Would you turn it in?

[magicofdisney]

At Disney, we find items on the ground or laying around because someone accidentally left it behind. The other day we found two cell phones on a bench next to the bathrooms at AK. We turned those in; obviously that was a no brainer for us. But my girls will sometimes find smaller items of lesser value (a gibitz for example) and I'll let them keep it. My dad found $50 on the ground one time. Sometimes we'll find small pieces of jewelry or Disney Pins. We found a princess balloon on the monorail once and a girl's fanny pack in a MK bathroom.

A friend of mine once found a very expensive camera. Instead of turning it in, he looked for ID in the camera case. All he found was a VISA receipt. He contacted VISA and they contacted the card holder who in turn got in touch with my friend. It turns out the camera was worth several hundred dollars. The camera owner was so grateful, he gave my friend a reward.

Another time we left our diaper bag somewhere in Epcot and I was extremely grateful someone turned that in to L&F. It probably had a value of about $35, but it was items we so needed and I was happy to get it back.

At what point do you determine an item is worth value and would you turn it in to Lost and Found?

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I am more inclined to return things with sentimental value.
2) The next criteria is monetary value - more expensive gets turned in.

NOTE: Sure, it is easy to say that we would turn in everything and be an upstandingly honest person, but let's run through a checklist and people can decide. A checklist quickly says whether you are totally honest or honest based upon the item. The list can include common items such as

. . . a single Disney pin
. . . a lanyard with 5-10 pins
. . . a pin-pack with over 50 pins

. . . a $100 bill
. . . a $20 bill
. . . a $1 bill
. . . a 25¢ coin

. . . an inexpensive digital camera (less than $100)
. . . an medium expensive digital camera ($100-$150)
. . . an expensive digital camera (over $150)

. . . a cell phone
. . . a purse or wallet, with ALL money that was in it
. . . a purse or wallet, with some money missing

. . . a backpack, without going through it
. . . a backpack, after you go through it

[vicster]

One year I left a backpack on a bench at the UK in Epcot with two brand new Test Track shirts in it. I was totally grateful that someone turned it in to lost and found. This year I found a Tiffany bracelet at the Chicago Auto Show and wanted to turn it in. My husband said the security people would just keep it. I put an ad in the paper under lost and found but no one claimed it. What to do...

[I believe]

Our DD10 lost a gap hat at Columbia Harbor House when she was 4, and she still mentions it everytime we eat there...
Our DD6 lost her orangutang mama and baby (purchased at a cart in AK) at Epcot during EMH on our last park day. That girl was devastated!!! I was able to thankfully purchase a replacement for her the next morning at AKL gift shop before she woke up for Tinkerbell to deliver to her as she slept! If AKL had not had it, or if we were staying at another hotel at the time, it could have been a VERY long trip home! Thank goodness Tinkerbell was an early riser!
Having experinced these lost items through my children's eyes, no matter what the value it could mean alot to someone...
Now with that being said, If I found money, just loose blowing in the wind... I would probably keep it. Mostly because I think the odds of it making it's way back to it's rightful owner would be VERY slim.
I guess that is hyprocritical:(,but it is the truth.

[disneymom15]

My answers to the check list would be I would turn in everything except the single Disney pin and the money. As for the money, I would look around to see if anyone is franticly searching their pockets or wallets.

[Gottaluvgoof]

I found a dream fast pass at the MK. I approached a CM with it and she said, "It's yours now." So, I guess if it is something someone can describe and claim, it should be turned in, but if not, I guess as she said, it's yours.

[TikiGoddess]

So, I guess if it is something someone can describe and claim, it should be turned in, but if not, I guess as she said, it's yours.


That makes a lot of sense to me. I would think about how I would feel if I had lost the particular item. Cameras especially must be hard to lose at WDW, as they have so many memories stored on them.

Turning money in doesn't make sense, although if I found a larger sum ($50-100) I would probably give it to charity rather than spend it.

As for pins, I would probably give them away to a kid. I tend to do that with my own pins, to spread the magic.

TikiG

[ISLE39]

i have not found anything. however at usf not once but twice the lockers that they allow free use for some people dont get teh concept of how to use them. and twice i went to get a locker and twice opened them up with peoples entire vacations in them. im talking cameras money wallets etc. i didnt even have to open the stuff because you could see it when you opened the locker.

for me i have platered those address labels every company sends for free to me on every piece of electronic equiptment i own. for everything i write my cell # and my home # on and for my cell phone i only put my house phone number on so they call my house i call home and tell mom and we can get in touch. there isnt one thing i dont have an address label on and sometimes 2 or 3 of them.

i did however lose a camera at a hockey game a few years back and it had everything pastered on it address labels phone numbers and you know what i never got it back. i didnt even care about my camera all i wanted sent back to me was the memory card with my pics on it from a disney trip i had taken only 3 weeks prior and never moved the pics.

[Young@Heart]

I would turn in pretty much anything I found, other than pocket change or half-eaten food!

I have, on many occasions, been the recipient of someone's kindness and honesty, and want to always return the favor. Whether it was the pacifier that DD wouldn't go to sleep w/out and couldn't be found in any stores, the digital camera (worth only about $100) but with over 200 photos that could never be replaced, or my wallet, with no credit cards, but with all my DS's and DD's remaining Disney Dollars (about $10 worth).

I see no good reason to keep something that was never mine to begin with. And who knows how important that lost item is to the person missing it. :thumbsup:

[DisneyOtaku]

The only thing I have found that was lost was a Disney pen while riding the boat from the MK to the Poly. It still had the price tag on. I will admit, I kept it.

Most of the time though, I find people in the mist of losing their stuff--leaving things on rides and such. I always call out to them and hand it back to them. Most of the time it is sunglasses and hats.

[BMan62]

My answers to the check list would be I would turn in everything except the single Disney pin and the money. As for the money, I would look around to see if anyone is franticly searching their pockets or wallets.

:exactly: :ditto:

I have found 1 pin, without back, and with bent post that I still have and one time found some money (not a lot) in the MK between Aloha Isle and Jungle Cruise. I looked around to see if anyone was checking their pockets as the probably had just come from AI with a Dole Whip, but everyone seemed to be gong about their business unaware of anything being out of the usual.

[Jasper]

In our family we have always practiced the idea that ANY piece of merchandise gets turned in and any paper money also gets turned in.

Now having said that we have only found a couple of things while at WDW and they were of very little value and had no identification on them. So, when we took them to a cast member we were also told that we could keep them because there would be no way to link them back to anyone. We have only found paper money at WDW once and that was only a $5.00 bill. When we took that to a cast member we were also told to keep it for the same reasons.

As for finding things outside of WDW that can be more problematic. For example, many, many years ago when I was about 12 or 13 I was walking the couple of miles from my house to the city swimming pool along a highway when I found a $100.00 bill in the grass. It was along side of a cornfield and not anyplace close to any homes or business. This was back in the '70's when that amount of money really meant something.

When I asked my parents what to do with it they helped me place an ad in the local newspaper and then when that didn't get any responses we took it to the local police.

I don't remember how long of a wait it was after we turned it in to the police but eventually they gave it back to me and said that since no one had come forward to claim it that as the finder it legally became mine. Needless to say even though I felt bad for whoever lost that money I also felt great about myself for doing it the right way. That experience made such a strong impression on me that I now make my kids do everything possible to reunite items they find with their owners regardless of the value.

[SBETigg]

We were really grateful to get my son's cell phone back on our last trip. He lost it on Space Mountain and we didn't think we would see it again. We went to Lost and Found on the off chance that it may be there, and it was. Thank you to everyone who turns stuff in to Lost and Found. They really do get things back to the owner, as long as the owner looks for them. We'll always turn things in.

[brownie]

In our family we have always practiced the idea that ANY piece of merchandise gets turned in and any paper money also gets turned in.

That's the rule in our family, too. We've never really found anything at Walt Disney World, though.

[cal5755]

When we went on to our first family trip we accidentally left our camera bag (with our brand new camcorder and $350 Nikon Slr). Someone was gracious enough to turn it into Lost and Found at City Hall.We were very grateful to get it back.To whoever it was it was in a Navy Blue Addidas backpack,September of '03, thank you, thank you, thank you!!

[Cookie123]

If I found any sum of money with nothing attached to it at all, I would keep it and maybe spend it on myself.

HOWEVER, if I found any sum of money that was in a wallet or something with a name attached to it, I would return every cent of it.

If I found a Disney pin, or a camera, or anything of personal value, I would take it to lost and found.

I always take a simple disposable camera with me. I don't want to lose anything of larger value. And even then, my simple disposable camera always has my address label stuck on the back of it.

[RalsFam]

A few years back my brother found a womans purse near a creek that had flooded. It had 900 dollars in it. We took it to the Police and they were able to get it back to the lady. I was proud of him, he is now a Sheriffs Deputy!

[wire0monkey]

I'd turn in everything, but the money. You never know what something means something to someone else.

I lost a $30 piece of costume jewelry at Blizzard Beach and I'm still disappointed about it.

I' lost my diaper bag and didn't care, even though it had small trinkets (about $50 worth) that we'd purchased at the World Showcase in it.

[wire0monkey]

With money, I turn in anything more than a couple of bills to Lost and Found. I have found and returned $2,000 that I found in an envelope outside a bank, for example. On the other hand, I've kept a $20 that I found on the sidewalk.

[Polynesian Dweller]

The answer is we have found things (lots actually from hats to money) and we turn it in. With the exception of quarters or that kind of change on the ground, you are just told to keep it anyway. We also have been told to keep single bills because of the impossibility of proper identification. But is still feels right to try and get property back to people.

[MickeyChick]

A CM at the photo counter in JITI told me that something like 50 cameras get turned into Disney Lost and Found every day and not a lot of people claim them. He suggested that at the start of the trip (or Memory Card) that you take a photo of yourself or someone in the party holding a piece of paper with your name and phone number on it so if the camera is lost, someone can contact you and return it.

Also, there's a website where people who have found cameras post 1 picture in hopes of getting the camera to the right person. I forget what it is though! :confused:

[pink]

A CM at the photo counter in JITI told me that something like 50 cameras get turned into Disney Lost and Found every day and not a lot of people claim them. He suggested that at the start of the trip (or Memory Card) that you take a photo of yourself or someone in the party holding a piece of paper with your name and phone number on it so if the camera is lost, someone can contact you and return it.

That is great idea. I think I might tell my DBF to do that before we go away in September.

As for what I return and don't return, I would also give in things like: clothes, backpacks, any electronics, toys, lanyard with pins. However, if I see a 5 dollar bill or a single pin sitting on the ground I'm either going to keep on walking or keep it. I don't understand people who keep other people's valuables. :(

:mickey:

[laward32]

If it was at Disney, more than likely a child has lost it, so I would have to turn it in.
We were visiting my parents in Pensacola and went to the naval air museum. My oldest DD7 had her princess fanny pack that we had bought a Disney with her that had her wallet with 25 dollars and her nintendo DS (that I didn't know she had put in there). She put it down to get into an aircraft cockpit and got out and left it. We looked everywhere.We even sat and watched people as they left. Nobody returned it. What upsets me is that it was mostly families there and it was obvious it belonged to a little girl. Anyone who found it should have know how devastated the girl who lost it would be. But noone returned it.
So, I always turn it items I find at places like Disney, museums, malls, etc. I don't care how small of an item it is.:mickey:

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

If it was untraceable cash I'd probably keep it. Unless it was a large amount that could be "identified". I lost a twenty at my nephews tee ball parade a couple weeks ago and no one gave that back to me. And I did go looking for it but didn't really expect to find it.

[pianobabe]

Last year, I bought a WDW backpack at a store over in Tomorrowland. I had gotten the bag that was in the back of the row. My thinking was fewer people would have been picking at it. When we got back to Pop Century that night, I was getting it ready for the next day and I found a pair of sunglasses in it with the tag still on. The next day, when we went back to MK, I took them back to the store to turn them in. The CM that I gave them too, asked me to wait a minute. I was standing there worried that they would think I stole them. When the CM came back, she handed me a box that contained about a dozen or so pins and said thank you. I was really surprised. I wasn't looking for a reward, I was just doing what I felt was right. I didn't pay for them and they weren't mine, so I couldn't justify keeping them.

[VolMickey]

Turn it in. Thou shalt not steal...