Security Tip

[PurpleKomodo]

Hi all. I thought I would share a security tip that Magic Kingdom security gave us on our recent trip. We travel with my almost 3 year old, who drives a powerchair which is loaded down with lots of medical equipment. On his chair as we approached security was a ventilator (in a bag), a cough assist machine, a suction machine (in a bag), a trach emergency bag, a diaper bag, a cooler bag with his tube feed mix in it, and another cooler with drinks and snacks for the rest of the family. Once set up for the day, it is easiest to not have to take all the bags back off the powerchair to go through security. At Magic Kingdom on our first day, the security officer working with us gave us the tip to request the K-9 unit at each gate to come inspect our stuff. So, we did that for the rest of our trip and it worked beautifully. We would request the K-9 unit and they would bring the dog over. The dog would be walked around the chair and then we would be cleared to go in. All adults and my older 2 children still went through regular security. This definitely saved heartache and time at the gate each day. As with all things, your mileage may vary depending on your set-up and who you talk to, but on our trip, this tip played out quite well for the remainder of our stay.

 

[cobright]

Great tip.

 

[Evita_W]

Hi all. I thought I would share a security tip that Magic Kingdom security gave us on our recent trip. We travel with my almost 3 year old, who drives a powerchair which is loaded down with lots of medical equipment. On his chair as we approached security was a ventilator (in a bag), a cough assist machine, a suction machine (in a bag), a trach emergency bag, a diaper bag, a cooler bag with his tube feed mix in it, and another cooler with drinks and snacks for the rest of the family. Once set up for the day, it is easiest to not have to take all the bags back off the powerchair to go through security. At Magic Kingdom on our first day, the security officer working with us gave us the tip to request the K-9 unit at each gate to come inspect our stuff. So, we did that for the rest of our trip and it worked beautifully. We would request the K-9 unit and they would bring the dog over. The dog would be walked around the chair and then we would be cleared to go in. All adults and my older 2 children still went through regular security. This definitely saved heartache and time at the gate each day. As with all things, your mileage may vary depending on your set-up and who you talk to, but on our trip, this tip played out quite well for the remainder of our stay.

This makes a lot of sense, it's not just you that doesn't want to have the hassle of taking all of that off, I am sure security would prefer to bring the k9 unit over for a quick inspections, as I am sure it is faster than taking all of the bags off. Although, I remember when the new security machines were first being tested, strollers, scooters and powerchairs could roll right through, I have often wondered what happened to make that not a viable option, as that would make this much simpler.

 

[DisneyOma]

The K9 can smell alcohol and glass?

 

[Lilsia]

The K9 can smell alcohol and glass?

I'm not sure that is a big concern. I can easily carry a small glass flask of alcohol in my pocket and go through security.

 

[Evita_W]

I'm not sure that is a big concern. I can easily carry a small glass flask of alcohol in my pocket and go through security.

Actually, there new scanners are designed to catch that, not saying it will 100% of the time, just that they are designed to.

 

[Lilsia]

Actually, there new scanners are designed to catch that, not saying it will 100% of the time, just that they are designed to.

I understand that, but my point was, their main concern is guns and other weapons that can harm others. I am sure plenty of people sneak in alcohol in water bottles, etc. I doubt that a bit of alcohol is worth it for them to inconvenience a child in a special chair with a bunch of medical equipment. The dogs did their job. I can't imagine anyone would want the family to go through the hassle of taking everything apart, just so that they can check for some alcohol.

 

[DisSurfer878]

The K9 can smell alcohol and glass?

I believe glass is allowed if needed for medical reasons, so inspecting a child's medical equipment would not be in the same ballpark with the glass issue.

 

[DisneyOma]

I believe glass is allowed if needed for medical reasons, so inspecting a child's medical equipment would not be in the same ballpark with the glass issue.

Yes, for medical reasons, baby food jars, etc. If the dog can smell everything that needs to be checked, why not just have dogs for every safety check, and stop the charade of opening bags, etc, for everyone?

 

[Moliphino]

Yes, for medical reasons, baby food jars, etc. If the dog can smell everything that needs to be checked, why not just have dogs for every safety check, and stop the charade of opening bags, etc, for everyone?

They don't dig through bags anymore, they have walk-through scanners. Security only checks the bag if the scanner flags something.

 

[Lilsia]

Yes, for medical reasons, baby food jars, etc. If the dog can smell everything that needs to be checked, why not just have dogs for every safety check, and stop the charade of opening bags, etc, for everyone?

It is expensive to have trained dogs and the amount of dogs that would be required all day to sniff out people's bags would be crazy. Dogs get tired and hot too. Plus, as was just posted, we go through the scanners now.

 

[PurpleKomodo]

I am sure the K9 inspection is not as thorough as the traditional ones, but I don’t many people are finding themselves a medically fragile child to bring into the parks just so they can sneak stuff in. Obviously, if you are able to do the regular inspection, you should do that. This is just a nice alternative for those of us that the regular inspection is really difficult for.

 

[Evita_W]

Yes, for medical reasons, baby food jars, etc. If the dog can smell everything that needs to be checked, why not just have dogs for every safety check, and stop the charade of opening bags, etc, for everyone?

They only open your bag if something in it sets off the new scanners, otherwise, walk through and you are good.

 

[DisneyOma]

They don't dig through bags anymore, they have walk-through scanners. Security only checks the bag if the scanner flags something.

So now I'm even more confused - if there are just walk through scanners, why did the OP need a K9 sniff down? Or are the bags put through a different scanner than the one you walk through?

 

[Lilsia]

So now I'm even more confused - if there are just walk through scanners, why did the OP need a K9 sniff down? Or are the bags put through a different scanner than the one you walk through?

People that are walking go through the scanners. Any wheeled device needs to have a separate inspection.

 

[SueM in MN]

So now I'm even more confused - if there are just walk through scanners, why did the OP need a K9 sniff down? Or are the bags put through a different scanner than the one you walk through?

Guests walk thru the scanner carrying their bags.
The only reason bags are hand checked is if something about the bag causes an alert. This is the company the scanners are from.
Evolv Technology

People that are walking go through the scanners. Any wheeled device needs to have a separate inspection.

This!
Wheeled devices like strollers, wheelchairs, rollators, ECVs don’t go thru the scanners. If the guest is able to walk, they would get off and walk thru the scanner with their bags. Any bags on the wheeled device can be taken off and the guest can carry them thru the scanner.
Anything that can’t be removed/is difficult to remove is hand checked, or could be checked by the dog as the OP mentioned.
We were able to remove our DD’s backpack and carry it thru the scanner. She had one small bag under her wheelchair that is difficult to remove and contained a small bag and a poncho. I removed the small bag and carried it thru the scanner. The bag under the chair totally opens so the CMs could see into it easily; they did not make me remove it.