Lock for Stroller?

[Tinkaroo]

We are Disney veterans, but traveling for the first time with our 8-month old. We plan on bringing our stroller with us (Baby Jogger City Mini Single), and wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to make sure it doesn't "walk off" when it's unattended outside of attractions.

I know we can't lock the stroller to anything (since CMs need to be able to move it), so I'm looking for some advice. I vaguely remember hearing strategies for this back in my pre-kiddo days, but I wasn't paying much attention then. I'm all ears now!

 

[candielips]

Some people use a bicycle lock between the wheels or simply remove a wheel. I'm not sure ifyou can remove a wheel, I know I can on our Baby Jogger City Select.
You might also want to consider putting something on our stroller to identify as your own as there are quite a few Baby Jogger strollers in the park.
We bought a balloon for the handle of our Bugaboo on our last trip. But I must admit it was a little annoying and if traveling to AK, remember to remove it before you go to the park as you are not allowed to bring balloons into the park.
Now I know when you use a lock on the stroller that it makes it difficult for CM's to move them around but that is what we are doing for our next trip. We pay a LOT of money for our strollers and no way am I willing to risk having them stolen, which rarely happens, but has.

 

[AnastasiaTremaine]

Hey, no one is going to steal your stroller. Just relax, tie some ribbons or strips of fabric to the handles to make sure it's visible in the corrals, and don't sweat it. I have never heard of a first-hand account of anyone's stroller being stolen at WDW. We had many instances where it was moved by a CM (or even a guest who mixed up an identical buggy), but I was *never* concerned that someone would swipe my sweet Maclaren at Disney. Really, don't add the extra paranoia to your day - and have a wonderful trip!

 

[scarlet_ibis]

We've taken our Maclaren (and sometimes a Chicco, too) on five trips now and have never had it stolen. I did see one recent thread where someone's stroller was stolen and ended up on Craigslist, but I don't think that's enough to get me to go through the hassle of locking my stroller every time I step away from it. Now, I do have a pretty cool Disney stroller bag that I was planning on leaving on it, so I might try to come up with a way to lock that on there so it doesn't walk off on its own.

 

[imthatgirl]

We have brought strollers for years....we've never lost one. I honestly don't think anyone is going to steal your stroller.
They strollers do walk away though. the CMs will move them around to keep them neat and make room for more.

IMO it's not very nice o lock a wheel knowing that there will be someoen who needs to take your stroller somewhere else.

 

[pocuita]

I was just trying to figure this out. My friend did get her stroller stolen two years ago (at least they believe it was, they never found it).

I am going to put two battery fans on it and I am buying storage bags to hang on it too, I would be sad if someone took it. It is a sit and stand baby trend not worth a lot, but priceless to me with a two year old and four year old

So I am trying to figure out how to prevent this happening, I am nervous the fans might disappear though too.

 

[hlkeck]

While I have never left my purse in my stroller - we do leave our backpacks with all sorts of stuff - and sometimes even things we've bought - in the strollers. We've never had a problem with theft.

I've always believed that everyone there is either on the trip of a lifetime or at least knows that other people are and tend to be fairly 'hands off' on other people's stuff. But the CMs do move them - so you have to look.

 

[LG2]

My son shared this with us and his siblings:

Just something to throw out there....on one of our trips to Disneyland we had our stroller stolen. We had a balloon attached to it, a small diaper bag in the basket underneath, etc. Got off the Winnie the Pooh ride and it was gone. In very typical Disney-like fashion, they helped us by looking for it once the park cleared (as they say lots of times they'll find "mistakenly stolen" strollers throughout the park after hours), provided us a voucher for a rental stroller for the rest of our stay, gave us diapers, bottles and even replaced O's balloon.

None the less, we weren't going to let that happen again. So we decided the next time we'd go equipped with a bike lock.

*FULL DISCLOSURE*--I'm not suggesting that this is the most efficient way of going about things. Obviously, it takes an extra minute to lock and unlock, find a place that has something you can lock the stroller to, someone(s) has to carry the key, etc. But for us, it worked OK.

Now, since we've been doing that, we've had a Cast Member ONCE stop us after a ride and tell us we "aren't allowed to lock strollers because it creates a fire hazard." I went on to tell him that they needed to worry more about the people who stole strollers and less about the ones who are trying to prevent theirs from being stolen, but that's another story for another day. That said, it may be written in some handbook somewhere that it's against some Disney Law to do such a thing, but I can tell you it has worked for us.

Again, please don't misunderstand me for telling anyone what to do (especially if it's some sort of illegal Disney thing); this is just a suggestion if any of you are concerned about the potential of walking off a ride and realizing your stroller investment and the subsequent backaches you'll have from carrying the kids the rest of the day is too much to risk.

FYI, I am not endorcing this, just sharing ...

BTW, my DD decided to buy one at a second-hand store and not worry about it.

 

[LG2]

Check out "Stroller Strategies" at
http://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/news/ms/2010/stroller.shtml

Also check the sponsor of this forum, http://orlandostrollerrentals.com/. They offer renters an option of "insurance" for an additional $25. They don't anticipate thefts, but provide the insurance option for people who feel better about having it.

 

[vettechick99]

This was our 4th trip with a stroller and I always feel 100% comfortable leaving it in stroller parking.

 

[tlh0726]

We use a bike lock either back wheel to back wheel or back wheel to handle.

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-8...ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1273160679&sr=8-6

We also had CM's park our stroller and put the lock on it for us.

If it gives you peace of mind to enjoy yourself than do it.
For us, to be able to go from ride to ride and not worry about the stroller is well worth it to us.

 

[djm99]

I've taken a stroller 5+ times without a problem. I'm ashamed to admit the valuables I've left under that thing. This year I plan to do the same.

 

[robinb]

We've taken our Maclaren (and sometimes a Chicco, too) on five trips now and have never had it stolen. I did see one recent thread where someone's stroller was stolen and ended up on Craigslist, but I don't think that's enough to get me to go through the hassle of locking my stroller every time I step away from it.

ITA. I took a stroller to WDW for 6 years and none of my strollers were taken (including my Maclaren Techno). I have read about people who have had their stroller taken but they are in the vast (and I mean VAST) minority. The only problem I had was when I had a more common stroller and it took me a while to find it when it was moved. I tied something around the handle after that.

OP, you can probably find a small bike lock if you're really worried. Just make sure that the CMs can still easily move your stroller with the lock in place.

 

[MommaB]

I make mine kind of obnoxious. Last trip I made the girls matching dresses and used the extra fabric to help identify our Peg Pergo. We cut it into strips and knotted them up one of the handles. I figured if someone was looking for a stroller to make off with they would skip one that was so clearly someone's and would take more then a few minutes to make nondescript again. Plus it was easy for me to find in a long line of strollers or after CM shuffling and it was really cute.

 

[labdogs42]

I make mine really obviously mine. I have the orange City Mini and I want to be able to spot it easily, especially since the rental place has the same strollers! I tie curling ribbon, a bandanna, and/or some yarn popm poms to the handle or sides. I also apply about 3 name/phone number labels to different areas of the stroller. At night, I put a glow bracelet on the handle, too. Those are my secrets!

 

[ilovepooh]

We've never had our stroller taken. It has been moved by CM's, but was always found fairly close by.

I've heard of one person who tied a dirty 'looking' diaper in a clear bag to the handle to deter someone from stealing it.

I have a white terry-cloth towel that I throw over the top of the stroller to deflect the heat of the sun as the stroller is very dark blue. I decorated it with fabric pictures of winnie the pooh with fusable webbing. I also cover it with a rain coat in case of a quick summer shower while we're in an attraction.

We've been lucky so far. We never leave valuables in it though.

 

[CandleontheWater]

I locked my stroller during our trip last month. I bought this stroller lock: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3588356 and I didn't think it was that much trouble to lock the stroller when I left it to ride rides. I threaded the lock through one of the back wheels and then through the frame. The stroller could still be moved by tilting it up upwards and using the front wheels, but it would be difficult to get out of the park. I didn't have any trouble with the cast members and it gave me and my worry wart husband peace of mind. We brought our $700 Uppababy Vista stroller and I did not want it to disappear. I know many on this board frown on bringing expensive strollers to Disney, but I bought the stroller to use it, and I'm so glad I didn't have to deal with the hassle of el cheapo stroller.

 

[EcbLovesMickey]

Check out the Disigns forum and make a Stroller tag. We had one printed at Kinko's, laminated and attached it to our stroller with Zip Ties. It makes the stroller easy to identify in a crowd and less likely to be mistaken for someone else's.

This is the one I made

And one I made for a friend

 

[Taja]

I was just trying to figure this out. My friend did get her stroller stolen two years ago (at least they believe it was, they never found it).

I am going to put two battery fans on it and I am buying storage bags to hang on it too, I would be sad if someone took it. It is a sit and stand baby trend not worth a lot, but priceless to me with a two year old and four year old

So I am trying to figure out how to prevent this happening, I am nervous the fans might disappear though too.

Depending on how the items are designed and mounted, could you add secondary safety with cable ties or something similar? Pulled tightly with extra length removed so a little one can't get hung up in it.

 

[Tinkaroo]

Thanks so much for all of the replies. I wish I believed enough in the general "goodness" of people to trust that there would be no chance that our stroller would be stolen, but I've seen enough things go on, even at WDW, that we're just not going to take that risk, albeit slight comparatively. We spend enough on our little guy to not have to buy a second stroller (and deal with the hassle while on vacation). I'd rather save that $$ for our next Disney trip!

We're definitely considering the various locks (thanks for the links), as well as just removing one of the wheels. And I already have cute Mickey ribbon to tie around the handles - I know with so many off-site stroller rentals using BJ City Minis, I'm sure we won't be the only black one in the parks.