Stroller Theft

[Kathy D]

I went last month and risked it and brought my Uppa Baby. Couldn’t imagine not bringing that stroller....it was so useful. The first time I went I bought a cheap double and this made a world of a difference. Are you a risk taker?

 

[elsbit]

Disney is the Indy 500 of your stroller life, its what you've been training for, its an intense workout of both you and the stroller... you want good equipment. I'm jesting, but seriously, it is more miles than you put on your stroller regularly, you're pushing and pushing and it requires living out of it for each day, all day. I wouldn't want to have an cheap umbrella for that. Why have something decent if you don't use it when you need it. You're buying a cheap old car to keep the miles off of your new Mercedes, but not enjoying your new Mercedes.

Best line ever! Bwahahhahaahh. And I agree.

 

[quesang]

I do miss our stroller days (just a bit!) we stored lunch under there and jackets and extra clothes... nothing anyone would take, our stroller was decent but not super high end and we had so much stuff hanging off it and around it, it was recognizable and no one would ever take the time steal it.;0P Then we even had a buggy board on the back for our older toddler...it was a workout!!;0) Dificult for even us to move, but if we needed to be somewhere, we loaded the kids and went! Good times...now we all need to bring back packs for all our stuff..enjoy!

 

[Average Joes]

For the amount of $ for a Disney trip I would never use an umbrella stroller. We bought one for about $150 just for the trip and still use it 4 trips later. Youngest is turning 7 and I kinda dread not having one soon to hold my backpack and all the other stuff we bring.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

My kids are comfortable and content in our nice double stroller and it has amazing storage. My 3yo can glide on it too. Don’t want to mess with changing anything up. It is a really nice stroller but not Bugaboo expensive.

We take the risk.

 

[EsseG]

Wanted to add, a previous poster mentioned the CMs moving strollers. Yes, they do this all the time as to organize them. So don't freak out when you come out and your stroller is not where you left it. They probably just shuffled it.

We had a stroller moved 20 rows from the back of the pack to the front during the 20 minutes we were inside the attraction. A tracker or a bright flag would have saved us 15 minutes of searching in a growing panic that it had been stolen. Even the CM was puzzled why it had been moved so far by the previous shift.

If you can't find yours, start walking every row and looking at every stroller. Amazing how all black strollers look alike, even with your own jackets stuffed underneath.

 

[sponica]

We had a stroller moved 20 rows from the back of the pack to the front during the 20 minutes we were inside the attraction. A tracker or a bright flag would have saved us 15 minutes of searching in a growing panic that it had been stolen. Even the CM was puzzled why it had been moved so far by the previous shift.

If you can't find yours, start walking every row and looking at every stroller. Amazing how all black strollers look alike, even with your own jackets stuffed underneath.

My husband still pokes fun at me for buying a bright orange Bob Motion....and bright red luggage. Um...IT STANDS OUT IN A CROWD.

 

[AFwifelife]

We bring our BabyJogger strollers. So they aren't thousands of dollars but still on the higher end. I can't imagine doing multiple Disney days with a cheap umbrella stroller.

 

[Piglet843]

Anyone every use a bike lock instead? Would think one of the wire ones that can wrap around the frame and tire. Would be easy to lock/unlock and leave in the basket. Cheaper than buying a stroller.

I think a Bike lock would be a great idea- just loop the cord through all 4 tires - the CM can still drag it to where they need it - but then it wouldn't be worth stealing because it wouldn't roll.

 

[Piglet843]

For Example:
https://www.amazon.com/GoFriend-Sec...UTF8&qid=1517411993&sr=8-9&keywords=bike+lock

 

[KenHutch]

The only thing I can add to this is DO NOT put food in your stroller. During our 2015 trip we had a stroller for the god daughter. While parking it in the huge stroller parking area near the Seas pavilion I noticed a squirrel. This fellow jumped into the back on a stroller and I observed him trying to pull an entire bag of Cheetos with him. I watched and after getting away with this loot he (I assume it was him) and several of his friends came back to completely loot this stroller. They had quite an operation going. Without mentioning company named we did rent one for 10 days and it had a huge sign attached to it with my name.

 

[HopperFan]

The only thing I can add to this is DO NOT put food in your stroller. During our 2015 trip we had a stroller for the god daughter. While parking it in the huge stroller parking area near the Seas pavilion I noticed a squirrel. This fellow jumped into the back on a stroller and I observed him trying to pull an entire bag of Cheetos with him. I watched and after getting away with this loot he (I assume it was him) and several of his friends came back to completely loot this stroller. They had quite an operation going. Without mentioning company named we did rent one for 10 days and it had a huge sign attached to it with my name.

We watch this show just about every trip. My bet is they are highly trained squirrel CMs who do this so that you then have to spend money to buy snacks. They will sit next to you and stare, eat out of your hand and are quite good at zippers as well. Epcot seems to be their most talented critters.

 

[Carlymouse]

Lock the REAR wheels together. Super-awkward to move for a thief, very obvious. But a CM can move it.

This is what I would do if you wanted to be careful. I ended up trusting that stroller theft is not too common and I think I'd read that they'd recently caught some people or taken some steps to intervene with this, so I ended up bringing ours without a lock. I loved having our higher quality stroller (City Mini GT). But it's all about weighing your options- how much will your little one use it? Will you use a cheap purchase again or is it a one-time use? Are you getting the right price (for your budget) and quality for a one-time rental or purchase? Our little one is growing out of her stroller use, so it made it easier for me to justify "rolling the dice." I didn't keep valuables in it while we were on rides, and I did try to avoid parking it in places that might make it easier to target (for example, right on the end of a row/ easy to grab and move off with quickly), but who knows if that made any difference.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Yea my daughter is 3 so she will tire out and need somewhere to rest. We don't like the umbrella strollers since they do not maneuver well and typically do not recline well for her to take a nap which will happen. We drive to the parks since we live very close. Do they ever allow you to lock the wheels together (I have a snowboard lock) in case someone decided to take off with the stroller.

We never leave anything valuable in the stroller (maybe a poncho some snacks and water)

as long as CM can tip and move lock either the front wheels or the back not back to front. also do not lock to something like a lamp post.

 

[BigAlsGal]

I think a Bike lock would be a great idea- just loop the cord through all 4 tires - the CM can still drag it to where they need it - but then it wouldn't be worth stealing because it wouldn't roll.

I second this.

 

[wanderingdee]

We bought a stroller lock for our first trip to Disney. It ended up being a pain putting it on every time we got on a ride since we just wanted to get going. If you’re that concerned I’d go to Once upon a child or to another consignment store and pick up a nice used one.

 

[JediBonas]

Personally, I would not buy a cheap umbrella stroller, I can't stand how horrible they are to push. We've brought strollers the last five years, double Maclaren (once), double BOB (once) and two single Maclarens (last three years). None of them I would consider cheap strollers and I never worried about them being stolen. We have our names on them (in multiple places) and our single Maclarens are easy to spot due to their colors, which might be a deterrent to potential thieves as well..

 

[DisneyDaddy17]

We will be taking our "Nice" stroller for this trip since our 1 year old son will depend on it so much during our stay. Luckily we will be in a large party of 8 adults, and not everyone wants to go on rides so there will likely be at least 1 adult on the stroller at all times! I will take the things y'all have posted into consideration! Thanks for the advice!

 

[rdaky]

Unless you are the height of an 8 year old, I wouldn't take a cheap $10 umbrella stroller or you're going to be in a lot of pain. We've taken nice strollers countless times and have never had an issue. We mark them with things that make them easy to identify and we also keep a GPS tracker on it. (The GPS tracker actually makes it easier to find when Cast Members move it because we can make it play a noise if we don't see it)

 

[ktjdisneymom]

Unless you are the height of an 8 year old, I wouldn't take a cheap $10 umbrella stroller or you're going to be in a lot of pain. We've taken nice strollers countless times and have never had an issue. We mark them with things that make them easy to identify and we also keep a GPS tracker on it. (The GPS tracker actually makes it easier to find when Cast Members move it because we can make it play a noise if we don't see it)

Which gps tracker do you recommend? Something like tile?