Big Locker Problem

[weezt0e]

Hey guys! Wanted to get your opinion on this. First of all I want to thank and salute the awesome cast members who helped us. They were amazing, and none of them had anything to do with our problem. Also, we had a GREAT day at the park, up until this awful experience.

So the lockers inside the Disneyland park are closed for Covid reasons, but the outside lockers are good to go. We usually like to keep our bags here when we park hop anyway. (We were just at DL today)

Im trying to be as fair as possible, and include all the details. We left our things that we didn't need in the park, including our car keys, in one of those lockers. I remember seeing a sign indicating that you could not leave your stuff overnight which makes TOTAL sense, of course. There are a couple signs out front that say "Contents will be removed after park closing". I didn't interpret them as meaning "As soon as the park you aren't even in anymore closes, get your stuff out!!" I thought it meant that as soon as Downtown Disney closes, (The resort/park etc) we will remove your things. If there had been even one warning about the time we needed to grab the stuff by, we would have made sure to get it!!!

We left the park for the day around 7:00 PM and headed to our reservation at Neal Brennans at 7:15 (Made through the app) and finished there around 8:45. We grabbed a coffee next door at Starbucks and popped into the Star Wars pop-up shop briefly (spent more$$$$$$), before heading back to grab our bags from the locker and drive home. It was no later than 9:45 when we got to the lockers. I put in my code, opened the locker and... everything was gone! There were a couple of security cast members nearby and we ran up to them. They informed us that the company that operated the lockers (What!?!) had probably taken the stuff out for the night.

They couldn't get in, because its an outside vendor, and it would be a conflict of interest for them to have a key. They made some calls and we were told we couldn't get our stuff until the next day. Uh oh. How do we get home? "You can take a Uber" ($140 Round trip) Not an option on our scraps after Disney day. To make a long story short, they called everyone and at around 10:45, were able to get someone to get our stuff. It was SUPER stressful, we ended up having to pay our dog sitter to keep our dog another night ($100). My daughter was in tears and super tired. So incredibly stressful.

So why did this happen? Seems so un-disney to be so vague. We were in their park, going to their restaurants, using their lockers. We didnt get back to the locker at some outrageous time.

I feel so disappointed in this company right now.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Basically, an outsourced vendor can make their own rules and Disney has no control over those rules. You saw the signs and interpreted the information wrong. Park closing means park closing, Downtown Disney is separate to the parks.

Disney is not at fault.

 

[Evita_W]

Honestly, this has always been the case for the lockers, they get emptied usually about 60 minutes after park closing, but sometimes right at park closing.

Normally park closing is closer to Downtown Disney closing, so you might not normally run into an issue, but with the shortened park hours, it can be more of an issue.

The lockers also clearly state that they are not responsible for lost contents and that you shouldn't store anything of value in them, this would definitely include car keys these days.


What I find odd is the lockers outside the parks are ok, but the ones inside aren't because of COVID? That doesn't make any sense and other local theme parks are operating lockers inside the parks.

As the PP said, they are run by an outside vendor and Disney has no control over this, you really can't fault Disney here, other than maybe they need to find a new vendor.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I sympathize and I can see how stressful that would be. Personally, if I read that sign, I would have thought I needed to remove all my stuff right when the park closed. It's unfortunate, but the lockers are only for the parks and not for downtown Disney.

 

[Vala]

It's an hour after park closing, yes. The sign says park closing and not DTD closing. What time did the park close that day? I'd expect a grace period after park closing, but not several hours.

We forgot once and were immediately told not to worry, just see Guest Services outside of the park the next day. Did the walk of shame there and they basically laughed because I was so embarrassed. "Happens all the time." Of course I was staying in the area and wasn't facing an Uber trip, so that's a different level. I sympathize, but as cruisehopeful posted, it's park lockers and not DTD lockers.

 

[starry_solo]

Park closing means just that....so the parks closed at 7 pm and you didn’t get your stuff out of the locker by then....

 

[Evita_W]

Also, I don't know where they are now, they used to be near AMC, but there are lockers in Downtown Disney or at least there used to be that got cleaned out at Downtown Disney closing.

Again though, this does underscore the importance to not place your car keys in the lockers.

 

[laugard]

That's a very unfortunate situation, but I don't see the locker vendor or Disney holding any fault here. The signs are not vague—they state park closing, which is distinctly separate from Downtown Disney, and you did not return for nearly 3 hours, which would be far past any grace period. Since hours could vary even before the pandemic, it makes sense they would note it at park closing, rather than a specific time. They are also clear about not storing any valuables. As stressful as it was, I think you were very lucky to have been able to retrieve your contents at all the same evening. I'd chalk it up to two lessons learned.

 

[Indiana Scott]

Hopefully the extra effort this 'outside co" had to go through will make them rethink this questionable way of doing business.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Hopefully the extra effort this 'outside co" had to go through will make them rethink this questionable way of doing business.

I don;t see what the questionable way of doing business is. Disney wanted to provide a service , the lockers, but for whatever reason, they didn't want to open the lockers inside the parks. So they outsource a third party vendor. Its very normal in business to outsource something that a business can not or does not want to provide in house.

 

[laugard]

I don't see what is questionable about their operations either. If anything, it sounds like they went out of their way to allow the OP to retrieve their belongings when the company was under no obligation.

There is a venue I've visited for performances that states parking closes after the last show. If I were to return after 3 hours to find my car locked in overnight, I would not be surprised. Stating park closing associates it with a specific location and time, the latter of which may vary. The OP made a mistake (two when you count leaving something as valuable as their keys); it's frustrating and we've all made mistakes we want to kick ourselves for later. But I don't see this on the vendor.

 

[Indiana Scott]

I don;t see what the questionable way of doing business is. Disney wanted to provide a service , the lockers, but for whatever reason, they didn't want to open the lockers inside the parks. So they outsource a third party vendor. Its very normal in business to outsource something that a business can not or does not want to provide in house.

Bad business is closing down these lockers too soon after closing. Bad business is making customers unhappy - something Disney strives to prevent. I never said anything about out-sourcing.

 

[Winnowill]

What I find odd is the lockers outside the parks are ok, but the ones inside aren't because of COVID? That doesn't make any sense and other local theme parks are operating lockers inside the parks.

We went to Six Flags Georgia over Christmas - not only do they have lockers in the park (all over the park), you are required to put all loose items in them for many rides. You aren't allowed to carry anything onto them, and there aren't any handy pouches at the seats like Disney has. So the "no park lockers" policy seems doubly strange after that.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

We left the park for the day around 7:00 PM and headed to our reservation at Neal Brennans at 7:15 (Made through the app) and finished there around 8:45. We grabbed a coffee next door at Starbucks and popped into the Star Wars pop-up shop briefly (spent more$$$$$$), before heading back to grab our bags from the locker and drive home. It was no later than 9:45 when we got to the lockers. I put in my code, opened the locker and... everything was gone! There were a couple of security cast members nearby and we ran up to them. They informed us that the company that operated the lockers (What!?!) had probably taken the stuff out for the night.

I agree with the others that this should be a lesson-learned for not only Disney, but other theme parks. I'm so sorry you and your family went through so much stress, as it was an awful way to end the evening.

I commend Disney for going out of their way to help you get your items that night. I understand that for your family it was very stressful and expensive, but since Disney was not at fault, the fact that they did help you is commendable.

Thank you for sharing your experience for the help it may bring to others.

Hopefully the extra effort this 'outside co" had to go through will make them rethink this questionable way of doing business.

Have to disagree with this statement. The signs said that the lockers would be emptied when the parks close. They close at 7pm now. It's kind of up to us to find out if "park close" means right when the parks close or hours after the parks close since we're the ones that will be affected. This could have happened to me just like it happened to weezt0e, or anyone else, but still our responsibility when it comes to these types of signs.

 

[Kender]

This is a very valuable lesson to read for many. I sympathize with the frustration about the whole thing, but at least Disney did their best to help you and you were eventually able to recover the items that evening. This negative experience helps warns others to not delay removing their items and that park close means park close. Not latest resort close.

Thank you for sharing so that others may benefit from your experience.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

OP: If you are still reading, please consider sending in a CM compliment for the security CMs who went out of their way to help you retrieve your items. It sounds like they put a lot of extra effort into finding someone from the other company to come back to the parks to return your things. That should be commended. Even if you don't have their names, just giving the date, time (approx. is fine), basic description, and details about what happened and how they helped you should be enough. You can use the Contact Us link at the bottom of the DLR webpage.

 

[Matrixleos]

OP: Thank you for sharing your experience and hopefully it will help prevent a similar situation from occurring if/when someone reads your post.

Although I do not understand the need to pass off blame to the Disney company or the 3rd party vendors, who were just doing their jobs.

You read the sign(s) near the lockers, that state the lockers need to be cleared out at Park Closing. Park closed at 7pm and you didn't go back to your locker till 9:45pm? How would you be able to blame Disney or the 3rd party vendor for you not clearing out your locker for almost 3 hours after the park closed???

I also 100% agree with the post above from theluckyrabbit. Those security cast members went well beyond their duties to help cover for YOUR mistake. Hopefully you thanked them for their efforts and hope you would consider sending in a compliment for all the extra efforts they put in.

They could have easily gone along with what the 3rd party vendor said, with you having to pick up your belongings the next day. Which would then have forced you to spend a couple of hundred dollars extra on either a hotel room for the night or taking Uber to your house and again taking Uber the following day to pickup your belongings. Instead, as you mentioned, these security cast members started calling everyone they could and within just an hour at 10:45pm, you received your belongings.

So instead of feeling so disappointed in the company, I hope now after reading this thread, that you're now appreciative of all the efforts that was made by security cast members that helped cover for your mistake in not showing up to claim your belongings for almost 3 hours after Park Closing.

 

[birdmom]

I might be reading this all wrong but I do not feel like the OP was blaming Disney, I feel like this was just a warning to others to be careful. I am surprised that the lockers that are clearly on Disney property are not owned and operated by Disney. The park closes at 7 but is open for an hour for shopping.... I wonder what time they actually empty the lockers.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I might be reading this all wrong but I do not feel like the OP was blaming Disney, I feel like this was just a warning to others to be careful. I am surprised that the lockers that are clearly on Disney property are not owned and operated by Disney. The park closes at 7 but is open for an hour for shopping.... I wonder what time they actually empty the lockers.

They literally end their post with this:

I feel so disappointed in this company right now.

I think we all understand the frustration, but I don't know how that's read as anything but blaming Disney. And without knowing what time they actually clear them out, there is a big difference in an hour after park closing for shopping within the park and almost 3 hours after. I don't want to pile on the OP because I think enough people have expressed an opinion I agree with, but it's important to point out that the restaurants in DTD are not owned by Disney (I assume the OP meant Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen).

 

[birdmom]

They literally end their post with this:

I feel so disappointed in this company right now.

I think we all understand the frustration, but I don't know how that's read as anything but blaming Disney. And without knowing what time they actually clear them out, there is a big difference in an hour after park closing for shopping within the park and almost 3 hours after. I don't want to pile on the OP because I think enough people have expressed an opinion I agree with, but it's important to point out that the restaurants in DTD are not owned by Disney (I assume the OP meant Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen).

oh lol I assumed she was disappointed in the company that ran the lockers. Either way like you said the main take away is these lockers are not owned by Disney and leaving anything after park closing is at your own risk.