Leaving luggage with bell services: should we lock it up?

[Weather_Lady]

We'll be arriving at Port Orleans Riverside mid-morning via Magical Express, and carrying our bags with us. In the likely event that our room is not ready, we plan on leaving our bags with bell services and going to the Magic Kingdom. We don't have locks for our suitcases at present.

We won't have anything valuable in our bags (just clothes, toiletries, snacks, chargers for our phones, etc. -- no jewelry, no money or credit cards, no electronic devices). Still, I've read stories online of people's items -- both valuable and not -- being taken from their luggage, and a couple of those tales were specific to Port Orleans Riverside.

My question is: do you do anything to secure your luggage (e.g., locks or zip ties) while storing it with bell services, and/or has anyone had a bad experience with storing their luggage at a Disney World resort hotel? Perhaps buying and using a few luggage locks would be worth the peace of mind...

 

[zurgandfriend]

We have never had a problem with leaving luggage with bell services including my dear wife's laptop. She did lock the laptop in a secure (e.g. metal) case the rest we left unlocked. It really depends upon the luggage you have as a lot of luggage today is the canvas type and even if locked can be "cut" open quickly.

 

[maryszhi]

i've never had a problem leaving luggage at any resort bellhop, so you should be fine

 

[Britt]

We have never ever had a problem with anyone ever going through our luggage. We DO have it locked up, but in NO WAY against the CM's at WDW, but through the airport. Even then, they still search them sometimes. lol

 

[wiigirl]

Never had a problem myself....personally I don't worry about it.

 

[Spikerdink]

Only time something was missing from my luggage was something that happened at the airport/TSA.

Trusted Disney with my laptop, iPod, cameras....and my rum and wine. Never an issue!!

 

[Weather_Lady]

Only time something was missing from my luggage was something that happened at the airport/TSA.

Trusted Disney with my laptop, iPod, cameras....and my rum and wine. Never an issue!!

Well, if they can be trusted with rum...

 

[Rob562]

If your bag has something of value in it, like a laptop, you can ask the Bell Services CM to put it in "the cage". It's a more-secure area of the luggage room with limited, controlled access.

As for locking my luggage, I have TSA-approved locks that I use on my checked luggage, but that's more for its transport by the airline than worries about security at Disney.

Though with that being said, if we happen to be changing resorts during our trip (as we will be on my upcoming trip in November), we'll take the valuable/important stuff (laptop, medication, etc) with us to the parks and rent a locker to store it, though that's more a matter of avoiding delays/misrouting of the bag with the important stuff in it.

-Rob

 

[luv]

I let them hold it a couple times. Once, at the Poly, they lost one of my bags and I had to go into the little luggage hut to find it myself. Otherwise, never had a problem.

But I'd never leave anything irreplaceable with them. Just good sense, KWIM?

I wouldn't bother with a lock. They're so easy to break. But, I also don't lock my car. If they want to look around, they can have at it without breaking the window. Different strokes.

 

[GadgetH_RR]

We'll be arriving at Port Orleans Riverside mid-morning via Magical Express, and carrying our bags with us. In the likely event that our room is not ready, we plan on leaving our bags with bell services and going to the Magic Kingdom. We don't have locks for our suitcases at present.

We won't have anything valuable in our bags (just clothes, toiletries, snacks, chargers for our phones, etc. -- no jewelry, no money or credit cards, no electronic devices). Still, I've read stories online of people's items -- both valuable and not -- being taken from their luggage, and a couple of those tales were specific to Port Orleans Riverside.

My question is: do you do anything to secure your luggage (e.g., locks or zip ties) while storing it with bell services, and/or has anyone had a bad experience with storing their luggage at a Disney World resort hotel? Perhaps buying and using a few luggage locks would be worth the peace of mind...

Would you also lock it up to prevent mousekeeping from potentially stealing something in your room? Or how about those handling the ME luggage? On the ME to your resort, the bus driver isn't checking that another guest doesn't take your bag along with theirs. Where does one draw the line so that locking up luggage doesn't distract from enjoying one's vacation?

If theft were a serious issue at Disney, there would be visible steps taken by Disney to curtail it. In Mexico, luggage put beneath a bus must be retrieved with a matching ticket. The fact that the ME doesn't do this probably means that luggage theft is not an issue at that point.

Obviously, personal items are never completely safe though. A CM stole a passenger's iPhone on a Disney Cruise recently and wasn't smart enough to disable iCloud (hint...don't take photos of your friends in CM-only areas with a stolen phone that is actively uploading all the photos to the home computer of the person you stole it from). I have also had a hammock rope stolen from my backpack on a flight back from Mexico. The thief left behind the bottle of tequila that was only inches away. Crazy.

Putting zip ties or locks on your luggage might make it seem like you have something worth hiding. Locks are easy to pick and you might get something simple stolen in retaliation for locking up nothing and wasting a thief's time. I always feel the best low-key deterrent is dirty or stained underwear near the opening. (Putting feminine sanitary products over taboo items such as a sandwich...nothing dangerous though... also works to get a man to not search through a bag when going through security at a stadium. The yuck factor is just too much for them!)

 

[disneygirl76]

We'll be arriving at Port Orleans Riverside mid-morning via Magical Express, and carrying our bags with us. In the likely event that our room is not ready, we plan on leaving our bags with bell services and going to the Magic Kingdom. We don't have locks for our suitcases at present.

We won't have anything valuable in our bags (just clothes, toiletries, snacks, chargers for our phones, etc. -- no jewelry, no money or credit cards, no electronic devices). Still, I've read stories online of people's items -- both valuable and not -- being taken from their luggage, and a couple of those tales were specific to Port Orleans Riverside.

My question is: do you do anything to secure your luggage (e.g., locks or zip ties) while storing it with bell services, and/or has anyone had a bad experience with storing their luggage at a Disney World resort hotel? Perhaps buying and using a few luggage locks would be worth the peace of mind...

I don't think you have to take that step. I've left my luggage with bell services several times and never had an issue. If you are really that worried, go ahead and lock it but I don't think you have to.

Also, if you do online check in and state the time you plan on arriving, you have a good shot of your room being ready. They try. No promises, but they try.

 

[Phonedave]

I have never left checked luggage with bell services because that gets checked. My checked luggage does get TSA locks on it (or zip ties). Not because they are going to stop a determined person, but because it is a deterrent.

AS for bell services I have left lots of items with them on many many trips and have never had a problem. As was said, I have even left a laptop with them and asked to have it put in "the cage" without problems.

-dave

 

[Weather_Lady]

Well then, if the room isn't ready, we'll leave the bags with bell services, sans locks, and go have some fun. The worst that can happen is that somebody swipes our box of Fiber One bars from the top of the duffel and goes on a wild spree of satisfying bowel movements.