For those who take your own stroller

[dkal95]

Do you lock it to something with a bicycle lock or something similar while you are on rides? How do you keep someone from taking it?

I really want to invest in a Maclaran stroller but I don't want to lose it while we are down there.

 

[BelleBeautyandtheBeast]

I don't think there is much of an issue with stroller thieves at Disney World. You may notice your stroller has been moved, but just by a CM. And I think sometimes people accidently take a stroller that looks like theirs but isn't. Try tying something bright on to your stroller, even a balloon would help make it easily spoted in the sea of strollers and less likely to be mistaken for someone else's.

We have never brought anything to lock our stroller. I bought a Combi Twin Savvy 2 years ago that cost close to $300 and I don't think twice about someone stealing it. It has been to at least a dozen different amusement parks. Maybe I am too trusting? I will be dragging it to Disney World next month.

 

[bigbabyblues]

The stroller I bought for this trip isn't expensive by any means, but I'm planning to take a plastic cover or something similar and clothespins, and put the cover over it while we're on rides in case of rain. I kinda thought if someone was inclined to steal a $30 stroller, they'd pick one they didn't have to uncover first! Seriously though, I'm more worried about rain that stroller theives, but I am going to do that, and tie something to the handle to make it easy to identify.

 

[Ambassador]

In prepararion for our recent trip, I asked Mrs. Ambasador the whereabouts of the combination bike-lock that we have brought for years to lock up the stroller. She shrugged, and said to my chagrin, "we have never used it anyway".

Make sure to personalize or mark your stroller; it is more likely to be mistakenly removed than stolen. The CM's do move strollers frequently to keep them close-stacked outside the rides.

We read here a poster who had hung a fake dirty diaper on her stroller, and reported no problems with theft or relocation. Mrs. Ambassador has not allowed me to try the trick.

 

[DisFam95]

You are not allowed to lock the stoller to any object. The CM's do move the strollers to better organize them. We tied a bundle of lime green curling ribbon to the handle and that made spotting it easier..it stuck up a little better than a bandana or something that hung from the handle.

We left the diaper bag in the basket and any small packages under the diaper bag but always took our camera/video with us.

 

[DisKim]

I've never had any problem leaving my stroller unattended in Disney World. The CM's will move them and organize them for you. I've even forgotten to take my video camera in an attraction with me and left it in the storage area in the stroller. It wasn't touched.

 

[cmcvean]

Ditto what DisKim said. We have left all kinds of stuff in the stroller and nothing has ever been touched. A couple of moments of panic until I realized the CM's moved it, but other than that we never had a problem. I even left one of our single strollers by the train station and rented a double and the stroller was in the same spot at the end of the day.

Christine

 

[all4fun]

Originally posted by Ambassador
We read here a poster who had hung a fake dirty diaper on her stroller, and reported no problems with theft or relocation. Mrs. Ambassador has not allowed me to try the trick.

This is a very old and well known trick so I doubt it would work anyway.

We took our Jeep Liberty All Terrain stroller which isn't a "High end" stroller but it wasn't cheap either. We never had any problems with it. We left our diaper bag and took our valuables when we went into attractions. As far as the bike lock goes I have seen it posted that you can take a lock and lock the stroller to prevent it from folding - that way if someone does take it they will most likely leave it in the parking lot since it won't fit in their trunk. Other than that you're not supposed to lock it to anything in WDW since the CM's do move them occasionally (as previously stated).

HTH!
Cheryl

 

[mickeyfanz]

We've always taken our own strollers and never had problems. If you like the Maclarens, you may want to take a look at the Chicco London stroller. I was going to buy a Maclaren Volo but saw the London and it was much cheaper plus came included with a canopy and rain cover (you have to order these for $50 extra for the Volo).

The Chicco London's handles are the same as the Volo and also seem to be taller as well.

Good luck!

 

[BevS97]

we took our Chicco 2003 stroller which was a couple of hundred pounds and we had no worries about leaving it parked anywhere- there are 100's of strollers parked all over WDW, and I don't think stroller theft is a big issue at all.

I don't think you can go wrong with either a Chicco or a Maclaren. I really like Maclarens for older toddlers, but over here they aren't all that expensive, I don't think I would be able to justify spending $100's on one.

Bev

 

[ahilly]

We've taken our stroller many times and never had a problem. Like everyone else suggested just mark it with something that will make it easy to identify. The only thing that someone brought up on another thread was to be careful if you take it to Downtown Disney. The reason being that you don't need a park pass to get into DD. We nevr had to leave it unattended at DD though. Have a great time.

 

[ChiTownZee]

For years we brought our Peg (over $300) and never had a problem leaving it. I'll have to get it out for the fall when we go again, we have a newer Graco for our second dd, with some nice features, but the Peg folds very flat/thin, which makes for easier tram/bus/monorail riding.

 

[krismomof3boys]

We just returned from a week at WDW. We have 18mth twins and took our $199 Inglesina umbrella stroller. There was only one time when I accidentally started to put my guys in the wrong stroller.

I'm not saying there's no crime at Disney, but I don't think there is much of problem with stroller theft. At least not private strollers. I have heard about problems with people taking the rental strollers, but there is such a huge sea of them, I can understand how that would happen.

 

[anditoo72]

We took down a VERY expensive double stroller (peg-almost $500.00) last time we were there, as a matter of fact we even had people ask us where we got it and still no one took it. We even leave our back pack with the stroller and it is never a problem.

 

[momto2girls]

We took a very expensive stroller ($600) last time. We didn't have any problems. I don't think anyone is there to steal strollers.

 

[MosMom]

The prices of the strollers keep going up as the thread goes on. LOL

Anywho, I've never had a stroller stolen but on a rainy day I've had my rain cover strolen. So I now have our name written on it in Sharpie marker and haven't had a problem.

 

[disneymom3]

Originally posted by MosMom
but on a rainy day I've had my rain cover strolen.

So did we!! It was just a cheepie WalMart one, but the point is that it was keeping our stroller dry! We were on the Carousel and I actually watched the guy take it off of our stroller! Thankfully it was at the end of the ride and I booked over there and said, "Excuse me, I think that is mine." He claimed they just found it blowing around, but I knew otherwise. And his little kid was right there!

However, I have had my double Peg Perego and my friend's double Combi there several times and they have never been bothered. No, indeed, just the $1 rain gear.

 

[dkal95]

Thank you for all of the replies!

I just wasn't sure because I had seen people mention that their strollers were taken, but they must have meant that their rented strollers were taken.

 

[skiwee1]

I have taken my Maclaren Daytripper on 3 trips so far and haven't had any problems. We are taking it for the 4th time in October. Since I've noticed a sea of the same strollers I did buy a hot pink lei and wrapped around the stroller handle. Makes it much easier to see. There is no way I am locking it up before each and every attraction or ride. That would be a mjaor PITA!

 

[SueM in MN]

Over the years, there have been people who posted their personal stroller was taken. DD seems to be a hot spot, but it's not that common in the parks.
Besides marking it, one suggestion people have had if they want to make their stroller less easy to steal, but still easy to use is to place a lock on it in a way that prevents it from being folded, but doesn't prevent you from using it. That way, if someone does try to take it, they won't be able to fold it to put it on the bus or parking lot trams.