Yes, your stroller might be stolen...

[mickeyfan0805]

...and ours was! Long story short, we were in Cosmic Rays for 25 minutes eating dinner prior to the start of MNSSHP last Thursday. When we came out, it was gone! We did a lot of reading, when we were first looking at our trip, about whether or not strollers were at risk. A few said it could be a problem, but the vast majority expressed that it had never been a problem. I am certain that we are the exception (the fact that the CM looked dumfounded when I told her displayed how rare this was). However, I want you to be aware that it can happen. If you take a stroller, make sure you mark in some readily identifiable way. That is exactly what we did not do, and I am guessing that made it a much more attractive mark for the person who took it.

That said, I have to say that Disney REALLY came through to keep the problem from becoming a train wreck. Follow this link for the post on that story!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=27990585#post27990585

 

[dreamydis]

I am sooo sorry to hear that happened! I agree that is very important to have an identifiable name tag attached your stroller. I use a laminated colored name tag attached to the stroller with fasteners that can only be cut off with scissors.

 

[purvislets]

I'm so sorry that happened to you!! How awful. I just don't understand how someone can do that without a guilty conscience.

Was it your personal stroller or a rented one?

 

[mickeyfan0805]

I'm so sorry that happened to you!! How awful. I just don't understand how someone can do that without a guilty conscience.

Was it your personal stroller or a rented one?

No, we would have been far less worried about a rental - this one was ours, bought in June with our Disney trips specificually in mind.

 

[delmar411]

I'm sorry your stroller was stolen But wow! Disney (and Kevin esp!) came through big time for you guys!

I'm glad your girls evening was not ruined by a thief and you got to exp some personal Disney magic (although I'm sure you wished you hadn't needed it!)

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

I was a little worried about taking our new double jogger, but luckily no problems here. I'm sorry people are so mean

 

[J3nn78]

THat stinks. I am glad DIsney came through for you. THat is awesome.

BTW I would be more concerned about a rental. I almost rented from www.orlandostrollerrentals.com until I learned of their policy if the stroller is stolen. You would be responsible for the full retail amount minus your rental fee. I know it doesn't happen often, but I would freak if I had to pay over $300 for a stroller that was rented and stolen.

 

[jessica52877]

I would bet it was a case of mistaken identity and not someone purposely stealing a stroller. I guess I like to think the best of things. There are so many of the same strollers there always and usually most are not marked in any way.

 

[kaohu24]

Oh no! I'm so sorry your stroller was stolen, they aren't cheap too!! I'm glad Disney handled the problem so well. They really do have amazing customer service.

We're bringing our own stroller that we bought specifically for the trip, so I guess we'll have to mark it in some way.

 

[texasmomoftwins]

UGH! This is a huge fear of mine! I've always worried about leaving ours at times like that. Now I'm going to stress about it more! I can't believe there's really people out there that would do such a thing. So sad...

 

[mickeyfan0805]

I would bet it was a case of mistaken identity and not someone purposely stealing a stroller. I guess I like to think the best of things. There are so many of the same strollers there always and usually most are not marked in any way.

Wish that were true, but it is a new model stroller that is still pretty rare, and the cooler and costumes in the bin underneath would have been a dead giveaway when they looked. Had it been a mistake, it would have show up in lost and found later, which it didn't.

 

[Debbie7452]

Our rental stroller was stolen. No, it was not moved or rearranged by CMs. We had them all looking for about 30 minutes. I do not believe it was taken by "mistake" either since it had our very unusual name in the nametag slot marked with large black letters. We were at AK at the tough to be a bug show.

The CM's went to the back and found us a very run down, ratty looking single to replace our double that went missing. They said it was the best they could do for us. I complained on the way out at the stroller rental about what had happened and they refunded our entire rental price. I was surprised and pleased about that, but the experience overall was kind of a downer!

 

[DjdBrit]

This was something I worried about while we were at WDW. I rented a stroller most days and while I did bring bandanas to spot ours we had no problems. The days I used my own umbrella stroller I have to say if you wanted to steal it go ahead the thing barly steers and is a beast to push.
I only left stuff in the stroller once and it was OK. It was a back pack with juice cup and extra outfit for my daughter who wore a princess dress one day. While it wasn't anything important I would have been very bummed that my things had been taken. I used the Vera Bradley hipster and put EVERYTHING in it diapers and all so I had nothing to leave or be taken.

Thanks for the heads up and I hope this didn't ruin your trip.

 

[all4fun]

OP, I'm so sorry that happened to you, but happy that Disney stepped up to help alleviate at least some of your stress by replacing your kids costumes. Still, this goes to show that unfortunately, there are bad people everywhere.

We have taken ten trips, all longer than one week, to WDW since ds turned 1, and have taken three different strollers, and never had a problem with any of them, thank goodness! Even though ours aren't terribly expensive ones, it would still be a really big bummer to "lose" one that way. I hope it wasn't too big of a downer on your trip and you were still able to have some great magical moments.

 

[PGHDisneyfan]

Wow that really stinks!!So cool of WDW to handle it as best they could. One thing that DW and I do is make our stroller stand out as much as possible when we take it to Disney. Last year we tied a bunch of ribbon to the handle and put some stickers all over it. In the evenings we hung some of those little red pocket strobes that joggers sometimes wear( not so it wouldnt be stolen but because when they move them for the parade at night it can be like finding a needle in a stack of needles). Other than that their really isnt much you can do to keep it from being stolen.

 

[tam626]

We were thinking of taking a bike lock for ours & someone said you can't use one in case they need to move it, but it sounds like it might be a good idea.

 

[dancin'girl]

I had read about strollers being stollen before we went on our last trip, so I wanted to do something to make ours stand apart so it wouldn't be accidentally taken. I cut strips of colorful fabric and tied them onto each of the handles. It made it easier to identify in the sea of other strollers and the strips turned out to be great for DD. She was able to hold onto one of the strips when she wanted to walk. It kept her right near me, which eased my mind a bit. Those crowds can be scary!

 

[Belle & Ariel]

We had a stroller taken one evening from Six Flags Dallas years ago. The workers told us it probably was not stolen but borrowed--late in the day kids get tired of walking and the parents just grab a stroller, use it the rest of the day, and abandon it before leaving the park. They said several were usually abandoned in the park at closing; some even pushed them to the front gate, got their kid out, and left it!
We drove to another part of TX that night and never recovered our stroller. It was our first day of vacation and with 2 other strollers at home in the garage, we were forced to stop at Walmart and get a cheap replacement.
It never ceases to amaze me how some people can act.

 

[mickeyfan0805]

We were thinking of taking a bike lock for ours & someone said you can't use one in case they need to move it, but it sounds like it might be a good idea.

My understanding is that you are not allowed to lock a stroller to anything (so that it can be moved by CM's). I have read that some will put a lock through the wheels simply to make it so inconvenient to move that no one will take it. It certainly seems that it would work - but as often as we move and park our strollers - what a hassle that would be!

 

[joyfulscrapper]

That is a shame this happened to you, but I am amazed to hear how great Disney was to compensate you with new costumes and a free rental. As you said, they were in no way responsible, but still went out of their way to fix it as best they could - what MAGIC!!!

We are taking our first family trip in November and I was mentioning to DH that I wanted to take an umbrella stroller for DD (4). He said he didn't want to take one for 2 reasons, fear of it being stolen with our stuff in it, and hassle of keeping track of it throughout the day. We haven't been anywhere with the kids recently that involved anywhere near the amount of walking that we'll do in Disney, so I'm betting we'll regret not bringing a stroller. Shouldn't I just stash a cheap umbrella stroller in the car just in case? I figure DH might change his mind once we're in the park for an entire day and he ends up carrying her when he's just as tired at the end of the day. I don't even want to tell him about your experience! He is so untrusting anyway...