We are traveling with 3 children aged 5, 5, and 3. I keep seeing post with id tags, id bracelets and even gps devices. Does anyone have any suggestions about this? What to use if anything, in the rare situation where a child gets lost or wanders off. Any ideas or experience would be appreciated. Thanks,
What weāve used in the past is custom military-style dog tags - pretty cheap when ordered online - attached to a belt loop or similar with a small luggage chain. The info on the tag has the childās name (and in our case, a note that the child is autistic) and both parentsā cell phone numbers.
An unrelated tip is to get a picture of your children at the start of each day on your cell phone, so you can just pull that up instead of trying to remember what they were wearing when youāre stressed.
[Edited to add] Hereās the site Iāve used in the past: http://www.dogtagsonline.com
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I found out about these tattoos from a post hereā¦ I just ordered some for our next trip with the littles.
Thanks you all. I just ordered these Kids ID Bands Custom Vinyl Polka Dot Mouse ID Bracelets - Etsy; seems fairly easy and I can convince the kids they need them and their magic band to get in the parks.
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Those are cute and would be easy to convince!
Just thinking a little outside the box - what info can a CM pull off a Magic Band? Is there enough there that they can pull your cellphone number up to call in the case of a lost child?
Also instead of engraving a name on a kidās Magic Band could you ācustomizeā it with a Cell Phone #? If the child is then instructed that if they get lost to find a CM (look for the Mickey tags) and show them the engraved number that might work on its own.
There has been info circulating that Disney will not use the magic bands to identify lost children. So itās best not to rely on this method.
I could see DIS having some privacy issues if any CM could pull up all your info off a Magic Band scan. Although I would think a centralized ālost kidsā location would be an acceptable exception potentially. But Iām not sure if their system would even allow a scan to pull up more than FP/Charge approval anyway.
I read that too. CMs will not be able to use your magic band. I think the little disposable id bracelets I got will do fine and relive some of my stress. I tend to keep everyone close, but you never know what I child might see want to investigate in the Magic Kingdom.
When my son was young enough we were worried about losing him, we just did the āpin a cell #ā to him and told him to look for a CM if lost and show them the number. Any ID bracelet with a phone # should do as well or better in that regard.
We have custom dog tags that we bought at PetCo (or PetSmart? Whichever). They have a machine that lets you customize and laser engrave a tag, for example, for your dogās collar. They also sell a few designs that are dog tag shaped (like dog tags for soldiers, not for dogs. That is confusing.) They also sell a bead chain necklace to hold the tag.
Anyway, they sell the tags, then you take them to a machine in the store, enter the info you want on the back, and the machine engraves the text with a laser. We put both parentās cell phone #s on the back.
So each morning, as part of getting ready, the kids put on their necklaces, and weāre all set. Weāve used them at WDW, at our local Six Flags, and anywhere thereās a chance they might get separated and need to have someone call us.
So my DD got lost on her first trip to Disney. She wandered off after the character meet in Epcot. Was found in Mouse Gear by another mother who turned her over to a cast member. She was then taken to the baby care center to wait for us to finish having our heart attack and retrieve her.
We were wandering around shouting her name, cast alerted security but after doing that could or would not give us any other information. By some lucky stroke the mother who had found her came across me shouting her name and let us know that she had been turned over to cast members and was going to the customer service area at the front of the park.
We went there- they knew nothing. I demanded that security be called. They showed up in a few minutes, and knew nothing about a found child and whoever he radioed also knew nothing. I then called 911 (Disney can hire pedophiles too) and as I was on hold with them the security agent came back and told me she was at the baby care center.
She was wearing a magic band on one wrist and an ID badge on the other wrist. The staff at the baby care center said they ājust thought it was another magic bandā and did not look at the information it had.
If they can charge my card, know where I am going to eat and which Fast Pass we just left, as well as all of the info on MDE including my cell phone, where we are staying and who we are travelling with why can they not use that info!!! I understand not having that information readily accessible to all cast members, but if they could then call a central # to get that info you would think that would help.
One article I read said that in one year over 11,000 kids are lost/separated from their families, so close to 1,000/month.
ID bands and tattoos only work if staff ask to see them, an upset child may not remember to show them, and cast members apparently cannot touch children or move items of clothing.
We now have a Road ID bracelet for her and stress that she has to show it to people and ask that they call her mommy or daddy.
I did talk to a Disney rep after this incident and they were not sure if Disney would ever use the Magic Bands to help in these situations.
Rant over!
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We are going to try using a Tile this time - suppose to be a gps unit that you can actually stick in their shoe or on a necklace and can track using your cell phone - dh is getting it. Our ds has never left our side thank goodness, but I was going to mention that we also teach him which resort we are staying in and the room number. We have also told him who to go to if we happen to get separated. He knows what a CM is and what to look for to identify a CM. We repeat this process at the beginning of every trip to Disney and even before we get there. @ Bootsie13 - I canāt even imagine what you went through.
For our kids, we got fun pony beads (glow-in-the-dark and uv-color changing) and number beads. We made bracelets that have our cell phone numbers on them.
A Tile is a great ideaā¦ I hadnāt thought of that!
I bough bracelets on Amazon for our last trip. They are the type of bands you get fitted with at a concert. It had a place for their name, parents name and numbers, which resort we were staying at, if they had any allergies or known medical problems. Thank God, they were never lost, but it made me feel so much better that they had these on. They were instructed that if they got lost, they were to go up to a cast member and show them their bracelet.
Weāve used safety tats before - temporary tattoos with your infoā¦they stayed on the entire trip (we placed them on their forearm so they wouldnāt get washed with every hand washing but the order came w/ several). I like the Tile idea too though!
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Some strategies I use:
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Take a picture of your kids each morning on your phone. . If they get lost you wonāt have to frantically remember what they are wearing.
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Teach them to spot CMās and that if they get lost to find a CM.
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Teach them that if they canāt find a CM, look for a mom with kids, a grandmother, or an officer in uniform and report that they are lost.
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If someone takes them, teach them to yell āfireā or āstrangerāā¦ not āhelpā.
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if they are old enough, memorize your cell phone # or you can write it on their body in some inconspicuous spot. Bracelets can be removed.