BAD BOYS BAD BOYS!! Undercover Security

[scrappinannie]

The security guy had noticed how we were all argueing with our son and had come close to check everthing was ok. We weren't even loud, or making hand motions, just hands on hips, mom style head shaking and finger shaking NO! so that is how empty it was, and how good they are...




Idofabric, this was our experience as well. DH, DD & I were eating lunch at Cosmic Ray's & unbeknownst to us, there was a young woman with her 3 young kids eating at a nearby table who had gotten into an argument with a man I assume was maybe her boyfriend or her husband. She had a stroller, which was turned backwards so you could only see the back of it, so her kids were kind of blocked from view, except for the one boy who was literally nodding off on the table.

I was helping DD with her food when all of the sudden I hear this woman yelling, "Give me back my phone! Give me back my phone!" She has a baby on her hip & is trying to grab a cell phone from her guy's pants pocket. He slaps her hand away & heads for the exit, where she follows him, leaving 2 of the 3 kids alone at the table. They get outside and you can see them arguing on the sidewalk. I don't know why, but I looked up and over to where they had been seated and I see 2 CMs who obviously just saw this whole thing go down. As soon as the woman took off, they swooped in. Went right over to the kids at the table, the woman comes back inside and is obviously shaken. Boyfriend/Husband took off, never came back. I overheard one CM say "Do you want me to call security?" and she said yes.

A few minutes later a uniformed security guard showed up and that's when we left. I was impressed, though, that from the moment things started to look heated, those CMs were aware enough to suspect the situation was going to go bad and we essentially "looking out" for that young woman & her kids through it all. I felt terrible for this woman & her kids, but at the same time I felt that she would be taken care of by security & would most likely not be stranded at MK all day, alone with the kids, no cell phone & no way to get home. Just goes to show you that Disney has eyes and ears all over the place & we are all in good hands.

 

[pampam]

I'm very glad I found this thread. Thanks to all who have posted.

 

[Lucky4me]

When dd was 4, she fell off a retaining wall she had climbed in front of Prime Time Cafe. She got a pretty good gash on her cheek that started gushing blood. I picked her up and got blood all over me too. Within one minute, gaudy Hawaiin shirted security had us in the back of the restaurant. In another two minutes I was handed a new Mickey shirt and told to go change in an employee bathroom. While I was in there, they gave dd a new shirt too. They took us via a back way to the hospital in an unmarked security vehicle. After she was stitched up, they gave us a ride back to our car. They paid for the hospital visit and I never considered suing. I should have been watching my kid, I wasn't. My fault, not theirs.

 

[Eljay]

Years ago, I'm thinking pre-mid-80's, you never saw any uniformed security at WDW. Of course they were there, blending in with tourist clothes. We had no idea.

There was no security check at the gate and no Orange County Sheriffs cars on the property.

Back then, we had a silly, naive impression that WDW was like a little crime-free oasis. What was I thinking?

I recall the first time I saw a uniformed officer, it was in Epcot, near the Fountain of Nations. I stopped and spoke to him and told him how surprised I was to see him there. He just smiled and said, "We have always been here, just not in uniform." I think it was after a high profile terror incident that they started making security visible.

 

[PeterPan09]

I would be very interested in this info as well.
It does seem to be more common everywhere, not just at WDW; I'm not talking about a swat on the rump now and then (please let's not start a debate about this being right or wrong, JMO), but often see severe abuse, by parents, siblings, and I have even seen a older child beating up on her parent.
How can we intervene, safely for all? (including me)

As a CM, I was told when I asked about this issue to call a coordinator if I saw something that was questionable. I was also told that in the majority of cases, there is nothing that Disney can do under Florida law. Parents can slap a child, grab them roughly, and do things that many might consider "abusive" and Disney cannot intervene.

My best advice would be to quickly and quietly report what you see to the nearest CM, describe the incident with as much detail as possible-time, location, what the folks were wearing-and let them take it from there. I would never advocate getting in the middle of a violent confrontation-too much risk of it escalating.

 

[budbeerlady]

As a CM, I was told when I asked about this issue to call a coordinator if I saw something that was questionable. I was also told that in the majority of cases, there is nothing that Disney can do under Florida law. Parents can slap a child, grab them roughly, and do things that many might consider "abusive" and Disney cannot intervene.

My best advice would be to quickly and quietly report what you see to the nearest CM, describe the incident with as much detail as possible-time, location, what the folks were wearing-and let them take it from there. I would never advocate getting in the middle of a violent confrontation-too much risk of it escalating.

Thanks for the advice and will do if ever needed.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Definately thanks Peter!

It breaks my heart to think people would pull that crap at Disney and I would definately report it if I saw anything (after keeping DH from ripping that person's head off - not literally - he can't stand people who hurt kids, they literally make him sick).

 

[Pattiwig]

We saw a similar incident to a previous poster's except it involved a backpack left on the path near Pop Century's bowling pin pool. Security used a few lounge chairs to block the bag off. It was funny, there was a guy in tie calmly chatting people up as they walked by, acting as if he wasn't standing near a lonely backpack surrounding by three lounge chairs. They also had someone walking around making small talk with the 15 or so guests in the pool area.

For having their bomb squad out, the whole thing came and went very quietly and calmly. They sure know what they are doing.

We saw a similar incident at AK in 9/08, involving a cooler that was left on the sidewalk connecting Asia and Africa. We were waiting for the parade. It was all rather scary when you thought about what could have been.

They had it roped off and the dog was out rather quickly, luckily it turned out to be nothing, but they did not try to move people away from the immediate area and that worried me.

 

[mtschopp]

I'm leaving for WDW is a week so I'm gonna keep my eyes peeled for any undercover security guys.

 

[maxiesmom]

Wow what a fun topic! I have three stories, all from Disneyland and all are vastly different. Each incident is post 9/11.

1. My son was 4 when he got lost in Redwood Creek. I had been playing with him when my phone rang. I answered it, turned around and he was gone. I started yelling for him and generally freaking out as only a mother can do. I was rushing around yelling for my son. You would think other parents would notice. Apparantly not. Not a single person offered to help me find my son. It was about five minutes later when it dawned on me that he may have gone back to the caves, so I headed that way and sure enough he was playing in the caves. That five minutes was the worst five minutes of my life! No security, not even help from another guest. Now our son knows that if he can't see us, we can't see him.

So 1 out of 3 times security was involved. Should have been 2 out of 3.

No worries though, our son is now almost 8 and still remembers that if he can't see us, we can't see him.

I can't help but think that people run thru Disney every day, screaming for their children. You may know that your child is lost, but to other people you could just be a crazy lady who likes to yell for her kids. I know it is an easy thing to say from the security of my home, but if you lose your child you need to 1. Not panic and go out of your mind 2. Ask for help. I can't blame Disney CMs for not helping you, when your child was missing for just 5 minutes. Security can't possibly be in all places at all times. The odds of a securityCM standing right where you were when you lost your child can't be that high.

 

[Eljay]

As a CM, I was told when I asked about this issue to call a coordinator if I saw something that was questionable. I was also told that in the majority of cases, there is nothing that Disney can do under Florida law. Parents can slap a child, grab them roughly, and do things that many might consider "abusive" and Disney cannot intervene.

My best advice would be to quickly and quietly report what you see to the nearest CM, describe the incident with as much detail as possible-time, location, what the folks were wearing-and let them take it from there. I would never advocate getting in the middle of a violent confrontation-too much risk of it escalating.

Thank you, PeterPan09.
If I see an incident, I think I'll descretely try to take a picture to show security. Could we call 911, or would that be frowned upon if it's not a medical emergency?

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

We saw a backpack laying unattended at flowerbed at the Epcot entrance, DH and I stood back for a few moments excitedly watching. Nothing happened I was so disappointed! But on 2 of our SWW days we saw some of the K9 units outside of DHS, that was enough to get me excited.

I also was checking everyone and thier brother for ear pieces (discreetly) and saw one guy with one on the friendship taxi with us going across WS, I'm pretty sure it was b/c a couple young 20 something guys got on the boat with Gran Manier slushes in hand and were being obnoxiously loud. I thought that was cool, but nothing every happened. Maybe we will get one of the super cool experiences like you guys have had on another trip.

 

[mariepapa]

We saw a similar incident at AK in 9/08, involving a cooler that was left on the sidewalk connecting Asia and Africa. We were waiting for the parade. It was all rather scary when you thought about what could have been.

They had it roped off and the dog was out rather quickly, luckily it turned out to be nothing, but they did not try to move people away from the immediate area and that worried me.

From what I understand you are not supposed to move something that might be a bomb. It might go off.

 

[BigKid45]

One time we walked passed the monorail entrance and started into the entrance towards MK. Seeing a short cut via the sidewalk we started over the green portable fence when a gentleman in "street" clothes came out of nowhere and asked us not to go over the rail and to backtrack to the open monorail entrance. We obliged and then noticed the earpiece. He didn't really "save the day", but got us back on track.

 

[annmarieda]

A few years ago, my dh was carrying our then 3 year old on his shoulders. I was walking slightly ahead. Apparently we were not moving through the crowd fast enough for some ill mannered teen boys. They started cursing at my dh and dd. About the time I could even take notice of their foul mouths being directed at my husband and dd, they were gone. Dh said that before I had a chance to turn around and see what happened, a VERY large male came out of nowhere. Dh felt for sure that he was undercover security. Apparently he came up between the two boys, placing a hand on the back of each one's neck, escorted them...somewhere. Quick, quiet...they were gone.

 

[Eljay]

...a VERY large male came out of nowhere. Dh felt for sure that he was undercover security. Apparently he came up between the two boys, placing a hand on the back of each one's neck, escorted them...somewhere. Quick, quiet...they were gone.

Whoa! Smooth.

 

[mrsltg]

From what I understand you are not supposed to move something that might be a bomb. It might go off.

Correct. They shouldn't move the object, but they should absolutely move the people away. If they don't, it's more window dressing.

 

[disneyfanUSA]

One time we walked passed the monorail entrance and started into the entrance towards MK. Seeing a short cut via the sidewalk we started over the green portable fence when a gentleman in "street" clothes came out of nowhere and asked us not to go over the rail and to backtrack to the open monorail entrance. We obliged and then noticed the earpiece. He didn't really "save the day", but got us back on track.

Hahaha when did this happen? I witnessed something just like this in August!

 

[BigKid45]

Hahaha when did this happen? I witnessed something just like this in August!

Easter 2008. I usually don't do such things, but we had a group of 10 (5 adults + 5 kids 4-11 years) and trying to keep them all together was a constant struggle. My bad.

 

[Ladybugsy]

This thread is the main reason my husband will be visting WDW casting when we go in September...lol. He's ready to move so that he can be a Disney Cop.