Victimized in Disneyland

06:05 am on Feb 26th 2008

I’m hope that by writing about this, I feel better about the incident.

On Sunday afternoon, we ducked into the Aladdin show at the Imperial Theatre in Disney’s California Adventure to avoid the rain. As usual, it was a great show, and with my two year old sleeping on my shoulder, my wife, four year old daughter and I exited to find our stroller. I looked for it where I left it, and realized that the cast members had moved all the strollers to a designated area. We looked and looked. After about 10 minutes, all the strollers had been claimed and ours was missing.

My wife and I spoke to show cast members and were told it could have been taken accidently by someone else or possibly stolen. Since there were no other strollers remaining, let alone one that looked like ours, it seemed implausible that it was taken by accident. However, with optimism in our mind and a believe that only good things happen while in the parks, we headed off to lost and found. As we walked, I eyed each stroller. Ours has many distinguishing characteristics after years of use.

In my mind, I was thinking about my kids autograph books that were in the strollers. This was the first trip that my daughter was old enough to be interested in the idea and we had really pumped it up in the days leading to our trip. I also thought about the Princess book and Ratatouille kids cookbook that we had bought earlier in the day. But more pressing in my mind, was how this could happen in Disneyland. Did I need to rethink everything I thought about our safe happy place?

As we walked down the main street of the Backlot, we came to a concession stand that was sitting just outside the path to the Monsters Inc. ride. And there was our stroller. It didn’t have any of our stuff in the carrier compartment, but it was undeniably our stroller. It also had a backpack hanging off it and a girl – probably 10 years old – holding on to it.

When we approached the stroller, there was obviously a family standing around buying some treats at the stand and the girl, with her backpack, was part of that family. They had three strollers counting ours and the parents looked suspect. When we confronted them, they played dumb, then they tried to intimidate us, then they denied it, then they conceded. After a loud verbal exchange that lasted about 10 minutes – in front of our kids and there’s – we were able to retrieve our stroller, the books we had purchased, and my daughter’s autograph book. My son’s autograph book and Mickey pen was gone. A change of cloths we had for him in the stroller was gone. And a piece of our Disney Magic was gone.

I was proud of how my wife kept her cool and didn’t back down. I was proud that I didn’t loose my temper – which I easily could have. I think we set a good example for our kids on how to handle it and after the exchange, we sat down with them and explained what had just happened.

However, since the incident, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling of having such an experience in the happiest place on Earth. We didn’t report it to Disney security. Should we have? Did these parents run off and steal someone else’s stroller? I hope not.

I’ve been embarrassed that it happened. I’ve been sad that it happened. As someone who evangelizes the Disney lifestyle so adamantly, I was crushed by the experience. Victimized is such a strong word, and I don’t use it lightly. As annual passholders in Phoenix, we invest a lot of time, energy and money in our frequent trips to the park. We do it because of our love for the magic of being in a different world. At that moment, we were violently yanked out of this magic world and back into reality.

18 Comments »Tags: , , , , ,

  • http://www.thedisneyblog.com John from TheDisneyBlog.com

    Josh,

    I am sorry this happened to you and count myself lucky that all the times we brought out stroller to the park we never lost anything or had it stolen. However, I think you did the wrong thing by confronting the party on your own and not involving Disney Security. One of you could have kept an eye on the party in question while the other dashed to a store to insist they call security. If you had done so, you may not have felt better, but you probably would have prevented this same party from repeating their action on future visits.

    -John

  • http://grumpyspace.blogspot.com Grumpwust (aka Ray)

    Josh,

    I’m going to have to agree with John. It may be the non-confrontational side of me or the side that is afraid I would haul off and deck the guy, but it is possible this isn’t an isolated incident.

    The fact that some of your personal possessions were discarded informs one that there was knowledge the stroller wasn’t theirs.

    Acts to destroy one’s piece of the Magic should be worth corporal punishment. Not the death penalty but as close as one can get….banishment!

    It’s equivalent to destroying Christmas for a child

  • http://www.claimid.com/joshkenzer Josh

    Yeah, hind sight is always 20-20. After the incident, I regretted not involving Disney Security because we immediately lost sight of these guys and I started thinking about how they could do this to others.

    Maybe my readers will adhere to John’s and and Ray’s advice and take a deep breath and find security.

  • http://www.imaginerding.com biblioadonis aka George

    Josh,

    When we took my mom in 2001 and 2004 to WDW, we locked up her wheelchair everytime we left it. We never really had any fears, but it was her personal chair and it was pretty expensive.

    When my brother went in 2007, he did what you did and left the strollers with bags in them and their backpacks. Egads…in hindsight, I told him that he should have been more careful (since that is what big brothers are for!).

  • http://claimid.com/kurtisnelson Kurt Nelson

    Should have called security. This family was stealing your stroller. They did not make a mistake, they did not think it was theirs, they stole it. Disney security probably would have kicked them out of the park, along with possible banishment.

  • Lee

    I agree, you should have called security. There was no mistake made here, and these people are likely to go ahead and do it again. As a rule we never leave anything in the strollers when we leave them, we bring a big back pack with us and everything goes in there.

  • http://disneydiaries.blogspot.com Chris at Disney Diaries

    Josh,

    I’m going to have to DISagree with John, Ray, Kurt and Lee. If I know the criminal mind (and unfortunately, I do), a confrontation with authority might have had an adverse affect on the outcome of your situation. Cleptomaniacs – and even people who steal out of necessity have an exaggerated sense of self-preservation and a highly developed bullshit-generator. If they had been approached by a third party Security Guard (read: wannabe law enforcement agent), it might have triggered any number of unpleasant reactions, worst of which could have been the detention of you and your family while Disney Security confirmed your story. For a person who has grown up in the world of polite human discourse (such as John, Ray, Kurt, Lee and yourself), confrontation with authority would negatively reinforce your antisocial behavior, and deter you from doing it again. But antisocial or sociopathic types respond more favorably to peer-to-peer confrontation.

    Renegade was definitely the way to go there!

  • glittergirley

    What a bunch of jerks that family was to steal your stroller. Even worse is that they have their own children and were setting horrible examples to their children. Dont worry, I wouldnt have called security either, because really, what could they have done? Just remember that karma is always there and that thieving family will get their comeuppance one day. The thieves stole your son’s clothes and autograph book, dont let them steal your love and warm happy feelings for DL too.

  • http://simplyspiffing.blogspot.com/ Heather

    Hi Josh,
    This is actually the first time I’ve ever read your blog, but I couldn’t resist after reading the title of this post and being a former cast member. I’m so sorry that happened, but should you want new autographs for your son, I can help you with that. Let’s just say I have connections :) No child should have their memories taken away like that and I KNOW how hard it is to get autographs.

  • http://www.claimid.com/joshkenzer Josh

    Heather,
    Thanks for the nice words. My son is only two so he doesn’t really miss the autograph book. I wonder if you could use your connections to see what Disney’s preferred response to this situation would be. I tried to contact them to see what we should have done but haven’t gotten a response.

  • Heather

    Josh,

    I think that if you had told Disney Security about what happened, they would have done everything they could do to help you get your things back and to replace the things that were stolen. When I was working there, and as far as I know they still have a program called “No Strings Attached.” This is basically a program that any cast member can use when they find a guest that needs some sort of intervention to improve their visit. This includes replacing lost or damaged possessions free of charge. For example, I have seen pens replaced for autograph books all the time when they don’t work; also, my friend had her flip flops stepped on by another guest which promptly broke her pair. A cast member witnessed this and got her new flip flops for free. So basically, I wouldn’t be afraid to contact Resort Security; Security, just like any other cast member, wants you to enjoy your trip and create magical memories. If a guest isn’t enjoying their time, cast members need to know (in a polite manner of course :P ) so that guests who abuse the system can be stopped from ruining the trip of others’. I hope this helps,

    Heather :)

  • http://www.claimid.com/joshkenzer Josh

    Heather,
    This is great information. Thanks for sharing it. I definitely contemplated talking to them all day and then didn’t. If it happens again – which I hope it doesn’t – I will make sure I reach out to Disney.

  • Sheri

    Josh- My family & I just went to the Walt Disney World Park and had our stoller stolen this evening. We had experienced the Disney staff moving it often throughout the day so were not overly concerned at the beginning. Once we searched the 3 areas where strollers were located several times we approached the Disney staff. Her response was, “please wait until after the firework show then I will have time to call security”. I approached a second member of the crew & he was more helpful in calling security. A report was taken & the guard (whom was very nice & pleasant) said after the rain let up he would take a look for it. We actually had to request a rental stroller and ponchos! When we went to the baby center to ask for 2 diapers & a small package of wipes- they were going to charge us! (They did end up giving us a trial package). We lost EVERYTHING- the stroller, our diaper bag, & our underwater $900 camera!!! (We NEVER leave it in the diaper bag- but due to the HORRIBLE downpour of rain felt it would be safer staying dry in the bag- we did not think to bring the waterproof casing for it in the park). We felt totally violated & my view of Disney, its magic, and the crew members definately tainted.
    To make this situation worse this was the first time as an extended family (grandfather, aunts, uncles) we have been able to go back to the park since we lost my mother-n-law, neice, & nephew in a car accident back on Thanksgiving weekend. Disney is a culture in our family- we beleive in it’s magic & go to Disney about 2 to 3 times monthly. It has been emotional going back since the loss of our loved ones. This event made it that much more difficult. I hope this message was clear- I am still so angry about this violation. I am grateful my little one is just too young to understand what happened this evening. I am so sorry you suffered the same sense of being violated. I am so glad you were able to get your things back!

  • http://www.claimid.com/joshkenzer Josh

    Sheri,
    I’m sorry to hear about your experience. However, I’m glad that this blog post is providing a platform for other guests to vent about their experience and maybe if it’s a big enough problem, Disney will address it someway.

  • Melanie

    My Stroller just went missing last night at Disneyland and all of our stuff. No “valuables” – just sentimental baby blankets and clothing etc. Oh, how I wish I could confront who took it! I do wish that you had told security… what if the other strollers they had with them were stolen too! I am so saddened by this. I’m happy for you to have found most of your belongings. While I hope you never experience something like this again, I hope that if you do, you think of others and let security get involved.

  • Yoshitsuka Family

    I am glad to learn that you recovered your stroller. Our stroller is missing and it's been 2 days since we visited the Park. I am no longer optimistic in recovering our stroller. We parked our stroller at the designated spot right infront of the Playhouse Disney. We had our daughter's lunch box with her name and address tag and our son's Nemo towel with his name on it in the bottom compartment. We are also annual passholders but at least are local residents. I would perfectly understand how you feel. I am upset not because we lost our stroller but because such a shameful incident occurred at such a magical place! I feel really bad for my kids that they learned reality in a harsh way at such place.

  • Jenn

    I came across this blog post while searching for something about Disneyland. After reading your post I can no longer remember what it is I was searching for but am so glad I did come across this. Although its an older post it gave me some helpful reminders for our upcoming trip to Disneyland. I am sorry that there have been incidents like this especially in the “happiest place on earth” but thank you for reminding me to keep eerything in my backback and keep that backback with me at all times.

  • Jenn

    I came across this blog post while searching for something about Disneyland. After reading your post I can no longer remember what it is I was searching for but am so glad I did come across this. Although its an older post it gave me some helpful reminders for our upcoming trip to Disneyland. I am sorry that there have been incidents like this especially in the “happiest place on earth” but thank you for reminding me to keep eerything in my backback and keep that backback with me at all times.