New bag check line?

[tlmadden73]

It's all pretty much security theater anyway. We all know if someone WANTED to get something through . .they could.

They are just trying to get people through the lines and into the park as fast as they can and still APPEAR to be thoroughly checking things. It is nice they have other lines for those with small (or no) bags.

At least you are still allowed to take stuff in .. unlike an NFL game where you can only bring in a small purse (4x6 inches) or a CLEAR (slightly bigger) bag. You can't bring in any outside food/drink. You can't even bring the case in for you binoculars. It is ridiculous. People pay a lot of money for tickets to an NFL game and had to miss kickoff because it took 30+ minutes to go through security check. I'd say easily 1/4 of the ticket holders missed kickoff because of the slowness of such a system of getting even these small bags checked and then still getting wanded (front and back).

 

[rcraw45425]

great idea, makes me feel better for the small crossbodies the girls and I carry. Will let y'all know how it works in four weeks!

 

[scrapquitler]

You forgot to include the guests that take 5 minutes opening all of the zippers on their bags.

Or the people who seem surprised that they have to get the bags out from under their stroller. Who would have thought THOSE bags count?

 

[larryz]

Ahh... but do they let you use checks in the express lane?

Yes. Bag checks.

 

[kwdw]

Not frequently, but a couple of times now - I've seen folks sent away with items they won't let in. A selfie stick and a large hard plastic cooler - most recently. I'm surprised the folks with the gigantic cooler made it as far as bag check surprised folks hadn't been telling them it was too big. I've also seen glass bottles of stuff found and required to be disposed off. Watched a family drinking up up their Snapple bottles in the area in front of bag check - I suspect they had been told no. So - while I agree I don't think they catch alot - the ACT of doing it all also stops alot of stuff in the first place.

 

[scrapquitler]

L

Not frequently, but a couple of times now - I've seen folks sent away with items they won't let in. A selfie stick and a large hard plastic cooler - most recently. I'm surprised the folks with the gigantic cooler made it as far as bag check surprised folks hadn't been telling them it was too big. I've also seen glass bottles of stuff found and required to be disposed off. Watched a family drinking up up their Snapple bottles in the area in front of bag check - I suspect they had been told no. So - while I agree I don't think they catch alot - the ACT of doing it all also stops alot of stuff in the first place.

Last week at Epcot I watched a separate line where they were sending people who had selfie sticks in their bags. They were taking the selfie sticks and attaching a yellow ticket on them, and giving the other half of the yellow ticket to the person and telling them to claim their selfie stick on the way out.

I also watched a guy get approached by security, and when they talked to him, he showed them the knife that he had attached to the waist of his pants (I guess they noticed it before he walked up), he took it out of it's holder, and unfolded it to show them, it looked like a hunting knife, not very big, the blade was probably 4 or 5" long. Once he showed it to them they told him, okay, put it away and don't take it out when you are in the park. And he went on his merry way.... I'm not really sure how I felt about the whole thing...sure, they noticed it and they checked it out, but they DID let him in with that knife on him. When my husband had his swiss army knife in his pocket at six flags (with a blade that was maybe 2") they made him take it back to the car.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

L


Last week at Epcot I watched a separate line where they were sending people who had selfie sticks in their bags. They were taking the selfie sticks and attaching a yellow ticket on them, and giving the other half of the yellow ticket to the person and telling them to claim their selfie stick on the way out.

I also watched a guy get approached by security, and when they talked to him, he showed them the knife that he had attached to the waist of his pants (I guess they noticed it before he walked up), he took it out of it's holder, and unfolded it to show them, it looked like a hunting knife, not very big, the blade was probably 4 or 5" long. Once he showed it to them they told him, okay, put it away and don't take it out when you are in the park. And he went on his merry way.... I'm not really sure how I felt about the whole thing...sure, they noticed it and they checked it out, but they DID let him in with that knife on him. When my husband had his swiss army knife in his pocket at six flags (with a blade that was maybe 2") they made him take it back to the car.

DH had a small pocket knife - like a swiss army knife only smaller in his camera back pack - the CM took it out and measured it against his ID badge - it was smaller than it so it was allowed in. He told DH if it had been bigger they would have taken it away or sent him back to the car or something.

 

[ChristaDeVil]

I love this idea. I usually have a small crossbody, so this would be perfect.

 

[GillianP1301]

I'm not sure I get the point of this? I don't think just because I have a small bag that I should get priority service in the bag check line. Process the people in the order in which they arrive no matter how many bags or size, seems the fairest and easiest to me. If it's that important to save a minute or two, then you can always eyeball the lines and avoid the ones with people who will obviously take longer (i.e. the 100 pocket backpacks or the stroller with 5 bags under it).

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

At least you are still allowed to take stuff in .. unlike an NFL game where you can only bring in a small purse (4x6 inches) or a CLEAR (slightly bigger) bag. You can't bring in any outside food/drink. You can't even bring the case in for you binoculars. It is ridiculous. People pay a lot of money for tickets to an NFL game and had to miss kickoff because it took 30+ minutes to go through security check. I'd say easily 1/4 of the ticket holders missed kickoff because of the slowness of such a system of getting even these small bags checked and then still getting wanded (front and back).

Ugh we went to a game last year with our baby. That was fun to fit a whole diaper bag full of stuff into a gallon size ziplock. Thankfully I am a nursing mom and didn't need to bring bottles. We would have had to not go together or buy a clear bag somewhere. I almost missed it too, but was reading the night before to try to figure out the parking situation.

I don't mind the bag search, but I do often wonder if metal detectors wouldn't be a lot more useful if they are actually trying to stop something and it isn't just for theater. It couldn't be much slower.

 

[Jaime4004]

They made announcements several times last week (can't remember which parks) for people with small purses to go to another line. Also (I believe at AK) they were telling people that if they had one bag to have one person go through bag check and everyone else through the guests without bags area. We also had some rather thorough security guards...

 

[connie254]

I would love this. While I usually have a backpack with all the zippers open and my very small crossbody bag open and keeping my son who has autism with me, I am usually behind those commando stroller people who seem to have their luggage with them and aren't ready.

 

[BarbieGal457]

This is awesome! I always carry a very small bag on my hip or tiny crossbody and they are super easy to check because there is very little to check in the first place. I hope this is still going on in 3 weeks when I'm there. I always want to go bagless but it never ends up working. I do feel for the families that need to bring a lot along though, it can't be easy or comfortable!

 

[BarbieGal457]

I'm not sure I get the point of this? I don't think just because I have a small bag that I should get priority service in the bag check line. Process the people in the order in which they arrive no matter how many bags or size, seems the fairest and easiest to me. If it's that important to save a minute or two, then you can always eyeball the lines and avoid the ones with people who will obviously take longer (i.e. the 100 pocket backpacks or the stroller with 5 bags under it).

I don't think it's necessarily priority really, more so just to move along the line quicker. Let's be honest, people with small bags are almost always much faster to check and send along and will speed everything up if they get their own line. Bringing a bigger bag, or several, naturally takes longer to check, so why not speed up the line by creating a separate one? If you continue on with this logic, people who carry nothing get "priority" by having to not go through a check line at all. I think it's not Disney trying to give people a leg up on others, just really trying to speed up people getting in and cutting down on line wait times.

Honestly I have been stuck behind people with smaller to "normal" sized purses and bags, though not as small as the ones I carry, who are never prepared with things open and end up taking just as long as the people with 5 bags or 100-pocket backpacks. I think a small bag line just makes sense in the desire for efficiency, not priority. If you think it is people getting priority, you can take a small bag too, if you want that priority.

 

[bumbershoot]

I wonder if it's also for aesthetics? Approaching the park and seeing a huge clumpy line vs seeing several areas that are more streamlined?

 

[Simba's Mom]

I love this idea. I usually have a small crossbody, so this would be perfect.

Me too! However, do they define "small"? At the grocery stores they give a particular # of items, but "small" can be relative.

 

[aleksandr]

It's all pretty much security theater anyway. We all know if someone WANTED to get something through . .they could.

They are just trying to get people through the lines and into the park as fast as they can and still APPEAR to be thoroughly checking things. It is nice they have other lines for those with small (or no) bags.

My understanding is that this serves two purposes. The first is that it lets them catch people who are bringing in prohibited items, such as alcohol and now selfie-sticks. I've seen people turned away more than once with alcohol in their bags.

The second, and more important purpose is that it creates a choke point where security personnel trained in behavioral observation techniques can scan the crowds for people who are clearly out of place. If you watch carefully you can sometimes see them working their way through the crowds. They typically wear polo shirts, but the clear giveaway is the very small ear-piece receiver/microphone they wear.

 

[scrapquitler]

They made announcements several times last week (can't remember which parks) for people with small purses to go to another line. Also (I believe at AK) they were telling people that if they had one bag to have one person go through bag check and everyone else through the guests without bags area. We also had some rather thorough security guards...

That is normal.

 

[GillianP1301]

I don't think it's necessarily priority really, more so just to move along the line quicker. Let's be honest, people with small bags are almost always much faster to check and send along and will speed everything up if they get their own line. Bringing a bigger bag, or several, naturally takes longer to check, so why not speed up the line by creating a separate one? If you continue on with this logic, people who carry nothing get "priority" by having to not go through a check line at all. I think it's not Disney trying to give people a leg up on others, just really trying to speed up people getting in and cutting down on line wait times.

Honestly I have been stuck behind people with smaller to "normal" sized purses and bags, though not as small as the ones I carry, who are never prepared with things open and end up taking just as long as the people with 5 bags or 100-pocket backpacks. I think a small bag line just makes sense in the desire for efficiency, not priority. If you think it is people getting priority, you can take a small bag too, if you want that priority.

I actually do only have a small bag, so I would really benefit from this change. I'm still not sure I see the need for it though, although you make a very good point about those who can go through a separate line with no bag at all as already having priority.

I still don't think I'm on board with the "more efficient" argument. If they truly wanted to get more people in the park faster, they would put on more security people and/or expand the bag check lanes. I made an assumption when I read the post that they were not adding more security lines, just allocated some for small bags and some for large/multiple bags. It doesn't matter if I'm in line behind 20 people in the small bag line or behind 20 people in an any size bag line, all 20 of those people are still going to get into the park and all you're doing by making half the existing lines for small bags is allowing those of us with small bags to jump ahead of those with large bags. Now, if they are adding more lines, that's an entirely different situation.

 

[BarbieGal457]

I actually do only have a small bag, so I would really benefit from this change. I'm still not sure I see the need for it though, although you make a very good point about those who can go through a separate line with no bag at all as already having priority.

I still don't think I'm on board with the "more efficient" argument. If they truly wanted to get more people in the park faster, they would put on more security people and/or expand the bag check lanes. I made an assumption when I read the post that they were not adding more security lines, just allocated some for small bags and some for large/multiple bags. It doesn't matter if I'm in line behind 20 people in the small bag line or behind 20 people in an any size bag line, all 20 of those people are still going to get into the park and all you're doing by making half the existing lines for small bags is allowing those of us with small bags to jump ahead of those with large bags. Now, if they are adding more lines, that's an entirely different situation.

I do definitely agree with your points too and understand where you're coming from. I've often wondered if they could expand the lanes for bag check but I wonder if there's room? I can't remember off-hand but when I go in a few weeks I'll look again! One day my goal is to take no bag at all. Maybe I will try this trip!