Do you feel the Disneyland Bag Check Security needs to be bumped up!

[shadow]

I don't think they should be checking out bags, period...or anything else for that matter. They should simply have more/better security and really rake the people who do something stupid with their choices to the fullest extent of the law.

A large portion of the population is overly concerned with being 'safe' from terrorism, hate to burst a bubble, but there is no such thing.
I'd like to ask people to consider putting their freedoms and liberties ahead of a small measure of temporary safety.

Benjamin Franklin said it best:

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

~ Benjamin Franklin
From the Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

Think about that one for a bit....
In case anyone is curios, no, I don't bring weapons or anything else stupid into amusement parks, jets, trains or automobiles... the point being that common sense needs to be used by every single voting (or non-voting for that matter) citizen of the United States.
As a nation, (generally speaking) we've handed over way too many of our liberties and freedoms and asked the government to step in, instead of the people trying to use their brains and common sense to find a solution. They're supposed to work for US, not us for them.

[sambadude]

I find it somewhat laughable how trusting they are. Example - I had just returned from Downtown Disney where I had purchased a bronze Dumbo sculpture (the copy of the one around Walt and Mickey) and the quickest way to get it back to my hotel before returning to Disneyland was to go back through security and then onto Harbor Bvld. The woman looked in my bag at the giant box and said "What's in that?" to which I replied a statue and she let me pass. Far enough it was fairly obvious from the picture on the outside of the box that yes there should be a statue inside...but what if there wasn't? What if I was using it to smuggle a bomb in?

Ok so I'd rather not have to open every box and bag and receive a thorough hour long check of everything I'm carrying but the whole thing just seems fairly useless otherwise. If someone really wants to smuggle something in then it's not really going to be that hard to.

[DCAFTW]

In order to have an effective security checkpoint, they would have to basically violate you at the gates (similar to what they do at the airports) and I for one am happy they do not do this.

According to a friend of mine who works at the resort, there are more people than you can even imagine behind the scenes at the resort. The effectiveness from the checkpoint comes from these people watching your actions as you approach and pass through the gates, and picking off suspicious people to survey further.

I am personally ecstatic that Disneyland has chosen to handle this in such a discrete way. In a world where our president and government use fear to control us and strip away our civil liberties, and use misinformation and fear mongering to explain away the fact that it's THEIR actions that have created our global political climate, it's nice to see a large company that has chosen to handle the situation in a way that still respects our rights and privacy.

[DCAFTW]

Islamic terrorists (and nearly all terrorists ARE Islamic) hate free people, their culture of liberty and tolerance for other religions and points of view. Any societies not governed by strict interpretation of the Koran are their enemies.

They don't hate us because the US invaded Afganistan or Iraq, they hate all free societies - in North America and Europe. They would like nothing better than to break the will of free people and cause them to institute a police state. That in itself would be an end to our life style of liberty.

As I mentioned before, Disneyland IS a major terror target, which is why the airspace above Disneyland is now closed. (With certain exemptions of course.) Disneyland is a celebration of American ideals, past, present and future. Or at least it was when Walt was alive. What better target to attack?

Does anyone else think the American response to terrorism has been too mild? Here is the proper response: If ONE American is killed by Islamic terrorists, or one Brit or European, Russian or whomever, the US should destroy 100 mosques for each person killed... naturally while the mosque is filled with worshippers to help kill off sympathisers and Islamic leaders.

Wow...I spent a good amount of time searching your post for some sense of sarcasam or irony, but I was unable to find any. I sincerely hope you don't actually believe this, or the blatant hatred and bigotry you eluded to in the rest of your post.

Contrary to what our inept president would like us to believe, Islamists do not hate us because we are free, they hate us because of our actions in their countries, and our continuing pattern of overthrowing their governments to install those that we feel are more superior. Most problems in the Middle East at the moment can be directly faulted back to the good ol USA, and it's stellar global policies (not to mention the large contingent of scholars in this country that believe 9/11 was intimately orchestrated by our own government to promote fear and conformity to new anti-constitutional ideals).

If you don't want to believe me, take a look at what Congressmen and Presidential Candidate Ron Paul has to say on the subject.

As for the Checkpoint, I hope things stay the way they are. Disneyland has formulated a checkpoint and follow up program that seems to be working (we can only hope) and they have done it without resorting to the "we have to sacrifice our freedoms to be free" mentality that the rest of our country has.

[WDWizard]

I was just thinking this same thing.. All they do is open your bag, barely look, and let you through. I have noticed that they search more extensively on people who look like they are carrying weapons..but they still should check everyone the same. It's very easy to simply sneak a gun within your clothing. Maybe they should instal metal detectors?

[ltlmrm8]

Wow...I spent a good amount of time searching your post for some sense of sarcasam or irony, but I was unable to find any. I sincerely hope you don't actually believe this, or the blatant hatred and bigotry you eluded to in the rest of your post.

Thank you. You said what I didn't have the courage to post after reading that comment (and a few others on this thread).

[DisneyDarian]

Wow...I spent a good amount of time searching your post for some sense of sarcasam or irony, but I was unable to find any. I sincerely hope you don't actually believe this, or the blatant hatred and bigotry you eluded to in the rest of your post.

Contrary to what our inept president would like us to believe, Islamists do not hate us because we are free, they hate us because of our actions in their countries, and our continuing pattern of overthrowing their governments to install those that we feel are more superior. Most problems in the Middle East at the moment can be directly faulted back to the good ol USA, and it's stellar global policies (not to mention the large contingent of scholars in this country that believe 9/11 was intimately orchestrated by our own government to promote fear and conformity to new anti-constitutional ideals).

If you don't want to believe me, take a look at what Congressmen and Presidential Candidate Ron Paul has to say on the subject.

As for the Checkpoint, I hope things stay the way they are. Disneyland has formulated a checkpoint and follow up program that seems to be working (we can only hope) and they have done it without resorting to the "we have to sacrifice our freedoms to be free" mentality that the rest of our country has.

I'd heard the same thing regarding Disney security and the large number of "under cover" security people.

I suppose it is unspeakable for the US to remove from power a government that used WMD to kill tens of thousands of their own people (Kurds), raped children while their parents were forced to watch, or fed people alive through wood chippers. A government that was unrepentant about their invasion of Kuwait or the firing of anti-aircraft missiles at coalition aircraft. That doesn't even touch the oppression and torture of their own people or take into account the numerous UN resolutions violated and ignored. What was the US thinking in removing such a sterling example of good government?

Your concern about our loss of personal liberties and freedoms is entirely justified. To borrow a line from "Enemy of the State" the Patriot Act doesn't bring us closer to a police state, it IS a police state. Some of the Act's provision are quite alarming. And it is questionable how much "security" the Patriot Act actually provides.

Islamic terrorism is far from new or the result of the actions of our current president. If you recall, President Jimmy Carter had to deal with terrorists who seized our Iranian embassy and kept about 400 Americans hostage for over a year. He micro-managed a failed rescue attempt and was unable to obtain the release of the hostages.

The goal of Islamic extremists is to forcefully convert the world to the rule of Islamic law. Under that law, once it was in force in Iran, allowed men to rape and murder women wearing western style clothing and erradicated most Iranian civil liberties.

I think if you are looking for "hate and bigotry" you might look at the multiple beheadings, bombings, murders, & suicide bombers that have been done by Islamic extremists for the past 40 years. In case you haven't read any of the statements released by Hammas and other terror organizations, their express goal is - to put it simply, wipe away western culture from the face of the earth and replace it with Islamo-fascist rule. Moderate Muslims are as disturbed by this trend as non-Muslims. Yet they face more danger of retribution than do non-Muslims.

Remember, this is hardly a US only problem. The UK, France, Germany, Russia and Spain have all endured Islamic attacks. Russia experiencing some of the most brutal attacks against hundreds of children.

Were you aware of all the attacks the US sustained during the Clinton administration? In their response to terrorism, it appears they were even more inept than our current president. Hard to imagine, but true. A US embassy would get bombed and Clinton got on TV promising retribution that never came. And this made terrorists even bolder.

This problem has been going on for well over 40 years. It's complex, global and difficult to resolve. The fiction that 9/11 was perpetrated by the Bush administration and not terrorists is just too absurd to respond to. You were joking right?

[DCAFTW]

No I wasn't joking, it is my belief as well as many of those in the academic community that our government either had knowledge of the attacks and allowed them to continue, or intimately orchestrated the attacks of 9/11 in an attempt to scare the American people into passing the Patriot Acts, give up their liberties, and set the scene for a new world order and institute a full police state.

However I digress, as this isn't really the main point I was questioning.

The friction between Islamists and the United States stems from our continued involvement on the global scene, and will continue as long as we are taking it upon ourselves to police the world.

A Department of Defense study in 1997 concluded that: "Historical data show a strong correlation between US involvement in international situations and an increase in terrorist attacks against the United States." One instance was of course the removal of the Democratically elected Mohammed Mossadegh, and installation of the Shah. Of course we have played this game in other countries, installing the Taliban, and giving Sadam and Osama their power and weapons.

We created the hatred against us, by being a bossy ignorant force pushing our noses and beliefs into other countries, and changing things around to better fit our ideals of Democracy, as well as making it easier for our government to extract oil and money from these people.

Either way, none of this has to do with Disneyland, and I hope this whole coversation ends up in the litter box because your stereotypical remarks and bigorty regarding islamists has tainted this discussion.

[DisneyDarian]

Either way, none of this has to do with Disneyland, and I hope this whole coversation ends up in the litter box because your stereotypical remarks and bigorty regarding islamists has tainted this discussion.

My concern has been the security at Disneyland and to a larger degree, the entire US. Though you use the terms "bigotry" & "hatred" freely to describe anything that disagrees with your point of view, in reality I have said nothing that could even remotely qualify as "bigoted."

Secondly, there is nothing wrong in expressing disgust and loathing for groups such as Islamic fundamentalists who have no respect for human life and who butcher the innocent. Anyone who saws the head off a journalist while he screams and begs for his life deserves severe retribution. I am amazed you would infer my comments were "bigoted" for denoucing this kind of murderous behavior. It's a shame that your posts don't grant the US the same latitude.

The only "taint" to this thread are the rabid anti-American comments in your posts. There is gross hatred for America in your posts, as well as anti-American bigotry.

Do you think Disney should do nothing to protect it's guests? Should all manner of security be removed because the US "deserves" any attack it gets?

[DCAFTW]

No, but the response from our government shouldn't be aimed at trying to control people who MIGHT hate us, but instead aimed at figuring out what we can do to change the global perception of us.

...and yes your comments regarding the destruction of Mosques as retaliation for these attacks IS hateful. You openly admit that they are filled with worshippers yet still say that it's worth killing them to weed out the sympathisers and leaders.

To conclude, I don't hate America. However I hate what we have let our government tranform our country into. We are no longer focused on our own freedoms and liberties. Instead we are focused on what resources we can suck out of the rest of the world, and how we can rape and pilage other countries to protect the interests of the few rich Neo-Cons that control our government. We have let them drive us into a state of fear that cripples us from seeing what is right and moral in the world, while at the same time ignoring that we we are the orchestrators of the hate and disdain that the rest of the world has for us.

If this country is going to be safe, we need to change the way the rest of the world views us, and this will only happen by changing the way we treat the rest of the world.

[Sambo]

...We created the hatred against us, by being a bossy ignorant force pushing our noses and beliefs into other countries, and changing things around to better fit our ideals of Democracy, as well as making it easier for our government to extract oil and money from these people...

Could not agree more - and it's not because I hate America, but exactly the opposite. It's the leading by example thing as opposed to only caring for you and your friends. It is said we get the government we deserve. We deserve better, but unfortunately no longer can get that. It's amazing how many don't want better...

[Dopey's Girl]

The "bag search" is pretty much a joke. Years ago I got busted for trying to smuggle a donut into the Park. They actually confiscated it. "Really, I'm just going to feed it to the ducks." ("And what have you got? Fat Birds!" - Pop Quiz. Name the Movie.) Now seriously, I have no confidence in DLand's security. After 9/11 I stayed away because it is a HUGE target. The City of Anaheim has gone so far as to fund, with no help from Disney, response procedures in case of a terrorist attack at the Park. You hate to think this wonderful place could be "hit", but it most certainly could. Is Disney ready?

[Sambo]

Anyplace could be a target - are any of us ready?

Besides, what is the likelihood? Much, much greater risk of flood, earthquake, or fire. Take a real risk assessment of what the likelihood is and you will realize you are far safer than you thought.

Why aren't we addressing the root causes of why people want to attack us? Oh, yeah, it's the "people in charge don't want to" thing...

[Squishy]

The City of Anaheim has gone so far as to fund, with no help from Disney, response procedures in case of a terrorist attack at the Park.

May I politely ask for your source or proof to this assertion?