Stupid Guest Tricks

felinefan wrote:Back in the 80s, I worked as a security guard--rent-a-cop type, they send you to their contract places--and once I was working in the now-defunct Gemco store in the San Fernando Valley. One day, this guy comes around, upset, and asks if I've seen his kids. He described them, and since I hadn't seen them, I said no. Since this was around the time Adam Walsh went missing and was found dead, some parents were really wary of their kids going off. Anyway, this guy says, "Well, they better be here, or I'm going to go home and get my gun and settle this right here" --meaning if he found a stranger with his kids, he was going to take the law into his own hands. Luckily, his wife was in the store, and she had the kids. I later saw them walking out of the store together. I was never so glad to see a family leave the store!

gotta love the people in the SFV!!!!!! ;)

Lost My Son Jamie once at Disneyland......Stupid lady I was with had rented
a stroller for her sick 6 year old...Jamie was maybe 5. All of a sudden she takes off RUNNING for Indiana Jones back in the day of the 2 hour waits.Jamie runs after her. I'm dragging Jamie's 3 year old brother, can't keep up, but I'm thinking she'll keep track
of Jamie....Wrongo! I finally find her in line, she has no idea where he is!
I tell her off, then go to security. They found him quickly, I was so grateful!
She was such a beyotch, after that she was telling everyone at work how my kids were such brats..yeah, they whined a little at the turnstiles, that's it,but then they weren't lethargic with illness like her grandaughter
A couple years after that she said her daughter's 2 year old was diagnosed with autism..I hope she would be more attentive to that kid than she was with mine! :mad:

GRUMPY PIRATE wrote:Those guys can move FAST. I now don't blame the parents, with their kids, who have the "wrist leash" on.

I don't either and I wouldn't hesitate to use one.

We did our own variation when my daughter was little by having her hold onto either the stroller if she had to walk, the strap of my mother's purse or the long end of the belt that was loose after I tightened my belt-pack. If she let go, someone knew it.

My mother also dutifully taped a label to the back of her shirt every morning with our cell phone number on it.

Of course, being that we were attentive she never got lost. She now could give directions to anyone, anywhere as to how to get from A to B on property and even does the Disney Point LOL. She learned it from the concierges at the GF. LOL

This isn't a joke- I may have told this story before forgive me if I'm repeating. I was in a ladies room at the Studios one morning on a trip a few years back and a woman was screaming at her daughter because she had almost left to go outside while the mother was washing her hands. She saw the look cross my face at the shout and she said "We saw an attempted abduction this morning, so I'm still rattled." She told me that a family with several small children was unloading from the bus at MK and a strange woman just took the two year old by the hand and quietly led the child away. As the bus was crowded, it took a minute to unload everyone. then the family was all off the bus and counting heads on the curb and immediately the mother starts freaking out.

I guess the child was a little ways up the lot by that point- and the woman heard the commotion and took off just leaving the child behind.

People get a false sense of security in WDW. You just can't afford to.

February wrote:I don't either and I wouldn't hesitate to use one.

We did our own variation when my daughter was little by having her hold onto either the stroller if she had to walk, the strap of my mother's purse or the long end of the belt that was loose after I tightened my belt-pack. If she let go, someone knew it.

My mother also dutifully taped a label to the back of her shirt every morning with our cell phone number on it.

Of course, being that we were attentive she never got lost. She now could give directions to anyone, anywhere as to how to get from A to B on property and even does the Disney Point LOL. She learned it from the concierges at the GF. LOL

This isn't a joke- I may have told this story before forgive me if I'm repeating. I was in a ladies room at the Studios one morning on a trip a few years back and a woman was screaming at her daughter because she had almost left to go outside while the mother was washing her hands. She saw the look cross my face at the shout and she said "We saw an attempted abduction this morning, so I'm still rattled." She told me that a family with several small children was unloading from the bus at MK and a strange woman just took the two year old by the hand and quietly led the child away. As the bus was crowded, it took a minute to unload everyone. then the family was all off the bus and counting heads on the curb and immediately the mother starts freaking out.

I guess the child was a little ways up the lot by that point- and the woman heard the commotion and took off just leaving the child behind.

People get a false sense of security in WDW. You just can't afford to.

AAACCCKKK!!! Scary!

I probably shouldn't admit this, but we lost my niece on the Wonder during the first few hours we were on the ship. There was 10 of us going to our staterooms. She was 10 and ran up the stairs faster then her parents and us. We didn't realize that she was missing until we got to the staterooms. Thank goodness we always told the kids if they get seperated to find a CM at the last place we were all together. We found her about 10 minutes later at the kids club. She was talking to the CMs. Thank You- Great Disney CM's.

February wrote:I was in a ladies room at the Studios one morning on a trip a few years back and a woman was screaming at her daughter because she had almost left to go outside while the mother was washing her hands. She saw the look cross my face at the shout and she said "We saw an attempted abduction this morning, so I'm still rattled." She told me that a family with several small children was unloading from the bus at MK and a strange woman just took the two year old by the hand and quietly led the child away. As the bus was crowded, it took a minute to unload everyone. When the family was all off the bus and counting heads on the curb and immediately the mother starts freaking out.

I guess the child was a little ways up the lot by that point- and the woman heard the commotion and took off just leaving the child behind.

People get a false sense of security in WDW. You just can't afford to.

Just for reference, there has never been a kidnapping at WDW. We checked FBI and Orange County records and there's not a single case on file.

Mind you, a few kids have been kidnapped and *taken* to WDW.... I mean, how do you think we keep Small World staffed?

Zazu wrote:Just for reference, there has never been a kidnapping at WDW. We checked FBI and Orange County records and there's not a single case on file.

Mind you, a few kids have been kidnapped and *taken* to WDW.... I mean, how do you think we keep Small World staffed?

Well, I was VERY inappropriately touched by a CM as a child (I was ten and I remember it VERY vividly) and it was never reported, I can tell you that for an absolute certainty because it happened to me.

That's reason enough for me to believe the lady's story- even if it didn't get reported. Maybe because it wasn't a 'successful' abduction? I don't know.

But I do know what happened to me and I will tell people flat out. Do not let your kids go off alone in WDW- not even just to the gift shop while you're elsewhere in the hotel. Just don't do it.

If you feel my post above spreads untrue or hearsay type information please delete it, then delete this one too. All I know is the panic in the woman's eyes rang true with me as a mother- she had no reason to make the story up, and I certainly would not ever make up anything like what happened to me.

I never told my parents what happened to me, not until many years afterward.

Anyway. . .I'm sorry if I sound frustrated it's just that by saying there has never been a documented abduction from WDW I feel as if people will take that to mean it's safe and they don't have to protect their kids like they do anywhere else, and that just scares me to death.

There are too many people out there looking for an opportunity. You can't let your guard down, not anywhere.

Zazu wrote:Just for reference, there has never been a kidnapping at WDW. We checked FBI and Orange County records and there's not a single case on file.

Mind you, a few kids have been kidnapped and *taken* to WDW.... I mean, how do you think we keep Small World staffed?

Please delete my previous post.

I know what happened to me as a child once in WDW is motivation enough to keep me from ever letting my own kid go off alone in WDW but hey, since there has never been a documented abduction, then I must not know what I'm talking about in the other instance. So please delete it.

Thanks.

February wrote:I know what happened to me as a child once in WDW is motivation enough to keep me from ever letting my own kid go off alone in WDW but hey, since there has never been a documented abduction, then I must not know what I'm talking about in the other instance.

I'm sorry, I never meant to dis you or to doubt what you reported. I know that bad things do happen everywhere, WDW included.

However, there are a lot of Internet rumors about kid snatching at the Parks, and it's nice for me to be able to say it's never happened. I will admit that sentence probably deserves a "yet" at the end.

February wrote:Please delete my previous post.

I know what happened to me as a child once in WDW is motivation enough to keep me from ever letting my own kid go off alone in WDW but hey, since there has never been a documented abduction, then I must not know what I'm talking about in the other instance. So please delete it.

Thanks.

DON"T delete it. The reason is that it is a good example of a wise attitude on watching your kids.

In my profession, I have heard people say things like this. The truth behind stories like that, which evolve to urban legends, is that people do not believe that a fear of theirs will be held with the same conviction that they hold it, by others, so they "personify" it with a tale of horror, such as "If the mother had just been a little more attentive, it would not have happened" and so forth. Indeed, if you read a lot of the urban legends about personal safety, the theme comes out again and again. A moments focus off the child and he is gone! The kid in your story could have waited outside the bathroom with no problems, but in the mother mind, that way lead to certain abduction. The sad truth is that a person that wants to abduct a child will "stalk" and see the time when they could take the child with no witnesses and chance observation.

The fact that WDW and DLR are continously crowded and busy, is actually a good thing. (not to mention security and CM's everywhere!)

Don't feel silly because you are concerned for your kids. Its no longer a time that you do not have to worry about safety. When I was growing up, I would leave my house in the summer to play with my buddies, and the only requirement was to be home for supper. Sad to say those days are gone forever.

GRUMPY PIRATE wrote:DON"T delete it. The reason is that it is a good example of a wise attitude on watching your kids.

*snip* The sad truth is that a person that wants to abduct a child will "stalk" and see the time when they could take the child with no witnesses and chance observation.

The fact that WDW and DLR are continously crowded and busy, is actually a good thing. (not to mention security and CM's everywhere!)

Don't feel silly because you are concerned for your kids. Its no longer a time that you do not have to worry about safety. When I was growing up, I would leave my house in the summer to play with my buddies, and the only requirement was to be home for supper. Sad to say those days are gone forever.

Well, what happened to me was bad enough even though it didn't end in an abduction it very well could have- and what you say about the person watching a child of interest first was true in my case.

I hate to 'spoil' the image of pristine safety of wdw for anyone, so if you'd rather not read what happened to me, please skip the rest of this post. I have thought long and hard about posting it (posted something about it somewhere here in the past) but if it saves one kid from a bad experience it's worth it. I know it's not the most horrible thing that has ever happened to a child but it was bad enough.

I was 10. We were staying at a certain resort I will not name because there's no need to but it is a WDW on property resort.

My family had been watching in the lobby entertainment at the hotel several times during our stay- and on of the entertainers seemed to take a shine to me. My sister commented on this. I remember her saying later she didn't like the way he was looking at me. But I was 10. I was oblivious.

My parents were oblivious.

Later my parents went to take my brother to a movie in a small theater at the same resort (old time wdw-goers will remember which resort used to have a movie theater in it)

I went to buy a stuffed toy in the gift shop.

Interested CM got off of work and followed me there (not in costume- in street clothes)

I didn't know what to do.

I remembered that my family was in the theater and instead of going to the nearest CM and asking for help (which I should have done, if my parents had trained me properly) I thought if I went there I'd be okay.

This guy FOLLOWED ME into the dark theater and as soon as he was through the doors his hands were all over me, including in my shirt. I was standing at the back, hoping he wouldn't come in- but he just came right in and up behind me and I was frozen. I was such a polite kid I didn't want to interrupt the movie.

I was TEN. Finally I thought to whisper to him that my dad was the big guy sitting in the front row.

He just let go of me and disappeared. I didn't see him again during the rest of our trip.

This experience taught me several things. One, that children will not know what to do if you do not teach them and tell them explicitely what to do if they are being followed.

two- that a child should be taught that it is not impolite to scream if someone is touching them in an inappropriate way. I was such a good kid I didn't want to make anyone angry by interrupting the movie.

Three- unless you explicitely tell your children that no one is allowed to touch them- if it happens- they will think somehow it was their fault.

I thought for years I must have done something to deserve the incident but I remember exactly to this day what I was wearing (it was totally normal modest clothing- jeans and a lavendar knitted sweater with a lace peter-pan style collar) i was ten and I was alone. I tried my best to think of a way out of it but I just wasn't equipped.

So.

Thank you Zazu for your additional comments- I did feel that your remarks especially the joke at the end of your first post- made me look foolish for my original post. I appreciate your apology and I likewise apologize if I have said/am saying anything disrespectful to you as a moderator here. I did not post what I did to propogate myths and I am the first on SNOPES to check out urban legends. Believe me if I had not talked to the woman myself I never would have mentioned it at all.

All I can tell you is that I was fondled by a Disney employee on disney property because my parents were too trusting. I do not blame Disney for this and I still consider Walt Disney World to be the 'home of my heart' despite the bad experience.

But you can bet I will never make that same mistake my parents made with my own child who- also, though she may look like a girly little thing, is a black belt in tae kwon do and could cheerfully dismember anyone who ever lays a hand on her.

With my blessing. I told her if anyone ever tries to touch her that she is to rip their arm off and beat them to death with it.

~Bru