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View Full Version : I had an encounter with The Great Mouse Detective last Saturday



huzzah4
03-06-2012, 10:14 AM
I have copied this post from a photography site that I frequent. I wanted to get the Intercot community's outlook on the incident as well. I wasn't sure exactly where to post this, so if I have posted this in the wrong forum, please feel free move it to the correct one.

I was on vacation with my wife and mother last week, we made the annual pilgrimage to see the Great and Wonderful Mouse in Florida. On Saturday we were in EPCOT when the incident happened.

We were walking through the Mitsukoshi department store in Japan when a random guy who had just passed me grabbed my shoulder and rather belligerently said "Let me see your last picture!!" I, of course, said no since I had no idea who he was or what he wanted. He said "Uh-huh, that's what I thought" and walked away. I chalked this up as a random guy with a bad attitude and thought nothing more of it until about 20 minutes later.

We had made our way through the store and were exiting the art exhibit next door to it when I was approached by three uniformed police officers and two “shirt and tie” Disney executive-types. The executive in charge (whose name I didn’t think to write down) identified himself as the head of security at EPCOT and asked if he could speak with me for a moment. He said that a “gentleman” had approached the staff within the store and claimed that I had been taking inappropriate pictures of his wife.

I had no idea that there had been a problem, as I hadn't taken any pictures recently, and none at all within the store. I do remember the couple as my wife had commented to me while they were still some distance from us that his wife had a cute dress, she runs a sewing blog and often makes note of such, plus there was the fact that the guy had aggressively wanted to see my pictures. He claims that as he passed me he heard my shutter activate, this would have put his wife within about 1-1.5 feet of my lens. Anyone who has been there can tell you that it is a rather noisy store, I don’t see how he could have even heard a shutter activation had there been one. I was holding my camera at my chest in order to prevent it from swinging while we were walking through the store, and my only supposition is that he may have heard my wife and assumed that I was taking a picture of his wife.

I am not sure how I could have taken anything “inappropriate” even if I had tried to, my camera was at chest level and the only clear view I can recall having of her was as she came around a display case about 3 feet from me. Even if I had tried to take a picture of her, she was too close to have gotten anything usable. Additionally, there is no way I could have taken anything that could remotely be considered inappropriate. She wasn’t wearing anything particularly revealing, there was no cleavage, her skirt wasn’t particularly short, there was nothing about her that I could have taken a picture of that was even remotely racy (and to be perfectly honest, she was a little overweight and not that attractive to begin with). If he just objected to her picture being taken at all, Disney World is probably not the best place to have taken her.

Apparently he approached the store’s staff and they had security waiting in the wings while the staff followed us the entire time we were in the store, waiting for a time when we were in a less crowded area to approach me. Let me state here and now, that the security staff was completely professional and very polite, almost apologetic in fact, the waiting for a more secluded area was as much to prevent my embarrassment as to prevent causing a scene in front of other guests, it was in no way a bad thing, it was simply to avoid causing a scene.

I know that the couple were not in an area where they had a “reasonable expectation of privacy”, but I am normally leery of taking pictures within stores because they can sometimes get upset thinking that it is corporate espionage or something, so I knew that I had not even taken their picture, but if I had I would have been within my rights to do so, they were in a public space. I also know that I was under no legal obligation to show the security staff what pictures I had taken, of course, since it was on private property, they were under no obligation to allow me to remain. I decided that rather than push the issue, the smarter option was to volunteer to show my pictures to the security personnel to defuse the situation since I knew I had done nothing wrong. They agreed that there was nothing inappropriate on my camera and apologized for the inconvenience (they did mention that they liked some of the shots I had taken, but they are probably trained to do that as a politeness thing), and let us be on our merry way. Before leaving, they did take all of my information for their report, which I freely gave them, I didn’t do anything wrong, so I don’t have anything to hide.

I was initially none the worse for wear from the incident, it only took about 5 minutes total, but it did begin to bother me more as the day progressed. I noticed that I was much more reticent about taking pictures for the rest of the day, because I didn’t know who was watching me, or what they may think of the pictures I was taking, it is, after all, pretty much impossible to take a picture within Disney World without catching at least a few people in it. It also began to just irritate me that some random guy can just say anything about me and cause me to be detained by the police with no evidence whatsoever. As I think about it more, perhaps I should not have given the security staff all of my contact information, is this now on a database somewhere marking me as a potential troublemaker?

I didn’t want to ruin the last 2 days of our vacation by causing a scene with security and getting myself kicked out, but should I have handled the situation differently? I know I didn’t do anything wrong, but the whole situation definitely put a damper on the last couple of days of my vacation.

Quadstriker
03-06-2012, 11:08 AM
Only thing I would have done differently is declined to give my personal information at the end.

They investigated the situation, found nothing wrong, so why would they need your personal information for a report?

btharvey
03-06-2012, 11:16 AM
I would provide personal information to this group, as I have nothing to hide and I expect Disney to act appropriately with regard to this information.

However, think of the situation differently: a remarkable couple makes a small scene by grabbing you and insisting to see your photos (for the passersby), then goes to security to complain about that man with the camera that took pictures of his wife on the sly ... and perhaps they were misdirecting everyone because they were shoplifters. Plausible?

Turn it around -- the only thing I would do next time is ask about them, why they were not with the security team, or nearby waiting. I suspect you were the inadvertant 'shill' for the pair.

It might not be the case, but I've never experienced anyone at any Disney park complaining of having their pictures taken -- especially when there are so many cameras and phones.

Of course, nobody ever tries to rip Disney off, do they? ;)

Ms. Mode
03-06-2012, 11:37 AM
I would have given my personal information to Disney Security too; I think I might have asked that they contact me later after they had assured the "gentleman" that no pictures of his wife had been taken.

I hate to assume the worst about people; but really...they could have been shoplifting...hmm

mydisneygirls
03-06-2012, 11:47 AM
Sorry this happened to you. I would have given my info also. I would have also asked where the man and his wife were since they were accusing me of something. Seems fishy to me. I believe they did that to either shoplift or pick pocket you! I posted previously that while in Epcot on our past trip, a husband was causing a commotion trying to distract what his wife was about to do and that was pick up my backpack, open it and start to put her hand in....until I grabbed it from her and asked her what she was doing. Not one word from her and she walked away. You know, the crowds now are not the same as they were a few years ago.

btharvey
03-06-2012, 11:56 AM
I hate to assume the worst about people; but really...they could have been shoplifting...hmm

Likewise, and it might simply have been some rather eccentric folks who were easily put off in a 'new' environment, or they may have had some other things happening in their lives.

But if it were shoplifting, it's a neat dodge. And, I have seen it done elsewhere, making the big scene about someone else to cover one's own doings.

Stu29573
03-06-2012, 11:57 AM
It sounds like you did fine. The shoplifting theory does have a certain amount of merit, but you can't discount the crackpot theory either. You meet all types in this world and some of those types aren't particularly pleasant, or even completely sane. Of course, my career as a counselor probably means I have a little more experience with those types lol. :D

btharvey
03-06-2012, 02:08 PM
If the shoplifters would only lift the cracked pots, we'd be fine. Personally, I work with computer professionals (??) all day long, so I don't know sane or safe people either. :mickey:

BrerGnat
03-06-2012, 02:59 PM
Honestly, if it had been me, I would have probably willingly shown the guy the photos on my camera. '

'And here we are in front of Spaceship Earth. Look at the crazy face my son is making!"

"Oh..and here we are waiting outside the bathrooms after my son threw up on Mission Space. THAT was fun, let me tell you."

"Hey...would you mind taking our picture in this store...I want to show everyone back home all this crazy Japanese candy!"

I don't know. I just don't get that worked up about stupid people. This probably could have been totally avoided if the guy had just shown the last picture he took. Why refuse, and make yourself seem like a creep? Perhaps this guy really did think a photo was taken. Prove him wrong.

MOJoe
03-06-2012, 03:26 PM
Here's what i think. In increasing odds of probability.

3. The accuser is a delusional nutcase.

2. The accuser was attempting to divert attention so that a real crime could be committed.

1. The entire story is fiction.

Wolf
03-08-2012, 04:31 PM
I would provide personal information to this group, as I have nothing to hide and I expect Disney to act appropriately with regard to this information.

However, think of the situation differently: a remarkable couple makes a small scene by grabbing you and insisting to see your photos (for the passersby), then goes to security to complain about that man with the camera that took pictures of his wife on the sly ... and perhaps they were misdirecting everyone because they were shoplifters. Plausible?

Turn it around -- the only thing I would do next time is ask about them, why they were not with the security team, or nearby waiting. I suspect you were the inadvertant 'shill' for the pair.

It might not be the case, but I've never experienced anyone at any Disney park complaining of having their pictures taken -- especially when there are so many cameras and phones.

Of course, nobody ever tries to rip Disney off, do they? ;)

I def thought shoplifting too...That could just be my general phobia of almost everyone though...:thedolls: