My granddaughter lost her cellphone at DW earlier this month. It slipped from her grasp as we stood at the bridge railing between France and the UK at EPCOT. It was a significant loss to her, since, besides the monetary loss, the phone contained many photos and messages that hadn’t been preserved elsewhere.

I thought that was the end of the story—a blot on an otherwise magical return to DW. However, my son told the captain of the EPCOT/HS shuttle boat our tale of woe; the captain took my son to a (not very) nearby EPC office; two employees there returned to the scene of the loss and determined that further help was needed; a motorboat with two more Disney employees was recruited, but a 15-20 minute flashlight search ended unsuccessfully. However, we were told that the Disney scuba folks might be able to help the following day; they did—the cellphone was recovered and returned, not the next day, but later that evening.

At this point, I am still not sure of the end of the story—whether the cellphone and all of its contents have been fully restored. But I do know that our entire family group (of eight) was tremendously impressed with the concern and effort all of these Disney employees displayed, despite the probable absence of “cellphone recovery” from their job descriptions.

P.S.—Can anyone recommend a way for me to thank the folks at Disney?

I have a couple of friends who have submerged their cell phones but were successful in drying out the battery using a blow dryer on a low setting and the phones were fully restored and worked again - good luck!

That is sooo sooo wonderful, Ross! They really went above and beyond. :)

ETA: I remember reading somewhere here, on MousePlanet, that someone had washed their cell phone, and someone posted some tricks and tips. I just did a search, and couldn't find it, but I believe it was posted in the "Lounge" probably in the spring or summer. And I'm guessing it was most likely posted in one of the Vent/frustration-type threads. Hopefully someone here will chime in.

Wow, thats really something! I had no idea Disney would go that far to do something like that. That it truly magical.

Something I learned (and was surprised to hear) is that if you put the phone in a bowl of uncooked rice, it will dry it out and it could be used again. I did it on mine, and it didnt do a clutch performance like it used to, but all of my photos were salvaged.

uncooked rice,
Yes! That's what I heardit was. (I just couldn't remember it until I read your post monoman!)