Keep your stuff safe!!!

[Alicnwondrln]

wow thats to bad
I was there this weekend and left my laptop out and other stuff
There was some stuff we put in the safe and my stuff was fine
Did she get anything in writing saying she wouldnt have to pay that $ back when they gave her charging? I would wanted that.

 

[tami82]

Thats too bad but of course disney cant be responsible for something like that! I would NEVER leave any money or anything of value in the room at any time. If i did I would at least hide the money in a sock or somewhere that would not be found very easily. Most of the time I will either leave my money in a safe deposit box or take it with me.

 

[YesMickey]

However, there are other people besides Mousekeeping that have legitimate access to the room, such as maintenance, resort management, etc. Just because you don't have daily housekeeping in any hotel doesn't mean that your room won't be accessed by hotel staff. Also, there is always a chance that the room may be "double assigned", meaning they accidentally give keys to your room to another guest when they check in. I have read many threads about people who opened the door of "their" room only to find someone else was already staying in it. It even happened to me in December at Disney (fortunately, the other party was actually in their room at the time, so it was easy to straighten out).

Bottom line is - never leave anything unsecured in your room that you don't want to lose, because there is a chance it won't be there when you return. If you don't have an in room safe, you should be able to leave valuables at the front desk. And don't take any valuables you don't really NEED for the trip. Vacation is not the time to be dragging the diamonds out of the vault or taking the brand new super deluxe computer. Bring the fake jewels and the old laptop instead.

You should never leave valuables at a front desk at a hotel. I had a friend that stayed at the Hard Rock when they went to Universal and Disney a year or so ago, and they checked in early and their room was not ready. They left their stuff at the front desk to put in the safe which included $500 and when they returned later and got thier stuff, the $500 was gone. Nothing they could do. The best place to keep your money is in your front pocket, and never bring valuables on vacation, no rings, necklaces etc. and bring a cheap $5 watch. Hopefully it will last your trip. The last thing I want to do on vacation is worry about my stuff. I do not even bring a wallet, I have a bill fold for my cash with a sleave for my Driver's license, a credit card, my insurance card and photo pass. That's all I need on vacation.

 

[donahue5]

A similar thing happened to me because i was in a hurry. While on vacation my son got sick in the car. We have three young kids and tried to get him into the hotel fast befor he got sick again. It was late at night and our first night so we took only things that we needed right then. I was holding my son and left my bag with my pocket book in the car by accident. I realized this as soon as woke up in the morning. I ran out to the car and my whole bag was gone and the door was broken into. We called the police and they told us we were there fifteenth call that morning about a car break in. We thought what are the chances but I guess they are good! There are a lot of very dishonest people in the world. We were lucky to cancel our credit cards before they were used. We did end up loosing all our gift cards my sons had collected for a while to use on vacation. We did end up getting our bag back but police never found my wallet. It is a awful way to start a vacation. I hope that they were able to enjoy their trip at disney after the theft. It is really a shame that you have to lock up everthing that isn't nailed down. This did not happen on disney property!

 

[iheartdisney]

Do you leave your car unlocked in a parking lot ? Of course not.

Such a good question...when I was in Italy, they actually tell you to leave the doors unlocked and remove your valueables, otherwise you will have no valueables AND no window. So many times we woke up in the morning and found the contents of the glovebox on the seat. Our friends had their stroller siting on the sidewalk at least once a month.

Back to the OP, thanks for the warning, I'll probably be a little more on guard next week. (and maybe no cash!)

 

[disneyfreak33]

Now I'm nervous to bring my laptop since the Pop and WL safes aren't big enough to hold it

Most of those hotels offer safes at the front desk for bigger more valuable things, don't know if they charge extra for that but if your that nervous I would definitely ask the front desk about that.

 

[weeluvdisney]

That is a bunch of bologna. When I am renting a home, apartment, hotel room, I don't expect anyone to enter without my knowledge or permission. This is why when we are there we put up the do not disturb. Even though I keep things in the safe I don't want people in the room with the door wide open while they are cleaning. We allowed this at first and then realized it is not a good idea. Hopefully those employees were fired on the spot.

 

[Tiggr924]

I am really sorry to hear that, but you always have to be careful about your stuff. We learned our lesson many years ago when all our bags were robbed at typhoon lagoon. IMO, it was an inside job. Just Disney police played dumb and it was our fault for not watching our stuff better (which is true). I lock everything in the safe from money to electronics to my glasses. Its not right for someone to take your money, but you also should be more careful with leaving valuables out.

 

[MommyBuzz909]

I had a camera stolen out of my luggage a couple years ago when flying home from NYC on Northwest Airlines. It taught me to never put anything of value in my checked luggage; put it in my carry-on. Since then, I always keep my luggage, cash and everything of value with ME!!!

And if you're going to carry around that much cash, think about getting travelers checks instead. They're replaceable unlike cash!!

 

[Tinkaroo]

FYI - for those whose laptops won't fit in the hotel safe - purchase one of these: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...+lock&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1051384145329

There is a small slot in every laptop that this cable will work with. You set the combination yourself; loop it through something large, heavy, and preferably immoveable (I usually put the cable around the leg of the desk); and then hook the cord to your laptop. It probably won't completely prevent theft, but it certainly will make it a LOT more difficult for the perpetrator.

To the OP - I'm so sorry to hear that your mom fell victim to dishonest people. Sadly, it happens everywhere these days.

 

[MommyBuzz909]

FYI - for those whose laptops won't fit in the hotel safe - purchase one of these: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...+lock&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1051384145329

There is a small slot in every laptop that this cable will work with. You set the combination yourself; loop it through something large, heavy, and preferably immoveable (I usually put the cable around the leg of the desk); and then hook the cord to your laptop. It probably won't completely prevent theft, but it certainly will make it a LOT more difficult for the perpetrator.

To the OP - I'm so sorry to hear that your mom fell victim to dishonest people. Sadly, it happens everywhere these days.

We have these at work - they're awesome. We had to get them because we have some not totally honest cleaning people.....ever since we got them, no problems!!

 

[disneydreamin247]

FYI - for those whose laptops won't fit in the hotel safe - purchase one of these: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...+lock&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1051384145329

There is a small slot in every laptop that this cable will work with. You set the combination yourself; loop it through something large, heavy, and preferably immoveable (I usually put the cable around the leg of the desk); and then hook the cord to your laptop. It probably won't completely prevent theft, but it certainly will make it a LOT more difficult for the perpetrator.

To the OP - I'm so sorry to hear that your mom fell victim to dishonest people. Sadly, it happens everywhere these days.

That is awesome! I am definitely going to invest in one. TY so much for that!!!

 

[Tinkaroo]

We have these at work - they're awesome. We had to get them because we have some not totally honest cleaning people.....ever since we got them, no problems!!

That is awesome! I am definitely going to invest in one. TY so much for that!!!

Knock on wood...but they seem to work very well. I've used one ever since I got my first laptop many years ago (college dorm rooms, hotels, etc., etc.), and my father, who travels weekly for business, uses one all the time, and has done so for years. Thus far, they've done the trick.

 

[cindyfan]

OUCH!!!
Very hard lesson to learn.
I feel bad for her.
There have been many times we've almost left the room and forgot to put our IPods or other valuable items away.
There are so many different options out there instead of carrying cash.
Travelers checks
Pre-pay the room... and use your card key to charge to the room
Pre-paid Visa or MasterCards
Gift cards

If you insist on cash.... seperate it into several envelopes, like one for each day. Then only pull out of the safe or your luggage one envelope at a time. That way if you do forget to put it away.... you are only losing a small amount.
I never keep that much money all together.

Hope anyone reading this knows not to ever do this.

 

[Booknut]

Sorry this happened to your mom, what a lousy thing to have done to you.

I think considering that your mom was NOT expecting anyone to enter the room that Disney does hold some responsibility here. As its DVC that housekeeper should not have been in her room. And as for maintenance surely someone should have given you a head's up that someone would be coming into your room.

Does her travel insurance cover this loss of money?

 

[fwdtraveler]

Sorry this happened! We also learned the hard way. We had three Ipods stolen from our room at Pop Century last August. Maid service and maintenance had both been in the room. We'll never make that mistake again! From now on everything of value gets put in the safe!

 

[WillCAD]

FYI - for those whose laptops won't fit in the hotel safe - purchase one of these: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...+lock&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1051384145329

There is a small slot in every laptop that this cable will work with. You set the combination yourself; loop it through something large, heavy, and preferably immoveable (I usually put the cable around the leg of the desk); and then hook the cord to your laptop. It probably won't completely prevent theft, but it certainly will make it a LOT more difficult for the perpetrator.

To the OP - I'm so sorry to hear that your mom fell victim to dishonest people. Sadly, it happens everywhere these days.

I also use one of those any time I travel.

When at WDW, I weave it around a bunch of the individual tines of the wire shelf above the vanity, instead of trying to lock it to the table. Most hotel tables upend easily, then the cable slips off the bottom. I have stayed in a few non-Disney hotels with desks that had crosspieces between the legs, so there was a place to lock the cable that wouldn't allow it to slip off the leg.

I also never leave anything of any value laying out, other than a few battery chargers that are useless to a theif without the device they charge anyway, and can be replaced at little expense to me if stolen.

 

[sambuster]

We’ve been to Disney World 14 times in 18 years. I love it and we have plans to go this year in June.
For every one of those 14 trips, upon check in, I take a cup and place it on the TV and put my spare change in it daily. (coins and dollar bills)
No one has ever bothered that cup in 13 trips. When we check out I leave a thank you note and the change as a tip to the Housekeeper.
the amount varies, but after a week it adds up.
Last August we arrived I started the change cup. On day 3 with about $15
in the cup it disappears.
Needless to say I was very disappointed.
It could have been thrown away, but it clearly had change and dollar bills in it.

 

[Sysyphus]

We have these at work - they're awesome. We had to get them because we have some not totally honest cleaning people.....ever since we got them, no problems!!

That is awesome! I am definitely going to invest in one. TY so much for that!!!

Knock on wood...but they seem to work very well. I've used one ever since I got my first laptop many years ago (college dorm rooms, hotels, etc., etc.), and my father, who travels weekly for business, uses one all the time, and has done so for years. Thus far, they've done the trick.

Don't put too much faith in these: they're just about good enough to stop honest people from stealing your laptop, but a pro can remove these locks in the blink of an eye.

 

[MATTLIZ]

Sorry this happened! We also learned the hard way. We had three Ipods stolen from our room at Pop Century last August. Maid service and maintenance had both been in the room. We'll never make that mistake again! From now on everything of value gets put in the safe!

I have to say that I am very sorry this happened to your mom. I personally know what it is like to leave your room and THINK you have done everything to keep your extra money, credit cards, etc safe, but in fact did not. On my last trip to Disney, staying at POP, I put all my extra cash in the safe, my cell phone, credit card, etc and THEN FORGOT TO CLOSE AND LOCK IT!!!!! IT WAS WIDE OPEN ALL DAY!!! When returning to my room, I realized what I had done AND THANKFULLY everything was still there! I realized I was very fortunate and double checked from that point on through the rest of my trip! Again, I was lucky, it could have gone the opposite way!