Have you left luggage in your rental car???

[ElaineB55]

We will be arriving on a Saturday around noon and want to head directly to the park. We could make a pit stop to our condo rental to drop the luggage off, but we don't want to waste a minute of park time. We ar thinking of leaving the luggage in the rental car and hitting the parks first thing. Has anyone done this before and do you feel it is safe?

 

[nkereina]

My two biggest concerns would be the heat getting to anything that's sensitive in your luggage (toiletries, medication, electronics, etc) and if your rental is a van or SUV, something that you can see into the back of. Personally, I wouldn't be concerned with the security of it if it were a car with a trunk you can open and close.

 

[DiannaVM]

I will give you an anecdote that happened to someone I know. Although Disney is a "closed off" parking lot unlike malls, there was a time a friend of mine went to Florida on a little shopping trip. Because it was such a short trip, they did not want to keep going back and forth to the hotel between malls, they decided to take all of their shopping (which was quite a bit) with them. After they were done at the second mall when they got back to the car to put away their shopping, they noticed everything that was inside the car was gone; it had been completely cleaned out. And further more, there was no sign of forced entry on the vehicle, which led them to believe that someone at the mall was probably scoping out rental cars from the company they rented from and had a master key to enter the car. And this wasn't a van or SUV either, so there wasn't really anything out in the open for passer-bys to notice and realize there most be a motherlode in there.

Around that time alot of Bahamians were being targeted in Florida though, so they may have been a target from the moment they left the rental office. I am only sharing this story to say that, I honestly wouldn't risk leaving my luggage in the car. I would rather feel more at ease knowing that my stuff is somewhere "safe", rather than constantly wondering or worrying about it.

 

[ElaineB55]

Thanks for your thoughts. And I hadn't thought about the liquids - makeup, etc. which probably shouldn't be fried.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

not in a rental car but we've left stuff in our personal car (after driving down overnight and going directly to the parks). We haven't had any problems with our car getting broken into or anything like that. I do pack so that liquids (shampoo etc) are in plastic Ziploc bags just in case. We haven't had anything melt/ become damaged from the heat but I can see why that might be a concern.

 

[Stefecatzz]

When I would stay off property & drive with my own car, most of the time I'd want to head straight to a park. I never had any issues besides one particularly hot day when I opened my suitcase to find melted deodorant & something else that had burst inside all over everything. Since then I've just given myself more time to check in first before heading to a park.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Yes. I have. Never had a break in before personally.

has it occurred that cars were broken into and things were stolen in Disney parking lots? Yes. It is 100% safe, no.

Definitely consider how hot it will get in the car.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I will give you an anecdote that happened to someone I know. Although Disney is a "closed off" parking lot unlike malls, there was a time a friend of mine went to Florida on a little shopping trip. Because it was such a short trip, they did not want to keep going back and forth to the hotel between malls, they decided to take all of their shopping (which was quite a bit) with them. After they were done at the second mall when they got back to the car to put away their shopping, they noticed everything that was inside the car was gone; it had been completely cleaned out. And further more, there was no sign of forced entry on the vehicle, which led them to believe that someone at the mall was probably scoping out rental cars from the company they rented from and had a master key to enter the car. And this wasn't a van or SUV either, so there wasn't really anything out in the open for passer-bys to notice and realize there most be a motherlode in there.

Around that time alot of Bahamians were being targeted in Florida though, so they may have been a target from the moment they left the rental office. I am only sharing this story to say that, I honestly wouldn't risk leaving my luggage in the car. I would rather feel more at ease knowing that my stuff is somewhere "safe", rather than constantly wondering or worrying about it.

What you're describing though happens at any place. Think about how many times crime is up during xmas time at busy shopping centers? It's because people a) see you put a lot of bags in your car or b) you left stuff out in the back seat/front seat which is advertising what you have or it's a combination of both.

BTW my car is a coupe.....it's easy to get the door open by widening the gap ever so much on the window (as there is no frame around the window), putting something to hold the window open a bit and put a coat hanger in it to get the car unlocked (this is unfortunate and fortunate at the same time as this is how AAA got my keys out of my car when I locked them in once). I'm certaintly not saying your friend's car was like this but there are ways to get into people's cars without windows being busted or outright signs of tampering and I personally wouldn't automatically assume someone had a master key though I'm not saying that's not what happened just my personal opinion.

I'm certaintly not meaning to downplay your story at all but I personally feel my luggage is safer at a theme park's parking lot than my shopping bags are in my car after multiple shopping stops.

 

[LilyWDW]

Never would I ever.

I was raised in a family of cops. I simply don't take unnecessary chances with that sort of thing.

 

[Accident]

This reminds me of a poster from my dentist when I was little.. You only need to brush the teeth you want to keep..

Find the time or add more days to your trip if it's really in the way to drop your stuff off first.