How Does the Terrorism Alert Affect Your Travel Plans to the Disney Theme Parks?
MouseSavers reader Lisa L recently wrote me, "In light of the recent upgrade of the terrorism alert, I thought it might be interesting to address how this would affect WDW regarding security..."
I suspect many of us are concerned about the fact that the US government has gone to an "Orange Alert" status, indicating a "High" probability of terrorist activity. It's truly a scary world out there, and for those of us planning to travel, it's just one more thing to worry about.
But should that stop you from going to a Disney theme park? Absolutely not. I'm going myself -- to Walt Disney World in early March, and to
Disneyland Paris in early April.
I'm not going to make the argument that "we have to go on living our lives, or the terrorists win" -- although I do feel that way, very strongly. No, what I want to tell you is that I think the Disney theme parks are among the safest public places to be, these days.
As you are probably aware, since 9/11 Disney has been searching guests' bags before they can enter the theme parks. I've heard some complaints that these searches are too cursory. In all honesty, however, I think the reason Disney can make these bag searches rather minimal is that even if a "bad guy" carries something into the parks, he is going to have a tough time committing any kind of crime once he's in there!
Disney has excellent security in its theme parks. There is heavy video surveillance: long before 9/11, Disney had cameras watching just about everything in the parks, and there are even infrared cameras in the dark rides. Disney also has a large number of both uniformed and undercover security officers wandering the parks at all times. A significant number of Orange County Sheriff's Office deputies are assigned to the theme parks all day, every day. Many areas where the public might try to wander "back stage" have pressure-sensitive floor mats that set off alarms. In addition, I've been told that Disney has numerous other security controls in place that it does not discuss publicly.
Disney's security procedures are so renowned that other organizations, including the Federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that now manages airport security, have "borrowed" Disney experts to assist them with developing crowd management and security measures, according to an April 2002 report by TechLive. John Hannigan, a professor at the University of Toronto, wrote in a 2001 article that "Thomas Vonier, an architect who has consulted widely with the US State Department on security matters, cites the Disney theme parks as one of the best contemporary examples of what he terms 'large-scale urban control zones'."
You'd be amazed at how quickly Disney Security will appear if anything looks "off." Just a couple of examples:
A man started yelling at his wife in a Walt Disney World gift shop. Within a minute, two Disney Security officers were at his elbows, and quietly, immediately took him "back stage" to cool off.
A child tripped on some water in front of Innoventions -- she didn't even fall down -- and within 30 seconds a Disney representative was rushing over with a Mickey Mouse medical bag. He said he'd seen her slip over closed circuit cameras.
As far as public places go, Disney has better security than almost any place you can name. I feel safer going to a Disney theme park than I would attending a ballgame or going to the mall. Yet I will do all of those things. I didn't hesitate to go to Walt Disney World two weeks after 9/11, and I'm not hesitating now.
Of course there are no guarantees in this life, but I still believe the Disney theme parks are the "happiest places on Earth" and I hope you will continue making plans to visit them and put aside your worries for awhile!
