Has Anyone Ever Encountered Theft or any type of Crime...

[ahecht]

There were reports at Disneyland of a 4-person camera theft ring. One person would offer to take a tourist's picture for them with their camera. That person would then have the camera "stolen" from him by one of his accomplices who would run off with it. Meanwhile, two more accomplices with strollers would accidently block the victim's path so they couldn't chase after the person with the camea.

 

[secretpantssam]

I know for a fact that in the parks they have a ton of cameras everywhere. When I went in High School with the marching band, during an emergency Disney was able to find the director of the band in a few minutes with a brief description because they had the park covered. So I feel pretty safe, at least in the parks themselves.

 

[IloveStarbuck]

It wasn't at WDW but it was on a shuttle we took frm WDW to the airport. We left our camcorder bag in the shuttle and the guy took off with it. His calling system was on but he ignored it. We never got it back.

 

[mom2faith]

I all seriousness - and I do think this is an improtant and serious thread, I do know someone who had many items stolen.

It was from one of the PIN lockers in MK. They did not protect their PIN and the locker was accessed while they were on Splash Mountain. They came back to an empty locker.

The sad thing is: it was their last day and the locker contained their camera with the memory card containing photos of the entire trip. The Mom said they could have it all even the camera, but why could/t they have left the memory card!!

Moral: PROTECT YOUR PIN!!!

 

[ajsmommy1129]

AT TL, I lost the clear case containing my debit card, mine and ds KTTW, and $50.00 while in the wave pool...it was one of those things you wear like a necklace. Whoever found it turned it in, including the cash. I was amazed!!!

 

[GrumpysGal]

Similarly my daughter left a digital camera on the Magic Carpets...no more than 5 minutes later she realized that she had forgotten it. Hurried back, told the CM who checked his area and then checked all the carpets...no luck. Was never turned in to L&F. The only consolation was that although it was a nice camera, it had been dropped and the lens and zoom didn't work properly anymore. Sometimes it took good pictures, sometimes not. Thus the reason we had given it to our daughter after we purchased a new one. So at least whoever "found" the camera didn't get a great one. It taught my daughter a valuable lesson although it did dishearten me a bit that no one turned it in...not to mention the troubling fact that some person with questionable morals got numerous pics of my family.

 

[sorcerormickey]

We had our gas stolen out of our tank at DHS during Star Wars Weekends. The tank had been just been filled at the Hess across from DHS just before we went into the parking lot. When we came out, it was almost empty.

 

[disneymamaof2]

Not much of a crime, but at BCV in May DD swimsuit was taken right of the hook on the bathroom door, assuming mousekeeping, while we were in the parks. On the same trip we had some friends who left their camera/camera bag on a ledge outside of Expedition Everest. She called me on my cell to make sure we didn't pick up when leaving, which we did not. We thought for sure it was never to be seen again, someone did turn it in.

 

[k5thbeatle]

A colleague of mine had his room safe broken into and some cash and jewelry stolen at the BC. This was several years ago however.

 

[fla4fun]

About a year ago, one of my co-workers was staying at YC with friends. They decided to go down to the pool, and one of the women left her watch and earrings out on the nightstand instead of securing them. They were gone when they returned to the room. A lot of people would have been quick to blame housekeeping (or maintenance, or any of the other people that come and go in the average hotel room), but she accepted the responsibility because she didn't put them away before she left the room. An expensive mistake, but one I'm sure she won't repeat any time soon.

Bottom line, most crime is a crime of opportunity. Don't give the criminal the opportunity to make you a statistic.

 

[brunette8706]

Hello Everyone!

Thanks for all your posts. I enjoyed reading them, they were very informative! Looks like for the most part there really isn't that much crime at Disney. I understand if people leave things they are not recovered though. That's ashame. I would at least turned a lost item into the GUEST SERVICES or the LOST AND FOUND! Remember Do Unto Others....

I'm staying at a patio level (or at least hope so) at the Polynesian which is about 30 feet from the pool. I was wondering if I should lock it or not, since access out to the pool is just seconds aways via the patio door. All valuables if any would be in the safe. Has anyone ever done this before???

Again, thanks for all your posts!

Have a Safe Trip Everyone!

Brunette

 

[LilyWDW]

Bottom line, most crime is a crime of opportunity. Don't give the criminal the opportunity to make you a statistic.

Exactly.

I think it is common sense, even though you are at Disney it is still a large place with a large number of people. Treat it like you would if you were visiting New York or Chicago. Also, don't have just one person carrying all your cash/travelers checks. Split up the money between people in the party and don't take every cent with you every day. Personally, I don't carry a ton of cash because you can not replace it if it is lost or stolen like you can a debit card or travelers checks.

It was amazing to me the number of people who seemed oblivious to the idea that theft could happen at Disney.

People keeping their doors propped open while they ran to the pool or food court. Sorry, doesn't take long for someone to slip in and grab your camera/cell phone/cash off the table inside.

People leaving shopping bags, purses, or camcorder bags on their strollers while they were on rides. This is like leaving your steak dinner on your coffee table when the dogs are in your house. Someone can just walk past and grab it as they go past. It's so fast most people wouldn't notice it unless they were looking out for it.

I mean, Disney isn't the streets of Rome near the bus station, but it's a great area for thieves. Just take reasonable precautions and the odds are that you will not have any issues.

 

[LAS321]

Years ago we were at River Country ( the water park that has since closed). My kids were swimming and my DH put our bag on a lounge right behind him. He turned around to get a towel and it was gone. Our really good camera, clothes, etc were all in the bag. Luckily, I had taken my small bag with me to get drinks for everyone so I had the money and credit cards. I also had the car keys (we had driven down). When we went to report it there was a couple there who also had their bag taken but they were actually in the water so everything of theirs was taken. The WDW security staff did nothing for us or the other couple. It was disappointing.

 

[chell]

Hello Everyone!

Thanks for all your posts. I enjoyed reading them, they were very informative! Looks like for the most part there really isn't that much crime at Disney. I understand if people leave things they are not recovered though. That's ashame. I would at least turned a lost item into the GUEST SERVICES or the LOST AND FOUND! Remember Do Unto Others....

I'm staying at a patio level (or at least hope so) at the Polynesian which is about 30 feet from the pool. I was wondering if I should lock it or not, since access out to the pool is just seconds aways via the patio door. All valuables if any would be in the safe. Has anyone ever done this before???

Again, thanks for all your posts!

Have a Safe Trip Everyone!

Brunette

I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving my door unlocked when I'm away from the room.

 

[minster22]

On one of our stays at BW, my DH was in the hot tub and had his Cape Cod Harley Davidson tee shirt stolen. I know, not a huge crime but it was his favorite...a limited edition and he was crushed that someone took it.

 

[J3nn78]

I have not had anything stolen AT Disney World, but 10 years ago we were there with family. We drove down. We were checking into the hotel when the front desk gave us a message to call a relative back home. Our house was broken into and my car had been stolen and crashed into the woods down the road.

It was devistating. I had planned this vacation with my parents and grandparents for months. It was a once in a lifetime trip. My Dad was just about ready to hop on a plane to go back home. Fortunately, my cousin is a cop and agreed to act on our behalf and stay at our house for the rest of the week.

Other than my car, nothing else was taken. They never found out who did it, but we suspect it was neighborhood kids looking to joy ride.

 

[DisneyMim]

y brother and sister-in-law had their stroller taken in the MK while they were on a ride. It was their own, not a rental. Thankfully they had taken all their bags with them. We always did that anyway. You need to be just as careful in Disney as you would be at home, or anywhere else.

 

[dizzneebabe]

Back in 2006 during a rainy showing of Fantasmic, we had one of our ponchos covering our daughter's stroller (we brought our own), in hopes that it would be dry enough for her to ride in afterwards. That was not the case--someone had taken our poncho, so the stroller was soaked. I guess it could have been worse--they could've taken the $300 stroller!

Still, I was PO'd that someone would steal something used for a child! There's just something creepy about that to me!

Other than that, we've always been very trusting and left all kinds of souveniers, bags and other items in the basket of our stroller during rides and never had a problem. Crossing my fingers for the next trip!

 

[momtimesone]

My son on our very first trip bought a sovanier light up toy thingy for the parades and he was sitting down to play with it waiting for the parade. When the parade started he put the toy at his side and was watching the parade. When the show was over we collected our things minus the toy, someone had stole his toy that he bought with his own money. He was very upset but I told him that person who took it must of needed it more and that next time we buy something mom will just hold it till we get back to the hotel. The next trip when he bought his stitch hands he had me hold them the whole evening so they would not get stolen.Disney is super fun but I treat it like I treat all things I watch my stuff and play it smart.

 

[mccathy]

I got charged $5.00 for a water once