
Crime is unfortunately the rise at Walt Disney World. We’ve reported more theft, fights, and verbal altercations in the last six months than ever before. People attempting to bring weapons, and people distributing pornography are also on the rise. These things used to be unheard of at Disney and now, sadly, they are becoming commonplace.
In years past, I would leave my belongings in our stroller when getting in line for an attraction. I took my valuables, obviously, because even a safe place is risky if you leave bait just laying around, but I would leave our diaper bag, shopping bags, my sons toys etc. in the stroller. I didn’t even think twice because Disney World has always been its own little microcosm where you felt safe. Now? I won’t even take my own stroller. We rent a Disney stroller to avoid stroller theft.
One person just learned that “the most magical place on Earth” doesn’t mean “the safest place on Earth.” A woman claims that she was the victim of an attempted robbery at Magic Kingdom. She penned a sarcastic letter to the would-be thief on Reddit and explained that the theft took place during the fireworks and occurred tight in front of her.
“To the man who tried to rob me at Magic Kingdom
Hello sir,
We only chatted once briefly during the 9 pm fireworks, when your son (or at least, the little boy who was with you) was touching my kids’ toys that were near our stroller, and I politely asked him if they were his, which you retorted, “we have our own toys” in an aggressive manner” the letter began.
“I didn’t realize that you likely trained your son to do this because I was distracted by his hands on our things; either you or your daughter(/the little girl you were with) opened my backpack to dig your hand inside,” she explained.
The woman, u/birdsarerubbish, went on to say that the only thing that was taken was a park map and collectible pin they’d bought. She expressed gratitude that today her wallet was in her jacket pocket rather than her bag which is unusual but fortuitous because that meant the thief was unable to take it. She also explained that the man and his two kids were standing uncomfortably close which aroused her suspicion because she’d been the victim of pickpockets. “And although I panicked for a moment when I saw you and the two children you were with had fled, and my backpack was wide open, a wave of relief washed over me when I realized my wallet so happened to be in my rain jacket pocket, which was rare for me but oh so fortuitous,” the letter read.
Rather than getting upset or angry, the user described her gratitude for the situation because it caused her to stop and be thankful. She said, “I want to thank you for making me realize how far we’ve come. Had you successfully taken my wallet, I could comfortably live without the modest amount of cash and cards that were in it. I could call my banks and cancel them with no problem. In previous years, I would have been absolutely devastated, but here and now…I have to sincerely extend my gratitude to you for highlighting our achievements and the fact that petty theft would be a minor inconvenience to us now”
This is a wonderful way to reframe the attempted theft and choose gratitude that it wasn’t much worse. Still, tragedies like this shouldn’t happen. They shouldn’t occur anywhere, but Disney guests shouldn’t have worry about being robbed.
Recently a gang of stroller thieves that had previously been caught and banned were arrested attempting to sneak on the Parks. With arrests on the rise, it is importantyo keep your valuables close, like this Redditor thankfully did. Disney isn’t cheap and it boggles the mind that people would pay for tickets just to commit crime. It seems so easy to not get arrested at Disney World. So easy, in fact, we even wrote a how-to guide.
Disney does have methods to keep petty theft at bay. In addition to cameras and uniformed security, pain clothed security officers roam the parks, in stores, and anywhere crowds gather. If you attempt to steal, just know you may be doing so right in front of security.