AP holders who drive... have ID ready.

[cruisingkat]

I understand your point, but in the long run it does protect AP holders. Say your son lost his AP. Someone else picks it up and uses it to buy stuff and get discounts. The CM doing the check-out just accepts it -- never asks for ID. Someone could get discounts off your son's AP for the entire year. Even if they couldn't use it to get into the parks, they'd still have a perk that they didn't deserve and didn't pay for. It's inconvenient, maybe, but Disney's got to balance that off being sure that only the people who deserve AP benefits are actually getting them.

Someone who picks it up would only be able to use until you report it lost. I lost my AP and when I went to get another shortly after losing it, I asked what happens to the old one if someone finds it. The CM told me that they invalidate the lost card so nobody can use it and all the information from that lost card is transferred to the new card.

As far as people not carrying an ID - I don't even take a walk around the block without carrying some ID just in case. I always think what if something happened to me and I didn't have an ID. Even when I am with my DH, I still carry one -for example, you might not be together at Disney when something could happen.