DO i have to lock my stroller up?

[KelleyD]

OK so this is my first vacation to disney other then when I was a kid. We will have our 18 month old son and our stroller in the parks.

Of course it will be the most awesome stroller with all the great add-ons I have been finding out about from these threads, but seriuosly, do strollers get stolen? Odds are one of us will always be with it, but in case we aren't do we just park it and go with no worries?

 

[gallafamily]

OK so this is my first vacation to disney other then when I was a kid. We will have our 18 month old son and our stroller in the parks.

Of course it will be the most awesome stroller with all the great add-ons I have been finding out about from these threads, but seriuosly, do strollers get stolen? Odds are one of us will always be with it, but in case we aren't do we just park it and go with no worries?

We were there in January 2008 with 2 umbrella strollers, & we never had any problems with anything on the strollers being messed with. We took our cameras, but left everything else, even pal mickey sometimes.

Hope that helps!

 

[all4fun]

We have been to WDW 9x with ds, if you added up all our trips we've probably spent 3mos there since he was born and always with our own stroller and we've never had anyone mess with it, other than to move it from one spot to another. There have been cases of mistaken identity where someone may take a stroller that looks like theirs. You can mitigate this risk by "personalizing" your stroller somehow. We used to tie a bright orange bandanna around the handle and that made it easier to spot in a sea strollers. You can use anything and be a lot more creative though. Not to say stroller theft doesn't happen but I don't think it's terribly common. I do not leave anything valuable in our stroller. I think it's far more likely something valuable will be stolen off of/out of the stroller than someone walking away with the whole thing.

hth!

 

[buckler]

Yes, strolllers do get stolen, even in the happiest place on Earth. And sometimes people make a mistake and take the wrong stroller. But, I'd have to guess this is a very small percentage of the total volume of strollers that pass through WDW each year. We have never had a problem with our personal strollers that we bring to the park. I tie a bright yellow piece of "Caution Tape" to the handle of the stroller or something distinguishing to help us find it. This also helps people from getting confused that my stroller is theirs.

The CM need to be able to rearrange the strollers so you can not lock to another object. I guess you could make it harder to roll by chaining one of the wheels (through the spokes) to the body of the stroller. But this would also make it difficult for the CM to move your stroller. Plus you have to take the time to lock and unlock it each time you stop somewhere. We thought about locking our stroller one time but gave up after realizing it was a pain.

Don't be alarmed when you come out of an attraction and your stroller isn't where you left it. A CM probably just moved it. It might be around the corner but it should be close by. If you have a bright ribbon attached to it you should be able to locate it fairly quickly.

Don't leave any valuables in the stroller. We've left our snacks and lunch cooler. But I always take my camera, purse etc. Also, don't leave any shopping bags in the stroller. I've heard that people have had their park purchases stolen out of their stroller. Also, don't leave nice hats, coats with Disney logos etc. Anything that you think someone would be tempted to swipe you should take with you.

 

[puffkin]

Not saying it can't happen, but most likely it won't. Just don't leave souvenirs/cameras etc. in the stroller...those might get swiped. Sometimes the Cast Members move the strollers so you might have to hunt for it.

We have had our strollers in the parks for 3 trips now and not a single problem.

 

[kileybeth]

what kind of stroller are you bringing? I have 2 maclarens not the cheapest but by no means the most expensive ones in the Disney stroller parking areas so I wouldn't worry to much.

Once our duo glider double got taken "accidentally" but I saw the guy leaving with it and he claimed mistaken identity. I watched him as he then left and retrieved a very old beat up same model/color stroller as my own. hhmmm. funny, his had no trays, rain covers, hoods, or anything mine had all pieces intact! I had only owned it a week! Fortunately I had stuck return address labels on all the non visable places (thanks Disboards for that tip!) and as I took my tray off and turned it over for this guy my address label was a great comfort to me! I still wouldn't bother locking mine up. odds are you will be fine.

Some of the strollers at Disney are just eye candy I tell you! I love pointing them out to my DH and saying things like "look at that one! It runs about $800 or wow! isn't that cool it's only $1200!" He then appreciates my $100 "umbrella strollers"

 

[staci]

Once our duo glider double got taken "accidentally" but I saw the guy leaving with it and he claimed mistaken identity. I watched him as he then left and retrieved a very old beat up same model/color stroller as my own. hhmmm. funny, his had no trays, rain covers, hoods, or anything mine had all pieces intact! I had only owned it a week! Fortunately I had stuck return address labels on all the non visable places (thanks Disboards for that tip!) and as I took my tray off and turned it over for this guy my address label was a great comfort to me! I still wouldn't bother locking mine up. odds are you will be fine.

:

If the guy was anything like my dh it is quite likely it was a mistake. I am quite certain that in a sea of strollers my dh would have some issues identifying ours - and I am positive that he doesnt notice the shape the stroller is in. When I got a volo to replace our 5 year old Graco with tears and stains and dirt he looked at me like I was nuts and said 'what was wrong with the old one??"

Last trip I had those moments of stress where I couldnt locate our stroller, but always found that a CM had just moved it..... I agree putting an identifier on it like a bandana or balloon helps alot. And I love the address label idea - off to do that now! I also address label my camera too!

 

[belle&sebastiansmom]

We've always locked a bike chain around the wheels of the stroller. No CM has ever complained or griped. It takes only seconds to lock and unlock.

You can't lock the stroller to anything, like a pole or fence, but you can put a chain between the wheels. Someone would look pretty silly trying to push a stroller with a chain out of the park. So I figure if there was a thief around, that would be a deterrent and they'd move on.

 

[nonzerosum]

When we were in Animal Kingdom last week there were 2 security officers hovering around a stroller. The owner returned and it runs out that she had locked the stroller to a pole and was informed that this is against park policy.

 

[KelleyD]

OK so no locking up, got that. Thank you for all the replies...I plan on purchasing a Mac quest perhaps. But plan on pimping it out with all the great accessories people have been sharing on the board.

Good idea on the address labels. And I will make sure we have something colorful to hang on it. Thank you everyone, I appreciate the help.

 

[sara74]

I did accidentally walk off with someone else's stroller while at WDW! Same Graco Duoglider double stroller in navy blue. Same hot pink Delta gate check tag on the handle. Same Wilderness Lodge mug in the basket and the water bottle/fan thingy that we bought in the MK as well. BUT there was a banana in there that wasn't ours and once I noticed that and looked closer I saw a kid's bathing suit that wasn't ours either! We talked to a CM and realized that if nothing else they likely had our stroller as well (which they did) and we knew from the mug that we were staying in the same hotel so we figured we'd catch up with them later. I actually saw our stroller in the stroller parking outside of Philharmagic and swapped back again with a note of apology and explanation. We ran into the family on the boat to WL that afternoon and turns out we had a ton in common with them and the kids got along great! We hung out at the pool all afternoon together! Best mix up ever!

 

[FoundMyPrince]

On our first trip we had a cheap-o umbrella stroller parked in Fantasyland and it disappeared. It had a bright blue obnoxious Mickey ribbon on it, our name and our American Airlines tag. When we came out to retrieve it, we found the same kind of stroller only clearly not new complete with a handle chewed by a dog (maybe the child - who knows) parked in the same spot that we left our stroller. Needless to say, we hunted for that umbrella stroller at every park for the next couple days. We found some that were similar, but not ours.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

We just took a Peg Perego P3 to Disney in Feb. I worried about theft too...but no one wanted it, LOL!

 

[bear74]

what kind of stroller are you bringing? I have 2 maclarens not the cheapest but by no means the most expensive ones in the Disney stroller parking areas so I wouldn't worry to much.

Once our duo glider double got taken "accidentally" but I saw the guy leaving with it and he claimed mistaken identity. I watched him as he then left and retrieved a very old beat up same model/color stroller as my own. hhmmm. funny, his had no trays, rain covers, hoods, or anything mine had all pieces intact! I had only owned it a week! Fortunately I had stuck return address labels on all the non visable places (thanks Disboards for that tip!) and as I took my tray off and turned it over for this guy my address label was a great comfort to me! I still wouldn't bother locking mine up. odds are you will be fine.

Some of the strollers at Disney are just eye candy I tell you! I love pointing them out to my DH and saying things like "look at that one! It runs about $800 or wow! isn't that cool it's only $1200!" He then appreciates my $100 "umbrella strollers"

thanks for the tip