Has anyone ever been pickpocketed in the parks?

[jgates]

Originally posted by Bill From PA
The left pocket is unbuttoned in the picture because I know I'll soon be shoveling $20's out of it to keep my family supplied with grog.

Bill From PA

I love it!!!!

 

[mars315]

I have never experienced anything like the pickpocket, but I do have a friend who had a very nice new videocamera stolen from their stroller while they were in an attraction at the MK. I do think that kind of thing is rare, but let's face it, there are people who must prey on our sense of "Nothing bad can happen/everybody is trustworthy at WDW."

 

[Kay1]

Once in Fantasyland I felt someone give a hard tug on my bag. Shocked, I spun around to find the Queen of Hearts glaring at me! Another time at Universal, I realized my bracelet had fallen off my wrist. I turned to search for it but a young woman was running toward me holding it out to give to me.

 

[goofyernmost]

I have never had anything stolen or even attempted, to my knowledge, but I have a few rules for travel that I use no matter where I go.

1. I never leave money behind in the room or valuables that I can't lock up.

2. I carry my wallet and have some (small amount of cash) in it but in a buttoned pocket and I wear my shirt over the top.

3. The majority of my "money" is in travelers checks which I split up equally between myself and my traveling partners (if any) and also evenly in all my pockets. My reasoning is they may be able to pick my pockets but if they can do everyone of them, at the same time, they earned whatever they can get. LOL

I am not as concerned about it happening as I am about losing everything in one gulp. I have started using a fanny pack for my camera etc. and occasionally put other "valuables" in with it.

I don't think there is any way to completely cover every base. If someone wants to take your stuff and is clever enough, they will do it. I just try to minimize the damage.

 

[Sally Bradley]

>>I was so irritated at that point, I turned and asked her why her hands were in my pockets. She shook her head and said "no ingles, no ingles."

Unbelievable!! If this ever happened to me...I guarantee she would understand "ingles" in the form of a knuckle sandwich. In fact, I'd most likely pin her down and call security!

 

[DVC-Don]

One of our customers here had all their luggage stolen from their rental van while checking into DxL a couple of years ago. Said they were inside about 30 minutes, came out and rear hatch was not shut all the way and all the luggage was gone. Security and the Orange County deputy told them they have waves of this now and again. The thiefs will sit in the lot and see folks with lots of luggage parking to check in. (they seem to prefer vans as they can see the luggage) Soon as the guest is out of sight they'll pop a door with a tool the lock service people use and grab the luggage. Takes less than a minute to loose all the luggage.

My BiL got locked out of his Ford sedan at our house this summer. Took the locksmith maybe 15 seconds to open the door with a tool that slides under the door glass and hits the auto unlock.

 

[nataliesdaddy]

Originally posted by Bill From PA
To avoid such things, I always wear Cargo Shorts on vacation as shown below. I keep wallet, digital camera and more in the front pockets and less important stuff in the rear. The left pocket is unbuttoned in the picture because I know I'll soon be shoveling $20's out of it to keep my family supplied with grog.

Bill From PA

yeah I just learned about cargo shorts our last trip - I love those things...very comfortable - very convenient - I also carry a mountainsmith fanny pack that can be worn as a purse, as a fanny pack. a back pack, or carried by the handles... the thing battens down so tight I would be suprised if anyone could futz with it successfully - its designed so if the compression straps are tightened I can't even get my hands in it

 

[Grumpy37]

I played golf at LBV with three guys from Jersey.

The day before, one of them took out his wallet to fish out the PH tickets for the kids to get fastpasses and wound up leaving it sitting there on the curb with a couple thousand in cash inside.

He realized it two hours later, went back and of course it was gone. He asked a nearby CM/vendor who said a guest had turned the wallet in to him (the CM) and the CM turned it in to lost and found (Guest Relations). The wallet was there, incl. every last dollar. He went back to the CM who found it to give a reward, but the CM refused to accept it. He even tried to slip the CM a $50 "on the sly" (so no one would see, he said), but the CM said he couldn't accept it, that there were "monitoriing devices" all through the park and he'd be fired for accepting a reward but to "have a magical vacation".

Maybe the parks are a bit more secure than you might think.

 

[AKASnowWhite]

Originally posted by Bill From PA
I know I'll soon be shoveling $20's out of it to keep my family supplied with grog.

Bill From PA

Will you adopt me? Please? I come with my very own AP.....?!?!?!?

 

[momejay]

I had my room key, (not valid for charging thank God, but had my park hopper on it) my driver's license, & $20 stolen from my room while I was swimming. The items were in my shorts pocket on the bed. It was the day before New Year's Eve 1999. You couldn't get near the parks without being a guest onsite. I had a terrible time getting back into the park for my last day of the stolen hopper. Luckily, I had learned from this site to write down all the numbers on the back of my ticket & I had my recipts. I have no idea who stole the items, or how they got into our room.
I also have several stories of getting things returned to me that I thought had been gone forever. My son's blankie, my daughter's autographbook, (put your name in it!) my drivers license, a cheap camera,(my name was on the film) a picture of us in front of the castle, & a pair of sunglasses. I even stupidly left a bag full of items in the food court after picking them up. (they had been items purchased in the park & sent to hotel) The whole bag of items was returned to my room by a guest.
I guess I need to explain that I am a single mom & I have 2 children with Autism.

 

[crazymomof4]

Originally posted by Sally Bradley
>>Unbelievable!! If this ever happened to me...I guarantee she would understand "ingles" in the form of a knuckle sandwich. In fact, I'd most likely pin her down and call security!

Too Funny! I was just reading the original post to my DH and he said virtually the same thing!

 

[HurricaneWarning]

Since then I carry tickets and cash in one of these pouches that go around your neck and inside your shirt

Where can you get one of these at?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[jgates]

And where can I get a Mountainsmith pack?

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by HurricaneWarning
Where can you get one of these at?

Thanks,
Mike

I have seen them at Target in the Luggage aisle for 9.99.

 

[RescueRanger]

On our trip in June, we were riding Kiliminjaro Safari when a little boy in the row behind us was apparently leaning over the seat and trying to open my wife's camera bag. YES, it was a little boy, and his mother was holding his legs so that he would not fall over the seat. When the ride came to a stop, they were gone in a flash and we did not see them again. Thieves are out there and just because it is WDW you cannot let your guard down.

 

[nataliesdaddy]

Originally posted by jgates
And where can I get a Mountainsmith pack?

mountainsmith packs - ..there was a store near us that had many "mountianeering" type products...

http://www.mountainsmith.com

when you get to the site - click on "products" - when you get to that click on "lumber series" - the one I have of the lumbar series is the "TOUR" - it may be too large for some people... I am 41 in not such good shape and it was not a problem...mainly because it was easy to wear in front or sling around to the back...or carry it like a briefcase or over my shoulders like a purse... it has pretty strong lumbar support - there are other makes that actually have metal rods for lumbar suport - I tried them out too... but the metal rodes kind of grind into you abit. And they made it a bit harder to swing the bag in front of you. Once you remove the bars (they are removable) their support is weak..The bag I got... I was a bit overwhelmed with the price. But man it is great. I had two 32 once bottles, a sony trv 33 minicamcorder in it, a kodak film camera, wallets, ponchos, extra rolls of film, extra DV tapes, a forty page print out of all WDW rides, maps, room keys, passes, and sunscreen, and oh...and both the cameras were wrapped in bubble paper and then stuff in plastic bags to keep them from getting wet. Frankly the fanny pack is so padded anyway I'm not sure I needed the extra bubble wrap. Point is I could fit tons of stuff in this thing

I don't know about their other products - and frankly it is probably a bit overkill. We were going to get some things at walmart...10 to 20 dollar type deals, but then we found a mountaineering store... these packs were just way too impressive. Good lumbar suuport, well worth the money spent. Hauling tons of stuff all day at disney probably would have been a drag without it. And the added side benefit, once the compression straps are pulled 1) everything is snug against you and 2) YOU won't have to worry about thieves...YOU won't even be able to get your own hands in it

__________________

 

[NotUrsula]

I've heard several times that the Illuminations crowd is a problem for pickpocketing, especially when that horde of people tries to stream back into FW on those 3 small paths.