Disneyland in Excess

[techskip]

Consider this more or less a venting rant but I need to get it out of my system and thought others might enjoy the read.

I was thinking about the various reasons why some attractions have gone down and realized just how many "Lost n Found" issues have caused this to happen. I realize the legit reasons (prescription glasses, medications, plane tickets) but even then I have to vent. If it is so important then either lock it up in a locker or HOLD ON TO IT... I realize that sometimes accidents happen but I have had so many instances of individuals who just didn't hold on to it and thought the laws of physics didn't apply. Ok now for reason #4 which always really ticked me off... extremely valuable loss... I'll give some examples

Jungle went down when a lady lost a $5,000 tennis bracelet. We called divers, we were down for over an hour, they didn't find anything.

Indy almost went down when an individual lost a $500 hat... 45 minutes later that hat went into the wheel well and caused all kinds of problems taking the entire attraction down with it for over an hour.

Thunder almost went down to retrieve a $700 leather jacket. The jacket unfortunately landed on the tracks and became$700 worth of scraps and stuffing.

The list goes on, Prada shoes and a LV handbag that were ruined on Splash. Designer Oakley's lost and ruined on Space. A jeweled pendant that went into the Rivers of America...

My point "why?"... why were these things even at the park to begin with? I am not specifying a specific class of individuals. I have known people who couldn't afford such items but felt they needed to show society they could. I've known people who could afford such items and bought them as a testament to that. And I have known individuals who had enough common sense to not wear extremely valuable items in a public enviroment where they could be lost, stolen, or damaged. Others feel free to add your Lost n Found horror stories... but I had to vent. Sorry if this rubs anyone the wrong way.

[BFJen]

Good rant. I always wear cheapie sunglasses to the park for that very reason - just in case I lose them. The only valuable thing I take is my camera.

[RooBear]

Jen's totally right--I dress DOWN to go the parks, folks. Take the one dollar glasses.

Sometimes, I actually go sans a watch!

OH!

Peace,
Roo

[techskip]

Sadly I have seen cameras hit the drink, it always amazes how willing people are to sacrifice their $700 digital camera because they refuse to use the $.02 strap that came with it! In some cases it broke... but in many cases it was either not used, or never put on in the first place.

[BFJen]

I never take the camera out of the bag without the strap being on my wrist. It only takes one person to bump you from behind to knock that camera to the ground. Plus, my camera is a cheaper digital camera.

[KISSman]

Unless it is a hazard to the functionality of the attraction, I can't understand why they would shut down an attraction to retrieve someone's non-critical personal belonging. The tennis bracelet incident bothers me the most. One person's blunder should not take down a ride for any significant time.

If I lost anything in the park or on a ride, I'd pretty much consider it lost unless found. I wouldn't expect Disney to go out of their way for my stupidity.

[techskip]

Unless it is a hazard to the functionality of the attraction, I can't understand why they would shut down an attraction to retrieve someone's non-critical personal belonging. The tennis bracelet incident bothers me the most. One person's blunder should not take down a ride for any significant time.

If I lost anything in the park or on a ride, I'd pretty much consider it lost unless found. I wouldn't expect Disney to go out of their way for my stupidity.

That was my take on it. Necessities like medication, prescription glasses, and airplane tickets make sense... but there have been multiple cases of downtimes due to expensive items! Management justified the bracelet due to the cost ($5,000 diamond tennis bracelet)... on Indy they didn't cycle out for the hat, it caused a downtime before they could. And for the record it was a Stetson cowboy hat... which became a $500 oil/hydrolic fluid/rubber clean up rag.

[aashee]

I have expensive enough kids to watch. No need to wear the priceless baubles to a theme park.

[SCUBAbe]

I'm so paranoid of loosing stuff at the park that I'm very careful with my stuff. Sunglasses which are prescription go off before the ride and in the glasses case. camera goes back in the bag before the ride, unless it's a slow ride and I want to take pictures sans flash.

So far i have not lost anything. My father did loose a hat once. on rocket rods. We told him take it off, but he knew best. There was a blast of air when coming out of a tunnel and off went the hat. As far as I know it didn't shut the ride down. we didn't report it, we just bought another one.

[DisneyIPresume]

I want to stress to everyone if you do drop something from a ride vehicle do NOT try and grab or reach for it no matter how expensive it may be. I am reminded of the tragic accident on Roger Rabbit over 10 years ago where a little boy suffered permanent brain damage because he reached for an item that fell out of the vehicle. Basically he reached for it, fell out, and was dragged for several feet beneath the vehicle. (This is why there are doors on these vehicles now -- there didn't used to be)

[disneyfan07]

what I would like to know is this: who are they trying to impress by wearing expensive belongings in public???

granted its everyones dream to be able to afford such items, but, in a place where such items could be lost or stolen, it makes about as much sense as trying to argue with a brick wall.

[vfire]

People want to wear their expensive baubles, that's why they buy them. I'd guess the wearer was a tourist and not a local, and therefore wanted to look one's best while on vacation. It must have had a pretty weak clasp to fall off like that. I can kind of understand Disney management shutting down the ride to look for it since it was so expensive. If it had happened to me, I might have even been tempted to jump into the river on my own to look for it. I wonder if they found it now since the river's been drained for the refurb.

[Radiobarry]

No need to wear the priceless baubles to a theme park.

I could not agree more.

You wil notice that I leave my special necklaces and tennis jewelry home on my trips to the park.

But seriously I agree with the sentiment that if it's not life-critical, and doesn't threaten the ride operation, they shouldn't make people wait for their favorite attraction for that extra length of time because of someone's stupidity as in that case.

-- Barry

[BassBone]

The most expensive thing I wear to the park is my watch, and that's only because it's the only watch I own and I really like it. It's not even that expensive a watch. There are some downtimes that amaze me, and others I understand. Still, waiting for Indy to cycle out because somebody lost his wallet is frustrating.

[composerboy]

I generally dress nicely when I go out anywhere, especially the park, out of respect for myself the establishments I patronize and others around me. I wish more people would return the courtesy. I'm not exactly wearing a suit, but at least a nice shirt and not jeans and sneakers. I get stared at a lot when I go to the parks because of this. Using fear of "ruining" or "losing" valuable articles of clothing or accessories as an excuse to "dress down" is pathetic. Look at photos of the park and America in general from the 50s and 60s. What happened? People wore nice hats, glasses and jewelry and managed to be responsible for them. They were aware and heeded warnings to "Hang on to hats and glasses." Today personal responsibility has gone the way of the Sky Way. So many people wear expensive things and just assume that they will be OK, and forget about them. Disney would never put them in a situation where they could have to be responsible for themselves, right? You should be able to dress well and wear nice things and enjoy the parks. Just don't be stupid and watch your stuff. People who dress like slobs at the park upset me way more that people who are irresponsible and lose their stuff. Another thing.. it's just STUFF anyway. If you can afford a $5,000 tennis bracelet and wear it to Disneyland, you can afford to replace it. Smart people insure things like that anyway.