I lost my 4 year old at Magic Kingdom....

[Magnetic]

You're welcome I think they're really a great idea.

Regarding Paypal, they must have just started offering that, because when I bought mine I sent a check through the mail. Perhaps there's just a delay in the mail -- my wristband came about a week after I sent the check.

 

[campingcorgi]

LKS--Hopefully your ID Inside came. If not, check your junkmail! Mine came in a plain long envelope and I almost didn't notice it!!

 

[jwfla422]

Boy these stories give me chills. You try not to panic but it's still scary.

Our last few trips I've been putting a sticker on my almost 4 yr old dd's back which has my name and my dh's name, our cell phone numbers and the hotel we're staying in. I should put another regular number on it because I know the cell phone area's can drop in and out in some places. But, as long as the sticker is on her back she usually doesn't bother with it. Unfortunately she wouldn't leave a bracelet on too long, she'd get annoyed with it.

I know when I was a kid I used to get lost at the malls a lot, my mother tied a tag to my ponytail holder (I don't know what she put on it, no cell phones then)...but I may start doing that with my dd.

 

[ehagerty]

Nov 1989 - Contemporary Resort Lobby

We had heard all the horror stories about kidnapping at WDW. Didn't know what to think - fact or fiction - cutting and dying hair, etc.

We were in the lobby of the CR. I was 6 months pregnant and looking through the store (next to the lounge, overlooking the lake). My husband had one hand on the stroller (containing our 1.5 yr-old son) and one hand on the video-cam, doing a 360 of the lobby. Whe he let go of the stroller to complete the 360, he immediately felt for the stroller (without looking). When he could not touch the stroller, he stopped filming and looked around - only to see a strange man pushing it very fast toward the stairs. He shouted, and the man let go of the buggy and ran. My husband wanted to run after him, but didn't dare leave our son, in case he had an accomplice.

We notified security. They were kind, but questioned whether it might have been an innocent mistake. At that point, I almost didn't care if they "got it" - because I had my child back - but I assured them that (1) if I had made and "innocent mistake" like that, I would have been upset and apologetic to the parents - not run like a guilty person and (2) there were only about 12 people in the entire lobby (this was Nov) - and no other strollers - so what was the liklihood of a mistake?

In any case, someone commented at the time that kidnappers had left the parks (because they they could be sealed) and refocused on the resorts ("porous borders").

I don't know what the reality of kidnapping is at WDW. I only know my own experience - and until my children had their brown/black belts in karate (around 10 yrs old), I did not relax my vigilance - especially at the resorts.

I am a firm believer in parental vigilence - and training in self-defense.