Anyone had a stroller stolen?

[QUACKHEAD]

Our poor old stroller probably has 10,000 disney miles on it. The trick is, like ours, have SO much junk in it, on it and hanging from it, that IF someone stole it by design or accident, they wouldn't be able to push it far and just give up!!!

 

[Carrieberry]

Glad to see this post beccause we have a giant jogger we need for our 6 year old special needs child. If we try a smaller one or rental his feet drag on the ground and he can't fall asleep comfortably. This one has big tires and a carrying case as well as a strap to carry it when folded so no problem on the buses, but we were worried about it getting stolen since it was $200. Looks like we shouldn't worry too much. We will more than likely only use it at night, which I would imagine is less of a risk since only a true stroller thief will be taking the time to look that closely in the dark at the strollers. Probably most get stolen during the day when dishonest people walk by, see something they like and just take it quickly before you come back out.

 

[ndmommy]

Seems like I read somewhere a sure fire way to keep your stroller from getting stolen. It was to hang a plastic bag from it with what looks like a dirty diaper in the bag. I can't remember what they said to put in the diaper to make it look dirty, but I always thought that would be a good idea.

 

[capthooksmom]

Seems like I read somewhere a sure fire way to keep your stroller from getting stolen. It was to hang a plastic bag from it with what looks like a dirty diaper in the bag. I can't remember what they said to put in the diaper to make it look dirty, but I always thought that would be a good idea.

LOL- This is a story in the Unofficial Guide. They used rootbeer.

 

[Carrieberry]

I remember that hint too! Yep it was root beer or coke in a plastic Wal Mart type bag i think! SO FUNNY!

 

[NotUrsula]

... do yourself a favor.... leave the $100 plus stroller at home... those big, usually expensive ones are usually not user friendly on the Disney busses or trams, as they must be completely folded up to get on.

Unless it is a jogging stroller, a truly expensive stroller is seldom big, at least not when folded. A bulky Graco travel system costs half as much as a Mac Techno, and the Techno is far and away the better stroller for a theme park.
When most folks here worry about expensive strollers, they are worrying about full-featured imported umbrella-fold models, most commonly Maclarens, which are usually over $200 at retail in the US.

I always worried about my Mac walking away, so to give myself peace of mind, I locked it so that it would not fold. This method only requires you to lock it up when you arrive at the park, and then leave it locked until you leave that park (except for the train at MK; the Mac is small enough to carry it on.) I used a long-hasp padlock fastened across a fold joint.

Remember that the name of the game when foiling a thief is to make your stuff the less attractive target in the pool; you can most easily do that by making it take more effort to steal yours. Identify the stroller with unique markings that are hard to remove (and for goodness' sake, forget the diaper trick--who would question someone taking a dirty diaper OFF of a stroller? Especially somewhere where there are trash cans every 20 ft.?). Also be sure that your name and a cell # or resort # are on the stroller, preferably in several places; if it is abandoned and turned in, WDW will contact you if they can.

To prevent mistaken identity, go for markings that stand out and actually cause a bit of bother, so that they will be noticed by anyone who attempts to move the stroller. I used a big froth of metallic curling ribbon around one handle; you could see it glinting in the sun, and it fell over your hand when you tried to push the stroller. Another trick is to put a pr. of kids socks over the handles and secure them on with cable ties; cushions the grips and gives you a good marking.

It's my understanding that deliberate theft of high-end strollers is not that common inside the major parks, but is much more common at DTD, where they have been known to disappear from the parking areas outside the restaurants, especially. I believe that it is getting more common every day, everywhere, thanks to EBay.

 

[PLUTO2]

What is DTD?

 

[loriandmatt]

Down Town Disney - a shopping, dining and entertainment area on WDW property.

- lori

 

[lovesdumbo]

I've taken a single MacLaren, double MacLaren and Peg Perego and never had any problems. I wouldn't do Disney with a cheap umbrella stroller if I had a nicer one at home. Hard to push if you're tall and not as comfy for my child.

 

[jennypenny]

We bought a chain bike lock and just ran it through the frame and then through the spokes of one wheel. The CMs could still tip it and move it, but no one would be able to use it.

Buy balloons at home and paint something fun on them. Then blow them up in disney and put a couple on the stroller every day.

And if you fold up your stroller (esp. if it *stands* when folded) you can easily get a large garbage bag over the top when it's raining.

Jenny

 

[SqueakyMouse]

No, but twice someone has started to walk away with it, thinking it was theirs. That's the problem when your stroller looks like so many others.

 

[crisi]

Or you can just rent one and not worry about it. If it get stolen, take your receipt to back to stroller rental and they hand you another one. Obviously, there are disadvantages - like not having a stroller at the resorts - or from the bus to whereever you'd pick up the stroller.

Strollers usually don't go missing, but no one can assure you it won't happen to yours. And there are ways to make the small risk even less - marking your stroller for instance. I also think most "stolen" strollers aren't stolen at all, just someone grabbing "their" Peg Pergo without checking. And the CMs do move strollers around (why, because it doesn't take long for strollers to need to be moved in order to fit more strollers in the spot. Other guests move them around, too, because they've been parked in) which makes grabbing the "wrong" stroller even easier.

 

[lookingforward]

The only time I have "lost" one is at the end of the night, immediately following the fire works. I think people have tired kids and just grab whatever they can find to hightail it out of the park. Both times it was a rented stroller and when I notified a castmember another stroller was found for us. It is a frustrating time to be without one though, since the crush of the crowd leaving the park is immense and it is hard to hold on to little hands.

 

[CindyBella]

My sister brought her Bugaboo Frog stroller and left bags & souveniers in it all day. Noone messed with it.

Laugh O. Grams- Love the Bugaboo!

We got to Disney 3-4 times a year and have taken our navy/ lime green Peg Pliko evey time. Never had a problem but since it was $$$ I admit I do worry.

 

[becka]

We took our Combi on our last trip and didn't have any problems. I was a little worried since it was expensive but no one ever bothered it. It really helped to have a bright red stroller in a sea of blue/green strollers.

 

[disneymom727]

We have not had ours stolen. We do always put some sort of ribbon or something to distinguish it from one that may just look similar. We also have a luggage tag with our contact info on it just in case someone mistakes it for theirs.

 

[05ChristmasSurprise]

We brought two single macs in May and, admittedly, I was sweatin' it! That was almost $300 worth of strollers.

But - the kids were very comfortable in them and often slept, which made life SO much easier. Plus, they're really light so we could fold them and pop them on and off transportation as needed.

I bought Minnie balloons on Main Street at the beginning of our trip, and tied them to the handles. The only park we couldn't use them at was Animal Kingdom, and we gifted them to a family who was on their way out

However, we don't often *all* go on a ride or in an attraction, so that decreases the amount of time the strollers are left unattended.

This time we're bringing the new Rally Twin and I paid attention last time - not a whole lot of grey with polka dot strollers out there If you have a tan/hunter green/sage green type combo unit it will be in a sea of long-lost twins.

Saw a lot of Peregos, a few Macs, one Frog, and a couple Combi Twin Savvys that I noticed. Doubt I'd bring a frog - just in the off-chance...but to each his own. I wonder if it would be covered by homeowners or trip insurance?

Anyway - we got a $2 bike lock from Target (combination style) to loop through the tires, but never did it. I might bring it this time again - just incase.

 

[lorli]

Yes we had our stroller mistanken at MGM. Oddly enough a couple came up to us later in the day and said, "I think we switched strollers." They were exactly the same, so how they knew is a mystery. After that we added a disntinguishing factor to ours.

 

[kizmac]

I had a rental one stolen right after we rented it! Stopped to get some character pics right inside the entrance of Mainstreet and someone heisted it. Doubt that it was an accident. I couldn't believe it! Atleast we didn't have any valuables in it. We just went and told them and they gave us another.

 

[wilderness01]

Out of our 9 trips, we had our stroller "borrowed" at POTC about 2 hours before park closing. We were there for another 10 days and the stroller never showed up. It was a cheapo umbrella stroller but we needed to then go out and buy another one. They only offered a free umbrella rental for us for the rest of the day, not the rest of the trip. It was a major hassle for us as we had to go to the store the next day. Good luck.