Although others have had great experiences with Lost and Found at Walt Disney World, I am disappointed in the system as I understand it. (We did have a great experience recovering my son’s cell phone back in 2011, so I should remind myself of that.) This past week, I misplaced my blue Panasonic LUMIX camera, which was in a blue case with a strap, at EPCOT. It can be seen in a photo that was taken by a WDW photographer in front of Italy in the mid-afternoon. Typically, I had been putting the camera back into my Kavu bag for rides, but somehow I failed to do so. At 9:15, as we were leaving a restaurant in Mexico, I got a sweater out of my bag and realized the camera wasn’t with me. My husband ran back to the restaurant, but the manager didn’t have it. The EPCOT lost and found folks were nice, but no one had turned it in. I was given a number to call.
If you call the Lost and Found number, you will be on hold for at least 15 minutes. We called multiple times over the next week, and I had different responses from the employees: the first employee didn’t take down my name and number, so I felt like I had to keep calling back, since there was no way for Lost and Found to contact me. The second time I called, the employee did take down my name and number, which made me feel a little bit better. We called a couple more times over the week, waiting at least 15 minutes each time. When we left yesterday, the camera still had not been turned in. I am sadder about my memory card with photos from our first day at MK and partial day at EPCOT than I am about the camera. I wish Disney had a way for you to create a Lost and Found report online. I was also startled to only find one employee at the Lost and Found center when we stopped by on our way out of town; no wonder it takes so long to have your phone call answered.
Stupidly, I managed to lose my driver’s license mid-week (our second hotel was not classified as an official Disney resort, so I brought my driver’s license in case I needed ID for my credit card. No one ever asked for ID, so I didn’t need my license, since we took park transportation. Lesson learned the hard way). Same situation: Hollywood Studios didn’t have the license, and, so far, the license has not been turned into Lost and Found. I decided to file a police report for the license, in case someone tries to use it in an illicit way.
It’s not Disney’s fault that I lost my camera and driver’s license, and it’s not their fault that no one has turned in my lost items. However, a more efficient way of reporting your lost item and of checking on its status would help. I would love to see an online system for this.
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I would forward this to Guest Services.
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I left about $2,000 worth of camera equipment either on a chair or on the floor of Logan airport this past December. Ah, the perils of international Christmas travel with a toddler. I managed to realize that it was gone as I was putting our stuff in the overhead bins very shortly before take off. I managed to get a text out to my Dad who had just dropped us off. He went right back to the terminal but misunderstood and thought I left it at TSA and they had just closed. So he drove to Terminal C where the overall lost & found was and they didn’t have it. The man spent at least an hour asking around and driving around.
I finally arrived in Germany (middle of the night US) and googled “Logan Airport Lost & Found” and there was a nice online form to fill out. I had every detail of the camera bag down to equipment numbers and could be pretty specific as to where and when I had left it. They specifically note that they will only contact you if they find the item. Imagine my relief when I woke up the following day to see the email with the subject “Logan Airport Lost & Found.” After my Dad had asked around 100 times I was positive that it had been stolen. But there is Christmas spirit alive and well and it had been turned in. My saint of a father made a 3rd trip to retrieve it and we were able to borrow a camera for our trip.
I imagine Disney could institute a system/form like this rather easily!
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Wow, that is a great ending to your story!
One reason I think an online form would help is that it would make me feel sure I had let someone know that the camera was mine. It was not labeled (stupidity on my part), so how could it be connected to me?
First, we went to Guest Services in Epcot, where no information was taken down from me. Makes sense, since they just send everything to the main lost and found at the end of the day. I was not given anything to fill out—just a card with lost and found’s number.
When I finally got through to lost and found the next day to ask about my camera, the girl didn’t ask for my name and number. I got off the phone, and my husband said, “Will they call you if they find it?” I realized they couldn’t because they didn’t have my info.! The next time I called, a guy did ask for my info.
I’ve seen those airport lost and found reports, too. (Daughter lost her driver’s license en route to San Francisco.) Good to know they get results!
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I too lost a camera years ago. This year when I go I will have address labels on my camera, my cane, and my back pack. This way it might get returned if lost. If a person finds $10 on the ground it goes in their pocket, but if they find a wallet on the ground most check for ID. If they find ID they know who it belongs to and are more likely to turn it in. No ID they are more likely to keep it or discard it. If you turn in a lost item to a CM who’s to say that they bring it to the lost and found.
I agree that labeling your items is a great idea (wish I’d done it). As you say, a label takes away the anonymity of a lost item: suddenly, this is Sandi’s camera, not just a camera up for grabs.
Just called Lost and Found again (because I had a spare 20 minutes). Still no joy. It puzzles me why they ask what day you lost the item, because the item could have been turned in days later—especially at Epcot, where—as the woman at Lost and Found told us—the different countries in World Showcase can take longer to turn in stray items. Also, I could have lost my driver’s license at either of two parks,or on the bus. I keep forgetting to stress that two parks should be checked.
Ah well. Aside from labeling items, the other thing I learned from this experience is: back up your photos to your computer every night. If I had, I would not have lost all the photos I took at Magic Kingdom the day before. I was exhausted and didn’t do it on Sunday night.
Fully agreed! Camera bag is getting a luggage tag from now on out for sure!
So bummed about your pictures. That is the worst part. We were super lucky that we were able to borrow a camera. We almost bought a new one but were worried about customs.
I 100% agree that the lost and found system needs improvement. We were there in Jan and my 1 yr old lost her security blanket. This blankie was LIFE to my baby. We lost it somewhere between the Rainforest Cafe in Disney Springs and the water shuttle back to Port Orleans. We called several times, and spent a whole lot of time on hold. We filled out a ticket with all our info at the hotel, which was forwarded to the lost and found. After a week of calling I gave up. I can’t imagine someone throwing away a baby blanket, which is why I am amazed it was not found. My husband backtracked from the hotel to the restaurant within 20 mins of realizing it was gone with no luck. Someone had to have picked it up. GONE. Totally our fault, but it would be nice if the system was better.
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I’m worried about what to do with my camera while on the rides. I will have a ECV and I will put a back pack on it, I was thinking of getting a small padlock and locking the zippers together. Any thoughts?
I’d take your camera on the rides. Anything valuable you need to keep with you or put in a locker.
Yeah, you can just take the camera on the rides. I usually put it on the ground and loop the strap around my leg just in case. It’s never really budged. The case should be plenty of protection on the “water” rides at MK but for Kali River Rapids I would put it in a locker. I wouldn’t leave it in an ECV. We left our stroller in stroller parking with our diaper bag and towels and extra everything but we always took the camera with us.
I’ve never been to Universal but for the rides there that you can’t even bring a paperclip on, I believe they have free lockers.
Yes they do have free lockers. There are only 3 rides with a metal detector so you can’t even take anything in your pockets, but you can’t take bags on any rides.