sml2181
TUG Member
Just curious - if this would have happened to you, what would you have done - and do you think I still should do something?
Before this happened to me, just some information. The last time I visited the resort was almost 10 years ago. We have had annual passes in Orlando for the last 10 years. This year we decided to treat DH's family to a week long trip to the Marriott's Village d'Ile de France (we are regulars there) - some II exchanges and some private exchanges made it possible that we had 10 units. We bought 17 Disney day passes and 11 annual passes (the annual passes are in a completely different price range than the Orlando passes - much less expensive - , but still).
As you can imagine (or maybe not), it took me quite some time and work to "host" such a party. I had been quite busy with preparations, and by the time we were actually at the park, at a certain point, it must have been 3.15pm or so (I didn't wear my watch but I received a phone call at 3pm after which I put my phone in our bag), everything got a little too much for me. So I told everyone to just go ahead, but that I needed some rest and some coffee. They arranged the coffee for me and left me at one of the benches in front of the castle. They would be back right after a certain show (the one with the cars and stunts), which would only last for maybe 15 minutes. They took all our bags, which included my phone and my wallet - and most importantly - my entrance ticket.
After I finished my coffee, I was approached by a security guard. She asked me to show her my entrance ticket. "Sure" I said, but then I remembered that it was in my wallet, in our bag, which DH had taken with him - and he was at the other park. I explained this, and I told her that my family members would be back soon and I would be happy to show her my ticket after their return. Then I was told that I couldn't wait for DH in the park and she asked me to follow her.
At this point, I did not really think much of the situation, other than that it did feel a bit unreal.
Before I knew it, I was walked outside the gates. Not in the area between both parks, but completely outside, near the station and the bus stops. At that point I asked whether I could call my husband. And at that point she stopped speaking French - I tried English but she couldn't or wouldn't understand that at all. I tried to speak to some of her colleagues. Then I started to panick and I raised my voice (ok, should not have done that), and I asked the same lady again to guide me to a place where I could at least call DH. To no avail. She left and told her colleagues to watch me.
So no entrance ticket, no money, no credit card and no phone (I know now - very very thoughtless.) I could see the people coming back to the Magic Kingdom from the Studio's. The area between the 2 parks was getting very crowded and although I couldn't see much, I did see DH coming out of the Studio park. I wanted to scream but it was so crowded that he couldn't have heard me.
I begged (at least that's how it felt) people to let me use their phone. I saw my family members looking for me but they didn't see me because they didn't have a clue where to look for me, and, I was not allowed to come close to any of the gates. And the lines got heavier. At all gates, security was telling me to back off.
Finally, there was this nice German lady who let me use her phone. I called DH - and tried to explain where he could find me. After a lot more hassle and discussions with security, he was finally allowed to take me with him.
By the time we met our family members, the 7pm Parade was almost at it's end.
I didn't want to make a big fuss out of this. However, everyone had panicked and my daughters and nieces are still in tears when thinking of it. My first priority was to make sure we could end the day on a positive note - we had lost more than 3 hours. Some of the kids in our party had never been to Disney before, and may never go back again, so I really didn't want to spoil the rest of the evening. I just laughed it away and I told the kids that security simply did what they were supposed to do and that I had been the one in fault. This was also not too long after the Boston bombings, so I explained to the kids that it was in their best interest that security had been so strict. Looking back, it might have been strange to see a single lady sitting on a bench - all by herself. I don't know. I don't think I look dangerous or suspicious, but you never know and you learn something every day.
The rest of the week we were busy with other things (we got a new king we had to watch on TV, we had to visit Paris twice, Provins and the Chateau Vaux le Vicomte) and our own family of 6 was leaving a day early because we had to take a short trip to Dallas. We also had some other stuff going on so we just didn't make this a priority in our minds. However, my children were really upset immediately.
A few weeks have passed during which I have been very busy with other, more important things in life. But, it is in the back of my mind every day and everyone tells me this is ridiculous. As I mentioned, my daughters have been REALLY upset and they are at the point that they never want to go to Disney again. Same for my boys and most of our family members. (Remember the annual passes?) My friends have been urging me to do "something". I just don't know what that "something" should include, or to whom to turn. And in a way, I do feel that tight security is a good thing, especially on these very busy days. I feel it is just too bad it happened to me. And yes, I do feel that they picked the "wrong" person, but in all honesty, that is because of the number of passes I bought that day!
So my questions to you: would you have done anything and do you think I still should do "something"?
And sorry for the long post...
Before this happened to me, just some information. The last time I visited the resort was almost 10 years ago. We have had annual passes in Orlando for the last 10 years. This year we decided to treat DH's family to a week long trip to the Marriott's Village d'Ile de France (we are regulars there) - some II exchanges and some private exchanges made it possible that we had 10 units. We bought 17 Disney day passes and 11 annual passes (the annual passes are in a completely different price range than the Orlando passes - much less expensive - , but still).
As you can imagine (or maybe not), it took me quite some time and work to "host" such a party. I had been quite busy with preparations, and by the time we were actually at the park, at a certain point, it must have been 3.15pm or so (I didn't wear my watch but I received a phone call at 3pm after which I put my phone in our bag), everything got a little too much for me. So I told everyone to just go ahead, but that I needed some rest and some coffee. They arranged the coffee for me and left me at one of the benches in front of the castle. They would be back right after a certain show (the one with the cars and stunts), which would only last for maybe 15 minutes. They took all our bags, which included my phone and my wallet - and most importantly - my entrance ticket.
After I finished my coffee, I was approached by a security guard. She asked me to show her my entrance ticket. "Sure" I said, but then I remembered that it was in my wallet, in our bag, which DH had taken with him - and he was at the other park. I explained this, and I told her that my family members would be back soon and I would be happy to show her my ticket after their return. Then I was told that I couldn't wait for DH in the park and she asked me to follow her.
At this point, I did not really think much of the situation, other than that it did feel a bit unreal.
Before I knew it, I was walked outside the gates. Not in the area between both parks, but completely outside, near the station and the bus stops. At that point I asked whether I could call my husband. And at that point she stopped speaking French - I tried English but she couldn't or wouldn't understand that at all. I tried to speak to some of her colleagues. Then I started to panick and I raised my voice (ok, should not have done that), and I asked the same lady again to guide me to a place where I could at least call DH. To no avail. She left and told her colleagues to watch me.
So no entrance ticket, no money, no credit card and no phone (I know now - very very thoughtless.) I could see the people coming back to the Magic Kingdom from the Studio's. The area between the 2 parks was getting very crowded and although I couldn't see much, I did see DH coming out of the Studio park. I wanted to scream but it was so crowded that he couldn't have heard me.
I begged (at least that's how it felt) people to let me use their phone. I saw my family members looking for me but they didn't see me because they didn't have a clue where to look for me, and, I was not allowed to come close to any of the gates. And the lines got heavier. At all gates, security was telling me to back off.
Finally, there was this nice German lady who let me use her phone. I called DH - and tried to explain where he could find me. After a lot more hassle and discussions with security, he was finally allowed to take me with him.
By the time we met our family members, the 7pm Parade was almost at it's end.
I didn't want to make a big fuss out of this. However, everyone had panicked and my daughters and nieces are still in tears when thinking of it. My first priority was to make sure we could end the day on a positive note - we had lost more than 3 hours. Some of the kids in our party had never been to Disney before, and may never go back again, so I really didn't want to spoil the rest of the evening. I just laughed it away and I told the kids that security simply did what they were supposed to do and that I had been the one in fault. This was also not too long after the Boston bombings, so I explained to the kids that it was in their best interest that security had been so strict. Looking back, it might have been strange to see a single lady sitting on a bench - all by herself. I don't know. I don't think I look dangerous or suspicious, but you never know and you learn something every day.
The rest of the week we were busy with other things (we got a new king we had to watch on TV, we had to visit Paris twice, Provins and the Chateau Vaux le Vicomte) and our own family of 6 was leaving a day early because we had to take a short trip to Dallas. We also had some other stuff going on so we just didn't make this a priority in our minds. However, my children were really upset immediately.
A few weeks have passed during which I have been very busy with other, more important things in life. But, it is in the back of my mind every day and everyone tells me this is ridiculous. As I mentioned, my daughters have been REALLY upset and they are at the point that they never want to go to Disney again. Same for my boys and most of our family members. (Remember the annual passes?) My friends have been urging me to do "something". I just don't know what that "something" should include, or to whom to turn. And in a way, I do feel that tight security is a good thing, especially on these very busy days. I feel it is just too bad it happened to me. And yes, I do feel that they picked the "wrong" person, but in all honesty, that is because of the number of passes I bought that day!
So my questions to you: would you have done anything and do you think I still should do "something"?
And sorry for the long post...
Lesson learned.
