BAD BOYS BAD BOYS!! Undercover Security

[no1swfan]

Gee, you'd think they could spot the bricks of C-4 in someones backpack BEFORE they entered the parks!! Just kidding, I'm glad that WDW has this kind of thing worked out so well. There is a current news story of how a suspscious package cause DL Tomorrowland to be evacuated.

I have never had to deal with or even noticed security at WDW but I do have a story about a lost child I found at MK one night.

My wife and I were at MK in 2003 and after watching the parade in Frontierland we decided to head for the exit. As we got by Crystal Palace, my wife mentioned she needed to use the restroom before we leave. So I let her go and I stood off to the side watching the steady crowd of people walk by. I noticed a small boy around 5 or 6 wandering around the area. He looked like he had a good day at MK wearing his pirate hat and carrying a pirate pistol. After about 15 minutes of watching this boy walk around and no one paying him any attention, I walked up and said "hey buddy, are you lost?" that's when the tears started. He mumbled something about not finding his mom and since we were not far from the restroom I asked if she went in there. He said he did not know where she was and continued crying. A family walking by overheard me talking to the little boy and also started asking him questions. He was crying so much they wern't able to get much more out of him. The father of the family went to get a CM and shortly after arrived with one. The CM said he would take care of everything and my wife returned from her stop. So I let the boy go with the CM and we left. I always kinda felt bad that I didn't stay with the boy to make sure he found his family, but I was confident that the CM would help the boy more than I could.

 

[gwb]

I searched back to get my experience from my Trip Report back in 2008 when I went with some other DISers. Too lazy to retype the story.

This was at the Starring Rolls Cafe in MGM when we stopped to get some breakfast on our way to Toy Story. Leaving out the introductory details that won't make sense unless you read the report.




I was out first and got to try to find us a table. It was COLD—in fact I heard on the news that Florida had a record cold that night. This is what happens to me, I go to Florida and they have a record cold spell. So I was looking for a table in the sun so we could have a bit of warmth. I found one but there was a backpack on one of the chairs. I asked the large group at the table next to me if it belonged to them. They said no, and it had been there a while with no one there. So I sat. Disney rules, you leave your stuff there for too long and no one is sitting then the table is up for grabs! A woman that looked like a supervisor/manager type (she wasn't wearing a funny costume!) walked by and I pointed out the chair with the backpack and told her it was there when we sat down and had lost it's owner. I was concerned that it would be stolen. Naturally I assumed that she would pick it up and take it in the back to be sent off to lost and found. I was dead wrong!

She took the entire chair and scooted it off about 30 yards away. Then she stood there in a guarding position and got on her walkie talkie. Security began showing up.

First one.

Then another.

And another.

Then 2 carrying ropes.

And we a few more around the perimeter of the area.

The ones with ropes roped off an area around the chair.

In the meantime a CM that was cleaning in the area came over to watch and to talk with us. He was also not in a funny costume and he told us he was a Trainer and was just helping out for a bit. He stayed with us chatting and watching what was going on. Also the large group at the table next to us took off. They were also interested in the action but said they had to move on. After they left a man came over and plopped himself at their now empty table. He seemed to be talking to himself but I figured he was on a bluetooth talking to his family telling them he got a table. He was also watching the security action. He leaned over to us and said “ Hey, did that thing start over here or where it is now?”. I figured he was just curious like we all were so of course I started telling him the story. He started talking into his coat again, but this time I heard “10-4” and “affirmative” and decided that he wasn't talking to his family!

We were all still talking and the Training CM said that they were going to bring out the dog. DOG??? We were really floored! I had even considered opening the backpack when we sat down to see if there was any ID in it. And here they were calling in a dog! Phors' son is with K9 in the military and had just lost his dog so this was certainly very interesting news to us. Phors said something about getting pictures of the dog to show her son. This is when the strange tourist next to us looked over and quietly said “We would prefer you didn't mam” We all looked at him and the CM said “OH! I didn't ever recognize you sitting there!” And he proceeded to introduce us to the Head of Studios Security ::cop: (undercover )! He was extremely nice but said that they try to bring the dog out, have him do his job and get him back without drawing a crowd. If people start taking photos then it draws a crowd and they may have to confiscate cameras and review the pics and get witness statements. We completely understood and had a nice chat while waiting for the dog. There was no way were leaving our seats until this was over!

When he got word on the radio the dog was on it's way out he walked by and told us that we could get pics but just stay in our seats and be discreet. We were able to get several good pictures. Because the Head of Security works undercover I have removed him from these pics to protect his identity.

Of course the dog came out, sniffed the bag, laid down and looked up as if to say “You woke me up for that???”

Quicker than it had happened, the dog and his handler disappeared backstage, the ropes were rolled up and one of the security guys picked up the bag and opened it and they all walked off. We never did find out if there was even anything in it!

We did learn that Disney has several full time K9 units and they do this for any abandoned bag. I would have thought that would have meant many times a day, it would seem that people would be constantly leaving things. But in reality security said it really doesn't happen all that often.

So the excitement was over. We had promised a good run it with security and it doesn't get much better than this! About 10 Security officers, the HEAD of security and a K9 Unit! As we walked off a few things did cross our minds:

Phors was thinking maybe that was just one of their Streetmosphere shows and wondered if we were supposed to applaud at the end!

And I was thinking that if they REALLY thought it could have been a bomb, shouldn't they have moved it a little further away, okay A LOT further away from us???

And when I told DH about it later he said he was so glad to see that we were smart enough to move ourselves out of danger when a bomb was suspected.


Tiramasu: $4.00
Fruit Tart: $4.00
Eclair: $4.00
Coffee: $3.00
Meeting the Head of Security and the K9 and NOT being arrested. . . Priceless!

You know with all that's happening in New York and other places it's a little bit reassuring that Disney does take this type of (thankfully innocent) happening seriously.

If you think about it, what better place for a terrorist to place a bomb but in a crowded popular theme park. Everyone there to enjoy themselves.

 

[dfmalone]

Trying to keep this thread alive...anymore stories out there??

 

[budbeerlady]

Bump

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

While I do not doubt the veracity of anyone else's experience and am quite sure that I have had some interactions with undercover security in some form that I was not aware of it has not been my experience.

Many, many years ago a young housekeeper came into our room, my dh and I, and sat down on the bed to chat. I immediately jumped up and opened the door and when she asked why I gave her my best motherly lecture on going into rooms with strangers. She has since graduated to being over housekeeping and is a dear friend. She has never gone into a closed room with strangers again though.

My husband had a bad fall at MK and no one came to help and the only aid I got was when I was finally able to get him to the bus kind passengers gave us both seats.

I fell badly last year at my resort and a fellow DISer in a scooter saw me and offered me help. I called the front desk, not to threaten to sue or anything, but to report the water so that no one else might fall and was less than impressed with the response.

I do believe that Disney is better than most but even they cannot do everything.

Slightly Goofy

 

[mickey family]

My son was hurt at CBR last year. We were in Trinidad South, so kind of remote. My husband called 911 and before the ambulance arrived, someone from the resort was there. 911 Dispatch must have notified them, because we didn't. Within 10 minutes of the incident, there were two trucks from animal control onsite. He was initially taken to Celebration Hospital. Before they transferrd him to Florida Children's, a rep from Disney's Compassionate Response Team came to the hospital. We had a rep assigned to us that visited the hospital each day and stayed in contact throughout our visit. Excellent service!!!!

 

[Ladybugsy]

GREAT Thread!

4Robins, YOU are my hero. Well done!

Dh is a Sheriff's deputy and LOVES Disney. He is going to retire in about 5 years....I bet I can talk him into working for Disney. We only live about 7 hours from there now.

It's such a beautiful dream.....

 

[clc053103]

i actually have the opposite- a "where's security" question!

In SEpt 2001 (we were there over 9/11 so this was about on 9/4) my mother slipped, in the pouring rain, on the tile area near innoventions in Epcot (at least I think that is where we were). She fell right on her back, in front of a CM. The CM stopped to help her up, then told her where first aid was. We asked that she show us and she said no, she can't, because she would be late for her shift in one of the gift shops.

No offer to find someone to help lead us (or better yet- come get her- she was flat on her back). However, after my mother reported the incident that night, they called us repeatedly- but clearly only to protect Disney from a lawsuit, they mentioned a settlement repeatedly, not to apologize for their lack of response on the scene.

I imagine things changed quite a bit after 9/11. Having been there for the actual day, I would say they went on high alert immediately. I doubt a fall like that would go unnoticed now!

 

[Eljay]

I found this video while surfing YouTube.
There was an incident on the second floor of the Contemporary.
Here is a glimpse at the legendary Disney security in action.
Very cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAqZd22UHuU

 

[connorlevismom]

Man - I wish someone would have been around to deal with what I saw a couple of years ago. I was standing at Splash Mountain with my son as my DH was riding Haunted Mansion. We were just watching the flooms come down and off to my leftI heard some yelling. There were two adult women (probably in their 20's) and their mother standing in the middle of the walkway next to Splash Mountain. These two girls were screaming at each other and starting fist fighting. This turned into a serious fight where actual chunks of hair were being ripped out. This went on for several minutes while the mom just stood there yelling at them to stop. Finally a CM (older women) came and tried to seperate these girls (who were still ripping hair out) and could not do it. I think some male guests tried to seperate them as well. Finally they stopped fighting and proceeded to just walk away like nothing happend, leaving bloody chucks of hair on the walkway. Is was horrifying and I still get sick everytime I think about seeing that hair laying there. No security even came to deal with it and they were left to just go on their way. It was nasty.

Kristine

 

[princessallegra]

I found this video while surfing YouTube.
There was an incident on the second floor of the Contemporary.
Here is a glimpse at the legendary Disney security in action.
Very cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAqZd22UHuU

That was cool, thanks for the link!

 

[mariepapa]

My son was hurt at CBR last year. We were in Trinidad South, so kind of remote. My husband called 911 and before the ambulance arrived, someone from the resort was there. 911 Dispatch must have notified them, because we didn't. Within 10 minutes of the incident, there were two trucks from animal control onsite. He was initially taken to Celebration Hospital. Before they transferrd him to Florida Children's, a rep from Disney's Compassionate Response Team came to the hospital. We had a rep assigned to us that visited the hospital each day and stayed in contact throughout our visit. Excellent service!!!!

I remember you posting about your ordeal. I am so glad that you were happy with them and that your son was okay. When we stayed at CBR last month I thought of your family often and kept a watchful eye on the bushes and my children!

 

[afwdwfan]

My son was hurt at CBR last year. We were in Trinidad South, so kind of remote. My husband called 911 and before the ambulance arrived, someone from the resort was there. 911 Dispatch must have notified them, because we didn't. Within 10 minutes of the incident, there were two trucks from animal control onsite. He was initially taken to Celebration Hospital. Before they transferrd him to Florida Children's, a rep from Disney's Compassionate Response Team came to the hospital. We had a rep assigned to us that visited the hospital each day and stayed in contact throughout our visit. Excellent service!!!!

Glad to hear they were helpful and quick to respond. I don't mean to pry, but may I ask why animal control was involved?

 

[Eljay]

I found this video while surfing YouTube.
There was an incident on the second floor of the Contemporary.
Here is a glimpse at the legendary Disney security in action.
Very cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAqZd22UHuU

To this day, you can see this guy on POTC, in the jail scene...

 

[Ladybugsy]

Glad to hear they were helpful and quick to respond. I don't mean to pry, but may I ask why animal control was involved?

Not 100 percent, but I think her son was bitten 3 times on the finger by a water moccasin when he bent down to retrieve a toy from some landscaping. His feet never left the sidewalk. 12 vials of antivenin and 134,000.00 later, he's doing well...still has all fingers.

Correct me if I'm wrong I just read the thread the other night.

 

[mariepapa]

Not 100 percent, but I think her son was bitten 3 times on the finger by a water moccasin when he bent down to retrieve a toy from some landscaping. His feet never left the sidewalk. 12 vials of antivenin and 134,000.00 later, he's doing well...still has all fingers.

Correct me if I'm wrong I just read the thread the other night.

The whole thing was very scary.

 

[LovesTimone]

This happened a couple of years ago, We were walking from main street to tomorrowland in front of the Plaza restaurant, this main was yelling at his wife and kids over to the right side, about this time he whips off his belt, and grabs hold of one of the kids the wife goes to intervene he pushs her in the chest and almost knocks her to the ground and he goes back to grab one of the kids and goes to swing the belt. A very large man dressed in shorts grabbed the belt and woman dress in shorts took hold of the wife and kids and they were gone. Several men had surround the man who was really out of control at this point. Then several men in uniform kept everyone moving. When I looked back the man was gone then. This all happen in a matter of seconds I have know idea of where they came from all of a sudden they where just there.

Last year my DH and I stayed a CBR and someone tried to get into our room in the middle of the night around 3:00 am. I called the front desk and in about 2 mins we could see golf carts zooming around. The CM said that they had other calls and to please stay in the room and they would call us when the person had been caught. They called about 20 mins or so later and said apparently he was under the weather d he wasn't even at the right resort
Which to me meant they were not going to tell us what really happened.
I'm just glad to know that they are there and making sure we have a magical vacation.

 

[shalom]

The CM stopped to help her up, then told her where first aid was. We asked that she show us and she said no, she can't, because she would be late for her shift in one of the gift shops.

They did a study once sending people in the ministry across a campus to do a presentation, but on the route the people doing the study had planted a guy pretending he'd been beaten and clearly needing help. The ministers who had been told they were late for the presentation and to hurry, hurry! were significantly less likely to stop than the ministers who were told they had enough time to get there. People who feel they are late for an appointment and are focused on accomplishing the plan in their head have a harder time "refocusing" and responding to an emergency, sometimes even when they see caring for the wounded as part of their job.

Meaning that compassionate people who constantly feel rushed and "live in the future" need to schedule times to care for others.

I'm sure Disney security is good, but at the same time it can't be literally everywhere. Security can only respond to situations they know about, and some things happen way faster than you realize, while seeming to last forever (if a situation upsets you enough, the brain goes into the first stage of trauma mode, meaning your time sense is essentially off line). If the CMs in the area aren't paying attention or don't notify security, some events are going to slip by. Things may also slip by because there's a bigger problem going on somewhere else that's pulling security people into another area. And since Disney isn't going to advertise anything major they deal with, hard to know what "minor" might be compared to it!

 

[chellewashere]

This happened a couple of years ago, We were walking from main street to tomorrowland in front of the Plaza restaurant, this main was yelling at his wife and kids over to the right side, about this time he whips off his belt, and grabs hold of one of the kids the wife goes to intervene he pushs her in the chest and almost knocks her to the ground and he goes back to grab one of the kids and goes to swing the belt. A very large man dressed in shorts grabbed the belt and woman dress in shorts took hold of the wife and kids and they were gone. Several men had surround the man who was really out of control at this point. Then several men in uniform kept everyone moving. When I looked back the man was gone then. This all happen in a matter of seconds I have know idea of where they came from all of a sudden they where just there.

How scary can you imagine if he is like that in public what he is like in private. His poor wife and kids.

 

[scrapnmom]

I had one experience, it was maybe 1990 we were leaving MK after the night parade during spring break so it was very crowded. On Main Street, we heard a woman scream from behind us and then within seconds a guy was tackled right next to us. He had snatched a purse. One man was holding him down and there were several other men, in dark uniforms clearing the area. My brother, about 10 at the time, went up to the guy on the ground and then said very loudly "that's my bus driver!" To this day I have no idea why he did that!

One of the security guys asked my mom if we did know him and she told him no we did not!