unattended strollers at DL

[laui]

last time we were at disneyland we took a stroller for our baby girl. what i found interesting is the stroller parking and how everyone felt comfortable leaving their stroller and it's contents unattended. with all those people around, do they ever get stolen, i wondered. do belongings get stolen?

we have a nice stroller and i was worried about leaving it. i saw no one supervising the stroller parking area either.

what to do?

thoughts?

 

[silence]

We've taken nice strollers before and had no problems. I would not leave anything of value in any stroller though.

Our last visit was the first time anything was taken from a stroller. Of all things, it was the kids lunch box with my daughter's leftovers that we got at Ariel's.

We usually get a park stroller (free with our Disney Visa). This last visit we stayed off site so we brought a cheap umbrella stroller. We left it unattended all day and it was right where we left it each day so we could use it for the walk back to the hotel. The park strollers were much nicer and so much easier to push than the little one we had.

One tip we have used in the past was to either get a piece of bright ribbon to tie to the handle or a bright helium balloon. This makes finding your stroller much easier when you get off the ride.

 

[birdmom]

It has never happened to me but I have seen people at lost and found reporting a stolen stroller

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

This is the first I've heard of something being taken.

It's weird. It's like an unspoken rule that you just don't steal/take things (strollers) at DL. Although we don't ever leave our camera in the stroller, just in case. I remember last time we went we walked off of Pirates and our stroller was gone, we freaked out but then realized a CM had moved it.

 

[got2travel]

I've read reports on other boards that they are seeing an increase of thefts of items from stollers. But then again, I've seen a lot of things on strollers that I would never think of leaving lying around...cameras, camcorders, big bags of souveniers (sp).

For me, if it's something I would regret losing, then it's not staying on a stroller.

 

[All American]

We've never had a problem with our stroller. We jsut take the good stuff (cameras, souvenirs, purses) with us on the rides. If you are worried about taking the nice stroller, you could get a budget model that will get the job done--recline, shade, and carry stuff in a basket. My mother-in-law did this and got a pretty decent one for less than $40 I think. It has worked out fine for us. Just a thought. If you don't want to do that, take the good one. I have seen tons of very high quality ones left alone, and no one seems to bother them. Like a previous poster mentioned, there is some unspoken rule about messing with other people's stollers. It's kind of nice. . .

 

[darph nader]

See above thread.

 

[Dukland]

See above thread.

Uh, Darph, you forgot the link.....

We've been twice in the last two years, and have never had a problem. Last time, we had a brand new, Sit N Stand Stroller, too, and it was always where we left it (or nearby, when moved by a CM)

However.....

I have heard a few instances of people getting their nice stroller stolen, or having stuff stolen off the stroller. I would leave nothing on the stroller that you wouldn't mind too badly if it grew legs. We always left our diaper bag on it. yeah, it's a pain if it gets stolen, and it means a trip back to the hotel for "supplies". But of all the things to get stolen, a missing diaper bag would just be inconvenient, to the mom of a toddler.

I always wear my "incredibly stylish" fanny pack, and keep everything of value in there. This last visit, I had an over the shoulder bag that I could put things like the camcorder in. I don't care if I look funky. I'M AT DISNEYLAND! Paint me orange, I'm having the time of my life!

 

[newfamilyman]

Like a previous poster mentioned, there is some unspoken rule about messing with other people's stollers. It's kind of nice. . .

Check Mouseplanet, a few DLR updates ago. I guess the ring of stroller thiefs weren't aware of this unspoken rule. Mouseplanet reported that the thiefs would take the stroller as if it was their own, move it to a quiet area, steal the valuables, and ditch the stroller.

 

[Twinprincesses]

We took umbrella strollers but alway took out bags on the rides with us. We bought my kids 2 of the goofy hats that were around $20 each and I would have of hated to have to of replaced those.

 

[munchkinsmom]

Yes, it does happen.

Our Maclaren double stroller was stolen from us Labor Day Weekend 2005 (our first day of a multiple day stay). It was taken from a designated stroller parking spot in front of "It's a Small World" parked several rows deep into the group of strollers.

We kept returning to Guest Services/Lost and Found the next few days we were at the DLR to see if someone had returned it, but alas, we never saw it again.

While the occurances of strollers being stolen seem to be minimal, be aware that it can occur. Our family experienced it first hand. We'd been taking strollers to the DLR for years and never had a problem until last year. We now carry a cable lock and secure our replacement stroller. Sure, it takes an extra minute, but I don't EVER want to go through what we went through again.