Bag check--extra thorough!!!

[Babs1975]

Good to know what to expect. Helps to plan and be prepared for it. I'm glad they are thoroughly checking!

 

[Madivan]

I'm glad to see that they are *mostly* very thorough with bag check. What's the point of having bag check if they are only barely glancing inside? And even though they are very thorough they are still quick about it but the lines would still move much faster if people would unzip all zippers like they ask us to.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I don't think they are really preventing anything but I go along with security theater without incident.

My sister and I were there Labor Day weekend and experienced the new extra through security procedures and as long as you had all zippers open and your glasses case out and open when you walked up it only took 30 seconds or less for them to look at everything.

I also noticed them wanting bagless people to remove things from their pocket which is why I would much rather just take a bag because you're no longer saving yourself any time.

If you are prepared its really not bad.

Hope you had a great trip!

 

[JohnDaleswife]

I am going bag free in February.

 

[tony67]

As others said yes - they are very "thorough" now.
But the did not always look to deeply into my camera bag - sometimes I opened it pulled out the camera and they just waved me on.
There are "hidden" areas in the bag where there are other lenses that very rarely were looking into.
I did see them open peoples wallets that were zipped - but they always seemed to ask.

They never asked me to take mine out of my pocket - except when I went through the metal detectors.
A couple of them did ask to open the wallet (unzip) - it is actually a zippered waist bag and not a wallet - so technically a bag.

Other random thoughts and such:

They rotate the check people constantly - so if you get in a line and think the person is really slow at checking bags and move to another line - good chance they will just rotate to you. Seems like every three or four people they rotate - so once you get in a line just stay there.

I think Epcot makes all people with no bags go through the metal detector - at least that's how it looked - I did not use that this time.
Not sure about the other parks as I always had the camera bag with me.
This did seem to reduce alcohol form the outside in Epcot - although I did see some folks drinking cans of Guinness - i've not seen that sold in Epcot.
It's also not very good in a can - you really need to pour it into a glass for the widget to do its thing - and if you bough one in the park I'd assuem they woudl pour it into a plastic cup. So they did get them in somehow - maybe mixed with cans of soda?
This may reduce the overdrinking of some of the folks at F&W we have seen in the past - not easy to get a pint of Vodka in anymore..
Also - EVERYONE going in the international gateway goes through the metal detector as well.

I seemed to get picked almost every time for the extra screening - and that gets very annoying when you do three or four parks in a day.

This is the one issue I had - I usually go back and fourth between parks throughout the day (solo traveler) and the bag check was annoying - and it is a bottleneck that is concerning as far as security goes.

I know there was talk of them moving it further from the parks (I don't see how they could) - but that was one thing I think Universal does much better.
Obviously Universal is more self contained - so it is easier for them.
You get checked before you enter the Citywalk area - so before you get on the boat from your hotel - there is security.
If you walk over there is Security before you enter Citywalk.
If you are off site there is security before you enter Citywalk.
So once you are inside you don't have any more of this security - and you don't have the bottleneck at the gate.
If you exit and reenter the park you don't have to do it again.

I could see them doing something with MK - and since that is the busiest it might be worthwhile.
They could have a check for the arriving buses and people who walk over.
Check people before they get on the monorail
Check people before they get on the boat.
I would not be surprised if that is related to the rumor I read previously.

One other question - anyone know how thoroughly they check the employees - I always wondered about that - especially when security sees the same folks every day.

 

[Disneylover99]

I am going bag free in February.

Sometimes the bag free lines take longer to get through than the bag lines.

 

[Nancyg56]

This was our experience when we visited the beginning of September. They were hardcore! My husband almost always to go through the metal detector. Animal kingdom was far and away the worst. Lines were slow slow slow and they were touching everything in every pocket. I had the stroller with dd4 and dd8 while my husband was behind a few people with the backpack. They had me stop and do the metal detector but wouldn't let me park my stroller and go through.my kids are old enough and well behaved I could have easily told them to stay put while I walked ten steps over to the machine. Not to mention my husband was a few feet behind and visible about to get the backpack searched. NOPE! Had to wait for him to get the search of a lifetime and be standing at our kids side before they would let me through. I think it mostly rubbed me the wrong way because it was like 95 degrees and I was hungry. But still....AK bag check was so much worse.

Also, the fingerprint scans on kids are obnoxious! Getting toddler/small kid from a stroller and awkwardly trying to smash their little sticky fingers onto the reader to get a clean print that will read is impossible. Dd4 could never get hers to work the first or second try. It wasn't until midway through they told me I could use my print for her. Then we were stuck always having to come into a park together. We had a bigger group and, papa couldn't take the girls into the park for the evening unless I went to scan her in.

I have noticed for years that DAK has dogs at the entrances. I believe that Disney has always had a little more security and has made some of it visible in order to ensure the animals are protected. For some sick reason, there are people who think hurting animals is okay.

 

[pampam]

As others said yes - they are very "thorough" now.
But the did not always look to deeply into my camera bag - sometimes I opened it pulled out the camera and they just waved me on.
There are "hidden" areas in the bag where there are other lenses that very rarely were looking into.
I did see them open peoples wallets that were zipped - but they always seemed to ask.

They never asked me to take mine out of my pocket - except when I went through the metal detectors.
A couple of them did ask to open the wallet (unzip) - it is actually a zippered waist bag and not a wallet - so technically a bag.

Other random thoughts and such:

They rotate the check people constantly - so if you get in a line and think the person is really slow at checking bags and move to another line - good chance they will just rotate to you. Seems like every three or four people they rotate - so once you get in a line just stay there.

I think Epcot makes all people with no bags go through the metal detector - at least that's how it looked - I did not use that this time.
Not sure about the other parks as I always had the camera bag with me.
This did seem to reduce alcohol form the outside in Epcot - although I did see some folks drinking cans of Guinness - i've not seen that sold in Epcot.
It's also not very good in a can - you really need to pour it into a glass for the widget to do its thing - and if you bough one in the park I'd assuem they woudl pour it into a plastic cup. So they did get them in somehow - maybe mixed with cans of soda?
This may reduce the overdrinking of some of the folks at F&W we have seen in the past - not easy to get a pint of Vodka in anymore..
Also - EVERYONE going in the international gateway goes through the metal detector as well.

I seemed to get picked almost every time for the extra screening - and that gets very annoying when you do three or four parks in a day.

This is the one issue I had - I usually go back and fourth between parks throughout the day (solo traveler) and the bag check was annoying - and it is a bottleneck that is concerning as far as security goes.

I know there was talk of them moving it further from the parks (I don't see how they could) - but that was one thing I think Universal does much better.
Obviously Universal is more self contained - so it is easier for them.
You get checked before you enter the Citywalk area - so before you get on the boat from your hotel - there is security.
If you walk over there is Security before you enter Citywalk.
If you are off site there is security before you enter Citywalk.
So once you are inside you don't have any more of this security - and you don't have the bottleneck at the gate.
If you exit and reenter the park you don't have to do it again.

I could see them doing something with MK - and since that is the busiest it might be worthwhile.
They could have a check for the arriving buses and people who walk over.
Check people before they get on the monorail
Check people before they get on the boat.
I would not be surprised if that is related to the rumor I read previously.

One other question - anyone know how thoroughly they check the employees - I always wondered about that - especially when security sees the same folks every day.

I also think that there should be a bag check before one gets on the bus. This may not be practical but so often we hear of explosions etc. on busses. However, the manpower this would take would be very great.

 

[maxiesmom]

I also think that there should be a bag check before one gets on the bus. This may not be practical but so often we hear of explosions etc. on busses. However, the manpower this would take would be very great.

It would also be a pain for those guests using the buses to hop to other resorts for meals.

 

[tony67]

Sometimes the bag free lines take longer to get through than the bag lines.

Yeah - it seemed that way to me as well - there were a few times I went through the bag check line for just that reason

 

[tony67]

I also think that there should be a bag check before one gets on the bus. This may not be practical but so often we hear of explosions etc. on busses. However, the manpower this would take would be very great.

they would have to have only one or two pickup point at each hotel then - not really an option at a place like CBR - it is really big

Having the security on the bus to get off and check everyone would really slow things down a lot more

Id be more worried about the monorail as it is such a symbol of Disney IMO

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Sometimes the bag free lines take longer to get through than the bag lines.

Really? Wonder why?

 

[Disneylover99]

Really? Wonder why?

Because regular bag check offers lots of lines with lots of bag checkers. No bag line may be one long line with metal detector screening.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Well I wonder know if my thinking of going bag free is such a great idea. But I can get by with just my magic band and my phone. (I have no babies or very small kids) The only thing I could think I could use a bag for would be to carry around ponchos, umbrellas, if there was a chance we would need them.

 

[POLY1985]

We were there on Oct 2 and it was very thorough, the most I've ever seen. I had a medium cross body and they opened every zippered pocket and really reached in. It takes time but I appreciate the effort that is being made to keep guests safe. I'm always polite and say thank you to the CM's doing this.

 

[TAK]

Well I wonder know if my thinking of going bag free is such a great idea. But I can get by with just my magic band and my phone. (I have no babies or very small kids) The only thing I could think I could use a bag for would be to carry around ponchos, umbrellas, if there was a chance we would need them.

I'll always go bag free -- nothing to do with the security check, I just hate the idea of carrying a purse or bag around all day. I have my phone in my pocket and my magic band on, I don't need anything else. But I don't have kids either, so there's that. If we bring ponchos my husband carries them in his pockets. If we have to empty pockets or use the bag check line, we're fine with it.

 

[Accident]

I am going bag free in February.

Sometimes the bag free lines take longer to get through than the bag lines.

I can vouch for this. I'd say about 50% of the time we've gone in that my daughter with a bag is waiting for me in the park. While I recommend trying to be bagless, don't let security be the reason you don't bring what you want to carry with you.

 

[Disneylover99]

Well I wonder know if my thinking of going bag free is such a great idea. But I can get by with just my magic band and my phone. (I have no babies or very small kids) The only thing I could think I could use a bag for would be to carry around ponchos, umbrellas, if there was a chance we would need them.

I would base my decision to go bagless or not on what I need in the park. If you need something, bring it. Don't base it on the length of security lines. Sometimes they'll be long, sometimes they won't be.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

I do wanna try it, as I have never done it before, but if there is a good chance of rain during the morning hours I will bring a bag in.

 

[DisAuntie]

I found that between the more thorough bag checks (which I am totally fine with) and the tap stiles not all working, getting into the parks was a bigger ordeal during our trip (Sept. 29th-Oct 3rd) than it has ever been. It's definitely something you need to think about when planning arrival time at the parks. For the first time ever we actually "needed" that 15 minute grace period on one of our FP+'s just because it took us so long to get into the parks.

It would help so much if people had their bags open, all compartments unzipped, etc before it was their turn.

It would help so much if people didn't pack like they were going on a week long camping trip. Some people pack a ridiculous amount of stuff that they'll never need or touch on their park days.