Disney Lost and Found
By: Janel Adani
Have you ever wondered what happens if you lose something at Walt Disney World? Well one day our family had this happen to us and I wanted to share our story.
A few years back, I had a serious foot injury and was sentenced to many long months of crutches and a scooter. One day we decided to head out to Epcot to get our stir crazy kids out of the house. Thankfully, I had a friend who let me borrow their ECV and we headed out.
We decided to stop at the new bakery that had just opened up in France, Les Halles Bakery. The place was packed, but the kids really wanted to have some dessert. It was hard to get around in the scooter, so my husband had me park the scooter and hobble over to a table with my little ones while he fetched some dessert. The dessert was amazing and we headed off when we were done.
After the day was done, we started heading back to the car, all of us exhausted. My daughter asked for her favorite stuffed doggy that she brings everywhere. As we looked for it in the ECV basket, we quickly realized it wasn’t there. The panic set in. I felt terrible and started thinking about the last place I saw it. It was in the bakery. She placed it in the basket before we sat down to eat. At this point we were almost to the exit so we headed over to Guest Relations. My daughter is in tears and I was in an utter panic. The kind CM took down a description of the dog, made some phone calls, and checked the back. When he came back with nothing I felt hopeless. He said that it’s possible that someone will turn him in and it will get sent back to their lost and found. He gave me the number to the lost and found and said to check back the next day. In my head, I felt it would never turn up. It’s such a big place and probably just got picked up and thrown away or taken by another child.
I prepared my daughter for never seeing her doggy again. She was heartbroken. I’ve always had a spare of her favorite dog, so she took it, but wasn’t happy. It wasn’t the same. The next day I called lost and found as soon as I woke up. They asked for a description and said they would look around and call me back if something turned up. I waited all day for that phone call. It never came. At that point I knew we would no longer get it back.
The next day I got a phone call and didn’t recognize the number. I hesitantly picked it up and it was Disney’s Lost and Found. They said they found a stuffed dog that may match the description. I told them I would be right down. I took my daughter with me and we drove 45 minutes to get there. When we got there we walked inside, both of us nervous and excited. We told the CM who we were and she came back with doggy in her hands. My daughter’s face lit up and we were both so happy. Who knew we would ever see that little dog again? This place is so huge with so many people going through it each day. We thought for sure it would get lost in the shuffle, but it didn’t. Sure enough I asked where they found it, and it was in the bakery in France! It’s all part of Disney Magic, and we were grateful that everything worked out the way it did.
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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I am one who gets a new ball cap whenever I go to WDW or DL. After participating in the marathon weekend in 2009 my brother and I ate dinner at the China Pavilion. Afterwards we walked around; it was dark so I hadn’t noticed that my new hat was missing until we were ready to go back to the room. I went back to the restaurant and they had no record of a hat being turned in. I contacted L&F also no record. In Downtown Disney there was an outdoor shop that was selling the excess runDisney and WDW marathon merchandise. They still had some hats available and after telling the person in charge my woeful story she presented me with a replacement.