Stroller Parking and Security?

[Blue Eeyore]

We'll be bringing our own FABULOUS Maclaren Volo stroller (LOVE IT!) to the World so that it can be easily carried on and off the bus and so we will have to carry our son as little as possible.

Has anyone had any bad experiences with stroller theft? Perhaps items stollen from your stroller? Anyone have any stroller safety tips or anything? Thanks!

 

[amarberry]

We just returned on Monday from our third WDW trip that involved a stroller. I was very worried about stroller theft before our first trip too, but your stroller will most likely be fine. Maclaren's are a dime a dozen at WDW. So are Combis (which we have for traveling), Pegs, Gracos, and Chiccos. I also saw probably a dozen Bugaboo Frogs...

Personally, I wouldn't leave anything valuable in your stroller. We always took a backpack with most of our stuff, but we would leave our little food bag, bottles of water, resort mugs, stroller rain cover, etc. in our stroller basket. I wouldn't have been devastated if any of those items were snatched.

The only other thing that I would suggest is to make sure that you park in a designated stroller parking area so your stroller doesn't get moved by a CM. Also, add something to your stroller to personalize it so you can find it easier and prevent someone with the same stroller from accidently walking off with yours.

 

[Blue Eeyore]

...I just remembered that people sometimes take things the wrong way on these boards. When I say my stroller is "fabulous", I mean that I highly recommend it, especially for WDW! Got mine on ebay

Thanks for the info Amarberry! I was wondering if I should tie some ribbon on it or something so I recognize it faster... great idea!

 

[amarberry]

That what we do...a ribbon. We also bought a Mickey mylar balloon last Sept. It definitely made the stroller easy to find and DD loved it, but it was a pain on the buses and you had to leave it with guest services at Animal Kingdom. It finally broke loose in the Earl of Sandwich and ended up on their ceiling .

 

[eeyoreiscool]

We haven't had any problems with people stealing our strollers. If you look at the number of people that come in with strollers, the chances of it being taken are quite small. If you leave expensive items in it while going on rides, you stand a better chance of it or the items being taken.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I have never had a problem with anything being taken from my stroller. I usually have a backpack in the basket with water and snacks. In the cooler months we have jackets and sweatshirts. No one has ever bothered with our stuff.

 

[dawnball]

We took my volo in Septermber, and put up the sunshade when we parked it, with our backpack of stuff (diapers, clothes - real valueable stuff, ya'know. ;> ) in the seat. Never had a problem. I did write my name and cell number on it with a sharpie, mostly in case someone wandered off with it accidentally. We left it parked unattended for hours at AK and MK, since we'd park it at our meeting place when we split up.

dawn *bounce*

 

[jtopp]

We leave our stroller all the time, and have never had any problems. I would suggest you attach something visable to your stroll, as it will blend in with the other 200 strollers at each stop. A balloon, a ribbon, or a jacket draped on the back helps a lot, as when it is very busy, CM's have been known to move strollers from their original parking spots to make way for crowd movement.

 

[Princessbaby]

Never had a problem with ours either! We had 2 last time and were nervous, but it was fine! We did notice that they were moved at a couple of attractions!

 

[Bibbidi]

Hi,

I'm sorry to say that I experienced stroller theft in September. We had two Volos, right next to eachother and both had identifiable strings on them---or so we thought--they were also unique colors. After coming out of Mickey's Philharmagic, one of our Volos was where we had left them, but the other was NO WHERE to be found. I couldn't believe it! Disney security was there and we talked to them. We found another almost identical volo rows away in the crowd and Disney instructed us to wait about an hour and if that volo was still there, to take it! They gave us one free rental and alerted Lost & Found about the theft, but we never did see our stroller again. An hour later we went back to the stroller parking area and Disney Security handed over the "almost identical" volo and told us to keep it, it was now ours. I felt weird taking someone else's stroller and I hope they felt just as poorly if they ever realized their mistake. Our stroller that wasn't stolen was parked in the same place as where we left it, and the nearly identical one was parked rows away--the people who took ours obviously entered the theater after us and got out before us and how they didn't realize that their stroller was rows away is beyond me. This all happened the same day we ended up at the ER with a daughter with croup. It was a terrible trip.

 

[RangerPooh]

We have had a good experienc with our stroller as never saw anyone with the same Evenflo stroller. With this being said I did go into panic mode after returning from Rafiki's Planet Watch to find our stroller gone and others/people in its place. The people there had not seen a stroller and I ran everywhere looking for it. Than a CM informed me that they moved a bunc of strollers. Mine was there but soaking wet as it was no longer under a sheltered area.

 

[Banshee]

The last time we went someone walked off with our stroller!! I have a bright red Silver Cross and have never ever seen another one like it before. But the CM's parked them together same exact stroller we'll the other family came back before us and took our stroller! We came out and I went to put my DS in and my DH said wait a minute thats not ours, and it wasnt they had their camcorder in the basket and everything!! Luckily they realized and came running back! We exchanged strollers and laughed she said the same thing I said I didnt think there were very many Silver Crosses! So it worked out very well we just either have a balloon hooked to it and I also have a little heart pin and angel pin on the sunshade.

 

[Selket]

I've never had a problem either but it is a good idea to tie something (colorful bandanas, an old jacket) onto the handle bars - our stroller looks just like several others we saw too. I think it would be easy for a family to take the wrong one by accident! We also leave water bottles and things like that in the basket - nothing has ever been taken.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We have never had a problem at WDW but did have a stroller last May at the outlets. Dh had taken our younger ds to the restroom. The entryway was not large enough to navigate a stroller, and our ds was plenty big enough to walk. Dh left the stroller right outside the restroom door - but out of the way of others. I don't think they were in the restroom 2 minutes! Sadly, the stroller was long gone. Mall security said that this has become a fairly common problem.

Over the past year, we have found that we do just as well at WDW with our el-cheapo umbrella strollers. (Of course, my younger children are 3 and 5.) Now, I don't have to worry about losing an expensive stroller.

 

[PatricenPete]

Our last trip to WDW in October, I parked our stroller in Fantasy land right near Dumbo for more than 3 hours. We went on rides, went to Poohs playground, had breakfast, etc, etc, etc. Three hours later our stroller was still there with not a scratch on it. I think that the incidents of stroller theft are few and far between and are more often not even theft, but a case of "mistaken identity".....

 

[all4fun]

It does happen, but I think it's rare. I bought a bright orange bandana and tied it around one of the handles of our stroller. It made if fairly easy to find. Like the pp's have stated, we try to never leave any valuables in the stroller when we leave it. I have never really worried about the stroller though. Not that I wouldn't be upset if it were taken, but so far we haven't had any problems. It's worth the risk to me, considering how expensive renting over several days would be and the fact that it's more comfy for ds than a rental (at his age) anyway.

 

[SueM in MN]

One of the suggestions I've seen is to tie something like ribbon you use to wrap presents on the handle in a place where it would almost touch your hands as you push. Some people use curling ribbon or mylar ribbon. Easy to put on, but you need a scissor to cut it off.
I've also suggested people put a address tag on the stroller in a visible place and another someplace where it is not so visible. If you cover it with clear nail polish, it's waterproof and hard to remove.

The other thing I've seen in my years of reading these boards is that strollers are most likely to get stolen from DD. So, watch your strollers there.

 

[Syrreal]

The only other thing that I would suggest is to make sure that you park in a designated stroller parking area so your stroller doesn't get moved by a CM. Also, add something to your stroller to personalize it so you can find it easier and prevent someone with the same stroller from accidently walking off with yours.

Just a note that a CM may still move your stroller while you are on a ride. They are instructed to keep the flow of strollers in hand and will sometimes move them (usually closer to the exit) as more arrive. So if you can't find your stroller exactly where you parked it just look around as it may have been moved.
Also, because of this, you may want to always put your rain cover on the stroller when you park it if it looks like it might rain while you are on an attraction.