Lock Up Your Buggies

[staceylc]

Hi
Just a quick message for those of you that will be going and taking your own buggy. Whilst we were eating at Cafe Mickey on Thursday night our buggy was stolen along with our purchases from the day (my dh's birthday presents) & even my Brit guide book.

I would suggest you get a combination lock so you can lock it up when it's out of view.

The manageress at Cafe Mickey organised a free buggy rental for us for the rest of our stay and we also got a fleece blanket (which had been stolen) & a DLP Paris umbrella from the gift shop. My dh spoke to the security guard who took him to the shop & apparently it happens all of the time as anyone can walk in to the restaurants as it's a "public" area.
It was quite an expensive buggy (£195) & it was parked in front of what we thought was a fire door but was actually just a normal door so anyone could just open the door from the outside & walk off with it.

 

[zinderella]

On no that is awful. Might be worth checking if your insurance policy, home or travel, covers this? Some people are horrible.

 

[markpsych]

Yes, on one trip we saw security chasing a women with a buggy (no baby) who was making her way towards the train station.

Sadly it now seems common for the rentals to disappear as well. We've had them go missing on the previous 2 trips (gave up after the 2nd went missing on the last trip), and I'd no longer leave belongings with one like we used to.

 

[Bell30012]

When we were using a stroller in the parks, I had a simple lock that I would use to lock one rear wheel. That way park employees could still move but someone swiping it would look pretty strange.

People sometimes forget that just because you are at the "Happiest Place on Earth" there are still those that want to steal.

 

[disney_princess_85]

That's awful for you but I can't say I'm surprised. People steal. Protect your belongings.

 

[JoeSam]

That's really bad, I'm very sorry that happened to you. It's the inconvenience that would bother me the most, I think, presuming that your insurance will pay out for its replacement.

I've been thinking about how to lock our pushchair because it doesn't have spokes on the wheels to put a lock through, but I've decided to partially collapse it and put a padlock on to stop it opening properly. Pain in the proverbial, but I think its worth it as ours is a pricey maclaren and could therefore be a bit of a target. DD is too young to be comfy in one of the rentals I think.

We never used to give this a thought, as it was pretty unheard of.

 

[Bell30012]

There are times when I travel that I have to leave my laptop unattended. I use this to lock it to an object. I take one of these with me on vacations. Simply lock this on one wheel of the stroller and it isn't going anywhere. It can be set to chirp a warning but not actually alarm unless cut.

 

[Brummig]

If you need to take a buggy I'd strongly recommend you consider getting a cheap one/ borrowing or blagging an old one someone has finished using - something you won't feel too bad about it if it gets lost or stolen. Cheap ones can still be as comfy as the rentals. You need to be really careful about leaving anything unattended on the buggy. Remember you can arrange for shop purchases to be delivered to your hotel or collect at the end of the day - it's free.

 

[Mum to Belle]

Such a shame this happened to you

We normally take a bike lock for when we leave the buggy but I must admit to being a bit complacent about actually using it. Will try to remember on this trip though, and will use the shopping delivery service for any purchases we make.

 

[staceylc]

We were kicking ourselves afterwards and said exactly the same thing. We would never leave a buggy at home unattended with shopping on it so why on earth did we do it. I always use a combination lock on my buggy at home too. I think it's that sheep mentality thing, you see loads of other buggies parked up & you just assume it would be OK. We didn't go to the police station to report it as it happened on our last night we didn't want to spend most of our final day at the police station so we didn't bother. One of my friends has offered to sell us a buggy that he was going to put on ebay so at least we don't have to hunt around shopping for one. Her blanket was replaced, it was just DH's birthday presents that I'd bought him earlier that day (2 Muppet show Mouse vinyl figures) and a set of playhouse Disney characters for DD & a jumper I got for my birthday last year. Oh & my Brit guide book.

 

[wmoon]

Thats really bad. I never locked ours when were there in September and as you say there were loads of other ones, none locked. I am always careful never to leave anything in the buggy other than raincover and maybe a blanket, although in September I saw an unattended buggy with bags and complete with a toddler asleep in it and certainly no parents about keeping an eye out!!!!

 

[ROBEAR84]

Such a shame this happened to you

We normally take a bike lock for when we leave the buggy but I must admit to being a bit complacent about actually using it. Will try to remember on this trip though, and will use the shopping delivery service for any purchases we make.

Ditto.

After being really good locking it up on our March trip I think we only used our lock a few times on our October trip although I did try to 'bury' it in amongst the crowd of other buggies.

I never leave shop purchases on it, usually buy them at the end of the day for exactly that reason, I too saw so many buggies with bags and bags of shopping and even handbags! (never a baby though!! )must admit I wouldn't even think about locking it up in a restaurant though! What a nightmare!!

 

[Bell30012]

We saw a park rental stroller that had what appeared to be a very high dollar camera amongst several packages and a purse in front of the Judge's Tent. Someone really could have had an expensive meeting with Mickey. Plus who goes and sees Mickey or the Princesses without taking the camera?

My daughter was riding the Barnstormer multiple times so I decided to keep an eye on the stroller. After an hour the owner still had not come back. I opened the "sunroof" on the stroller so that the flap hid the purse and camera before we moved on to other parts of the park.

While hiding the items I actually had images of cameras and "Bait Car" episodes in my mind.

 

[Cyrano]

My daughter was riding the Barnstormer multiple times so I decided to keep an eye on the stroller. After an hour the owner still had not come back. I opened the "sunroof" on the stroller so that the flap hid the purse and camera before we moved on to other parts of the park.

Please note that the OP is referring to Disneyland Paris where the rental buggies are a different construction to those at WDW

 

[Bell30012]

See what happens when you use the "New" button to review posts. I've yet to visit Disneyland Paris but look forward to doing so soon.

 

[mommy2ash]

i am so sorry that has happened to you. i have never used a lock but i only use the buggy now for holidays so i let it get a bit grubby as its pink and park it next to a shiny new buggy hoping nobody in their right mind would take it.

one time alright we were going on the teacups and just as we sat down my mam jumped up screaming my handbag and they had to leave her off the ride. she had left it on the buggy, me and ash stayed on but everyone on the ride was laughing at my loon of a mother and i was mortified lol

 

[sammie1884]

omg that is awful, so sorry to hear that someone stole your buggy.
We are going in jan and I am now having second thoughts about taking our silvercross (was taking it for comfort) may just have to take the Quinny or borrow the grandparents spare

 

[Cyrano]

Hi sammie1884 . Elaine, Jackie, Elaine and Reid welcome to DLP DIS board

We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

If you have not had a look yet, DLP posting rules are here, DIS posting guidelines can be found here.

 

[sammie1884]

Thank you I shall go take a look x

 

[supamom474]

It's horrible to hear your buggy got stolen, it happened to me too. After that i invested in a Buggyguard stroller lock and REFUSED to go anywhere without it; I haven't had anything stolen since. I hate to think that my old stroller was sold on Craigslist or Ebay, and refuse to let it happen again.