A word of warning about Pal Mickey

[Mike]

Make sure to keep a close eye on your Pal Mickey at all times. Besides keeping you entertained and informed, Pal Mickey is becoming better and better at doing another trick - a disappearing act. Our Pal Mickey was stolen from our stroller at Epcot. We stopped for lunch at Italy and my 6 YO DS decided that he didn't want to wear PM into the restaurant so he put it in a fishnet bag we had hanging from the back of our stroller. My wife and I did not realize that he had done that. When we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed that he did not have PM with him. He told me what he did and I explained to him that that was like leaving a $50 bill on top of the stroller. We quickly went outside and, sure enough, it was gone.
My son was devastated. He said it was all his fault and he was crying because his PM was gone. He wanted me to call the police LOL!
We went to lost and found just for the heck of it and the CM told me that they get a bunch of people in everyday saying that their PM is missing. She said that they are obviously being stolen. So please make sure that you do not leave your Pal Mickey unattended.

 

[bigtinkfun]

Your poor little boy! What an awful lesson for him to have to learn and at such a young age. My heart goes out to him.

And thank you for the warning. I'm leaving in about 2 weeks and plan to get a PM of my own. I'll keep a close eye on him. It's a cautionary story: even at WDW, there are scumbags.

 

[goofy4tink]

I know this has been suggested before, but thought I'd add it here anyway....use a water-bottle lanyard to carry your Pal Mickey. It works wonderfully. Instead of a water bottle, stick Mickey's head through the loop. Yes, I know....it sounds like we're hanging the poor little guy. But it is very handy.

 

[Mike]

Originally posted by goofy4tink
I know this has been suggested before, but thought I'd add it here anyway....use a water-bottle lanyard to carry your Pal Mickey. It works wonderfully. Instead of a water bottle, stick Mickey's head through the loop. Yes, I know....it sounds like we're hanging the poor little guy. But it is very handy.

That is a great suggestion. In fact, that is what we were doing. We had PM on a water bottle strap which made it a lot easier for my DS to carry and bring PM up to his ear to hear what he was saying. Still, my little guy did not want to be bothered while he was eating.

 

[Brodiecat]

I have 2 young ones...what is a pal Mickey and where do you et him?

 

[Scarlett & Rhett]

Can Pal Mickey fit into a kid size backpack?

 

[betterlatethannever]

If you use a strap to carry a water bottle, you can just clip PM on the strap. It doesn't get in the way when you are drinking. He just slides down (up?) the strap as you lift the water bottle.

Ed

 

[lalapodip]

My DD10 left Pal Mickey in his ziploc bag (it had been raining) on the bench that she was sitting on for Spectromagic. She realized that he was missing as we were crossing over the bridge, and she and my DH immediately went back into the crazy crowd to see if he was still there. Of course I thought all sorts of dark thoughts, but lo and behold! an angel saw him "sitting" there and knew that his owner would come back, so she hid him behind her back and waited. A magical experience! Sorry to hear of your misfortune....it is a terribly expensive lesson to learn....

 

[cindy_k]

Aww. The poor little guy. I imagine, he thought he was doing a good thing too. He put Mickey away.

Mickey isn't very big, he would probably fit in a child backpack.

Thank you for the warning.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Originally posted by Brodiecat
I have 2 young ones...what is a pal Mickey and where do you et him?

http://www.wdwig.com/pal.htm

 

[madcoco]

So sorry to hear. Doesn't it make you and that someone could do this to a child. I just don't understand it.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Thanks for the warning and I am sure other parents are appreciative hearing your story and will keep PalMickey with them in all their ventures... So sad we have to think of people stealing all the time in the parks and in real life.. always on guard..

Actually I was amazed at the link Dan posted, I had not realized that Disney came up with something else and so very clever... my children are adults and I probably would not rent one for my husband or myself, but I thought what a cute idea... What will they think of next???

 

[Mic]

My youngest daughter and I just returned from a short trip together, and I surprised her with a Pal Mickey the first day. She did not put him down often, but when she did, I was sure to secure him to me with a bottle strap, and I learned about that on this board! I also clipped him to one of my backpack straps, but I was afraid I would lose him that way. He will fit in a backpack(and a gallon-size baggie if raining). I purchased my Pal Mickey in the Once-Upon-A-Toy store, but he kept repeating the same 3 phrases in both MK and Epcot, so I took him to the gift shop at Epcot to have him "re-activated", but he would not "accept the information", so the CM exchanged him for me. I am glad I kept my receipt, as she was assuming I had rented him, but when I pulled out my receipt with the $50 purchase price on it, she put the "rental Mickey" back and grabbed a new Pal Mickey from the store shelf! The CM that made the exchange told me to watch him closely, as several of them had pulled a disappearing act recently(and that is so sad).

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by madcoco
So sorry to hear. Doesn't it make you mad that someone could do this to a child. I just don't understand it.

While I certainly agree with your sentiment and think that it would be nice if we lived in a perfect world where there wasn't any crime, that just isn't reality.

My wife and I are always amazed at what we see people leaving in their strollers while they are off in a restaurant or attraction: cameras, plushes, bags of souvenirs, etc. I'm sorry, but that's just asking for trouble. I realize that for the original poster, it wasn't done intentionally and I certainly share your upset for what happened. But I can't say I have much sympathy for folks who <B>purposely</B> leave valuables clearly displayed then get upset when something happens to them.

Steve

 

[ktulu]

I just used the belt loop, but kept my hand on him, as I feared someone grabbing him in a crowd, or I just carried Mickey, it was easier to hear what he had to say that way. Great toy, sorry your son had that happen It really makes me sad to read stories of people getting things stolen, esp. at the happiest place on earth.

darren

 

[pstepka]

This is sort of Off Topic, but along the same 'can't believe people would steal from kids' topic.

We left two Game Boy hand held video games in the bedside table when we switched rooms at BCV and have not seen them since! BC lost and found said they were NOT recovered when they cleaned the room after we left. She said that housekeeping is to look in every drawer and bring left items to lost and found. I actually called the people in the room when I realized they were missing, but they were not the next guests...someone else had been there between us and them. The current guests even offered to let me come down and look to just see if it would jar my memory re:where I left them.

I doubt housekeeping would risk their jobs (I would assume they'd be in mucho trouble if they took something left behind) over a couple of Game Boys, so that is why I assume the guests after us took them.

It really upset me...losing them was bad enough, but to know that someone could have turned them in made it worse.

Pam

 

[Bunchkin]

So sorry to hear your son's Pal Mickey was stolen.

Thank you for the warning!
We are for sure going to buy at least one and we'll be sure to keep all our eyes on it!

 

[KHuntress]

I am so surprised at the theft examples you all have given. We have accidentally left all kinds of things in our stroller while in restaurants or attractions -- and have never had our things disturbed. We finally decided that Walt Disney World was a charmed environment where the Pixie Dust helped people to behave better.

You all have burst my Pollyanna-ish Disney Bubble. Boo!

I'll have to be more careful on our trip!

 

[jenelope]

The shoulder bag I carried on my May trip had a little loop on the handle that was perfect for clipping Pal Mickey to. The only problem was that almost every time I bent over, he slid right off the plastic clip. I had a very long, black twist tie in my luggage for some reason, and I used that as a leash to attach him to the bag. That way, Mickey didn't go anywhere that I wouldn't put my wallet.

 

[ohanafamily]

Hi All, We are adults and still bought the Pal Mickey. We hung him on a camera strap, but I like the water-bottle holder idea even better; the clip that comes with him doesn't work that well.

As far as the Game Boys go, pstepka, I don't think that they feel that they are risking their job, all they have to do is say that they thought it was trash and threw it away. no one would be the wiser. It is one thing if you were staying in the room and it came up missing, but after you check out very rarely do you get things back...even at WDW

OK, now my off-topic...does anybody know if the Pal Mickey works at DL in California?