Beware of thieves!!

[Lovin' Lorne]

I'm sorry to hear that.

I think it just goes to show that everyone needs to remain constantly aware of their surroundings, no matter where they are. People are people, no matter where they're at. Including theives.

 

[daffidyll]

SO VERY SORRY for your loss!!! I really hope some if not all of it will be turned in and you can get some of it back. Some people are so horrible and you can only hope KARMA gets them back! Thank you for sharing your story. We will be there in 2 weeks time so I will definitely be as extra careful as possible!!

 

[Albort]

In November, my cell phone was stolen from my stroller. I left the stroller to get fastpasses for BTMRR and then went on the ride with my dd. When we were boarding, I said to myself, "I don't think I saw my phone before we left the stroller!" We get off the ride and lo and behold the cell phone is gone. It is an orange enV and it easy to spot.

My husband works for Verizon, so he sent a text message to my phone saying that he was putting a trace on it immediately and would track them down for stealing the phone. Not a minute later he calls the phone to get them to answer and a CM answers the phone saying that someone had just dropped it off at the mercantile store.

I was so thankful that we got it back, yet so miffed that even at DL there are horrible, dishonest people.

lol, thats just crazy. Well, CMs do kinda have a term with what to take to lost and found asap and what to keep. CMs do have a policy actually. CMs will hold the item for about an hour to make sure the party would come back looking for it. After that, depending on the importance of the item, it will be rushed up to Lost and Found. be in mind that the walk to the Lost and Found are done on Breaks and lunches as i have done that many many times. Once found 2 credit cards, 4 PAPs in a lanyard styled casing...

 

[tink2dw]

I would call DLR again Now, be prepared with dates and times, to see if the camera's were turned in later or the next day! If so you can arrange with they the shipping of the items!

 

[sweetascanbee]

That really stinks. So sorry it happened.

My dd lost her wallet in DL one time, some one did turn it in but not before they had helped themselves to most of her cash.

Chaces are pretty good that the person who turned it in is NOT the person who took the money. The thief would have snatched the wallet, emptied the money and then dropped the wallet. Someone else ( an honest person) found the wallet and turned it in. I have found a couple wallets tossed aside over the years, they never have money in them when found. I always have tracked down the owners and returned them. I have always wondered if they thought I had taken what ever money was in them??


Becky

 

[DoomBugger]

That is terrible. I lose a little faith in humanity when it is realized that there are people who go to DL so they can rob other visitors.

 

[funatdisney]

What a heart breaking story! Especially since your DH may lose his job. IIMHO, I think that since there are a lot of people facing hard times that there may be increase in thefts in general. I know that our car was broken into in the middle of the night. We happen to be up at 2am when this was happening. When we called the police they were there in just two minutes. They had a stake out because there was a rash of car break ins in the last month. The thief was only taking in loose coins in ash trays. If the car was left unlocked or there were no car alarms set, the cars were a target. I think we may have to be extra careful in general.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

When I joined the DIS and was planning our first ever trip to DL, there were several posts related to DL thefts, usually of strollers or something stolen from a stroller. One item stolen was a child's filled-to-the-brim autograph book, an item with little monetary value but a precious keepsake that child can't get back.

I always keep that in mind when we go to the parks. I never leave anything of any monetary or sentimental value unattended. I will leave water bottles, snacks and/or sweatshirts that, if taken, are not going to break the bank or break a heart.

Even though DL is a magical place, it is still a public place that anyone can enter. Be cautious with your belongings just like you would anywhere else.

 

[Brady's Mom]

Thanks so much for being willing to warn others about your loss. We are going in 2 days and I appreciate the reminder to be extra careful. I think I, like others, can let our guard down even at Disneyland. I am so sorry for you to lose those visual reminders, I know how much my DS's love to look at the pictures of our last family trip to DLR.

 

[4 mickey]

Hi
Your story sounds familiar ....
In may 06 first DL trip ever DH dreams was to go on that anniversart ( 50tH ) he is so found of Walt's work and of the man itself so DL we went .
The 3 rd day we filmed the whole little celebration of the inaugural day complete with the speech in wich we hear WD himself talk ...and we filmed our whole day ....We went on soarin ...I am usually so on top of things but forgot to say to DH did you take the camera ( under the seat ) ... a few and I say a few steps outside we noticed ( camera mising ) went back running tha CM asked if anybody found the camera but .....no ....went at lost & found every day of remaining trip ....no one brought it back they could have brought back at lesat the tapes in it ( one in the camera & a few in the case ) those were precious to DH as he dreamed of that trip for 2 years ..
Sad ....

 

[bumbershoot]

What a heart breaking story! Especially since your DH may lose his job. IIMHO, I think that since there are a lot of people facing hard times that there may be increase in thefts in general. I know that our car was broken into in the middle of the night. We happen to be up at 2am when this was happening. When we called the police they were there in just two minutes. They had a stake out because there was a rash of car break ins in the last month. The thief was only taking in loose coins in ash trays. If the car was left unlocked or there were no car alarms set, the cars were a target. I think we may have to be extra careful in general.

Loose coins, that's so sad.

A few years ago people were syphoning gas from cars in our former apartment complex parking lot. DS lost two half tanks of gas before he invested in a locking cap. Nice that they didn't empty it, but that was when gas was first going up dramatically, and it was a really difficult thing for us, financially, at the time to have to refill b/c someone had taken our gas.

But at least gas and loose change could have been done by someone utterly desperate. Taking "stuff" from people, though, just stinks, especially when memories are involved.

 

[avalon451]

We had a stroller taken from Universal Studios. The thing about it was first thing, that day, we had come out of an attraction, and there was some lady walking off with our stroller! I went up to her and said excuse me, thats our stroller. She just said something in Spanish, and stood there. I just pulled the stroller away from her, and she left. A couple hours later, at a different attraction, the stroller was gone. I was steaming. It didn't matter, the stroller was a super cheap one, $10, But that someone is so low to do these things!
QUOTE]

I read in a guidebook somewhere that a good way to make your stroller "unattractive" to thieves is to put something weird and distinguishing on it. The author suggested stuffing a sweat sock with some paper hanging out and tying it onto the handle. Somebody else wrote that they took a clean disposable diaper, poured a little root beer in it to make it look "used," put it in a clear plastic bag and tied that firmly to the handle. Sounds icky, but nobody touched the stroller...

 

[jernysgirl]

This all just reminds me to be so careful when we are there. I have even heard stories about the housekeeping staff at hotels stealing things from the rooms, (not on DLR property) but at other places. That always scared me enough to know that ALL of our clothing, food, diapers, souvenirs, etc. were in that room and someone that you don't know (how is probably not getting paid more than minimum wage) is in your room potentially going through your stuff.

To play it safe while we go, I just put the do not disturb sign out and hope that they do not enter our room while we are gone. If we need more towels or whatever, we either try to catch the housekeeping staff while we are there and just ask them for more, or call to the front desk and have them bring them up, (while we are there too).

The world can be a scary place no matter how well Walt tried to escape from it inside the parks.

 

[cinderellakh20]

Thanks so much to all who replied - it is really sad and I just never want it to happen to anyone else! We are working hard at forgetting about it and we don't want the magic to be spoiled for our kids just because there are evil people out there. We did leave a really good exact description at Lost and Found and even stayed until noon the next day to give it time and we have called several times but no luck.

It means a lot that all of you sent your thoughts our way though - thanks again!!!!

Kim

 

[MommytoaSweetie]

I'm so sorry you lost such valuable memories!!! I lost my camera on Space Mountain (at WDW) when I was younger (and was never found by CMs), and had another one stolen in London years later. Fortunately, those were regular film cameras so all I really lost were the pictures on those rolls. Digital cameras are GREAT that they hold so much, but it would be worse to lose them. I'm so sorry such mean people found your stuff!!

 

[ORMom2Four]

I was wondering, since so many people were reporting their cameras missing, are these thefts reported to the Anaheim police?

I'm so sorry, I can imagine how terrible you are feeling. It's such a violation when someone steals from you.

 

[jlima]

Anyone who goes to DL should put their name and contact information on their electronic equipment in some way. A sticker with a name and number, a name written with a marker, anything that will help a lost & found CM to identify it. We lost a walkie talkie on Gaget's Go Coaster once; it was hooked to SH's jeans and it fell off as he was getting off the coaster; and it fell straight down through the tracks and onto some equipment below. We could see it but there was no way to reach it. The CMs told us to fill out something at City Hall; and in about a week they mailed it to us. The person who helped us said they had dozens of them in lost and found but if there wasn't a name on it it was almost impossible to re-connect one to its owner.

 

[mt mommy]

Hi
Your story sounds familiar ....
In may 06 first DL trip ever DH dreams was to go on that anniversart ( 50tH ) he is so found of Walt's work and of the man itself so DL we went .
The 3 rd day we filmed the whole little celebration of the inaugural day complete with the speech in wich we hear WD himself talk ...and we filmed our whole day ....We went on soarin ...I am usually so on top of things but forgot to say to DH did you take the camera ( under the seat ) ... a few and I say a few steps outside we noticed ( camera mising ) went back running tha CM asked if anybody found the camera but .....no ....went at lost & found every day of remaining trip ....no one brought it back they could have brought back at lesat the tapes in it ( one in the camera & a few in the case ) those were precious to DH as he dreamed of that trip for 2 years ..
Sad ....

I understand this too, UNFORTUNATELY.

Same scenario, we left the Aladdin show and realized immediately after that we left our camera on the floor, ran back in and it was gone!!

We checked lost and found for 1 week to no avail. It was our last day and ALL of our pics from the whole trip gone!!

Don't you just want to post a note everywhere that says:

TAKE MY CAMERA JUST LEAVE THE MEMORY CARD!!!!

SO sad. I feel the pain.

 

[CindyH]

I am so sorry this happened to you! It really puts a cloud on the whole trip when something like this happens.

 

[MaiynaMouse]

Loose coins, that's so sad.

Several years ago we had "loose change" stolen out of our truck. We were working on cleaning out and reorganizing the garage so my husband was parking outside. Unfortunately, the thieves took the entire ash tray full of loose change. It was literally all pennies and the $100 ash tray was far more to replace than the change that was inside it. Yep....they took the whole ashtray.

I'm not entirely sure what leads a person to thievery but I truly hope the offenders really needed it. Chances are, that's not the case. I just can't even image losing my entire trips worth of pictures and videos. My heart breaks for the OP and family and I hope that at some point you'll be able to enjoy Disneyland again. I so appreciate you sharing your heartache as it makes me much more conscious of my own surroundings. It's unfortunate that we have to live that way but I guess it's where our society is, today!

Good luck to you and I'm sending you all sorts of pixie dust that your memories will remain and that your husband finds a new job quickly.
~mm