Stealing things from strollers

[Pineapple Whip]

It's a shame you folks don't have a trunk monkey. I leave mine in the stroller when at the parks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geynA-JYDHE

 

[chrissyb2411]

It's a shame you folks don't have a trunk monkey. I leave mine in the stroller when at the parks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geynA-JYDHE

 

[disneycrazzy]

I take a permanent marker with me and if we buy the souvenir mugs or drink bottles, I write our last name in LARGE print all over it. Someone may still steal it....but they'll be reminded of it everytime they use it.....

 

[Robo]

True, but they could ALWAYS turn it into Lost and Found or a CM. There really is no excuse.

How do we know that they didn't do that?

 

[mom2rtk]

Sadly, I have the bike lock on the stroller all ready to go.

I'm assuming you know this, but others reading this might not. You can put a lock through the back tires of the stroller (to make it harder to push), but you can't actually attach it to anything. The CM's need to be able maneuver it a bit to rearrange strollers as needed.

 

[tartemis]

FWIW -- I have been to Disney 3 times with a stroller now and we always just leave all of our stuff in it. And nothing has ever been taken. Maybe we are just lucky, but it is not worth the hassle to me of removing everything or locking it up for just the smaller possibility that someone decides to be a jerk and steal something. They are just material possessions anyway.

I do, however, take my camera with me because I would be devestated to lose the pictures that are on it.

 

[Turkey Lurkey]

also on thefts... better hold onto your churros at epcot!!! we stopped and got one after we ate some lunch and were sitting next to the "lake" well the birds came in and actually flew up and took my sons LOL!! should have seen his face it was horrible, so I went and got another one for him and in the process the bird stole my youngest daughters as I was walking around the building to get to our tables I saw my husband moving weirdlly and feathers flying everywhere LOL apparently my husband was very angry the bird stole his daughters churro ( or the fact he had to buy yet another one ) so needless to say HOLD ONTO THE CHURROS!!!!!! the birds are quick and fast and steal from kids sitting in there strollers lol!!!

Heh, I saw that happen on our last trip too. A seagull swooped down and stole a french fry out of someone's hand as they were walking through Frontierland.

As someone who comes from an area where the gulls are fed constantly by tourists and have basically become domesticated, I found that to be pretty gutsy on the bird's part.


TL

 

[Flamingomo]

This is why I will lock two of the wheels of my stroller so no one can take it. As long as the CM's can move it, no problem. Some people are really crap. I always take all valuables with me. I wonder if they will steal my refillable mugs though? That would just be gross, but ya never know.

 

[Dr. M]

Once, it was raining rather hard, and we had a Dollar Store disposable poncho covering our stroller. When we got back to it, the poncho was gone, and the stroller was soaking wet. My little guy had to sit in a wet stroller the rest of the day!

We never leave anything valuable in our strollers--cameras, wallets, etc. However, we sometimes do take a risk and leave autograph books. We usually keep items in a large pink back-pack, with our last name written boldly in permanent marker on the outside of the back-pack. And we place the back-pack under the stroller in a way that that our last name is boldly visible. I'm hoping it sends the message that this back pack is easy to pick out in a crowd, so don't take it. So, far, no one seems to want to steal it

 

[wmharley]

Heh, I saw that happen on our last trip too. A seagull swooped down and stole a french fry out of someone's hand as they were walking through Frontierland.

As someone who comes from an area where the gulls are fed constantly by tourists and have basically become domesticated, I found that to be pretty gutsy on the bird's part.


TL

I had my sandwhich stollen at the beach.

that said, maybe, just maybe, the thing fell, either someone hit it, knocked it, or the CM moving the stroller di, and the kid found it on the floor.

just saying.

that said, I know after the fact a CM broke our stroller, but I didn't notice it until we got home. One side of the sun shade was broken, and i know we didn't do it. i've seen CMs move strollers by the sun shades before, especially when they are locked and won't roll. We just had the flip lock engaged, nothing that one's foot couldn't undo.

 

[branv]

Sorry OP I know we are all aware of the bad things that can happen out there, but it does seem to hit our heart harder when we're some place like WDW.

Hopefully the child did just grab it without the parents knowing (I guess most parents have a story about toddler's sticky fingers )

Though they may have been complicit, sadly. From the ages of 6-10 I had these neighbors -- I was friends with the little girl and our moms were good friends. When I was about 9, some of my things started vanishing, and magically the other girl would happen to get one just like it. Then a ring of my mom's went missing, which I saw a week later in my friend's jewelry box. My mom spoke to her mom, who just called it an "accident" and shrugged it off. But things stopped disappearing from our house, so it kind of fell away. Well they moved, and we lost touch. Decades later my mom ran into the lady and they started meeting up occasionally. One day the lady told my mom that she owed her an apology. She said she knew that her daughter had been stealing...b/c she'd taught her how to steal. She said that HER grandmother had taught her. It was simple: if you want something, take it. She'd never even thought about it being all that wrong. Until someone stole something from HER, and she realized what it felt like. My mom was just ...she never remotely expected the lady could be this way. She would be that little family you'd see at WDW who you'd never expect you'd have to worry about. Except her daughter. It was like her daughter was the only outward symptom. Needless to say, by that time the daughter was all kinds of messed up. Involved in just about every thing you don't want your kids to get into.

So sadly, people (families) like this do exist. And it's not a new thing.

 

[princessmom29]

I was nervous about renting a stroller from a company, but we found out that they have put GPS locating on the strollers! hehe ! which I personally think its brilliant!!! I dont plan on leaving anything in the stroller.. I dont trust anyone.


also on thefts... better hold onto your churros at epcot!!! we stopped and got one after we ate some lunch and were sitting next to the "lake" well the birds came in and actually flew up and took my sons LOL!! should have seen his face it was horrible, so I went and got another one for him and in the process the bird stole my youngest daughters as I was walking around the building to get to our tables I saw my husband moving weirdlly and feathers flying everywhere LOL apparently my husband was very angry the bird stole his daughters churro ( or the fact he had to buy yet another one ) so needless to say HOLD ONTO THE CHURROS!!!!!! the birds are quick and fast and steal from kids sitting in there strollers lol!!!

We had the happen with fish and chips in EPCOT. We were eating down by the water with several other groups. A lady in the group next ot us was talking and gesturing with a piece of fish in her hand. A bird swooped in and took the whole piece. It was almost as big as the bird and I don't know how he managed to fly away with it. I thought that lady was going to cry. It really scared her, and my DD. She gaurded her food outside for the rest of the trip!

 

[EveJer]

We had just finished lunch and our granddaughter was asleep in her stroller, so we decided to rest at the American Pavillion in Epcot. I got up from the bench and walked around the stroller just in time to catch a thief stealing our leftover chicken tenders.... darn that squirrel!

 

[ppony]

Sadly, I have the bike lock on the stroller all ready to go.

Same here. Obvsiouly we can't attach a stroller to anything BUT we can make it harder to move or OBVIOUS that it's not theirs when they're moving it along. CMs can still move it, but that's about it. I'm grumbling about HAVING to do this at all tho.

 

[Nezzaa]

A couple of things:

1. For about $10 you can get a 3-Foot retractable cable lock (in Amazon- free shipping) to lock backpack and stroller wheels up. To me its worth every penny to not have to deal w/ the aggravation.

2. I am an Eeyore type of person. meaning, I loose my tail, I assume someone stole it. I want to be more of a Pooh person and to that extent I've decided that in these situations there are 3 types of people:

a. children that do not know any better- they don't mean to steal - they're kinda like Nemo's seagulls. They see something shiny and they say "mine!". In an ideal world this would never happen because parents would be watching their kids like hawks and reprimanding them if they took something that wasn't theirs. But maybe something happens to their brain too and they see their kid with something and instead of asking "where you take that from?" they think "ooh, Disney magic! free stuff"- in other words "mine!". But they don't start out as bad people.

b. people who make mistakes (and don't know or are too embarrassed, or they figure they can't fix the problem (ie-return to rightful owner), or just don't care). These group also doesn't start out as bad people

c. people who know what they are doing and don't care. And I don't think EVERYONE in this group can be classified as bad (some are more naughty than other though)

So... If someone takes the sticker on the stroller , or a new diaper,there's nothing I can do so I'll hope it enriches their life (better karma for me). I'll lock up the wheels and the bag as best I can, hoping it will deter group c. and I will be taking my phone,camera,wallet with me.

Expect the Worst, Hope for the Best

 

[twins2again]

Last poster, I do the same thing with a cable lock, I bought $500 stroller last yr for one of my special needs twins and locked it together with another sitstand stroller. this year I bought the second special stroller and will put one on top of the other locked because they fold like umbrolla strollers, also put a padlock on my mesh laundry bag tied on, and locked that holds clothes and anything they just" had" to buy in a store. sad huh?

 

[d_lairson]

I have to admit, we don't have kids, we have never used a stroller at WDW so we don't know what it's like to have to drag that much stuff around to support a kid, BUT it makes no sense to leave stuff in your stroller where just anyone can take it. I mean if you went to a mall would you leave your stroller in a store with a bunch of stuff in it and just expect it to be OK? We carry a backpack with all our stuff in it, and we don't leave it outside a ride so we don't have to carry all our stuff with us...


I'm not saying that people should be allowed to just take what they want, but you can't just expect the total best from everybody.

 

[ppony]

I have to admit, we don't have kids, we have never used a stroller at WDW so we don't know what it's like to have to drag that much stuff around to support a kid, BUT it makes no sense to leave stuff in your stroller where just anyone can take it. I mean if you went to a mall would you leave your stroller in a store with a bunch of stuff in it and just expect it to be OK? We carry a backpack with all our stuff in it, and we don't leave it outside a ride so we don't have to carry all our stuff with us...


I'm not saying that people should be allowed to just take what they want, but you can't just expect the total best from everybody.

I don't think most people, even those that have had things stolen are leaving a "bunch of stuff" as you'd put it. I doubt anyone is leaving bags of merch. they have just purchased and I think most people are pretty smart about not leaving obvious valuables. We have gone to WDW with and w/o kids and it IS a lot more to deal with when you have the kiddos. If I have something in my stroller that simply can't be left, I won't leave it. I bet 99% of people are at least that street-smart. A stuffed animal that has almost certinly been drooled on, chewed on and loved or a blanket that could have gosh knows what in it OR a cup that obviously will have your spit all over it are things I wouldn't necessarily think would be "appealing" to a general thief. Apparently they have access to Sam's and Costco clubs too and buy a lot of Tide and bleach!

 

[aidtrismommy]

I lock the back wheels of my maclaren twin techno and when it rains, I thread it through a hole of the rain cover too. I am not taking any chances with my stroller. It was very expensive and too valuble an item to lose on vacation. The extra few minutes it takes to lock it up is worth it to have peace of mind while I am enjoying time with my family. Please don't rely on leaving a "dirty" diaper hanging from a handle. This is an old trick that does not really deter people who know what they are looking for. It isn't too hard to just toss it in the garbage.

 

[AngB21]

My solution to this dilemma is zip ties. Since I'm renting a stroller I don't want to mess it up by putting something on it that may not come off or damage it so I plan on zip tie-ing something to it as a marker for me to find it. I could also use the zip ties to lock the back wheels as well as secure a bag to the stroller plus they make great backpack locks. My Dad always carries little scissors with him so if we need to cut them we can, then just reuse them until they get too small.

Oh and you could probably zip tie a shower curtain to the stroller without worry of it getting taken off.