Is this overkill? Preventing stroller theft...

[mommy2kande]

I am going to Disneyland tomorrow, YAY! We just got a new double stroller, and I love it, and I am thrilled about taking it to Disneyland. However, it wasn't cheap and I am so scared of someone stealing it. I know, I know, it's the Happiest Place on Earth. But I have read about some theft on the boards, and it freaks me out.

So, I am buying a chain bike lock. I don't even know if they will let me use it, but I am bringing one anyway in the hopes of being able to chain my stroller to the fence or whatever we park close to. Is this overkill? Am I being ridiculous? Will they even allow it?

I would just hate to have something unmagical happen to my new stroller on our very special family vacation...

 

[onederland]

I'm not sure if they will let you chain it to anything but you can always put the chain though the tires so they can't roll it away at least..

 

[Heather1101]

They may not let you in the park w/ the chain, and it is very possible they will not let you chain your stroller to anything in the park. Sometimes they need to relocate strollers...we've come out of a ride and had to hunt down our stroller and thought we had lost our minds b/c we swore we left it "there"...lol.

Anyway, you can buy something that will lock the wheel and it is about the size of the palm of your hand. It is like the "Club" for motorcycles/bikes and is made of thick metal and has a small key that you use to operate it like a padlock. DH has one for his motorcycle and has used it for years. You can probably buy one at a bike shop...possibly Walmart. If anyone tries to steal his bike, the wheel is not able to rotate around, so it makes the bike (or stroller) immobile/useless.

You could also possibly use just a big padlock and loop it through the wheel and another part of the stroller. The metal detectors at the gate will probably pick up on it and they may not let you bring either of those things in the park either, but it might be worth a shot.

I didn't realize stroller theft had gotten so bad. We used a very nice jogging stroller in the parks many times up until 3 years ago and never had any problems.

 

[mommy2kande]

Thanks for the input! I had totally forgotten about the metal detectors, you may have a point there... I have never had problems in the past, but I am sort of paranoid now. I guess we'll give it a try. DH is already on his way home from WalMart, or I'd have had him check for a motorcycle lock.

 

[toocherie]

I've actually been thinking about something similar--but for an ECV. While they can't steal the ECV (because I will have the key) anything left on the scooter is subject to pilfering. I've been trying to come up with a plan where I could padlock a bag with a zipper of some type to the scooter basket, and then padlock the zipper closed (would need one of those where the zipper meets in the middle). I'm thinking of using travel padlocks. That way if there was something I wanted to leave while going on a ride I wouldn't be nervous about it. I still wouldn't leave anything of great value however. My camera etc. will always be with me.

 

[bumbershoot]

metal detectors at the gate?

 

[mommy2kande]

Are there not metal detectors? I can't remember. I thought there were at the bag check section. Regardless, I think we'll give it a go and see what happens.

 

[fairycat]

No DLR does not have any metal detectors. Some other parks do but not DLR that I have seen.

Also don't padlock the stroller to anything. From what I remember CM's dont take kindly to it since it can be a safety issue and I think I remember hearing they will cut the locks.

 

[mommy2kande]

Thanks, fairycat! Not sure why I thought they had the detectors. If they'll let the chain in, we'll just chain the wheels like someone else mentioned.

 

[Pamb]

I was thinking of doing the same thing for the same reason. I am glad to hear about the chain issue. I was thinking that we could take one of the wheels off and take it with us. Please post what you end up doing. Now to add 'look for something to secure stroller" to my to do list.

 

[killaboot]

In my opinion, yes, this is overkill. To chain/unchain your stroller for each ride? Way too much work. I understand your worry, but if someone steals your stroller, just steal someone else's.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

No, it's not overkill at all. I've heard more then a few stories of people taking off with strollers. In October we put a bike lock on my brother's wheel chair. No way did we want someone strolling off with it!

Now we didn't chain it up at every ride. A lot of the rides for wheel chairs they are put really close to the CM. So we felt they were safer there. But others we just felt better with the lock on it. If someone took it, my poor brother would have been screwed!

 

[toocherie]

I understand your worry, but if someone steals your stroller, just steal someone else's.

Very very funny comment!




instead of a metal detector you almost want a "slimeball detector" --that someone could go to the Happiest Place on Earth and steal someone else's child's stroller. It's unbelievable to me. I would really like to see one of these cretins caught and publicly humiliated (not to mention arrested and put in jail. Seriously. There is NO excuse for this type of behavior anywhere, but especially not at Disneyland.)

 

[Dukland]

I think you can just lock the front wheels together, or the back wheels together. It makes it possible for the CMs to move it, but still renders it useless for someone wishing to steal it. Because it's not really convenient to wheel a stroller on 2 wheels through the whole park, you know?

I have never worried about anyone stealing our actual stroller. I have heard a few stories of stolen strollers, but not many. More often you hear of something being stolen FROM the stroller.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

I think you can just lock the front wheels together, or the back wheels together. It makes it possible for the CMs to move it, but still renders it useless for someone wishing to steal it. Because it's not really convenient to wheel a stroller on 2 wheels through the whole park, you know?

That's exactly what we did. My brother's wheel chair was the transport kind, with small wheels. So we just locked the front wheels together. It could still be moved, but not used very good with the lock on.

For me it worried me because I could see some people wanting it, so they could get on the rides faster. Sad that you even have to worry about such things.

 

[avalon451]

In the Unofficial Guide book, it suggests putting something weird on your stroller handle, because this kind of "personalizing" it makes it less likely (kind of psychologically) for people to want to walk off with it. He suggested an athletic sock stuffed with rags or paper. A reader contributed to say that she did him one better-- she took a disposable diaper, poured a little root beer in it so it looked used, then wrapped it up in a clear plastic bag and tied it to the handle. EWWWWW! But apparently nobody walked off with her expensive stroller!

 

[mommy2kande]

Thank you, everyone! I wish I wasn't worrying about this, and I have never had a problem at DL before. But, this is a brand new, rather expensive (for me) stroller and I would like for it to last through baby #3. I really appreciate the feedback and input. I will post about what we did when we get back.

ETA--OMG, Gail, I love it! We should do something like that...

 

[davidsprincess]

In the Unofficial Guide book, it suggests putting something weird on your stroller handle, because this kind of "personalizing" it makes it less likely (kind of psychologically) for people to want to walk off with it. He suggested an athletic sock stuffed with rags or paper. A reader contributed to say that she did him one better-- she took a disposable diaper, poured a little root beer in it so it looked used, then wrapped it up in a clear plastic bag and tied it to the handle. EWWWWW! But apparently nobody walked off with her expensive stroller!

That is so good!

 

[bumbershoot]

instead of a metal detector you almost want a "slimeball detector" --that someone could go to the Happiest Place on Earth and steal someone else's child's stroller. It's unbelievable to me. I would really like to see one of these cretins caught and publicly humiliated (not to mention arrested and put in jail. Seriously. There is NO excuse for this type of behavior anywhere, but especially not at Disneyland.)

Yep.

Even just having the brand new pirate hat stolen from the bottom of our (cheap) stroller last September was painful enough...

 

[Rescue Pooh]

Just found this on Target's website it's called the Bike Club Lock.

http://www.target.com/The-Bike-Club...0?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k:bike locks&page=1