How do you keep your belongings safe at waterparks?

[lwartberg]

i haven't been to a waterpark in 15 years. I remember we would claim a chair, put all of our stuff there, and my mom would hang in the chair all afternoon while the kids ran off.

Well... I am NOT sitting in the chair all day!!

I want to be out there having fun with my kids!

How do you keep your stuff safe while you're not there to watch it?

I know about the lockers, but I don't want to have to put my wet towel in the locker and have it sit in there all day!

 

[ilovebassets]

I felt very safe and comfortable just leaving wet towels on beds. For other belongings, I would rent a locker ($5 or $7 depdending on size plus a $5 refundable deposit). Lockers are easily accessible and worth it.

 

[Shmily1]

I rent a locker and put all my stuff in there except for my DL, credit card, and KTTW which I put in one of the card holders you can put around your neck. They are like $5 at the waterparks and work great!!

 

[disnut8]

We just take the bare essentials, put the personal stuff in a shoe, and leave everything in a pile somewhere. We don't even need a chair.

In all the years of going to the beach (yearly week long trips for about 20 years for both my husband and me) and water parks, I have never had anything taken. Not even a bottle of sunscreen.

I think if you act like you have something that you don't want stolen, your actions only draw attention to you and makes you more of a target for anyone scoping things out.

 

[winterman]

We leave our towels (our own or borrowed from the hotel) and my tote bag on our chairs. In the tote bag are my cell phone, room key, eyeglasses, comb, sunscreen and maybe $10. DH keeps about $40 in his pocket. We spend very little time at our chairs and we have never had a problem. We drive to the water park so everything else is locked in the car.

 

[daisyduck123]

We always lock up our stuff in a locker now.

In Jan. 2006 at BB, we had some stuff stolen (DS's goggles, disposable water camera, & DS's new Star Wars toy from MGM) from our beach bag that we'd left sitting on a lounge chair. We learned that day that we were also not the only victims. Several families had their entire backpacks/bags taken that day.

Now we always LOCK UP.

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

Don't take things you don't want stolen. It's very unlikely people will want your towel or flip flops. There are usually so many other people sitting around that people do not even bother rifling through things because there are witnesses. Bring cash for food and do not bring more than you are willing to lose. If you need to bring anything like a cell phone, credit card, then keep it in a locker.

 

[Mckymousefn]

We have been lucky enough to never have a problem with leaving things at our chairs. We usually find chairs close to where we are going to spend all our time.. so we can keep an eye on the chairs. This trip though... since the kids are bigger we will more than likely be all over the park. I plan on mainly just taking sunscreen, my camera and towels. I still have my plastic holder from when we were at Blizzard Beach before, for our MYW card and any money we may bring with us.

 

[BabyFu18]

We rented a locker for our clothes, shoes, towels, money, room keys, etc. and so we didn't take anything to the beach chairs with us. We moved from place to place so often, we didn't want to have to take our belongs with us, if we wanted something we went back to the locker to get it (which we only did once throughout the whole day).

 

[mjh8955]

Our first visit to Tycoon Lagoon was last fall and it was just me and two teens. I took a collapsible cooler with drinks and snacks and a bag with our towels, sunscreen, book, etc. (no camera, no phone) and claimed a spot overlooking the wave pool. It was far enough away that it was quiet and peaceful. I took a nap, did all the slides with the kids, came back and read and relaxed. At our hotel (POP) I had purchased one of those waterproof plastic cases that goes around your neck. In that I kept our tickets, money and one credit card just in case. It worked great. When I went down the slides I just tucked it down the front of my suit (kind of a high necked racer type) and it stayed put. The money got a little damp but that wasn't a big deal. I felt our stuff was pretty safe left alone. If I would have had to bring car keys or camera or phone, I would have rented a locker.

 

[wdwnomad]

I have a question about the lockers. Say if I need to get something out of one. Can I just go and take it out and relock it or would I have to pay again to relock it?

 

[asmit4]

We just take the bare essentials, put the personal stuff in a shoe, and leave everything in a pile somewhere. We don't even need a chair.

In all the years of going to the beach (yearly week long trips for about 20 years for both my husband and me) and water parks, I have never had anything taken. Not even a bottle of sunscreen.

I think if you act like you have something that you don't want stolen, your actions only draw attention to you and makes you more of a target for anyone scoping things out.

Also don't take anything you can afford to lose. Also many of the guys shorts have zippered pockets these days. Just bring you KTTW cards and have the hubby hold them in his suit. Nobody is going to want towels, flip flops and sunscreen. Avoid bring phones, computers and cameras.

On a side note- I left my purse this past week in Epcot. It had 60 bucks in it, 2 CCs a debit card, a cell phone and a pair of glasses- it was returned to me the next day with everything intact

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I have a question about the lockers. Say if I need to get something out of one. Can I just go and take it out and relock it or would I have to pay again to relock it?

The lockers are $5.00 or $7.00 per day, depending on size, plus a $5.00 refundable key deposit.

You can go into the locker as many times as you want, it is a daily charge.

 

[wildernesslodgelover]

This was an interesting thread i was involved in...

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1882788

Have fun...the water parks are a blast!

 

[mjhd]

We take our towels in a bag and I or my husband put our KTTW card & sm amount of cash in our swimsuit pockets. We leave everything else in the car or back at the room - really do you need your cell in the wp????

 

[a1tinkfans]

Just wanted to say that we used a locker and it was easily accessible. First day we BOUGHT/BORROWED towels, and
Second time we BROUGHT towels from resort hotel room (there were NONE at POR pool EITHER time we visited).

We left our water shoes (not needed in our case) and cover ups and towels at chairs and then OFF we went. We had 8 peoples stuff and we all popped back and forth thru out the day without any issues or concerns.

We Bought one of the refillable Cups and NEVER used it at all. We were to busy having fun and at lunch on meal plan did not HAVE to use it.

My only REMINDER/SUGGESTION is to bring your sunscreen to RE-APPLY as there were some VERY burned people and that can really ruin a vacation.
HAVE A WONDERFUL time, they are both GREAT and we can't wait to return next Disney trip!

 

[Donold_Fan]

We always try to get a chair very close to the wave pools at each of the parks. We take a tote which includes camera, sunscreen, towels, books and just leave them at the chairs. In 5 visits, we've never had a problem. And by camera, I'm talking a DSLR.

However, this year I have a nagging feeling and will either not bring the DSLR and just bring the P&S (which I have a water case for) or rent a locker for the DSLR. Otherwise, I'm not worried about the towels, shoes or sunscreen. We also always have 2 or 3 of the refillable mugs with us.

 

[dromio42]

So, I'm walking to a slide in my sneakers...do they have lockers at the ride to leave your shoes in, like at atlantis in Sea W? Or are you supposed to walk bare foot? (I can't go bare foot - bad feet...) Thanks for the info

 

[Donold_Fan]

So, I'm walking to a slide in my sneakers...do they have lockers at the ride to leave your shoes in, like at atlantis in Sea W? Or are you supposed to walk bare foot? (I can't go bare foot - bad feet...) Thanks for the info

It's barefoot or watershoes. The lockers are fairly close to the front of the park, before you get to any of the slides or pools.

 

[offkilterfan]

Rent a locker. There are a couple places throughout the park. You can go in and out as often is needed. All we leave at the chair is our cooler and towels. We had been going to BB for many years and never had any problems--nor do we bring anything of importance with us--but, a couple of years ago, we did have someone go through our tote and soft sided cooler. Nothing was taken--only sunscreen, snacks and change of clothes were in it. The best part is that they left everything wide open for anyone else who might want something. It was a sad day for us! We were fortunate that there was nothing they wanted.

It may be Disney, but it is cheaper to get into than the other parks and people are more relaxed, so if they get $10, $20, $50, etc. per bag they go through, it can add up pretty quick. We reported what happened and were told we weren't the only ones that day. Bring nothing you can't afford to lose and rent a locker. It's really easy to do.