Safe to Leave Expensive Stroller Behind to Ride Rides?

[Scotch]

We plan to bring our McLaren stroller to MK -- first time travelling with a baby/stroller. If we want to ride on rides, we'd have to leave the stroller behind, and I recall seeing many familes do that. But does anyone ever lose their stroller due to theft? I hate thinking of criminal events at WDW, but I'm not naive enough to think bad things don't happen. So for those of you who bring your own favorite strollers -- I don't want to buy a cheap stroller just for this trip because I really like the McLaren and it is lightweight -- do you bring a bike lock or something? or do you just chance it?

 

[DisneyBill]

Never had a problem. Sometimes a CM will relocate strollers to ease the traffic flow, so don't panic.

 

[mjmcca]

I had a few less expensive stroller that i took to WDW. This past trip i splurged on a Maclaren cause my little guy is large ( the MAclaren is a much sturdier stroller than otehrs i ahve had)and still likes the stroller ( he just turned 4) I had to get a double cause there is no way his younger sister would be able to walk all day and he wouldnt let her ride while he walked.


No problemswiht losing it. Was relocated by CM a few times but i ususally found it within a few minutes.

 

[mmb]

We took a bike lock for our stroller. We have heard a couple of people have had their strollers "disappear" and we didn't want to risk it. It wasn't a bother at all to use the lock.

 

[turtleclanscott]

We just got back and never had any problems. We were careful not to leave anything in the stroller that could easily be picked up. We had decided to take our good stroller because it is so much easier to push than the umbrella stroller, and our daughter could lay down if she falls asleep.

 

[3mickeys&me]

We have always taken a stroller and NEVER had a problem.

Enjoy your trip

 

[swilphil]

We took a bike lock, but remember you can only put the lock through the wheels. You can't attach your stroller to anything with the bike lock because the CM's have to move strollers around as people get off rides. We ended up not even using the bike lock with our very expensive double stroller and did not have any trouble at all. Our in-laws actually had a rental stroller taken, which is fairly common, but the only reports of theft I've heard of are people having souvenirs taken out of their strollers. So don't leave any valuables in the stroller. We would leave our diaper bag, but not anything else.

 

[ktbugsmom]

We have taken our Maclaren on 5 trips to Disney and have never had a problem. The only issue we had was that there have always been a other Maclarens that look like ours. Our daughter would sometimes jump in the wrong stroller. We fixed that issue by plastering our stroller with numerous Disney stickers. Now she knows which one is hers.

We are going again in January and will be taking our stroller without any worries.

I personally think locking it would be a pain... but I have heard how some folks put a lock so that you can still roll it, but can't fold it later... this might help ease your worries and make someone thing twice about taking a stroller with a lock on it.

 

[BevS97]

There will be LOTS of maclarens there - they are quite cheap in the UK and 90% of the Brits travellig with a stroller will have a maclaren with them. I wouldn't worry about it standing out as an expensive model.

 

[kldmom2000]

I actually posted a very similar thread about 2 months ago... we too are bringing our new Maclaren stroller and I was paranoid that someone might make off with it... seems to be the consensus that it's pretty safe... I might get a bike lock too, but I know not to lock it to anything in case it needs to be moved by a CM-I'll just lock the wheels together... GL!

 

[DiaDeGuadalupe]

We're bring our MacLaren, too! We've never had any problems, either
It's been with us for 2 years and I think we'll have it for at least a couple more. Great stroller!

 

[lindaso]

We had this same concern with our Peg Perego double stroller. We tied a few colorful bandannas and the lei from the Poly on it to make it a little more personable and identifiable. This enabled us to find it quickly and possibly deter a thief who would possibly feel the need to untie all our stuff from the handle. Don't know if it helped but we didn't have a problem.

 

[Scotch]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. This makes me feel much reassured. We'll have to decorate our stroller to make sure we find the right one!

 

[TinkBoo&ElliesMum]

We took our $400 + jogger with us and never had a problem at all. DH was a little nervous, but it was fabulous! We saw several Bugaboos too, so I wasn't worried, figured they'd take that first ;-)

 

[daisylove]

We also just took our maclaren for the first time. There are many of them but they do stand out. They are fairly expensive and I was worried too. We took a dollar store chain bike lock and locked it arouynd the mechanism in back so it would roll but not close so anyone leaving the park would be more inclined to leave it. We stuck labels in hidden placed with our info on it. Also it was rainty when we went so I put a rain cover. Not the maclarenone but one that goes over the entire stroller including bags etc. I just rolled it back up on the hood and secured it with a cople of clothespins. Then when it rained it was easily accessible and when it was rolled back it was personalized so we always found it. Worked for us. No problems. We will be taking it back in 5 days. Just out of curiousity how expensive or cheap are they in England?

 

[donaldduck1967]

We have an expensive Graco and didn't have a problem in October

 

[metivier]

My neighbor just got back and brought her Mountain Buggy Urban Double (much more expensive than a Maclaren) and it was safe for her week-long trip.

 

[tinker925]

Have taken my MacLaren on 5 trips and no one has ever taken it. Unfortunately Song Airlines snapped the wheel off in October and had to buy me a new one, as you know they are not easy to break so we're off to Disney again in Janaury with a brand new MacLaren. As other posters have stated, there are tons of MacLaren's and even more expensive strollers there so I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[crazywig]

i agree, macs are a dime a dozen in disney so i wouldn't worry. i brought a $300+ kiwi e3 explorer last june and didn't worry a bit (i'm taking it again in january), most people do not know one stroller from another and can't tell a graco from a high end peg perego.

i would NOT however leave my stroller anywhere in downtown disney. i have read here that theft is an issue there.

 

[Tarzan]

Daisylove, in England Maclarens range from £49 - £160 for a stroller(that's about $90-$300), but most people have one of 2 mid-range pushchairs and they cost £70 and £90 ( or $130 and $165).
And JMHO but surely if someone was going to steal a stroller they would take a basic one so as not to stand out? I'd imagine the expensive ones would be safe. FWIW I had 2 strollers on my last trip, a graco and a maclaren, and i felt so secure leaving them that i often didn't bother removing video camera from the basket before i left them. I still have the camera, but I wouldn't recommend that look at my countdown!