ruined our holiday.

Every day for a week, I visited lost and found to no avail. It was only his love of Nightmare Before Christmas that offered a way to soothe his pain. We found cutesy plush versions of Jack and Zero that placated him until we could get home and give him the spare (yes, always have a spare) teddy.

Why someone would steal an obviously well loved soft toy is beyond me. Scum will still be scum no matter where they are. Pixie dust does not work on these individuals.

 

[Wadecool]

We've never had a problem with my son's pram going walkabout but we did suffer a theft from it. My son had owned a little blue teddy from 6 weeks of age, he never went to bed without it and it was barely left out of his sight for more than a minute. He loved it. It was threadbare, ripped and very weary looking but still someone stole it from the secure pocket between the handles of the pram. My son was distraught and this incident very nearly ruined our holiday.

Every day for a week, I visited lost and found to no avail. It was only his love of Nightmare Before Christmas that offered a way to soothe his pain. We found cutesy plush versions of Jack and Zero that placated him until we could get home and give him the spare (yes, always have a spare) teddy.

Why someone would steal an obviously well loved soft toy is beyond me. Scum will still be scum no matter where they are. Pixie dust does not work on
these individuals.

And the Teddy was probably worth 10 times as much as the stroller to you guys. There will always be people who just "take" whatever they feel like. Sorry that happened to your son.

 

[aidtrismommy]

I've got a question about those Buggyguard stroller locks. I know they allow you to lock the wheels together to make it hard to push the stroller. What keeps the thief from just collapsing/folding up the stroller and walking off with it that way? Most of these new umbrella strollers take 2 seconds to collapse down and carry by the handle, and the thief could just cut the cable later. Can anyone who has used these cable locks fill me in on how this works? Am I missing something?

Yes, you can still collapse them, however, I think most people looking to steal strollers are desperate for one for their kid to sit in. Plus, it would look really odd seeing someone carrying a folded up double stroller (mine is heavy) down main street. Someone could also potentially smuggle in something to cut the cables too, but it is really just a way to decrease your chances of having your stroller taken. I don't think anything is a gurantee here. I like the locks and it makes me feel better.

 

[disneydreamin247]

While I have never had it done to me, these threads are the exact reason I'm investing in a smaller, cheaper stroller for our trip. While I can afford to replace the one we have, I'd really prefer not to. $679 could be money towards our next trip instead of our next stroller. Besides, since we go every year it isn't a wasted investment. The travel stroller will get much use.

 

[NYEmomma]

We've never had a problem with my son's pram going walkabout but we did suffer a theft from it. My son had owned a little blue teddy from 6 weeks of age, he never went to bed without it and it was barely left out of his sight for more than a minute. He loved it. It was threadbare, ripped and very weary looking but still someone stole it from the secure pocket between the handles of the pram. My son was distraught and this incident very nearly ruined our holiday.

Every day for a week, I visited lost and found to no avail. It was only his love of Nightmare Before Christmas that offered a way to soothe his pain. We found cutesy plush versions of Jack and Zero that placated him until we could get home and give him the spare (yes, always have a spare) teddy.

Why someone would steal an obviously well loved soft toy is beyond me. Scum will still be scum no matter where they are. Pixie dust does not work on these individuals.

Oh man, poor guy!! I would rather a thief steal just about ANYTHING (stroller, wallet, cell phone included) than DD's blankie. What kind of person would do that to a little kid??

*makes note to bring both versions of DD's blankie... one for the stroller, one stays in the safe in the hotel *

 

[mom2rtk]

Oh man, poor guy!! I would rather a thief steal just about ANYTHING (stroller, wallet, cell phone included) than DD's blankie. What kind of person would do that to a little kid??

*makes note to bring both versions of DD's blankie... one for the stroller, one stays in the safe in the hotel *

NO!!!!! Don't do it!

Over the years we lost 2 lovies in hotel rooms and they never showed up again. I refer to hotel rooms as the black hole of stuff. If you lose it, it NEVER shows back up again. Both times we KNEW they had it before bed and we ran late leaving and didn't shake out the blankets like we usually do. If I have ONE thing to offer new parents....... it's BUY A SPARE......... and NEVER take the original on vacation!

The funny part is this....... we have lost a number of things in hotel rooms. It's become the family joke that we always call....... but have never recovered a single one of them.

On our last trip this December, my daughter wore a pair of Pocahontas boots at Animal Kingdom in the rain. THey were soaked so we left them behind in the hotel room. They looked HORRIBLE. I thought they'd just throw them out for us. Shortly after getting home, we got a note from the POP. They had our boots and wanted to mail them to us! Now why didn't that happen with the 2 lovies we lose years before????

 

[stevenpensacola]

Here's what we used to do when our kids were small:

1. To help us find our strollers in the sea of look-alike strollers
2. To help other know that this was not their stroller.

I wrapped several different colors of electrical tape around the frame just below the handles...i.e....made "stripes" of different colors.

It also help to leave a dirty diaper "bomb" in the stroller seat...not too many folks want to mess with that!!!

 

[jpdeg99]

Ours was stoeln last trip. But it was at POrt Orleans FQ. I left it at th ebottom of the stairs for about 20 minutes while I ran up to my in-laws room. Came out and it was gone. Looked all over, called the front desk, housekeeping, ran around the resort, but couldnt find it. We had to catch the ME 40 minutes later, so we gave up. We did call every day for about a week or so. They were very nice, but it never turned up. We were advised it is a frequent occurance. Nothing of value in it, except my 2 year old's shoes and pj bottoms. Had to buy a $30 pair of mickey crocs and umbrella stroller at the gift shop. his year, we're renting and getting insurance.

 

[Tara922c]

I have never had a stroller stoller, but I sure it happens. I think there are two types of thieves, the bad parents who decide that they are just going to steal a stroller rather than buying one, and the person who sees a bag at the bottom of the stroller, who steals the whole stroller rather than "just the bag". The theif walks the stroller to a different location, and then takes the bag, ditches the stroller. I am sure there are people who steal strollers with the intention to sell them. Actually, I know there are people, I am assuming local, that have APs just to go in to disney, and pick pocket people. My friend had her wallet taken out of ther backpack while she was in line for a ride. The person had to open the back pack, and take the wallet, and zip it back up!!! Same thing happend to my grandma at the grocery store! (never leave your handbag in the cart!)

Anyway, I paid 100 dollars for our stroller. I look at it this way, even if my stroller did get stollen, it would cost me over 100 bucks to rent a stroller for the week while we are there, so it is still worth the risk for me to bring my own.

I think another two things happen when it comes to missing strollers. For one, some attractions move strollers to different locations, and people don't realise it. They look at the original spot, and when it isn't there, they assume it was stollen. My good friend worked at the stroller rental place at MGM, and told me they had at least 20 strollers a night that people would leave in the parks. I am sure a few of them a person thought their stroller was stollen, when they really just didn't look hard enough for it.

The second thing is.... many strollers look alike, and people don't notice it. My friend went to Disney, and on the morning of his departure day they went to MK for the day. They were driving back to Texas, and left from MK. Sixteen hours later when he got home, as he unpacked the stroller, he realised that it wasn't his stroller!!! He felt really bad, but there wasn't much he could do at that point!

 

[Sydnerella]

One trip single Peg 4 days - not stolen (very common nice stroller)
Two trips Double Mac 8 days each - not stolen (pretty common expensive stroller)

We have always left them in stroller pkg for a few rides at a time (Fantasyland) and never had a problem. We took "valuables" but left water, snacks, ponchos in the stroller.

Staff moves them around sometimes as people leave and I have seen some temp freakouts from other high strung parents (not all that unlike me)...

Sydnerella's Mama

FWIW - I LOVED having my easy to push nice strollers along and would not buy a cheapy to push at the World where a good stroller is a huge help with all the walking/turning/manuevering. Generally I am pretty trusting and I believe it is an exception when they get stolen.

 

[Colleen27]

I'm considering the buggy lock depending on how easy it is to attach/unattach. To me, some of the best advice I've seen is to personalize the bejesus out of the stroller with ribbons, name tags, and anything that isn't easily removable. It seems like a thief wouldn't want to take one that could be easily identified by the owner and he or she could subsequently by caught with it in their possession. Then again, while I know there are scumbags who would intentionally steal a stroller, I can't see one of them paying the $80 just to enter WDW for the chance to do it.

That's been my approach. Since I have no intention of reselling our stroller, I've been adding iron-ons to the canopy commemorating the trips we've taken our youngest on with it. I can't imagine that a thief will be terribly interested in a highly identifiable stroller with next to no resale value.

As far as the admission goes, some of the higher end strollers sell on Craigslist and eBay for a couple hundred bucks. Even mine, which is pretty middle of the road (Peg Perego) sells for $100+. It wouldn't take stealing more than a few each year to cover the costs of an annual pass if the thief knew what to look for in a target stroller. And that assumes people who are buying the ticket just to do this - there are probably plenty of less-than-upstanding people who bought the AP for the parks and just see being able to walk off with resellable goods as a bonus.

 

[Colleen27]

I was thinking in Sept. that I would tie a big ribbon and knot it really good around the handle and also buy a balloon the first day and tie it on for the duration of the trip (except in AK). Would those balloons last several days? Does anyone know?

Yes, the mylar ones do. We bought one on our first MK day and had to pop it to take it home with us 7 days later (DD has it taped up like a poster on her wall).

 

[lan3]

I have triplets and we are bringing three single strollers (borrowing 2). Would thos locks work to attach the three strollers together? I don't think someone would steal three attached strollers!

 

[Wadecool]

Yes, you can still collapse them, however, I think most people looking to steal strollers are desperate for one for their kid to sit in. Plus, it would look really odd seeing someone carrying a folded up double stroller (mine is heavy) down main street. Someone could also potentially smuggle in something to cut the cables too, but it is really just a way to decrease your chances of having your stroller taken. I don't think anything is a gurantee here. I like the locks and it makes me feel better.

Good point. If someone wants it bad enough, they're going to get it. It's all about making yours less desirable to thieves. I think we will just personalize the heck out of it and use a lock until I get tired of messing with it. I've also noticed that the Maclaren we have isn't really even considered "high end" compared to some I've seen.

 

[chartle]

I have triplets and we are bringing three single strollers (borrowing 2). Would thos locks work to attach the three strollers together? I don't think someone would steal three attached strollers!

As long as it doesn't make the strollers too difficult to move.

They may end up having to drag your strollers around. Particularly if you decide to do something like have one locked up perpendicular to the others.

 

[WDSearcher]

Yep - someone stole our son's stroller at Goofy's rollercoaster. We looked for over an hour and had given up. Found it @ Pirates and stole it back ... ARRRGGGHHH It's a Maclaren, but we had a very distinct tag still on there with our names. Idiot forgot to take it off. We left because I am pregnant and didn't want any drama and I didn't want my children to witness a potential argument. Nothing good can come from me confronting them.

A gentleman was sitting right by our stroller so we explained the situation to him and he wanted to stay and see what happened. We exchanged email addresses and he emailed us back, which we got after our vacation was over. The couple and their kid came out and the Dad was looking for "his" (our stroller). The man said, "Looking for that blue stroller you stole? The owners came and found it." He gave a nervous laugh and said "Oh, here's our stroller", and took a random one. Only thing was the real owners were right behind him and called him on it. The guy tried to run but suddenly remembered he was leaving his wife and kid behind. Security was called and the last the guy saw they were being escorted away from Pirates.
Nice example to set for your kids, huh?

Great story, but it sounds a bit unlikely.

First ... how did the guy sending the e-mail know for certain that this family was the family who stole your stroller? You didn't know what they looked like, and unless the alleged thief specifically said, "Have you seen my stroller? It was right here and it looked like X" and described your stroller perfectly, it could have been any family whose stroller got moved or misplaced in the crowd. It's not like there aren't a bunch of other families trying to find their strollers too. I don't get how the guy would know that those folks were looking for that specific stroller. Even the "nervous laugh" is suspect. If I had a total stranger look at me and say, "Looking for the blue stroller you stole?", I'd have probably laughed nervously too, thinking the guy was just weird. No proof that the guy was the thief.

Also .... he said that the guy tried to run but remembered he was leaving his wife and kid behind. So he what? He just stood there while someone called Security and then continued to stand there politely with his family while everyone waited for Security? What criminal does that? It's not like MK Security is instantaneous. It would have been at least a 10-15 min wait. I just can't imagine that the thief is going to stand there with his family waiting. And if the e-mail didn't include the phrase, "...while we physically restrained him ..." there was absolutely nothing to stop the guilty party from walking away and getting lost in the crowd. No witnesses to the first theft, since the stroller wasn't there any more and you weren't there to say he stole it. And even though he took another stroller (and was called on it by the actual owner -- which is a pretty big coincidence too, if you think about it -- that the owner of the totally random stroller he was now trying to 'steal' was right there), it could be easily explained with, "I'm sorry ... they all look the same". Security would have never walked him out on evidence so remarkably flimsy.

Plus ... they'd have certainly had to take statements from both the owner of the random stroller and the gentleman who e-mailed you. At which point his only frame of reference that the other guy stole any stroller was your contention that he took yours, and neither you nor your stroller were there. And since the gentleman had your e-mail address, why wouldn't he pass that along to Disney Security so that they could take your statement -- since you were the only people who could really file a charge anyway, although you had no proof yourself?

I think the gentleman sending you the e-mail was trying to make you feel good by telling you that the stroller thief got "justice." It might be totally false, or partially true and embellished. But the scenario he painted was totally implausible.

 

[WDSearcher]

It also help to leave a dirty diaper "bomb" in the stroller seat...not too many folks want to mess with that!!!

If someone wants your stroller, this will NOT deter them. It's an over-used "trick" that everyone knows about.

If the "diaper" is in a plastic bag (which it always is), the thief will simply pick up the plastic bag, toss the diaper and take the stroller. No one is afraid of a fake (or even a real) dirty diaper on a stroller. It's not like you have to touch ANY part of the "poop" in order to grab the stroller.

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

To deter thiefs, we usually leave the baby IN the stroller while it is parked.

Very few thiefs want to steal the baby with the stroller, they are just after the stroller. Easier to steal one without a baby in it.

Has worked for us for many trips.