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odnamraortsac
02-18-2003, 03:39 PM
Disneyland Security had their (you know what) sniffing dog out Sunday inspecting an abandoned stroller left chained to a fence near the flag pole. Around 2pm, no one was allowed to enter the town square until the stroller was cleared. The dog handler first let the dog sniff it then proceeded to inspect all of the stroller's contents. After the handler gave Security the "thumbs-up" sign, other Disney personnel arrived on the scene with giant bolt-cutters to cut the chain and remove the suspicious stroller to the back-stage area. The only casualty of the incident was the Princess Parade which was delayed for 10 minutes. Later in the afternoon there was a Police helicopter circling the resort and later on in the evening other Disney Security were shining their flashlights on abandoned strollers near the Main St. Station. The Disneyland Resort is obviously taking the "Orange Alert" very seriously.

RStar
02-18-2003, 03:55 PM
Wow! I wonder if they had a call or something as well?

Laffite
02-18-2003, 03:57 PM
Did I say I Love Disneyland today?

Oh, I just did!

MouseWife
02-18-2003, 04:22 PM
Originally posted by RStar
Wow! I wonder if they had a call or something as well?


Yes, the continued check on abandoned strollers leads me to wonder the same thing..........

Which might be a big fear tactic. I mean, don't they have hundreds, if not maybe thousands of strollers each day? {Hey, that is a good question, does anyone know?}

But I digress. You can't ban strollers so I wonder if someone said it to freak everyone out? Or if it was a real threat.

Thanks for sharing.

julia
02-18-2003, 04:28 PM
I am perfectly happy to wait while they check out these things. I simply refuse to stop having fun, traveling and enjoying life, but we do have to be vigilant and cautious. I always feel safe at Disneyland, Disney World and on Disney Cruise Line and I am perfectly content to let them do what they need to do to make sure everything is safe for their guests. It will just take some time to adjust to our new reality, where even strollers are suspect. Sigh

Have a great day!
:)

Laffite
02-18-2003, 05:27 PM
The weird part is that the stroller was chained? Better check their numerous cameras to see who left it there.

MouseWife
02-18-2003, 05:47 PM
You know, thinking about the 'chained' part, it depends, was it like a bike lock chain? Because, see, my sister left her stroller outside of Small World and it was taken!! :eek:

Maybe the people who brought it {as opposed to the scenario that it was a fake threat} realized the kid didn't want to use it, or decided to save it until the night time, and left it. It is a long way back to the parking garage and strollers don' t fit in lockers.
That they carried a chain....well, maybe they were extra cautious? I wonder if anyone went to Lost and Found asking for a stroller that was chained to a tree?? OR maybe they saw all of the hubbub and just let it go?

Curiouser and curiouser.......

Morrigoon
02-18-2003, 08:56 PM
I know one person who used to chain his backpack to the fence along ROA in the afternoon to "mark his spot" for Fantasmic later. Guess he can't do that anymore, eh?

rexfarms
02-18-2003, 09:13 PM
Good I am glad security is doing a good job.

adriennek
02-18-2003, 10:10 PM
The thing that gets me is why would they chain it to the flag pole? That's just kinda weird. The only attractions near there would be Mr. Lincoln and the Train Station. The flag pole isn't even a logical place to leave a stroller for either of those locations.

I do know that strollers have been stolen from DL and I frequently get e-mail from people and occasionally posts in the Parenting forum asking about taking bicycle locks. I don't ever suggest that people chain strollers *to* anything. They can block fire routes, parade routes, etc. If the point is to deter theft, then I suggest chaining the wheels to the stroller so that the wheels won't turn.

It seems like this is another reason to not chain a stroller to a fence. I wouldn't want to make security suspicious of my stroller.

Adrienne K

Sophie832
02-18-2003, 11:04 PM
A few months ago, Gauchograd99 and I were parked on the roof of the structure, and as we were walking across the bridge to go from one half to the other, I noticed an abandoned baby carrier sitting right at the end of the bridge. I have to admit that the thought of a bomb being in there did cross my mind for a second. The way it was just sitting there was creepy. Therefore, I have no problem with the security being overly-cautious. I think it's great that they're taking everything seriously.

unoriginal
02-19-2003, 07:40 AM
I would feel better if they would at least check the strollers before they even got in the park. All the theme parks I have been to lately (DLR, Seaworld, San Diego Zoo) just let the strollers roll right on by without so much as a second thought. But at least DLR looks lightly in most bags brought in. The zoo gave up doing this a few months after 9/11.

iAmJacksDLand
02-19-2003, 08:42 AM
I was in DCA at 2 o'clock on the 16th. All at once you could see all the DLPD on alert and after they had paged a person over the whole park PA, there was this long tone... I don't know for what. Did it have anything to do with this? I also have never ever heard someone being paged over a whole park PA. I mean all the atmospheric audio was overridden to page some guy.

?!?! Go DLPD!

refurbmike
02-19-2003, 09:25 AM
If the stroller was chained for security reasons...

What's the irony that is was locked up so that nobody would take, but then Disney takes it because it was locked up.

Maybe I'm the only one that finds the humor in that! :D

Grandbreaker
02-19-2003, 10:40 AM
Security does work very hard so that you the guest and cast member have a safe and fun day. Most people don't know how hard of a job we have.
All at once you could see all the DLPD on alert I wish we were called that but we are just DLR Security.

adriennek
02-19-2003, 01:36 PM
Originally posted by unoriginal
I would feel better if they would at least check the strollers before they even got in the park. All the theme parks I have been to lately (DLR, Seaworld, San Diego Zoo) just let the strollers roll right on by without so much as a second thought. But at least DLR looks lightly in most bags brought in. The zoo gave up doing this a few months after 9/11.

I wouldn't say that my stroller has been patted down but we haven't ever just rolled by. They look in all our bags and baskets and seats.

Adrienne K

MammaSilva
02-19-2003, 03:24 PM
I was going to say, I've been there when they've checked the strollers in front of us, my EVC and Brandys wheelchair and any bags we might have with us...it wasn't a deep search but we did have to open all bags and they checked to see if we had bags hanging off the back of the wheelchair/EVC

RStar
02-20-2003, 10:52 AM
Originally posted by adriennek
The thing that gets me is why would they chain it to the flag pole?

To be correct it was posted to be locked to the fence around the flag pole, not the pole itself. If that were the case I'd probably want to evacuate Main Street. I mean that would be real obvious to bomb the American Flag on Main Street USA! (God forbid!!)

But your right, AK. That is still a very strange place to lock up a stroller, and I hope everyone take your advice and NEVER lock them to anything. So just the spot could have prompted the suspition, even without a threating call.

I, for one, am also gratefull for DL security. Thanks guys and gals!

Berry Princess
02-20-2003, 11:03 AM
We were over in DCA at that time I think. I do know that we had our stroller with us that day and had a plastic bag with hubby's water and a bottle of water for making the baby's bottles and a bag you can see thru that had formula in a container and some snacks for the baby. Plus we had our jackets all down there. Going into DCA she did check down in the basket but only looked. Not like it really wasn't obvious what was there. Nothing was being covered up at that time. But going into Disneyland a few hours later and they never even glanced at the basket. They only checked the backpack (which of course was checked at DCA too). This isn't the first time I have ever gone through with the stroller and it wasn't checked in the basket. We always have stuff in it too. Then there are those times that I do see them check them better then other times. I guess maybe it depends on who is doing the checking.

rexfarms
02-20-2003, 04:26 PM
Originally posted by Sophie832
A few months ago, Gauchograd99 and I were parked on the roof of the structure, and as we were walking across the bridge to go from one half to the other, I noticed an abandoned baby carrier sitting right at the end of the bridge. I have to admit that the thought of a bomb being in there did cross my mind for a second. The way it was just sitting there was creepy. Therefore, I have no problem with the security being overly-cautious. I think it's great that they're taking everything seriously.

Did you report that?


Originally posted by iAmJacksDLand
I was in DCA at 2 o'clock on the 16th. All at once you could see all the DLPD on alert and after they had paged a person over the whole park PA, there was this long tone... I don't know for what. Did it have anything to do with this? I also have never ever heard someone being paged over a whole park PA. I mean all the atmospheric audio was overridden to page some guy.

?!?! Go DLPD!

Do you know who they were paging and for what? Did this work inside of attractions also?

sorcerermmfan
02-20-2003, 04:27 PM
Originally posted by Grandbreaker
Most people don't know how hard of a job we have.

And well they shouldn't.

While our primary objective is the safety of our guests, cast and resort property, let's not forget about the magic. Let's not loose sight of the fact that many guests come to our resort specifically to leave the real world behind. For me, this is the greatest challenge, though hardly what I would call HARD WORK.

Most guests understand and, in fact, appreciate the security measures we have in place (that they see) which they did not see 3 years ago. Let's face it: whether chained to the flag pole or to the fence around the flag pole; it's suspect and for the safety of all needs to be checked out carefully. 99 times out of a hundred, it's just a guest exercizing their right to be selfish or, more likely simply not pay attention to the reality our nation finds itself in.

I LOVE it when a guest tells me they appreciate our presence at the resort. If you are on this board, I'll presume you are a lover of the magic as well. May I suggest that if a CM fails to inspect your belongings properly, ie the contents of your stroller or ECV, point it out to them. They'll appreciate your understanding of the need for security. Such action may well offset the other stuff they have to listen to regarding inspections.

iAmJacksDLand
02-20-2003, 08:23 PM
Again, about the 16th... I only heard the page when I was walking through Hollywood Pictures Backlot and again after I had gotten out of Soarin'. I never heard it on the ride - either it doesn't break into attraction audio or it just didn't play.

It was followed by a second or two second long tone. Like a middle C or E. It's hard to explain. I didn't hear the tone the time I heard the second page. About 4 hours later, I was in Paradise Pier watching some Engineers fix the boost on Screamin'. I doubt the tone or the page had anything to do with the e-stop.

So what is this tone, and what would drive the DLR to page a person (it was a man, I could tell, by the name.) over the entire park audio?

MetalliKitty
02-20-2003, 08:32 PM
I was really thinking about the whole 'alert' situation Tuesday night on the drive home from DLR and quite honestly, I believe that at least the amusement park areas of the Resort, are probably one of the safest places to be these days.

True, (God forbid!!!) something could possibly happen to prove me completely wrong, but I seriously doubt that it will.
Realistically, shopping malls and grocery stores would be more easily infiltrated than the Disney premises. It (the Disney resort)seems more of a community within itself than any city in California, and also any aberrant behaviors will stick out a heck of a lot more then they would in any urban or residential area.

Simply put: in urban or residential areas, the druggies, hardcore street drunks, and homeless mentally ill individuals could all be easily mistaken for terrorists in their strange, inexplicable and possibly violent actions/speech/mannerisms, and vice versa.

In the perimeters of the Disneyland resort, people who are inclined to such a lifestyle more often than not cannot afford to get in in the first place. Therefore those things are not commonly seen and any unusual behavior or situation is much more of a red flag than it would be at a strip mall in Orange.

Think about it...I think I just made sense, even a little bit??!:( :)

rexfarms
02-20-2003, 08:35 PM
Also we have us APs looking out for odd things.

AVP
02-20-2003, 08:49 PM
Originally posted by iAmJacksDLand
So what is this tone, and what would drive the DLR to page a person (it was a man, I could tell, by the name.) over the entire park audio?

I can't comment on the tone, but I have twice now heard the Disneyland Operator use the resort-wide paging system to page someone. We've heard it at Disneyland before - usually a chaperone from a school group - but I've NEVER heard a page over all three systems.

AVP