Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Oh.. btw.. Universal Japan has stopped doing security searches. Things are now the way it was before 9-11 at that park. >> Good for them. Nothing like the joke of bag searches to let intelligent people realize just how unsafe we all are in this small world. <<On the other hand... TDL now has two new Bin Ladden security check points on either side of the Monorail Station. Check that on my photo update in the TDL section (shameless plug).>> Will check ... but I noticed at the MK that you can now walk right thru the exit gate (nearest the bus depot) and us it as an entrance to avoid security bag checkpoints if you come in at say 10 p.m. on an EMH night when the park is open until 2. I guess the evildoers don't work nights, right?
Originally Posted By Socrates Re: #54 "<<I just wish I had the opportunity to visit WDW frequently enough so I could notice trends like this.>> Ya sure?" Yes! Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^It must be tough having to travel from ancient Greece (passports and all) to get to WDW frequently.
Originally Posted By Socrates Believe me, you have no idea... Socrates "The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>You don't have to go halfway around the world to notice, just go halfway across town to Universal, which doesn't seem to have as much trouble keeping its parks clean and maintained.<< Spirit, it may surprise you to know my opinion on this... as I find USF to be the 3rd dirtiest park on Earth... after the Mk and DLP. Trust me... even USJ and TDR surpass USF in that dept.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< I noticed at the MK that you can now walk right thru the exit gate (nearest the bus depot) and us it as an entrance to avoid security bag checkpoints if you come in at say 10 p.m. on an EMH night when the park is open until 2. I guess the evildoers don't work nights, right? >>> At TDR, they used to let people that were re-entering the park with a hand stamp bypass the security check. After all, their bags had been checked earlier in the day during their initial admission, right?
Originally Posted By Mr X Brilliant. That's part of why I think that whole security check thing is just window dressing, designed to "comfort" nervous Americans. As TDLFAN mentioned, it's meaningless unless you go all the way and set up airport style security. Why they bothered with it in Japan at all is simply beyond me. It makes no sense, and I doubt the Japanese guests needed to be "comforted" anyway. Just from a completely logical standpoint, no terrorist would bother trying to blow up Tokyo Disney, simply because most Americans wouldn't be affected by it. Think of it this way...if they blow up the Hard Rock Cafe in LA, that's gonna create fear and serve the terrorists. If they blow up the Hard Rock Cafe in Korea, are people going to gasp and say "oh NO, it's an American establishment...they're gunning for us again!!"? No. They're just going to make a quick note of what happened "in some other country somewhere". As usual.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Sad but very true Mr X. The security checkpoints at the Disney parks are a waste of time and money. They are for show for gullable guests. To me, they add an extra 20 minutes of trying to get into the park on a crowded day.
Originally Posted By mrichmondj << Sad but very true Mr X. The security checkpoints at the Disney parks are a waste of time and money. They are for show for gullable guests. To me, they add an extra 20 minutes of trying to get into the park on a crowded day. >> This isn't entirely true. Setting up a security perimeter is an important part of an overall security plan. Very few criminals commit the sorts of crimes that terrorists do without conducting some sort of surveillance of their potential location to execute the crime. The presence of a security perimeter and security personnel is a deterrent to criminals when they conduct their surveillance -- it presents a hard target that must be negotiated as part of the criminal act. A security perimeter that is staffed with security alone is a reasonable deterrent for a lot of criminals. Of course, there a number of scenarios where these basic perimeters would be ineffective, but those scenarios are few in comparison to the large body of criminals who are dissuaded from acting when only simple security measures are put in place. What would it cost to upgrade DL security to present a harder target? I estimate around $150M based on similar projects that have been conducted in my workplace.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey I think the security checkpoints probably dissuade some amateur who might try to cause a ruckus at WDW just to get on the news, but I think if a "professional" terrorist wants to do something at the Disney parks, they aren't going to try and bring a bomb through the front gate in a backpack.
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> they aren't going to try and bring a bomb through the front gate in a backpack. << Unless it was the cheapest and easiest thing to do. I mean, why take the costly approach if you can simply carry it in the front gate? The current low-level scans of bags at least address this scenario. The logic in Post #89 is very sound, and the reason the security that is in place, however imperfect, is in place.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>This isn't entirely true.<< Yes it is richj! the only reason why we have them is because legally, they are an excuse to prevent WDW from being liable from whatever could occur in the parks...Oldest excuse in court..."but your Honor... we checked bags, so we did our job..sorta". >>I think the security checkpoints probably dissuade some amateur who might try to cause a ruckus at WDW just to get on the news, but I think if a "professional" terrorist wants to do something at the Disney parks, they aren't going to try and bring a bomb through the front gate in a backpack.<< ^^^There is an example of what Disney want people to think by having nonesense security checks that accomplish nothing but stopping guests from bringing six-packs of beer into the parks.. I beg to differ with Nikki.
Originally Posted By mrichmondj << Yes it is richj! the only reason why we have them is because legally, they are an excuse to prevent WDW from being liable from whatever could occur in the parks...Oldest excuse in court..."but your Honor... we checked bags, so we did our job..sorta". >> O.K. I'll let you tell me how it is and just confess that I know nothing about security and counterterrorism even though having knowledge about those things is part of my job description.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey <<^^^There is an example of what Disney want people to think by having nonesense security checks that accomplish nothing but stopping guests from bringing six-packs of beer into the parks.. I beg to differ with Nikki>> Everybody knows that if you want to sneak liquor into an establishment, you empty it into a ziploc bag and tape it to your thigh - geez!
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey By the way, I totally agree, TDLFAN. The bag checks are doing little good. As you said, it's a cosmetic thing. They MAY catch some amateur wacko, but it has zero effect as a deterrent for serious terrorists. Like I said, if someone someone wants to do damage badly enough, they'll find a way. The bag checks aren't even uniformly applied. One security person will search each and every pocket, while another barely even looks in the bag.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I always wear pants/shorts with huge cargo pockets, and I've never had them searched. Apparently they don't even do that great of a job searching through the bags, because that Banksy fellow didn't seem to have any trouble getting through DL security last fall with his inflatable prisioner that he stuck in the Big Thunder area. I even saw a video on YouTube of the whole thing, and it didn't look like there was any problem along the way.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 Exactly. And let's add that if you're a smiling, friendly, Disney-loving, naive-looking tourist, you get a pass. "Here's my backpack. It's filled with stuff I'm going to use at a Disney lunch we're having today!" "Go ahead. Have fun!" Reminds me of walking back from Tiajuana into the US. You needed to have either: (A) proof of citizenship and photo ID, or (B) blond hair. mrichmondj, with all due respect, I can't believe that you think that Disney's "Checkpoint Lite" is a serious deterrent to serious terrorists.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>Everybody knows that if you want to sneak liquor into an establishment, you empty it into a ziploc bag and tape it to your thigh - geez! << That's the difficult way. I get an empty plastic bottle of Ginger ale (logo on it) and fill it up. No stupid security will ever know it's beer instead.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Here's a link to the video I was talking about. It says that the site will be going down for maintenence in about an hour, so either view it soon or you may have to wait a while. Keep in mind that it's pretty creepy how much stuff he is able to get away with in the Happiest Place on Earth. On the bright side, nobody understood that it was a protest or what exactly he was protesting. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkZoC6dwRqE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =jkZoC6dwRqE</a>
Originally Posted By TDLFAN For a moment, the first few seconds of that video reminded my of Traditions Day!
