What Happened in Paris...can EASILY Happen in Disney World

[TyrantBoss]

We pretty much have all heard the news by now about that horrible attack in Paris last night.
These were attacked on civilians at a popular night spot. Coordinated attacks in several locations.

So what's to stop this from happening in Walt Disney World?
The short answer: Absolutely Nothing

Have you seen the security at WDW?
- Normally older gentlemen checking the bags of guests as they walk into the park. And it's not a very detailed search.
- And when you are simply carrying in a camera or have no bag...you aren't checked or wanded at all.
- I don't recall any guards carrying firearms
- There are no metal detectors
- There is little to no overarching security during the most crowded times (Parades, Fireworks)

So what is to stop a terrorist (or several) from bringing in a small video camera containing an explosive, and a cell phone as a trigger...buying something from a store...leaving their explosives in several bags around the park during the fireworks display when it is pitch black and everyone is distracted and looking up....and then the terrorists can simply activate the explosives with their cell phones and cause MASS casualties. How many hundreds can they kill? That would be horrible, FAR worse than what happened in Paris.

Hell, there are sites that offer free "Crowd Calendars" to let you know when the park is most likely going to be at the highest capacity. Or you can simply attend a number of times and watch the trends and learn the schedule.

So my question is.....how safe are we at Walt Disney World?
Do they have bomb and explosive detection devices?
They never swab any cameras so how do you know if one if not a bomb?
Do they have heavily armed reaction forces?
What are the evacuation protocols?
.... Have you TRIED getting out of Magic Kingdom in a hurry after the fireworks show? It takes forever. It is nearly impossible. We are like cattle being herded down a narrow canal. One explosive and you have mass chaos and no where to go.

I personally think this is a very serious issue that should be addressed Proactively instead of after something already happens that is devastating to life and safety at the parks.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

What exactly would you propose doing that would not make it significantly more difficult for cast to work there or for guests to visit?

Pretty much any public or semi-private location in the USA has the potential to be a victim of a terrorist attack. However, instead of scaring tourists away with more travel burdens and overractions, it's much better to remind people of the existing channels for reporting and detecting suspicious behaviour (of which there are many).

 

[officialtom]

Well I guess they'd better just shutter the parks then.

 

[Tink28]

They have closed DLP for the first time today

 

[Tom Morrow]

It's pointless to point out that it can happen at WDW, because it can literally happen anywhere.

 

[Monty]

There's a significant amount of security at WDW that the average guest is entirely oblivious to. As well, they have intelligence analysts who monitor what's going on around the world for potential threats to their properties.

There is no such thing as perfect security, but you're much safer in a Disney Park than you are in most other public venues.

 

[Clamman73]

It's really not fun thinking about hypotheticals at the Parks...just go and enjoy.

 

[Lucky]

I'm a lot less likely to be killed by terrorists at WDW than I am at work, a block or two from the White House. So I'll leave this one for other people to worry about.

 

[ShareBDwithMickey]

Could it happen, yes, is it likely to happen no.

As a general rule terrorist attacks avoid involving children in their attacks, this isn't to say they don't get caught up in these awful events, however locations where children are a guaranteed significant presence are normally avoided because of the reaction that is usually prevoked. As a rule the backlash for incidents where children are significantly affected is harder, more ruthless & far more effective because of the motivation of those involved, therefore anywhere that fits that profile is not a normally a high risk target.

Far more effective are centres of travel, governance, entertainment or social gatherings. Very disruptive, highly populated & effective in causing the greatest amount of individual & collective "panic/nervousness", exactly what has resulted from the heinous attacks in Paris.

Could any theme park be a target, undoubtedly, however in the grand scheme of things is it likely, probably not.

 

[Texas84]

There is a lot more security than you think. Or notice.

 

[disney4life2008]

I am at epcot. There are substantial security, orange County,, disney and playing clothes.

 

[Lucky]

I am at epcot. There are substantial security, orange County,, disney and playing clothes.

That should stop the pavilion climbers at least.

 

[ekutchey]

There is tons of security at DW across the entire property especially in the parks that the average park goer it unaware of. Including metal detectors that everyone walks through and has no ideas. The bag searches are just a beginning line of measure. I feel more safe at DW then any other vacation destination!

But the very sad reality is it could happen anywhere in today's world no matter how fabulous the security is.

 

[ford91exploder]

There's a significant amount of security at WDW that the average guest is entirely oblivious to. As well, they have intelligence analysts who monitor what's going on around the world for potential threats to their properties.

There is no such thing as perfect security, but you're much safer in a Disney Park than you are in most other public venues.

I agree with @Monty on this WDW security is probably the best in the world. If you KNOW what you are looking for there is a LOT of security in the park and there is also a massive plainclothes presence, The 'bag check' is just one layer and most of the bag checkers are actually retired cops who are looking as much to your reaction to the search as the search itself.

Sometime as you enter the parks look up, There is a at least one VISIBLE camera with a clear sightline to every face and I'd put heavy odds that it's also doing facial recognition as you walk in, You might have noticed that Disney security is also very heavy about 50 yards inside the gates.

Something bad COULD happen but it's probably least likely to happen at WDW.

 

[ford91exploder]

That should stop the pavilion climbers at least.

They would taze the guy if he even THOUGHT about pulling that stunt today!

 

[danlb_2000]

There is tons of security at DW across the entire property especially in the parks that the average park goer it unaware of. Including metal detectors that everyone walks through and has no ideas. The bag searches are just a beginning line of measure. I feel more safe at DW then any other vacation destination!

But the very sad reality is it could happen anywhere in today's world no matter how fabulous the security is.

I have never heard of hidden metal detectors, so I wonder what good they would do? People often carry metal objects on them that would be detected by a metal detector.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

I heard their security isn't the same when you enter a concert in paris. Here you get the wand and you have your bags search, we might get the wand at Disney World to soon I'm suspecting.

 

[copcarguyp71]

yeah...it could pretty much happen anywhere...that's kinda how terrorism works.

You have no idea what countermeasures are in place...and you never will unless it happens. If you, me and the rest of the pleebs know what measures are in place then any nefarious person of ill intent could figure a way around it. Secrecy of countermeasures is paramount. To say that you want to know what is being done is like saying you want the terrorists to know how to get around it.

 

[lazyboy97o]

There is nothing Disney could implement that would guarantee safety. Even with full search checkpoints, those places just become a mass of people that themselves become a great and easy target.

 

[DManRightHere]

We pretty much have all heard the news by now about that horrible attack in Paris last night.
These were attacked on civilians at a popular night spot. Coordinated attacks in several locations.

So what's to stop this from happening in Walt Disney World?
The short answer: Absolutely Nothing

Have you seen the security at WDW?
- Normally older gentlemen checking the bags of guests as they walk into the park. And it's not a very detailed search.
- And when you are simply carrying in a camera or have no bag...you aren't checked or wanded at all.
- I don't recall any guards carrying firearms
- There are no metal detectors
- There is little to no overarching security during the most crowded times (Parades, Fireworks)

So what is to stop a terrorist (or several) from bringing in a small video camera containing an explosive, and a cell phone as a trigger...buying something from a store...leaving their explosives in several bags around the park during the fireworks display when it is pitch black and everyone is distracted and looking up....and then the terrorists can simply activate the explosives with their cell phones and cause MASS casualties. How many hundreds can they kill? That would be horrible, FAR worse than what happened in Paris.

Hell, there are sites that offer free "Crowd Calendars" to let you know when the park is most likely going to be at the highest capacity. Or you can simply attend a number of times and watch the trends and learn the schedule.

So my question is.....how safe are we at Walt Disney World?
Do they have bomb and explosive detection devices?
They never swab any cameras so how do you know if one if not a bomb?
Do they have heavily armed reaction forces?
What are the evacuation protocols?
.... Have you TRIED getting out of Magic Kingdom in a hurry after the fireworks show? It takes forever. It is nearly impossible. We are like cattle being herded down a narrow canal. One explosive and you have mass chaos and no where to go.

I personally think this is a very serious issue that should be addressed Proactively instead of after something already happens that is devastating to life and safety at the parks.

Even though disney may appear to have a pretty relaxed security, I am sure there are other measures we do not know of. Likely just surveillance. Bottom line, Disney is stil safer than walking through a crowded city.