Theft in park

[MrsDuck]

Sounds like she learned a valuable lesson.

 

[bluezy]

I think that most people are good and mean well - not just Disney park visitors. We hear so much about bad things that we tend to believe that no one can be trusted. Just my theory.

As for what used to happen, I remember hearing about video cameras and walkmans and so on being stolen. This is definitely not new.

I agree -- most people are good and mean well. Unfortunately, not everyone sees their "good deed" as good. A few years ago when we were at Epcot we were sitting and enjoying some snacks in the outdoor seating area in France. While we were sitting there, we noticed a Disney Parks merchandise bag on the ground along the wall about 10' away from us. We watched it while we finished up our snacks and no one ever went near the bag. Thinking someone may have left it behind, we walked over to it and gently tried to look inside thinking maybe it was just a bag of trash. It wasn't. There were some pricey souvenirs in it. We asked other people in the area if it belonged to them. No one claimed it. One person said it was there when he sat down and he was there before us. We looked around for anyone who might have been looking for it (thinking they might not have remembered exactly where they were sitting when they left it behind). So after a total of about 5-7 minutes (starting with when we first noticed the bag), we decided to take it in to the gift shop and give it to a CM. No sooner did we walk out of the gift shop when we heard a young woman (probably in her late 20's) having a meltdown screaming, "Someone stole our bag!!!! Who would just pick up a bag that wasn't theirs and walk away with it???? What is wrong with people? I can't believe someone stole our stuff!!!!" So of course we waked over and told her that after watching the bag for over 5 minutes, we gave it to a CM so no one would steal it. She continued to flip out -- yelling at us for touching her stuff, saying we stole her stuff, etc. Someone else who knew what we had done yelled at the lady and said she should be thanking us for turning it in rather than walking off with it. The woman continued to rant saying she and her husband had "just walked around the corner to take a picture and had only been gone about 10 seconds." <eye roll> We just told her the name of the CM we left her stuff with and walked away. I'm sure when she got home she told a story about how some crazy people took her bag of souvenirs when she was standing right next to it.

So apparently even the "good guys" are bad sometimes.

 

[married2mm]

I agree -- most people are good and mean well. Unfortunately, not everyone see's their "good deed" as good. A few years ago when we were at Epcot we were sitting and enjoying some snacks in the outdoor seating area in France. While we were sitting there, we noticed a Disney Parks merchandise bag on the ground along the wall about 10' away from us. We watched it while we finished up our snacks and no one ever went near the bag. Thinking someone may have left it behind, we walked over to it and gently tried to look inside thinking maybe it was just a bag of trash. It wasn't. There were some pricey souvenirs in it. We asked other people in the area if it belonged to them. No one claimed it. One person said it was there when he sat down and he was there before us. We looked around for anyone who might have been looking for it (thinking they might not have remembered exactly where they were sitting when they left it behind). So after a total of about 5-7 minutes (starting with when we first noticed the bag), we decided to take it in to the gift shop and give it to a CM. No sooner did we walk out of the gift shop when we heard a young woman (probably in her late 20's) having a meltdown screaming, "Someone stole our bag!!!! Who would just pick up a bag that wasn't theirs and walk away with it???? What is wrong with people? I can't believe someone stole our stuff!!!!" So of course we waked over and told her that after watching the bag for over 5 minutes, we gave it to a CM so no one would steal it. She continued to flip out -- yelling at us for touching her stuff, saying we stole her stuff, etc. Someone else who knew what we had done yelled at the lady and said she should be thanking us for turning it in rather than walking off with it. The woman continued to rant saying she and her husband had "just walked around the corner to take a picture and had only been gone about 10 seconds." <eye roll> We just told her the name of the CM we left her stuff with and walked away. I'm sure when she got home she told a story about how some crazy people took her bag of souvenirs when she was standing right next to it.

So apparently even the "good guys" are bad sometimes.

Jeez...

We've had a similar experience once-but the bag of souvenirs for us was actually a small child-
Even scarier!!!

 

[KimBean]

You always run the risk of there being a selfish opportunist lurking nearby who thinking they can get away with it will be the worst type of human.

However I bet at Disney if there was anyway to keep stats of such things more people would be good samaritans then not.

A couple of personal experiences. I used to leave a cheap ugly backpack with stroller when we went on rides. It had nothing that couldn't be replaced, diapers, wipes that kind of stuff. Didn't want to lug it and if it went missing so be it. No one ever touched it in 3 week long trips.

My husband accidentally left our camera in the bin of my FILs scooter when we went into cosmic rays to eat. 30 minutes later he realizes and runs out and it was sitting there.

I left a really cute disney hat that cost about $40 and was brand new on BTMR. It was in lost and found that evening.

So you always want to guard your stuff but I just want to say humans aren't all selfish yet.

 

[fla4fun]

I once found a smartphone left on a bench, and another day an expensive camera left hanging in a bathroom stall. Both items were turned in and hopefully made it back to their owners. It feels horrible when something goes missing, especially if it was preventable.

I can understand how people get distracted, but we all have to take a bit of personal responsibility and use some common sense. While I feel bad that the girl lost the $100, it was a preventable situation. She is lucky she got anything back. It's just a reminder to the rest of us to be more aware.

Oh, and not all locals are thieves .

 

[marx]

9 years ago at Epcot we forgot our sleeping toddler in a stroller. While walking towards the Land Pavilion, my wife, mother in law, sister in law and I looked at each other and said who has the baby? Luckily, nobody took her. I was back to stroller parking in under a minute from leaving her.

 

[Beer Me]

Sometimes folks get caught in the Disney bubble and forget that the real world still exists. I know I've been caught in the moment and went to walk away from a table and then remembered my bag. It happens.

We all got up at Tusker House and DW looked at me like I was crazy for leaving the backpack on the chair. So I picked it up and took it to the buffet of course. She was right

Goofy may be coming around to give us a high five but we are still in the real world.

 

[Jules76126]

That is too bad that the money was stolen, but I am glad she got her ID and bag back. People don't always think. I have lost valuable things before due to my own negligence. It is definitely a learning experience and I am sure she will not leave her bag unattended again. People leave things unattended all the time. When I was a CM, a couple had their stroller stolen wile on Spaceship Earth. They came off the ride and were yelling that someone stole it. It was a very unfortunate situation, but CM are not here to watch peoples things and that is exact what they thought was going to happen.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

I would also caution people about leaving a bag unattended because it may be seen as a threat. I was at Hollywood Studios a couple of years ago and saw a backpack sitting by the wall, all by itself. I watched it for a while while I was eating. Just as I was getting ready to go take it to someone, CMs with ear pieces came out of no where and cleared the area. I watched from a distance while they formed a circle around the backpack and then brought in a bomb sniffing dog. This went on for a few minutes and finally, they opened the bag and discovered it was just someone's park bag, filled with the usual stuff. They picked it up (I'm guessing to take it to lost and found) and then went back through the hidden door they all came from.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

In the rare occasion we do buffets in our family we rotate so someone is always at the table

 

[River Country]

That stinks

I left my DW at a table in a CRT to go to the bathroom but she was still there when I got back

 

[ChristinaMarie95]

Not surprising, but still disheartening. Anywhere there are crowds there will be that one person.