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merciantinkerbell
01-25-2018, 07:45 AM
Our last visit in 2014 park security was just a look in any bags we had with us. I know security has changed to something more like an airport but can anyone explain what it is? Do you have to empty bags like at the airport? Also my husband's medication includes controlled drugs, do we need to keep it in original pharmacy boxes, bring a Dr letter like we do when arriving at the airport? Or can he just keep it in his daily pill dispenser box he usually carries with him?
Thanks everyone in advance

VWL Mom
01-25-2018, 10:22 AM
They’re just looking but more aggressively than in 2014. Every zipper must be opened and if you have a glass case, cosmetic bag, etc inside your purse/backpack that will need to come out and be opened.

texas211
01-25-2018, 10:24 AM
I bring my meds in a discreet bottle, no issues. BUt, FYI, controlled drugs, by law, are always supposed to be in their original bottles. Especially narcotics or c2's.

If you are talking liquid meds. I have no input. Haven't tried.

But, everyone goes through medal detectors now. So that's a bigger thing.

Altair
01-25-2018, 11:02 AM
But, everyone goes through medal detectors now. So that's a bigger thing.

When we walked from the Contemporary to MK everyone went through the metal detector, everywhere else only random guests had to.

PopPhan
01-25-2018, 11:09 AM
When we walked from the Contemporary to MK everyone went through the metal detector, everywhere else only random guests had to.

On my after-Thanksgiving trip, everyone HAD to go through the metal detectors, whether they had bags checked or not. It was a very minor inconvenience and did not take long.

Zippy 1
01-25-2018, 11:34 AM
We just got home from DW last night. Security asks you to open every zipped pocket of your bag. They also opened my sunglass case. There was no questioning or concern about my meds which were in a small tupperware container. The last few days of our trip they were making everyone go through the metal detectors. It was no big deal and the line moved very quickly we spent about 5 minutes with security

DisneyFan1979
01-25-2018, 12:56 PM
I highly recommend clear or mesh see-through bags for the smaller items in your handbag or backpack. It makes things so much easier at security, as you don't have to open them. My clear plastic cosmetic bag also has the advantage of keeping things super dry in the inevitable Florida rainstorms - that way if the rain gets through my purse, what's inside still stays dry.

Speedy1998
01-25-2018, 01:19 PM
Just went over Thanksgiving. From my experience they are only looking for things that guest are banned from bring into the park (weapons, alcohol, etc.). Also what I saw was that the metal detectors were mandatory for guest without bags, but random for guest with bags.

Actually, I had heard the guest without bags line was going away and was surprised to see they still had it. Not as fast as it used to be though, because I had to empty my pockets and go through the metal detector.

Lastly as far as medicines go, my wife had a ziploc baggie with a pharmacies worth of over the counter pain meds (Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and children's Tylenol; because no one in my family uses the same one), allergy meds, and some meds that she is supposed to take with dinner. Every security guard saw the bag and did not question it.

RunDMV
01-26-2018, 03:25 AM
They create a bigger danger. Rather than having hundreds of people SPREAD out in the park at a given point/time, they create a choke point of hundreds of people PACKED tightly in a confined space.

Someone with ill intent need only to attack the screening point with the packed crowd waiting in line. Hundreds upon hundreds of sitting ducks with nowhere to escape. And remember, when approaching this pack, no one has been screened.

Dulcee
01-26-2018, 11:02 AM
They create a bigger danger. Rather than having hundreds of people SPREAD out in the park at a given point/time, they create a choke point of hundreds of people PACKED tightly in a confined space.

Someone with ill intent need only to attack the screening point with the packed crowd waiting in line. Hundreds upon hundreds of sitting ducks with nowhere to escape. And remember, when approaching this pack, no one has been screened.

My husband and I discussed this our last trip. He's law enforcement so he's always interested in how they are running their security. Unfortunately its unavoidable. With any security screen you'll have a choke point. The only difference is where that bottleneck occurs.

For what its worth this is not a problem unique to disney, its a security concern anywhere you have to have a hard security stop.

RunDMV
01-27-2018, 05:31 AM
My husband and I discussed this our last trip. He's law enforcement so he's always interested in how they are running their security. Unfortunately its unavoidable. With any security screen you'll have a choke point. The only difference is where that bottleneck occurs.

For what its worth this is not a problem unique to disney, its a security concern anywhere you have to have a hard security stop.

I am painfully aware of choke points as I have been in LE for over two and a half decades (and currently serve as a police chief).

Choke points at the airport make sense - disaster on the crowded ground is preferable to disaster in the sky.

When creating choke points, you can make them more danderous than the alternative.

texas211
01-27-2018, 11:52 AM
When creating choke points, you can make them more danderous than the alternative.

Then all the more reason for them to keep allowing the little bottles of head and shoulders.

faline
01-27-2018, 02:11 PM
Just returned from Disney. Security has changed a bit. Depending on where you enter the system, you will meet security at different points. In fact, these changes have spread out the security checkpoints quite differently than they were originally. For example, if you arrive via monorail to the Magic Kingdom, you will go through security at the point you enter the monorail car. If you walk from the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom, you will go through security along the sidewalk before you arrive in front of the Magic Kingdom. And, if you arrive via the Transportation and Ticket Center, you will go through security before you board the ferry or monorail. It is more difficult to spread out the security checkpoints for the other parks. Some folks are randomly selected to go through metal detectors on most days. On some days, and at some checkpoints, everyone is sent through a metal detector.

But, back to the original question...I carried prescription medication into the parks every day. None, though, were narcotic in nature. No-one ever examined the medications in any dedicated way. The focus appeared to be on detecting items that are forbidden to be carried into the parks rather than for any other purpose.

merciantinkerbell
01-27-2018, 02:34 PM
Thanks everyone. That will help with packing our "park bags". Hubby says he'll take controlled meds in their original boxes to parks to start with and see how we go.

RunDMV
01-27-2018, 08:17 PM
Then all the more reason for them to keep allowing the little bottles of head and shoulders.

Ok. That was funny.