Lost and Found!!??

[doindisneyagain]

I just wanted to put out this message to all you disney goers. If you find something at the parks, resorts, buses, etc. Please take it to the lost and found.

We just returned from a trip to Disney. My 2 DD's each had $95 in Disney Dollars they had received from family and friends for Christmas. The first year they had their own money to spend. We arrived on Friday Feb 6th and on Saturday Feb 7th we made a trip to Downtown Disney so they could go to the toy store. My 5 year old daughter bought a $40 disney doll - complete with all the accessories (I'm sure if you've been there you have seen this doll). She was so excited. She took it with her everywhere. On Sunday Feb 8th we went to Animal Kingdom Lodge to look around (we were staying at Ft. Wilderness). Well either at the Outpost bus stop or on the bus to Downtown Disney she lost her doll. I was so sure that who ever found it would return it to the lost and found. I notified the bus driver and he radioed to others. I also contacted the lost and found at Ft. Wilderness, but no one had returned it. I called lost and found every couple days and even made one last attempt before we left on Friday Feb 13th. We never got it back. It broke my heart to see her so sad. We were in Disneyworld! of all places to lose something I was so sure the Disney "Magic" would bring that doll back to us. But instead someone out there decided to keep something that wasn't theirs - knowing that somewhere a little girl was missing her doll. As fate would have it - on Monday we were at the busstop at downtown disney and I found a video camera sitting on the bench - obviously left behind. I immediately gave it to the bus driver when we boarded the bus. I know the value of a video camera and the value of a doll is quite different, but to my daughter that doll was worth a lot more than $40. Sorry this is so long, but I'm still in shock that it was never found - my DH says I'm too naive! Maybe this little story will make someone think twice about keeping something they find.

Just a side note: we did get my daughter a different doll at a flea market outside disney - so she was happy, but she still gets sad when she talks about her "disney doll" .

Thanks for listening! Other than that we had a great time at Disney!!!

 

[Ellester]

I agree that it is sad when someone keeps something that isn't theirs. I'd like to think that DISer's would be the honest ones, since we all seem to believe in the Disney magic. Unfortunately, your daughter has learned the pain behind the "finders, keepers" rule. I hope you were able to use it as a teaching moment.

Last spring we were at our local amusement park (Paramount's Carowinds) and my dd (just 5 at the time) had put her Tinkerbell hat in the bottom of our stroller. It was a birthday gift from my dad and stepmom from Disney and she loved it. Well, shortly after that I noticed a teenaged girl with some other teens walking around with a stuffed toy obviously won from one of the game booths wearing a hat exactly like my dd's. I checked the stroller and her hat was gone! Now, this was an unusual hat so I walked up to the girl and asked her by chance if she had found the hat because we were missing one just like it. She shook her head and walked off. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it had to be my dd's hat. What were the chances a girl would bring a hat, available only from WDW, from home for a stuffed toy? Anyway, I told my dh and we walked to the other side of the park just to check lost and found. My dd was sobbing the whole time. Of course the hat was not at L&F, but we saw the girl again and I pointed her out to my dh. Well, he took my still crying dd over to the girl and asked her again if she had found it. She denied it again, even with my crying dd right there! We never accused her of actually stealing it, hoping to give her an easy way out.

I saw some security/police officers nearby and told them what had happened. I said I knew the hat was a size "child" and had a WDW park tag, not a Disney store tag, but I didn't have her name in it. He went and spoke to the girl and looked at the hat, it was a "child" with a WDW tag. She denied it again and the officer said there was really nothing he could do about it. But, he did take my dd into the nearest shop and and let her pick out another hat for free (of course it wasn't Disney, but she like Dora the Explorer too so picked her). It somewhat made up for the loss, but what a lesson to teach my dd! She really saw how someone else's dishonesty can hurt you. Again, like in your case, it wasn't really a big ticket item but when it's your child it might as well have been a $5000 hat! I'm sorry you had to go through all that, but I totally understand. I was devestated and more upset than my dd for weeks! It really bothered me someone could do that to a child.

Sorry so long, but your message really hit a cord with me. And that new hat has her name in it with permanent ink!

~Ellen

 

[doindisneyagain]

Thanks for telling your story too. It was a hard lesson for my DD to learn. I'm thinking of somehow getting her the same doll for her birthday in March - any one know if you can order from the toy store via phone??. I was also very upset about the whole thing. I so bad wanted to go and buy her a new one, but that wouldn't have taught her responsibility. Before we left that morning we told her if she took her doll it was her responsibility to make sure she didn't lose it. Not that I expected her too - I usually always make sure everyone has everything - that is mom's job! I think I felt like it was partly my fault for not making sure she had the doll. Live and Learn!!

That was nice of the officer to get your daughter a new hat!

 

[ilvsocr00]

People can be so rude sometimes. I'm sorry the incident put a damper on your vacation.

You can contact Disney's Mail Order Department and have a new doll shipped home. They charge shipping/handling -- aside from going to WDW for items, it is the next best thing. Here is a link posted on allears.net that describes the process. http://allearsnet.com/tp/mailorder.htm

I used it this past Christmas for a shirt that my godson "had to have" while we there, but they didn't have his size. It was a nice surprise when he opened his gift. The service was painless and the shirt arrived promptly

Good luck!

 

[mudnuri]

I like to think that EVERYONE would turn in what they find. however, they don't..

I remember one time I was at a local Wendy's- and outside it looked as though someone had set their purse on their car, and then drove off without it. I went in to tell the employees, and they were just like "yeah, so...blah blah"...DH and I drove to the police department and turned it in there. At least the police officers could call, It felt as though there was a wallet inside, though neither DH nor I actually opened the purse.

Im going to try my darndest to keep track of DD's stuff when we're in Disney. Dh and I just both bought really big waste packs from EMS, which will keep our hands free for holding their bags of stuff they "have" to buy with their disney dollars!

Brandy

 

[doindisneyagain]

Thank you so much ilvsocr00!!! That link is exactly what I was looking for. I am definately going to order her that doll - she will be so happy!

 

[ilvsocr00]

Glad to help doindisneyagain!

 

[Tigge50447]

Oh I hate loosing stuff. But worse yet is when My son lost something. It does break your heart. My son lost one of those Thomas the tank trains in a store and I looked everyplace for it he was only 2 1/2 and he cried but not his normal "I'm mad" or "I'm tired" cry but a sad sad cry. Then when we got home he told his beema (grandma) his sad sad story of how he lost his train. The only good that came out of that is that we leave stuff in the car or in my purse so we don't lose it like we lost that train. He remembers that clearly and is willing to leave stuff home or in the car so it won't happen again.

Sorry your Daughter lost her doll that really stinks.

 

[kidzmom3]

Its a real shame that it was never turned in. I have had much better luck with lost and found at WDW. We have had minnie ear baseball hat, lovey "betsy" a doll my daughter had from birth, a universal studios pass, one pair of prescription eye glasses, 2 pairs of sun glasses and a tigger fleece all returned to us thru WDW lost and found. (multiple trips, we don't chronically lose things, we just travel in a huge pack of 12)