Safety in DTD & surrounding resorts

[TiffanyW1]

I was wondering if anyone had seen this news bite dated 6/26:

"Citing the identification of "a ganglike presence" at the Downtown Disney shopping and entertainment complex at Walt Disney World, Disney's security guards and off-duty Orange County deputy sheriffs were out in force last weekend. Officials issued trespass warnings and banned some teens and young adults from Disney property forever. Among those barred was a 15-year-old from Osceola County who was arrested with marijuana and a loaded .380-caliber pistol, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office."

I am kind of concerned about safety there and at SSR & OKW. We are planning on an Oct trip with our teens & now I am concerned. I don't know if I will feel safe about them going over to DTD without us. Also about how secure the resorts are over there

Any thoughts?

 

[disneynutz]

In my opinion, you are safer at Disney than your own home town. When you consider that WDW had 40 million visitors last year and very few problems were reported I feel very safe.

 

[mla973]

I have always felt safe at all locations on Disney property. I think it's a reminder to be careful and cautious at all times, even at WDW.

 

[TiffanyW1]

In my opinion, you are safer at Disney than your own home town. When you consider that WDW had 40 million visitors last year and very few problems were reported I feel very safe.

We have been there many times & have always stayed pretty close to WDW (Poly, Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge). What we like best about Disney is the safe and secure feeling. Knowing that we never have to leave property and deal with Orlando (pretty bad as far as crime goes) is a major factor to our chosing that as a vacation destination year after year.
We have never stayed at OKW or SSR and didn't know how secure they were Don't know what to think about DTD

 

[OKW Lover]

You are right to be concerned about your safety. Just because you are on vacation doesn't mean that criminals are. It's easy to forget this at WDW, but just continue to exercise the same common sense precautions you use at home and you'll be fine.

 

[luna99]

back in 2001 I was working at celebrity eyeworks studio on the west side of DTD (across from bongos) and we had some guys come in and steal about 20,000 dollars in designer sunglasses right under our noses!!! It's a pretty eerie feeling to know that people were probably scouting out the store and watching us for a while planning on this heist.... I felt a little uneasy for a short period of time after that going to work.....

with that being said though, I DO think DTD And just Disneyworld in general is a pretty safe place.... I went to WDW when I was 17 for the first time without parents and had a great time with my girlfriends, then I did it again when I was 19 with one girlfriend and we had a blast... no problems what-so-ever.

I think as long as you keep aware of what's going on around you and don't carry tons of cash or valueables on yourself.. you'll be ok.

It would be sad to see people stop going to Disney because they were afraid... that's no way to live your life .. not doing things because of what COULD happen.

As far as your teenage children going to DTD alone.. if you really are worried, maybe let them go alone during the day and go with them at night. During the day (especially before say 4/5/6 ish) DTD feels very safe because the crowds don't usually pick up until later.

I know a few of the security guards (well, from back in 2000 - 2002) there and they are all really good people. I can't say much about the resorts in that area.

good luck with your decision!

 

[lovinthemouse]

No matter where you are you should always be cautious. Crime happens even on vacation. That being said. I have always felt safe at WDW. We have stayed at both OKW and SSR and I felt safe at both.

 

[JimMIA]

Three comments.

One is the obvious "always be alert when on vacation" caution. Tourists are often easy marks for street crime because they don't know where they are, or what they're doing, and they're so fixated on their vacation activities that they're not paying much attention to what's going on around them.

Two -- The law enforcement activity mentioned in the news story happens every day in every mid-sized and large city in the US. The only thing that makes this story newsworthy is that it happened at Disney. If it had happened at a mall across town, you never would have heard a peep about it.

Three -- Not all crime that happens to people from out of town is "tourist crime." In fact, most crime that happens to people from out of town is not tourist crime. Most of it happens for other reasons that have nothing to do with you or I.

For example, a few years ago, we had a visitor to Miami from New York murdered while driving down the expressway. Tourist crime was a big deal back then, so the story made big headlines.

But when you read the story, you found out that the victim was a mob guy from NY who was driving up I-95 in his Mercedes when another Mercedes pulled alongside and someone machine-gunned him. That ain't tourist crime, folks; that's a mob hit.

Neither is "Well officer, I was just minding my own business, hanging out at this crack house buying dope, when a bad person came up and robbed me!" It's still a crime, but not the kind of crime that threatens you or me.

 

[jwfla422]

Also, keep in mind that the DTD area is regular public access in that there is no admission so there is no price to pay to walk the grounds there. Not to say that the parks aren't public access but you'll find less "ganglike" personnel there because they actually have to pay to get in.

Regardless I do agree with the other posters, you still have to be very aware of your surroundings even in WDW. The Orlando area has changed a lot over the years because of it's growth. It's becoming very metropolitan so it does have it's pluses and minuses of being in a big city. And, it is probably one of the most "touristy" cities as well.

We have stayed at SSR and I just booked another trip to stay there this fall. While I have felt safe staying there with just myself and my 8 yr old dd I am always aware of my surroundings in all places during our stay (no matter what resort we stay in). I do have to add though while I do like the CP location because the DTD bus depot is only about a 10 min. walk away, I didn't feel 100% comfortable walking back at night and we probably wouldn't do that again. If my dh were with us I'd be ok with it or if there were more people walking back as well. A lot of the path is wooded and you have to cross the small canal over a bridge that runs along side the main street to DTD.

If you are planning to let your kids go there themselves have them use the boat to go back and forth and just teach them simple security awareness. They should know that for anywhere they go.

 

[holcomb-mania]

I'm guessing the gang stuff was more to the West-Side/PI sections. We were there 2 wks ago and went to DtD on a Thursday evening and saw nothing like this on the Marketplace side. Of course, we may have missed it because of ALL THE PEOPLE! We couldn't stand it. The line at Ghirardelli's looked like the one for Space Mtn. I felt like a sardine in WoD.

Also, we stayed in SSR and the walkway was well lit and pretty empty. There are off-shoots that specifically state "Don't use after dusk" and are not lit. I went running at 6:30am one day on that path along the lake and passed a cop on a bike, so there is a presence there, in case you were worried.

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

I was at the Marketplace last weekend. While I did see security around, I didn't see anyone acting threatening.

I have always felt safe at all locations on Disney property. I think it's a reminder to be careful and cautious at all times, even at WDW

I agree

 

[dwelty]

Disney is cracking down for publicity purposes. Related to the story earlier in the month about the abduction and robbery. It now looks like this was a drug deal gone bad. (Since the couple involved refuses to take a lie detector test, and has now said that they will not prosecute if the parties involved are caught). Of course, always be careful, but the security in property is top notch in my opinion.

 

[NMW]

I've never noticed it (gangs of teenagers) at DTD. Of course, we only do one DTD night per trip-eat dinner and do a little shopping. We've never been huge DTD fans.

I did hear that they were making it more family friendly-getting rid of some of the clubs, adding more family themed restaurants like that dino one. I know they got rid of those big TV screens that used to play music videos. I certainly wouldn't want to take me kids to someplace with roving gangs of local teenagers. I'm glad Disney is doing something about it, if it is a problem.

 

[JimC]

To pick up on JimMIA's comments -- From the way it was covered here in Orlando I suspect Disney wanted the publicity. They are being aggressive and letting the locals know it.