Dishonest mousekeepers??

[katew449]

Something I can't get out of my head (I've tried for so long) is something that happened during our last time at WDW in 2006. My "step mom to be" found she was missing $300 our of her wallet that she kept in the safe. Disney didn't do much more than offer her kids like $20 in disney dollars but my dad is my type of person who would rather accept what happened and move on than fight tooth and nail for what he considered a small amount of money.
Next week my bf, son and I are going back. I am not as "well off" as my father and if that happened to just us, it would have ruined the vacation so I am trying to think ahead. I want to take advantage of the magic bands bc who wouldn't want to be wallet-less in a sea full of strangers!? We will have the usual valuables with us (cc, cash, etc) but I also have a strong feeling there will be an engagement ring he will be storing as well...
Do those who've traveled since then feel the room is typically a safe place? Bc this happened, idk where to put everything...

Before I get the criticism, I understand that disney wouldn't be able to take everyone's word of "omg your employees stole $____ from me, now pay me back"...but we know what happened and while it may have been maintenance and not mousekeepers, it was someone from disney who didn't work for it. And bc it did actually happen, I was hoping disney would have been a little more alarmed and willing to do something to alieviate the situation, than throw the kids 1/15th of what was actually missing... but that's another story for another day..

 

[MakiraMarlena]

No matter what, it can't be proven who took it. You think you know what happened, but you really don't. At any rate it sounds as though the police were not involved, so what could they do?

If you dont' want to store valuable items in the room, then the resort may have a safe at the front desk (which you then also have to trust the cast members for.) However while the hotel does not have liability for items that guests leave in the rooms, they might have some for those stored in a hotel safe.

At any rate if one feels a large amount of money was stolen from their room, it should be reported to both the hotel AND THE POLICE. If the hotel wouldn't report to the local sheriff's department, then I'd call them.

I don't know if every Disney resort has a hotel safe, but the deluxes do.

Or you could just refrain from bringing valuable items like jewelry along, and keep cash and credit cards on you. If you're hinting that he's carrying a ring because he's going to propose, maybe the hotel safe, if the hotel has one.

And you shouldn't go completely wallet less even with a magic band. You need your ID. You should probably carry at least a small amount of cash. If you have a DVC, AP, AAA card or anything you intend to use to redeem discounts, you must bring that with you.

 

[chrismb22]

If you are really worried, don't carry cash. Get gift cards (visa or disney) and use those instead. Carry them with you at all times and take a picture of the back of them in case you lose them.

One question though (and not criticizing -- just genuinely curios for someone who might know) I didn't know mousekeeping had access to the safe? Isn't that done by passcode? How does that work?

 

[2012DisneyWorldBride]

We have always kept things... Including our envelope of extra cash, iPads, and jewelry in the safe at our Disney resort rooms and have never had an issue... But we do always tip Mousekeeping.

 

[bopper]

If it was truly stolen from the safe, why did they not report it to the police?

 

[AngiTN]

If you are really worried, don't carry cash. Get gift cards (visa or disney) and use those instead. Carry them with you at all times and take a picture of the back of them in case you lose them.

One question though (and not criticizing -- just genuinely curios for someone who might know) I didn't know mousekeeping had access to the safe? Isn't that done by passcode? How does that work?

This is what I'm thinking. Can Mousekeeping access the room safe? I wouldn't think so. Because if they can, what good is a safe?

We've used the room safe with cash without issue. But we also leave things right out in plain view most often. Things like computers, iPads, etc.

Guess we just trust too much.

 

[slickpoetry]

I think the OP made it clear why her father didn't involve the police. move along.

 

[agavegirl1]

There was an incident last August that was widely discussed:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3161543

 

[MakiraMarlena]

If you are really worried, don't carry cash. Get gift cards (visa or disney) and use those instead. Carry them with you at all times and take a picture of the back of them in case you lose them.

One question though (and not criticizing -- just genuinely curios for someone who might know) I didn't know mousekeeping had access to the safe? Isn't that done by passcode? How does that work?

There was a recent case where the cops used video to nail a housekeeper stealing cash out of a safe at the All Star resorts. How she got into the safe, they didn't specify.

 

[W.E.D.]

I always assumed there was no secondary key to the room safes. If you lose your key you'll be out for a locksmith to open it. Is that not true? Is there a secondary key?

 

[katew449]

At the time, I was 21, and was on a family trip so my job was to keep the kids away from the hysterical mother...so I'm not sure about the safe paticulars. I know the police were called; (bc I took the kids to mnsshp while they spent their alone time dealing with the police) however when guests are there for 6 days at a time, an ongoing report with research isn't really something my father was willing to follow up with. Totally his choice, I understand, but what I am saying is while it didn't ruin his vacation, it would ruin ours. I feel, for the forgetful guest, SOMEONE would have to be able to get into a safe, but I'm not sure how many people

 

[AngiTN]

There was an incident last August that was widely discussed:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3161543

Interesting. Without reading the entire thread, did anyone ever discover if Mousekeeping can access the safe? I'd have to think that only those higher up can but one never knows

 

[dixiegirl]

I was always under the impression that there is only one key - if you lose it, you pay for the lock and key to be replaced by a locksmith. Maybe that has changed.

I will say that in 17 years of visiting WDW, we have never had any problem with leaving anything in our safe - cash, cc, ipods, jewelry, etc. Nothing even inadvertedly left out in the room has been touched. Not saying it cannot and does not happen - just my personal experiences over the years.

 

[agie65]

Mousekeeper can not access the safe, until unless some one made a duplicate key. Now each room has electronic lock so I will assume their is a log who is entering the room and for how long.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

There is no way to know based on that story of the thieving housekeeper, because they do not say how she accessed the safe. She could have broken into it, searched for and found the key in the room, or had a key or master key on her (that she possessed either legitimately or not - but I'm pretty sure the housekeepers do not carry safe keys, so if she had a key, it was something she wasn't supposed to have.)

All resorts do NOT at this time have electronic safe locks. Some do, and some don't. They all do have electronic locks for the rooms themselves.

 

[agavegirl1]

One suggestion I thought worthwhile from previous threads on this subject was to buy a heavy duty suitcase lock and lock valuables in one of your bags (preferably hard sided0. Someone would need to steal the entire suitcase or tear it apart to get at your stuff, in which case, it would be pretty easy to figure out who did it based on access to your room.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

There is a company called PACsafe that sells items that can be used in rooms. Nothing is guaranteed 100% but they would have to bring some heavy duty cutters into the room with them to get the thing open.

 

[noahdove]

Are they converting the safes to the code type? Last August we used the room safe, and a couple of times, I locked my bigger items( camera) in my suitcase...now I may use just my suitcase... I am usually very trusting...so, time will see, what I decide..

 

[flortlebap]

There was an incident last August that was widely discussed:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3161543

OMG!

My friend had several hundred $$ stolen from their room at ASMu early last August - that can't be a coincidence!

 

[disneyfantotheend]

We leave cash in the safe always and have never had any of it taken. I never would have dreamt the housekeepers would have access to the safes. The ones we have used at Disney have always had keys, and as others thought, I figured there wasn't a duplicate.