We first noticed this policy in July 2018 at Caribbean Beach when chilling in our room one afternoon.
What is the purpose of the room checks? What are they really looking for?
On this afternoon the Housekeeping person knocked on the door while announcing herself, and then immediately entered. This person seemed quite surprised to find a room full of people (we were 5). She quickly moved across the room, looked behind the bathroom door and then left.
It’s because of the Vegas shooting. How effective it is or isn’t is questionable.
This person wouldn’t have found anything in the 2.5 seconds she spent inspecting.
And, Disney is paying us not to have someone clean our rooms.
Yeah, I think they are just “checking” for anything obviously out of the ordinary. The only thing it really prevents is something super crazy going unnoticed for more than 24 hours.
Also checking for human trafficking.
And ANY hotel can do it. This is not exclusively Disney.
Yeah, it’s “security theater” so people can’t say Disney doesn’t care about guest safety. They are not going through your bags where someone could store many guns / drugs / explosives.
Yes. Absolutely. I like the term security theater.
Decades ago I worked in housekeeping. You clean someone’s for a couple of days and you’ll get a sense of who those people are. If the do not disturb sign is always out perhaps security can be notified.
That’s a much more common sense, actual security solution. What’s the pay scale of the room checkers ?
This answer is entirely rhetorical.
Except thanks to folks answering.
Did you have your door securely locked?
Can you define securely locked?
I believe its called “swinging door bar guard”, Did you use it and they were still able to get right in your hotel room so quickly?
We had this happen to us at POP 2 days ago. Our break to rest and regroup in the room between parks happens to coincide with their cleaning time. I put the do not disturb sign out the day before and asked housekeeping to come back after cleaning the next room., which they did… The next day, same scenario but no housekeeping… That’s when the Safety & Security lady (who was highly insulted that I thought she was with housekeeping) marched in for her “inspection”… no explanation as to what prompted it (though it dawned on me after she left). It felt intrusive and unsettling in the moment. And I’m pretty sure no one is safer or more secure because of it…
I’m not sure that is true.
Sometimes the best protection isn’t the act itself, but that the act of doing ANYTHING acts as a deterrent from anyone even trying.
I am on the security team at our church, for example. Number one thing we do to keep away trouble is have cars with security lights at the entrance to the parking lot. This, alone, makes someone less likely to even bother.
The trouble comes in that there is no way to prove it helps (other than statistically) because you can’t show what didn’t happen as a result of the policy, only what did. But there is enough statistical evidence to support it.
In the case of Disney, the safety comes not because someone couldn’t figure out a way around their policy…but that the policy is enough of a deterrent to improve safety.
I’m all for anything security related. I would even be ok with and wish they would go through luggage and bags when entering the resorts.
This thread made me remember the Vegas shooting and I’m all for any inconvenience to help keep people safe.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought to use a door bar - and presumably dead bolt - in hotel room in the afternoon briefly while kids are doing homework and oldsters propping up their tired achy sore from walking all those - yeah.
When we’re in for the night - you betcha.
Maybe @ryan1 we need a poll - do you securely bar your Disney Resort room if you’re taking an afternoon break?
I don’t mind room checks. I do mind a person unlocking the door while still announcing themselves, thus relieving me of any opportunity to answer the door, which is probably the point. Altho come on, who’s NOT going to let the security person in?
This June if I’m in our room at Coronado Springs the door will be securely fastened.
I travel frequently domestic and international and I always use the extra locks whenever I am in the hotel room – it is recommended standard practice.
Luggage searches at the resorts would be a step too far. In the Vegas shooting, the hotel staff literally aided the shooter in getting his duffel bags of weapons to his room via staff elevators. They overlooked a lot of suspicious behavior leading up to the shooting. They did this because he was wealthy regular at their hotel and casino. That scenario doesn’t relate in the slightest to Disney’s peeping Tom security policy.
As a matter of economic self-interest, Disney needs to convince guests and potentially the courts that it is not indifferent to security concerns. I certainly don’t blame them. But to think this practice makes anybody but the Disney corporation significantly safer is an exercise in naïveté and complacency. We, as individuals, are ultimately responsible for the safety and security of ourselves and our loved ones. We have to assess the threats and decide what we’re willing to risk in any given situation. That goes for everything from taking a bath at home to taking the family to Disney World.
And let’s face it, if you really believed your family was at an unacceptable level of risk would you be planning a trip there? I think Disney is going to do the best it can with security because it’s in its best interest to do so. But I don’t expect them to be perfect. And I’ll accept a little additional risk in exchange for preserving a little privacy and dignity. Given the ever increasing crowds it’s clear I’m not alone.
I use the extra bar if we’re napping in the afternoon, and when we come in for the night. I’d never use it when I was in the room otherwise. I will say that if I was solo and on the ground floor, I might use it whenever I was in the room. But I might not.
If I’m in the room (any hotel room, anywhere) that bar is latched. It has stopped a lot of staff who didn’t even bother knocking first. If the Disney peeper wants to look around I’ll let them, as soon as everyone is composed and presentable.
Yep. Anytime I’m in the room the bar is latched.
I can’t imagine NOT using the bar when in the hotel room. I used to travel for work. I can’t tell you how often they entered without even knocking. Plus, who knows how secure they truly keep those keys. I used to know someone who did hotel key audits. He told me stories that would make your hair stand on end. Everyone, use the bar.