Are Strollers and Carriers Relatively Safe from Theft?

[emma'smom]

We are taking a 1 year old and a three year old in March. We want to take our stroller and our back pack carrier to the parks. How safe is it to leave the stroller and carrier (probably in the stroller) while we go on rides? The 1 year old is too heavy for a sling, so the carrier is a better option. She won't stay in a stroller all day and is just beginning to walk.

I've left our inexpensive stroller and a backpack at Disneyland without any problems. I am less concerned about the financial loss (neither are that valuable) as I am about not having them for the rest of trip should they be taken.

Any thoughts?

 

[3littleHalls]

I have the same fears. I would be devastated if we were without a stroller! Angry too! But we have taken strollers to WDW and other than them being moved around by CMs no one touched ours. We never leave anything important in the stroller...but I have left the Baby Bjorn in it. I have seen people leave their cam corders, and numerous souvineers in them. We usually put a great big name tag on our stroller.

 

[BAYSIDE MOM]

We have always left our stroller,sometimes with our diaper bag in it unattended outside attractions and have never had a problem. I would never do this in NYC where we live, but I guess we let our defenses down when we are in Disney. we also have noticed a lot of other people doing the same thing too. You might want to consider renting astroller, that way if it does go missing, I believe you just show your receipt and they will give you another for the day.

 

[belle&beast]

We just got back yesterday and had no trouble leaving our stroller. We took our cameras and valuables with us on rides and it worked well. I did meet a lady on the bus that had her stroller stolen, although it was recovered, but her son's sweater was missing. She said that someone else's stroller was missing , so that woman decided to take a different stroller- hers! Her stroller was found because the theif's stroller was found and was labeled with her cell phone number but no name. She refused to tell CMs where she was staying or her name, but dropped the stolen stroller anonymously, and CM picked it up. While she was missing her stroller, Disney gave her a rental at no charge. This was the first time I had heard of a theft, so unfortunately it does happen. That being said, no one bothered our stroller or anything we left in it and even after hearing the story, we continued to leave our stroller unattended.

 

[munchkinsmom]

We've had annual passes to Disneyland for the past four years so we've been there many, many times with various strollers and a backpack carrier. We'd always leave our stroller unlocked and we'd even leave our carrier it on top of the stroller while going on rides. We NEVER had a problem with anything being stolen...until last Labor Day weekend.

On day one of a multiple day stay at the DLR, our double stroller was stolen from the stroller parking lot in front of the "It's a Small World" ride. The thief made the effort to steal it, since my parents (who had the kids while DH and I went on Space Mtn) made the effort to park it in the "inner" most rows of the stroller parking area. One had to maneuver his/her way through the rows of stroller to get to our double. We reported the loss and checked with guest services every day to see if it had been returned. We never saw it again. A Mickey Mouse plush toy, a couple of jackets and a diaper bag (w/ my DD's epipens inside) were also gone. DLR didn't even offer a rental to us.

We now have a replacement double, but when we go to the DLR, we now make an extra effort to lock it up w/ a cable. We don't ever want to go through that again. We've learned our lesson.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Fairly safe.

Put something on the stroller to ID it easily--as with luggage...some strollers may be alike.

Bring some ribbon from home--I even twisted pipe cleaners onto the handle of my jogging stroller.

Worried about theft--one suggestion is leaving a "dirty" diaper...not a real one of course--just one that "looks" the part. Seems stealing such a stroller loses its appeal.

Just don't leave valuables behind--We take stuff we don't want stolen like purchased items, cameras and such.

 

[Schmeck]

At WDW, you are not allowed to lock the stroller to anything, but you can run a lock through the wheels so the stroller won't roll.

 

[emma'smom]

So, for those of you who are taking things on the rides. What kinds of things can one easily carry with them on rides? You've mentioned cameras, purchases....

 

[belle&beast]

So, for those of you who are taking things on the rides. What kinds of things can one easily carry with them on rides? You've mentioned cameras, purchases....

We took a backpack and camera case on the rides with us. My husband usually had our DS2 with him, so I took both a lot of the time. It was not a problem at all. We left jackets and purchases tucked under the front seat of our double stroller, so they were hidden. I also thought I should mention that there were quite a few CMs monitoring the big stroller parking areas. Not that they would know who dropped a stroller, but it could deter people from stealing. Next time I am going to use a big ribbon or fringe to make our stroller really stand out.