Has anyone ever had their stroller stolen?

[BeauBeau]

I just got a Maclaren stroller for my son who will be 21 months at the time of our trip. I have seen many posts about strollers,(they are usually fairly hot topics) but I was wondering has anyone actually had their stroller stolen? I know people have talked about hearing that sometimes the strollers have been taken, but I really want to use this stroller for our trip. Any comments will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[cprior]

We never had a problem leaving our stroller anywhere. We also didn't have an expensive stroller either. Beware that CM's may move your stroller while you are inside an attraction so don't panic if you don't see it right away. You can always ask a CM where they moved the strollers - probably on the other side of a walkway or building, not too hard to figure out. I suggest you tie a bandana on the handle so you can easily identify it and so no one will accidentally take yours.

 

[pajamommy]

Last year when we went, we brought 2 identical umbrella strollers for our kids. Outside of the Lion King show at AK, someone started to take one of our strollers from where it was parked in the stroller area. We had it marked with my son's bib around the handle so we could recognize it and also so others wouldn't think it was theirs, because we know a lot of strollers look alike. Anyhow, a woman started to take it thinking it was hers, even though it had the bib on it. Luckily, we were right there and got her before she left with it. It was an innocent mistake, but I think its important that you somehow mark it well with something personal. Some people use bright bandannas, etc. I hope this helps!

 

[mdmbdumont]

In 1988 our son was 1 1/2 and we had a new Aprica stroller. It went from S.F. down 101 in CA to Mexico. Then over to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon. It went to San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Disneyland, many wineries. Niagra, WDW, Epcot, a couple Sea Worlds, the National Zoo and all over Boston, Washington, DC and several stops in between. We never felt it was threatened.

In Mexico they did want to barter blankets for it...

If you get really scared, take a clean diaper....pour a dark soda(ie. coke) into diaper and tie it on handle of stroller....no one will touch it...

Michael

 

[tinaluis]

We've been to WDW 5 times with a stroller and have never had a problem. Our stroller isn't a MacLaren, but it is a decent looking double.

 

[Donna David]

Our McLaren stroller went to WDW with us last Dec. It did fine at WDW (but got its brakes knocked off on the return airplane trip). I was also worried about that expensive stroller, and I have watched for stolen stroller posts - it appears that there are fairly isolated stroller thefts. However, I did read several posts about strollers being stolen outside RFC at DD. Therefore, we did not leave our stroller outside there, and I would not recommend you leave your stroller there unlocked. The strollers stolen there were relatively expensive ones - it did not seem to be people innocently taking strollers by mistake. Good luck, Donna

 

[Disnydad]

Back in our stroller days, we never had one taken. We did have a wheelchair stolen by two teenagers when we took my MIL in 97. They gave us another one.

Don, DVC/VWL 2000

No frogs were riveted during the construction of this post.

OS/90, BC/95, WL/97, Contemp/98&99, Poly/99, DxL/00, CBR/00

 

[lele]

Last year when we are in the Magic Kingdom, I parked my stroller by a post. It was a fairly new stroller. When we came off the ride, I went to get my stroller. There was an identical one parked in the same spot where I had left mine but it was well worn. I had written my name under the seat. So I knew for sure it wasn't mine. I found my stroller on the other side of the line of strollers. I feel (I could be wrong) that someone wanted a newer stroller and was hoping I would take the old one.

 

[melk]

Unfortunately I am not proficient enough to make a link for you but a few months ago I remember a thread on this and a lot of people had their strollers taken at Downtown Disney. Someone felt that people were stealing them and probably selling them at consignment shops. If you do a search on this I'm sure you'll find it. After reading that I wouldn't leave my stroller at DD but we went a couple of months ago and had two strollers and had absolutely no problem.

 

[Wade Shrader]

Well, we were eating at the Mexico pavillion, and when we walked out, our stroller was gone! It was just our umbrella stroller, but we were still upset. We looked around outside, and we found this elderly couple with our stroller; they had just made a mistake, and took ours instead of their's.

So, be careful, it's easy to make a mistake among that huge sea of strollers!

 

[eggcited4dis]

Years ago my brother took a black magic marker and wrote in really large letters his last name on the canopy of his stroller. It worked well, no one would steal it, it was too identifiable, and no one would accidentally take it. On our strollers, however, since I didn't want to write on the canopy, I took a piece of fabric, wrote our name, and handstitched it (very tightly and not fancy)on the canopy. It took about 1/2 an hour in front of a good video. When we donated the strollers we undid the stitching and removed the name (because of the fine stitching, this, unfortunately, also took 1/2 an hour in front of a good video!). This prevented anyone from taking the stroller...accidentally or intentionally. Someone who wants to steal a stroller isn't going to stop and examine if they can remove the name...they're looking for a quick swipe. Another bonus, very easy to identify among identical strollers in the masses as WDW and Disneyland!

 

[mmfan]

I did have a stroller stolen from outside the country bear jamboree on one of our trips. The cast members seemed shocked that it happened. The funny thing was, that it was toward the end of our trip, and I was tired of locking the wheels with a bike lock that I had brought. I would suggest that if it's a nice stroller use a flexible wire bike lock and lock the wheels (so that the cm's can still move it). This will make it useless to anyone else. I know that this may sound paranoid, but it is really a pain to have to worry about your stroller every time you park it, and even worse not to have the use of it after lugging it all the way down there.

 

[skeezixspud]

We also have a very expensive compact stroller (yep, Maclarens and their ilk do have major value on the resale market, look at eBay).

Inside theme parks, WDW prohibits locking your stroller to a fixed object, since they need to move them around to make sure paths stay clear ICOE. I thought locking the wheels each time we parked it would be very time-consuming, but I didn't want to leave it totally unsecured, so I worked out a system that makes it fairly tough to steal, but still easy to use.

I agree that inside parks, most 'thefts' are cases of mistaken identity, but if your stroller accidentally makes it all the way to an offsite hotel before being recognized, how many people do you think would make the effort to get it back to you? (Don't underestimate how absent-minded tired parents can get!) Even if it only made it from Fantasyland to Adventureland, who wants to spend park time searching for it? For me, the problem is more that I will worry about it when it is out of my sight and affect my fun, not so much that anything will really happen to it.

Here's my system. First, I carefully ID'd the stroller. I put 3 mailing labels with our name and home address on the underside of the frame, in spots where they do not show easily, and I paint them down with clearcoat so they are waterproof and tough to peel off.

For each trip, I also add one sticky label with the name, phone and dates for our hotel on the underside of the frame. As a fun next step, I look on the 'Net to see if I can find a picture of our resort's logo, then I download it, and I make a 5" x 7" or so laminated card with the logo, with Guest name: XXXXX Dates of stay: XXXX - XXXX on it; and I secure that card with a plastic cable-tie. It is very noticable, and it also looks a tad official, as if the stroller were hotel property that they had loaned to a guest. (These make neat souvenirs for my scrapbook after the trip, and they are great conversation-starters while waiting for your plane.) At the parks, I also will do things like tie gift ribbons or a balloon on the handle to help find it in the crowd. (One tip; the easiest stroller parking for most rides is near the ride exit, not the entrance. For Safaris at AK, the stroller parking is INSIDE the waiting line; CM's take it from you half-way down.) One friend of mine makes a little cardboard sign that says "Reserved for Justin Jones!" and puts in the seat of her stroller when they park it. Her kid loves it, and she thinks that parents would do a double-take before sitting their child in the wrong stroller.

To discourage outright theft, I take a moment when we arrive at each park to put a large neon combi padlock across one of the stroller's fold joints. I figure that if someone does take it, it probably won't go much farther that the park gates when they discover that it won't fold without the aid of a hacksaw. If CM's found it there, I'm sure they would return it to, or at least notify, my resort, so I would get it back.

 

[robinb]

skeezixspud:

I used to think that you were crazy to protect your stroller like that, but now I have a Maclaren . Thanks for the great ideas. I just might use them.


-- Robin

 

[mdmbdumont]

Often strollers have not been stolen, just moved. Last November while waiting for DW and DS to come back from shopping I was sitting outside path to Haunted Mansion(maybe 20 minutes). Every 5 minutes or so cast members would come an remove doubleparked strollers and line them up in one long single line next to the stone wall. At times I would bet a stroller was 30-50 ft. from where a person initially left it. I think they did it for pedestrian safety, because it really narrowed the path when someone would just take child out of stroller, leave it where it was and chase rapidly disappearing family members that were already headed to the attraction. They were doing the samething outside of the Lion King show while we were standing inline for a show.

FWIW <IMG WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="15" SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_redface.gif" alt="red face">

Michael

 

[Threehearts1]

When my husband and I lived in Europe we seemed to collect strollers. Whether we had the huge Silver Cross or one of our 3 Peg Peregos it seemed that it was always a bit of a project to deal with them. When we moved back to the States we bought the little Combi which was great and a Maclaren. Last week we went to Disney with our extremely inexpensive Graco and had our easiest time yet. I have donated all of my strollers except the Graco to the Salvation Army at the dump. For me- the cheapest alternative was the best and if it got stolen I could replace it without great worry. Just a thought