We were robbed at Epcot!

[DizneeCM]

We came out of Blizzard Beach and found security (or police, I don't remember) next to our rental car. They asked us to check our car to see if we were missing anything, because the car next to ours had been broken into. We weren't missing anything, but the door had been jimmied open.

 

[Esmerelda]

NEVER FORGET:

Theft occurs when there is an opportunity....(and that could be a million times a day)

It doesn't matter where you are..the grocery store...a gas station...the doctors office...an airport....etc.

Being on vacation makes you a better target...you are more interested in what's going on around you and that's prime time for a thief. You also are carrying lots of cash with you, and/or cameras and the smart theft realizes this.

ALWAYS have your guard up and take care of all valuables...at any place at any time

Esmerelda

 

[jiminyml]

......that you could not take the stroller in. Yes, THAT was a disney policy. I just can't believe that people leave purchases in or on a stroller, leave it unattended, and enter an attraction. Leave the STROLLER, take the VALUABLES.

I agree that stealing is stealing, and of course, it is not right. But I feel the same as some of the other posters do: i.e. if this had been be, I would have thought "Darn! I can't believe I MYSELF made the mistake of leaving that in the stroller!! I sure need to be more careful from now on."

I'm not trying to be rude, or say that the OP should not be upset, but it seems to me that it was indeed a mistake on the OPs part to leave those purchases and the backpack in the stroller. Like I said, if strollers are not allowed, leave the STROLLER outside, not everything in it, especially if you are going in to have dinner and can carry a little extra. And again, shame on the folks that took it as well.

 

[Jenn]

We have been on both ends of lost and found.

My DH left our camcorder case holding not only the camcorder, but also our camera in it on a table at the burger place near RNR and TOT. Probably $1,400 worth of equipment. It was safe and sound in lost and found at the front of the park. Luckily, a CM cleaning tables had found it and turned it in.

Less $$ value but practically as important, my DD lost a Daisy stuffed animal purchased that morning at Epcot. We think she may have left it behind when we had lunch. It was also in lost and found.

On our most recent trip in December, we found a digital camera near Test Track. We brought it to lost and found.

With that said, the only thing I leave in my stroller is the diaper bag and water bottles. Cameras go with us, and I wear a fanny pack for money and park passes, etc.

 

[BethC1952]

Please make sure that, when you retrieve your stroller from the "parking area", you take yours! We sent DH to get our grand-daughter's stroller after riding KS in AK, and he came back with a stroller. It was exactly the same as hers--except that it had someone's souvenirs in the (we hadn't done any shopping yet, and we always have our packages sent to the resort so that we don't have to carry stuff). We returned it immediately, and explained to the CM that it had been a mistake, which was obvious as soon as he saw our stroller. Had the other family come out, they might have thought that someone stole their stuff, when, in reality, it was just absent-minded old grandpa trying to do something good! To prevent that from happening again, we tied a big, lime green bow on the top of the handle. Grandpa's also pretty color-blind, but at least he knew to look for a huge bow!

Beth

 

[MI mom of 3]

Originally posted by safetymom
If someone returns your item be sure to take the time to thank them.

My daughter found an autograph book at a property sale in WDW. It had someones name and address. Daughter went and got more autographs and sent it to the person.

She never received a thank you.

I left my purse in the cart at the local Target. When I realized it I drove back, of course it was gone. I was sick about it. My wallet, cell phone, etc lost!!

Got home and DD16 handed me my purse!!!

A couple had found it and had gone to all the trouble to drive it to my house!!

Later that night I realized that there were 2 business cards in there that I didn't recognize. The couple had put their cards in, I guess so I would know who had found it.

I got each of them a $25 GC to Outback and mailed them in Thank you cards in care of their offices.

There are good people out there and they need to be recognized.

 

[disneyaggie]

Hi MI Mom of 3 !

A friend of mine is a police officer and he told me that when he is in a store and sees a woman who leaves her purse open and walks away from it, he walks by her purse, drops in his business card and then waits for her at the end of the aisle.

When she gets to him, he says, "Excuse me ma'am, but I am a local police officer specializing in Crime Prevention and I just wanted to let you know your purse was not secure". He says that when they snap back, "Sure it was, I was with it the whole time", he adds, "Hmm, well if you look inside your 'secure' purse, you will find my business card that I just dropped inside next to your wallet"!

 

[Missy1961]

Originally posted by disneyaggie
Hi MI Mom of 3 !

A friend of mine is a police officer and he told me that when he is in a store and sees a woman who leaves her purse open and walks away from it, he walks by her purse, drops in his business card and then waits for her at the end of the aisle.

When she gets to him, he says, "Excuse me ma'am, but I am a local police officer specializing in Crime Prevention and I just wanted to let you know your purse was not secure". He says that when they snap back, "Sure it was, I was with it the whole time", he adds, "Hmm, well if you look inside your 'secure' purse, you will find my business card that I just dropped inside next to your wallet"!

That drives me crazy! I hate when people are grocery shopping and while they are looking for something, there is their purse, usually open, with their wallet just hanging there. I always want to say something, but I'm afraid they'll think I'm trying to steal something!

 

[musical2]

I thank many of you for your kinds words. I knew we were taking our chances leaving some of the things in the stroller. That is why we took the really valuable things with us (cameras, tapes, and autograph books). There was nothing really valuable left in there that couldn't be replaced. It was just a very frustrating experience. The theft of the children's souvenirs bothered me the most. And the reason we didn't have them sent to guest services for pickup at the front of the park is because the kids wanted to play with them during the day and at the evening "Reflections of Earth" show. The souvenirs were Minnie ears and a princess light up hat and those princess lighted whirly things (I don't know what they're called). But everything turned out great in the end. Guest services and security were great to our kids and to us.

And yes we did indeed write up a good thank you note at guest services for the CM from Mexico that came to our rescue and entertained the children to distract them from their disappointment. And you should have seen the look on their faces when Jodee from Guest Services came on her Segway with replacements for their toys and head wear.

Bart

 

[jgates]

Well....this is another one of the Wisconsin bunch. This trip (last week) we turned in one child's sunvisor, one bag with an unknown gift box in it that was in China's large shopping area by the purses and something else that I really don't remember - the heat was starting to get to me. Obviously it must have been to others too as these all occurred in the same afternoon!!! Seems like there was something at one of the other parks too but my memory fails me.

 

[bunnyfoo]

I'm glad things worked out for you in the end and that WDW was able to help you replace your lost souveniers On my last trip, my new digital camera fell out of my bag because I didn't take the time to close it properly. Luckily for me, someone turned into the CM where I had dropped it and I was able to pick it up shortly. After that, I always made sure my camera was where it should be and my bag properly closed

 

[MaryKatesMom]

One of my daughter had the Princess Hat with the ears and we left it on the stroller many times. You can't wear them on a ride and it didn't fit in my camera bag that I kept all the valuables in. The only thing I could think of to do was mark the inside of the hat with our name and hope no one wanted a used hat.

Not really sure what other options you would have with those things.

 

[Danauk]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience but glad the cast members went out of their way to make it up to you. Thanks to this site I was well aware of people stealing things at WDW on my last visit. DH and I have no kids so don't need a stroller. We made sure though that we had our purchases sent back to our resort (except for small ones that we could fit in our back pack.) We carried a back pack around the parks and put our tickets, money, digital camera and camcorder in the main section that we locked with a combination padlock. Then we put other replaceable items eg suntan lotion in the smaller sections of the bag. We didn't find it a hastle and were able to take the bag on all the rides (including ToT and RnRC) so the bad never left our sight.