Disneyland might be marketed to the public as the Happiest Place on Earth, but sometimes it makes thieves happy, too. Like any place where tens of thousands of people gather daily, things get stolen. Especially the most ubiquitous symbol of parenthood: The baby stroller.

People who would never leave their bicycles unlocked in front of a store back home will innocently leave a $1,500 baby stroller unattended while they go on Space Mountain or the Jungle Cruise, never thinking that anyone would be brazen enough to walk off with it.

But, yes, people do. Sometimes, just so they can plunk their own tired kids into it, in which case security guards will find it left in the parking garage at midnight.

But, sometimes, they’re lifted by more practiced thieves who walk out of the park boldly with your prized carrier and then sell it on Craig’s List the next day. Even if they don’t walk off with the entire stroller, they might go through the contents, knowing that people operating in “vacation mode” often don’t think twice about leaving valuables in the pockets.

“It’s not rare, I guarantee it happens at least once a day,” said Ari Merino of Downey, an agent with Fairy Godmother Travel and a Disneyland fan herself, who now brings a collapsing stroller that fits in a backpack, after having one stolen at the park.

“Disney has created this culture of fantasy, and people believe everything is safe there,” Merino said. “You’re on vacation. ‘Oh, look! There’s a princess!’ People don’t think that they’re leaving a four-figure investment lying around.”

A spokesman for the Anaheim police department said he couldn’t say how many strollers are stolen at the park. He downplayed the issue and said it’s rare. In 2013, Anaheim police told the Register they received about one report per week.

Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Wyatt said typically such thefts go in waves, often targeting the higher end models, though it’s difficult to measure because they are all recorded as petty thefts.

According to an email from Wyatt, an Anaheim police sergeant who works the Disneyland station “said the number could be misleading anyway, because many times people report their stroller or personal property stolen and it is later found in a different location in the general area (all in one piece). Some people admit they forgot where they left it and others are adamant it was taken and somebody moved it. We unfortunately do not have crystal balls to let us know which is the truth.”

“The Sergeant also said that the number of reported thefts is tiny in comparison to the number of people who travel through Downtown Disney and the parks every day,” Wyatt wrote in the email.

But strollers these days aren’t always petty thefts.

A glance at the online Craig’s List classifieds for areas near Disneyland showed a Thule Chariot Cougar 2 “likely new” stroller offered for $450, a “like new” Orbit Baby stroller for $540, an UPPAbaby Vista Stroller and Mesa Car Seat System for $1,000, a “like new” Bugaboo Bee 3 stroller for $350 and more.

Disney spokesman Robert J. Koontz said that “an extremely small number of strollers, just a fraction of a percent, are affected. We recommend that guests always take their valuables with them.” He pointed out that Disneyland rents strollers for $15 per day, or $25 per day for two.”

So how often are strollers stolen? Well, it’s hard to say, especially because many people don’t bother to report the theft to the police, either because they don’t believe it will be returned, or they don’t want to take the time from their vacation.

Also, it’s Disneyland. The Magic Kingdom. Who thinks about bad guys operating there?

Some avid fans said they prefer to rent one at the park than bring their own. When strollers are stolen, victims reported that Disneyland employees often went out of their way to help find them and, if they were rented from Disneyland, replaced them. In some cases, Disneyland has offered to replace items purchased in the parks that were later stolen, victims said.

“I don’t take my expensive stroller to Disneyland, it’s too much of a risk,” said Jasmin Valenta of Lake Forest, a mom of two kids. “I just take a cheap umbrella one instead.”

In 2017, a woman was charged with grand theft accused of stealing a pricey stroller at Walt Disney World in Florida, after photos of the theft went viral. She used her small daughter, dressed in a Frozen costume, as an accomplice. The woman who owned the stroller was stranded, after her wallet, keys and all the family’s belongings that had been on the stroller were taken. It was eventually returned after a woman in Texas realized her Craig’s List purchase was the stolen item.

In December, the Orlando Sentinel reported that another woman was arrested after she allegedly sold a stolen stroller to an undercover sheriff’s deputy that was marketed on Facebook Marketplace. The owner saw the marketplace posting and, fortunately, had the stroller’s serial number, leading to its return.

But such arrests are rare, and few people think about safety when they’re in the parks.

“You walk in there and go into La-La land,” said Disneyland annual passholder Ana Espinoza of Long Beach. “People forget there are people out there who are not honest.”

Espinoza said her stroller was stolen a few months ago outside It’s a Small World. A Disneyland employee helped her look for it, and then she saw a woman pushing it around with a child on board.

“If I hadn’t seen the lady, I wouldn’t have gotten it back,” Espinoza said. “I said, ‘Did you think you were just going to walk off with our stroller? She said, “This is mine.”

Espinoza said she had put her name on the bottom of her stroller, so Disneyland security was able to turn it over and verify her ownership.

On another occasion, a guest said she saw a man walking out of the park with her stroller, confronted him but he refused to give it back. By the time she found security, the man was gone.

“It happens quite frequently,” Espinoza said. “Being a former employee, I can tell you. I worked Main Street retail and people would come in and report it. They’d be looking all over. I think it’s more now that strollers are so much more expensive. You can see $1,500 strollers walking around now. If I had a $1,500 stroller I would definitely never take it to Disneyland.”

Espinoza said she now brings a cheaper stroller to Disneyland, and gives it to her aunt to use as well. “Even with a cheap $20 stroller, my aunt worries.”

Paul Aragon of Placentia, who said he worked at the park for nine years and now is an annual passholder, remembers when his son’s stroller was stolen many years ago.

“I put it to the side where I knew I could find it easily,” Aragon said. “It wasn’t an expensive one. My diaper bag was taken, and my son was a toddler. Thankfully, I didn’t live that far away, so I could go home and get diapers.”

Usually, Aragon said, when he would get complaints about stolen strollers during his years working Fantasyland, it would turn out that the strollers had just been moved because they were blocking the way. But, not always.

“Strollers are just wall-to-wall now, so it’s easy to steal them,” said Paul Aragon.

So, how can you prevent people from walking away with your child’s favorite mode of transportation?

Travel agent Merino said she used to bring an old, “messed-up stroller with a rip in it” to Disneyland, but now she actually packs a stroller that folds small enough to fit into a backpack. “If my clients want to bring a stroller, I recommend an umbrella stroller,” she said.

How to keep your stroller safe: