Do strollers need to be emptied of all items while left unattended?

[Dusinberre]

My family will be visiting WDW for two weeks in November. I think I read somewhere that when you leave a stroller in a waiting area (or otherwise unattended) it needs to be emptied of all personal items. Is this true? We will have a BabyTrend jogging stroller for our 14 month old son. I want to know if we can keep his diaper bag stowed in the cargo net of the stroller when we are in lines for an attraction for example. I understand Disney is not responsible for any theft but is it required that the stroller be completely empty? Thanks very much.

 

[Alesia]

No.

I wouldn't advise leaving any thing valuable in it. And if you leave food in it, the squirrels will steal it if they can smell it.

 

[ImDMous]

You certainly aren't required to empty it, but it's a good idea.

 

[Habbott]

We left things like sweatshirts (we visit in Feb.), change of clothing, etc. we had a backpack for the items we didn't wish to leave behind like the camera. Nothing was ever missing from our stroller. But, I doubt there is a high demand for personalized sweatshirts with the name Asa (my son), lol.

 

[mcjaco]

We left clothing, ponchos, snack bags in ours, and brought purses, cameras etc. with when we left them. The CM's move the strollers around a lot to make sure there's plenty of space. I found that to be more frustrating then anything. Our two strollers, which are identical, kept getting separated. Heart jumped into my throat on more than one occasion, when I couldn't find the second stroller right away,

 

[JimmyBean42]

We generally always leave things (like a diaper bag or backpack) in the stroller when we are on an attraction / show. We will bring the camera with us but that's because you never know when you want to snap a quick pic. I have left the video camera in the stroller on occasion.

The first time we were in Disney with kids I stood by the stroller while others rode a ride. A nice lady came over to me and said "Oh sweetie, this is Disney World, people don't steal here". While that may not be the case 100% of the time, I do think it's fairly accurate.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We generally always leave things (like a diaper bag or backpack) in the stroller when we are on an attraction / show. We will bring the camera with us but that's because you never know when you want to snap a quick pic. I have left the video camera in the stroller on occasion.

The first time we were in Disney with kids I stood by the stroller while others rode a ride. A nice lady came over to me and said "Oh sweetie, this is Disney World, people don't steal here". While that may not be the case 100% of the time, I do think it's fairly accurate.

PLEASE do not be so naive. Disney World is just like every place else. You're very lucky your camera was not stolen.

 

[maxiesmom]

Only leave things in your stroller that you wouldn't mind being gone when you go back to your stroller. Heck, sometimes the strollers are stolen.

 

[myminnieme]

As long as it's not loaded with stuff and staff can maneuver it around, my only suggestion would be don't leave anything that would ruin your day if you lost it. I always took my backpack with my daughter's baby bottles and such with me on the ride.

 

[scrapquitler]

My family will be visiting WDW for two weeks in November. I think I read somewhere that when you leave a stroller in a waiting area (or otherwise unattended) it needs to be emptied of all personal items. Is this true? We will have a BabyTrend jogging stroller for our 14 month old son. I want to know if we can keep his diaper bag stowed in the cargo net of the stroller when we are in lines for an attraction for example. I understand Disney is not responsible for any theft but is it required that the stroller be completely empty? Thanks very much.

No, there is no rule saying that you have to take everything out of the stroller. Take your valuables. We always left the diaper bag, snacks, and extra things. We took my purse, our park tickets and our phone/cameras.

If everyone DID empty their stroller, I bet it would cause a lot of confusion because people would constantly being mixed up with other strollers that looked the same. It's defintely a good idea to do something to personalize your stroller so that you can find it when the Cast Members move it (and they WILL move it)...a brightly colored ribbon or bandana is a good way to quickly locate yours in a sea of very similar looking strollers.

 

[scjo68]

If you have snacks in the stroller, be sure they are put away well, in a secure closed bag. I have seen animals like squirrels get into many snacks in strollers. They can open boxes, plastic bags, they are quite resourceful.

I agree stuff is commonly left in strollers. We left (non-valuable) things in ours all of the time.

 

[mondragon]

Someone once took our diaper bag/backpack. They emptied it and threw it in some bushes. Just take it with you if you don't want the hassle of filing a report if it's stolen.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

When we were in Disney with our 20 month old son the first day we took our diaper bag with us. We only needed to leave the stroller 1 day bc we quickly learned our little man was a sprinter and sprinted away from us almost falling down stairs (UGH! Our worst nightmare!). We went into guest services to see what could be done and they gave us a stroller as a wheelchair sticker and that was awesome bc we got to take our stroller everywhere. My older son was 3 on our first trip to Disney with him and he was never a sprinter. He always stayed right with us. This little guy is very adventurous lol. With my older son when he was 3 I think we left the diaper bag along with our water bag in the stroller. Nothing ever happened to anything, but I wouldn't suggest doing it now. For some reason the parks just seem busier.

 

[JimmyBean42]

PLEASE do not be so naive. Disney World is just like every place else. You're very lucky your camera was not stolen.

While I typically will not leave it anymore, we have never experienced (knock on wood) anything being taken or known anyone who has had something taken. Compared to other amusement parks I'd say theft at WDW is somewhat low. But I have no facts or numbers to prove that, just going on word of mouth.

 

[puffkin]

25+ trips with strollers (my kids are over 6.5 years apart in age so we are going on 10 years with a stroller). I always leave my diaper bag and a cooler with drinks with the stroller and sweatshirts and stuff in cooler months. Never had anything taken but I also am not leaving money and electronics on it either (except once or twice by accident).

It can and does happen, but we have never had a problem.

 

[maxiesmom]

While I typically will not leave it anymore, we have never experienced (knock on wood) anything being taken or known anyone who has had something taken. Compared to other amusement parks I'd say theft at WDW is somewhat low. But I have no facts or numbers to prove that, just going on word of mouth.

Theft may be comparatively low, but you don't want to be one of the ones in the small pool of guests it happens to. Why leave anything on your stroller that may entice someone?

 

[3Gsandme]

You aren't required to empty it, but I wouldn't leave anything you or your kids would be upset to lose, to be safe. If your trip is going to be ruined because someone took Junior's balloon off the stroller, don't leave it.

 

[lazytown10]

We always leave our diaper bag in the stroller, and have never had any problems. I do carry a small cross body purse with our money and camera in it. I never leave anything in the diaper bag that would not be easy to replace. I would also agree with previous posters about putting something on your stroller to make it easier for you to identify. CMs move strollers around a lot!

 

[quakechicago]

We've left stuff occasionally (wet ponchos and a tshirt, but nothing valuable, we are used to taking stuff because we live in Chicago) but our last trip 3 times we saw people next to us return to their strollers completely freaking out because they had cameras, purses, phones, toys, etc stolen. We tie a bandanna to the handles to find it easier and use a light at night. Never had the light stolen luckily.

Do we see people leave stuff all the time? Yes. Is this a good idea? No. CMs will often try to remind people to take their things but on instagram occasionally CMs are like LOOK at what this genius left! And they show ipads, etc.

 

[Dusinberre]

Thanks everyone. I would never intentionally leave anything of value I was just wondering about diapers and stuff that is of little value if stolen. I find it terribly upsetting that people would steal at WDW but I know that's the reality we all live in.

I was also wondering if CM treated unattended items in strollers with suspicion. Like an unattended piece of luggage in an airport. Clearly this is not the case based on the replies.