Lost Child Tip / Preventitive

SerenityinPA

SerenityinPA

Member
Original Poster
Myself, DH, & DD (3yrs) went to WDW in Oct 2010. Before we left my mom made a beaded necklace for her with a number from my cell phone on each bead. So it doubled as a "pretty pink necklace" and a number to call if she got lost. I drilled it into her brain weeks before we left and then every morning as we went into the park that if she lost mommy and daddy to find someone with a name tag ( I took her up to one of the CMs to show her ) and say while pointing to her necklace "im lost, call my mommy". Fortunately we never had to use it but it was piece of mind for us. Especially since while we were at AK we saw a mom and dad hysterically trying to find their lost child. So scary...

I've also seen people write their cell phone numbers on the childs hand in sharpie marker, but the necklace seemed like a better idea. :lol:
 
Disney's Mom

Disney's Mom

Member
When my kids were little I would get those Mickey shaped paint samples from Home Depot, put all of the cell phones for adults in our group, then laminate it (so it holds up to water rides). I would have it hang off their belt loop. If they got lost, they could just show someone the info.

It would say: My name is_______. If I am lost please contact...My mom at: cell #, My Dad at: cell #, My aunt at: Cell #, etc.
We never had to use it, but it was there just in case - and it had the cute Mickey shape on it.
 
HouCuseChickie

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
As I've noted before, I'm a big fan of SafetyTats. They are temporary tattoos that go on your child's wrist. They are waterproof and pretty much peel proof for the first week (or more). It was over a week before we could get the ones off of our kids, but it was peace of mind that they had all of the contact info on them in case they were lost and nobody, including them, would be able to get it off without creating a big fuss. When we checked in, we also showed them several CM's and their buttons and gave them strict instructions to go to CM and show them their tats on their wrists should they get lost. DD4 now also wears a medical alert bracelet that also has much of this info.
 
Steve-B

Steve-B

Active Member
If I may add - take a picture of your child each day with your phone so you'll be able to describe how he/she is dressed (or just show the picture) if they are lost.
 
mrerk

mrerk

Premium Member
Steve-B said:
If I may add - take a picture of your child each day with your phone so you'll be able to describe how he/she is dressed (or just show the picture) if they are lost.
Click to expand...

We got into the habit of doing this a few trips back. Every day when we left the room we would take a pic.
 
B

buseegal

Active Member
from working at a small park in Pa, CM's are not allowed to carry cell phones while in park. be prepared for it to take some time to get someone with cell phone to be able to call you. child will be taken to lost child/first aid at our park before you can be called. from what i saw at Disney last trip same is true there. our last trip, the lost child was old enough to know phone numberbut was taken to lost child center first. his father was right behind them entering. no one could call until there. just be prpared for a little time to pass before you can be called.
 
C

CaptainShortty

Well-Known Member
buseegal said:
from working at a small park in Pa, CM's are not allowed to carry cell phones while in park. be prepared for it to take some time to get someone with cell phone to be able to call you. child will be taken to lost child/first aid at our park before you can be called. from what i saw at Disney last trip same is true there. our last trip, the lost child was old enough to know phone numberbut was taken to lost child center first. his father was right behind them entering. no one could call until there. just be prpared for a little time to pass before you can be called.
Click to expand...

Regular CMs are not allowed to carry cell phones but managers usually carry both blackberrys and walkie-talkie radios. If you loose your child look for a manager...they are normally dressed in business clothing with a nametag and a lot of the times have a headset in their ear. Notify them that you've lost one of your children. They can help you get in contact with your child with more tools then a regular CM. Of course if you can't find a manager any CM will work their hardest to get you reunited with your child.

Another tip my Mom always used with me was that she would put my sister and I in the same colors so if we were ever lost she could remember what color we were wearing. It also made for some very cute sister pictures since we were all matching!
 
erinshaneb

erinshaneb

Member
My dad came up with two awesome ideas..last year when we took our kiddos he handed my then 4 year a Toy Story dog tag to wear around her neck..it has her name, her city where she lives and mine and hubby's cell phone # on it...she thought it was the coolest thing and she wore it every day at the parks, just in case Mommy got lost...He made it at those dog tag machines in Walmart for about $3.00..now that we've got 2 that run (my son was only 9 months last year so he wasn't doing too much disappearing..lol)..he bought them child alert sensors...they are little bears that fit over the laces of their tennis shoes and come with remotes..since my daughter is older her's is a little different..if I can't find her then I hit the button on her remote and she beeps..with my son with him being so young, if he gets within 20 feet away from the remote he will beep and so will the remote..I like them bcuz they are water proof, fit over the laces so you don't have to worry about them wearing them and they look like little bears..my son is very adventurous so this is a nice, little extra piece of mind..of course he will also be getting a dog tag..

just a side note..those dog tags are great for regular use too...it stay in her backpack since we normally take that when we go anywhere big (zoo, museum and so on) and she wears it even at the zoo and it's a great piece of mind that hides under her shirt, won't wash off and she thinks is sooooo cool..
 
MMCoffman

MMCoffman

New Member
I went to the pet store and engraved their name and my number and their dads number on one side of a pet tag. On the other side I put "if lost please turn over", since they say your childs name should never be visable to others. I put these pet tags on their shoes. They are water proof and since they are engraved we can use them over and over.
 
C

CaptainShortty

Well-Known Member
t_catt11 said:
I actually did a pretty in depth article about this very subject recently. Yo might find the following link to be useful: Lost Children at Disney World.
Click to expand...

A very good article and they were very true that it happens all the time. In my 4 months working at the front desk I had a fair share of "lost parents" ranging in kids ages 1 to 13. A lot of the time the parents were right there and had just lost sight of their child when they ran off to look at something "interesting". Once I had a fellow CM running around the entire hotel (which as most of you know is quite large) looking for a three year old who had mistakenly gotten on the elevator because she thought her parents were right behind her. They weren't and she wound up on another floor before the parents had turned around. Of course they found her within a few minutes but it did give the parents quite a scare.

Bottom line: Just be prepared for something to happen as it's quite a possibility that it will happen (even for a moment) eventually.
 
t_catt11

t_catt11

New Member
It's pretty interesting, really, to see the difference in the attitudes of the parents and cast memebrs in the situation (and I do understand that interesting is in the eye of the beholder). Parents panic, CMs are quite used to dealing with the situation.
 
SteveUK

SteveUK

Member
I've got an idea that could alleviate 'missing child' concerns. Leave them at home. WDW isn't really a place for children, if you don't take them with you, you can't lose them.
 

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