Is Walt Disney World going to 100% security screenings at the parks?

[Accident]

Invictus games just happened (and still have celebrities and foreign guests around). There is something with the florida policy and special olympics about to start.. I think it is a combination of making it unpredictable to get around security and increased security when needed... They also change it up, I've gone in and out the same day and how they were picking or making everyone do it was different...

I think they also have their own staff trained. It's night and day difference in how the security staff handles people from a month ago. They are just getting in their groove and new procedures..

Now, if we can have more than 4 turnstyles opened after we're done so it doens't take 3 times longer to scan your ticket than look over your stuff this system would be ideal.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

We were at WDW from 5/5 till 5/10
DH and I both go without bags
We were directed in to the metal detectors, both of us, 100% of the time. At every park. Both entering at rope drop and all other times of day. As were every other guest entering the no bag line at the time we did.
I got the impression that is the new procedure for those without bags and that guests with bags are still pulled randomly, for now.
They still need to figure out 2 major issues in regards to the detectors
1. there is little to no control on who's items belong to who. At small gates such as IG it was easy for the guard to keep up with. At MK with many people going through it was quite confusing, arms reaching across each other and grabbing items
2. they need a procedure for what they are going to do with kids. Sending the kids to stand with security or sending the stroller to security while the parents go through is not sitting well with many parents.

While going through the detectors doesn't bother me it doesn't make me feel any safer. One look at Belgium and it will tell you that none of these procedures will prevent disaster. They can actually make it worse by having a bottle neck of people. I feel the same way about airport checks. It's a great show but not doing a dang thing to make flights safer. Folks determined to do harm will find a way

Wrong. It does a lot to make flights safer.

MG

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I think it's more about PR than about actual security. As others have said, really determined bad guys will find a way. Adam the Woo has shown that the parks are basically insecure. Which is no surprise since they're parks for recreation, not prisons or fortresses.

There is the question however of whether increased, highly visible security will become a magnet for crazies. A challenge for deranged loonies with a cause or grievance. If this trend is ever established then watch out - it won't end until the parks actually are fortresses, like airports and government buildings.

Bingo...this is the real danger with "heightened security"

The "columbine effect"

 

[JimmyV]

I feel the same way about airport checks. It's a great show but not doing a dang thing to make flights safer

That's an absurd statement. Heightened security has made flights much safer. When was the last time that a passenger seriously injured someone on a plane with a weapon? That would be 9/11/01. Flights themselves are definitely safer, as is the secured area beyond the checkpoint. What happened in Brussels took place in the ticketing area far from security and certainly not at it, beyond it or on the plane. The fact that an attack in the ticketing area was successful is no basis to conclude that nothing has done "a dang thing to make flights safer." Flights are absolutely safer.

 

[disneynutz]

Security theater makes us feel safer and causes us to think that Disney is a safe place, just like airport screening does.

Bill

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Security theater makes us feel safer and causes us to think that Disney is a safe place, just like airport screening does.

Bill

Even if security didn't catch a single thing, it does act as a deterrent.

MG

 

[winterwhite]

Was at MK and EP on Friday and they were not directing people to the metal detectors. Husband went through no bag line, I went through with bag, neither of us were scanned.

However there were TONS of middle school field trips and I think they were overwhelmed trying to sort out these groups of hundreds of tweens.

 

[disneynutz]

Even if security didn't catch a single thing, it does act as a deterrent.

MG

Maybe, maybe not. If someone really is out to do harm, doing so is easy despite screenings. I don't remember any security reports at WDW prior to the screenings and just like at airports, a planned attack can easily penetrate security, they won't be standing in line to be screened.

Bill

 

[JimmyV]

I think that there is a tendency to equate suicide attacks with all violence. It is true that no amount of security can prevent a person from committing an act of violence if they don't intend to live through it. But those are not the majority of incidents. Just the ones that make major headlines. But the level of security employed by Disney absolutely deters at least some of the violence intended by people who expect to "get away with it".

 

[K Gragg]

I've never liked the idea as a law enforcement officer that I can't carry my weapon. I feel absolutely unsafe and uncomfortable without it. The idea of 100% security screenings does put me a little more at ease. I'm all for it.

 

[Eoghann]

I would agree but when you have people trying to bring guns into MK in the last year it helps sway me the other way.

The thing is you'd be no less dead if they shot you while standing in the security line instead of waiting until you're in the park.

 

[Eoghann]

I think it's more about PR than about actual security. As others have said, really determined bad guys will find a way. Adam the Woo has shown that the parks are basically insecure. Which is no surprise since they're parks for recreation, not prisons or fortresses.

There is the question however of whether increased, highly visible security will become a magnet for crazies. A challenge for deranged loonies with a cause or grievance. If this trend is ever established then watch out - it won't end until the parks actually are fortresses, like airports and government buildings.

The thing is that the parks are fundamentally different to airports or even government buildings.

People targeting airports are generally looking to attack a plane, security screenings could theoretically stop that (though in practice apparently ours are useless). Similarly government buildings are a target specifically for the people inside, so making a fortress has a logical basis to it.

On the other hand the emotional impact of killing tourists is just as effective anywhere in the Orlando area as it is actually on Main Street.

 

[Shanti]

On the other hand the emotional impact of killing tourists is just as effective anywhere in the Orlando area as it is actually on Main Street.

I disagree. "Tourists shot in the Orlando area" is vague. "Tourists shot in front of Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom" is vivid and truly shocking, just like the Twin Towers attack was. Terrorists looking to get publicity for their cause would undoubtedly prefer to do their damage inside the park.

 

[EvilQueenT]

It will always be like anything else...if man is smart enough to figure out ways to try to detect trouble another one is smart enough to figure out a way around it. It's just like putting every safety feature on your computer. Sooner or later some other person figures out how to hack it and the cycle keeps repeating.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I disagree. "Tourists shot in the Orlando area" is vague. "Tourists shot in front of Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom" is vivid and truly shocking, just like the Twin Towers attack was. Terrorists looking to get publicity for their cause would undoubtedly prefer to do their damage inside the park.

Whether you make it into the MK gates or not, no way a shooting outside those gates is gonna be reported as anything but "Breaking - Tourists shot and killed in Disney World!!" which would be true. No one reads "in Orlando area", so the media would never use it. So, terrorists win whether the shooting is in the castle or at the ticket gate...it will be reported as horrible as possible in the media either way...

 

[AngiTN]

Wrong. It does a lot to make flights safer.

MG

I'm glad you feel safer on the plane because of them. I do not
Not that I ever felt horribly unsafe on a plane either. I didn't.
I just don't feel the TSA procedures in place now increase security on the planes or in the airport for that matter.
I think it's a great waste of time and money that puts on an illusion of safety

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I'm glad you feel safer on the plane because of them. I do not
Not that I ever felt horribly unsafe on a plane either. I didn't.
I just don't feel the TSA procedures in place now increase security on the planes or in the airport for that matter.
I think it's a great waste of time and money that puts on an illusion of safety

It's more of a deterrent than anything else.
Think of it like this... If there was absolute zero security, don't you think the nut job extremists would have tried something by now?

MG

 

[SirMickey]

People have been bringing guns into magic kingdom forever...

They give permits for it...it's the backwards end of the country - lest we forget.

There are two things I hate here:
1. People packing heat thinking they are Wild West marshalls
2. The idea that Mickey cops can do anything about it.

I don't like to live in fear either...but the two above are the main points.

I think these are fair points. While there are many responsible gun owners, I do think there are many who, as you say, would relish the opportunity to act as "Wild West marshals" and potentially insert themselves into a situation better suited to be handled by professionals. This thought has definiteky crossed my mind in the parks and elsewhere.

 

[Tom P.]

They give permits for it...it's the backwards end of the country - lest we forget.

Then why not stay in the more enlightened end of the country? Disneyland is available in California. And those of us yokels who live in the backwards end of the country won't be upset if you don't come.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I think these are fair points. While there are many responsible gun owners, I do think there are many who, as you say, would relish the opportunity to act as "Wild West marshals" and potentially insert themselves into a situation better suited to be handled by professionals. This thought has definiteky crossed my mind in the parks and elsewhere.

I'm not sure of the amount of "professionals" wandering the park, but my guess is it's not enough. If a mad man starts shooting up the crowd I've got no problem if a trained gun owner draws and blows his head off.

MG