Laptop Safety/Storage

Its just under 3 weeks now until our next trip to WDW and up until now I've had no need to bring my laptop along with me. I'm able to check email on my phone and have always downloaded my digital camera pictures once I returned home. However, I recently purchased a new HD camcorder that stores video on an SD card and will more than likely need to download whats on the card before returning home.

I know we will be on vacation but other than the above issue, I don't plan to use it for anything other than the occasional DVD during down time.

I have read other posts regarding how best to store laptops and already know that I don't feel all that comfortable just leaving it out on the table for instance. Leaving it in the car is not really an option either with the heat that will build up during the day.

My questions are (1) will the in room safe at Pop Century (the resort we are staying at) be large enough to store a 15.6 inch laptop w/ slim case, and (2) do the resorts have an option to leave items such as laptops at the front desk at the start of the day and then picked up upon return from the parks?

Thanks in advance for any info or tips you have.

The safes I've seen are probably large enough, however I usually just leave mine on the desk. I've never had a problem..

I think you can leave stuff at the front desk, or even bell services, but that will get old fast. Frankly, I don't trust bell services to be gentle with equipment like that. I think they broke one of my laptops a few years ago(cracked case) but didn't realize it until we got home. It was carry-on and the only other time it wasn't in my control was check-in day when our room wasn't ready.

I usually leave it in the room on the desk with a laptop lock attached around the table.
I would recommend having your laptop password protected

I don't think that the safe will be large enough - we've never been able to fit mine in.

But, there are some options. As the PP said, you can bring a laptop lock, and lock it to some of the heavier furniture, so it can't be taken as quickly.

We usually just stash ours out of plain sight. I'm figuring that if mousekeeping wanted to take it badly enough, they would find it (and I would think this is VERY rare).

We have left it out on the table, usually in a rush, and have never had any issues at all.

At CBR in January, I just stuck mine in a drawer on the dresser and at OKW last August, we had 3 laptops floating around our suite all week - usually either in the kitchen area or on the table in the bedroom.

We leave several in our room each year, so far no problems! :thumbsup:

If memory serves me correctly, the safe at Pop probably won't fit your laptop... however, I have always just put my computer in a bag, out of sight, and have never had a problem!

We stayed at BLT last year and DW always left her laptop hooked up on the desk. Never had issues.

I have always left mine connected on the desk. Never had a problem with it. If you are uncomfortable doing that you could always place it in you suitcase and lock that before leaving for the parks. I just found it more convienient to have it at the ready especially if you want to use it to save video you can just turn it on and you're ready to go. I have done the same thing and can't imagine having to connect everything after coming back from the parks late at night. I have also transferred video a few times when I just stopped back in the room during the day. Not saying it never happens but I have never heard of someone having a laptop stolen at a Disney Resort.

We just lock ours up in a suitcase along with any expensive photography equipment that I may have taken along.

I've left mine in a drawer as well along with a couple lenses for my camera without any problems.

I take mine all the time, I still need to do the payroll and other paperwork while on vacation. I have a backpack that is especially for laptops. I keep it with the rest of my luggage. The backpack looks just any other.

Thanks again everyone for the great info and suggestions. I just wasn't sure how common it was for guests to leave their laptop setup in the room. Knowing that the power cord is the only thing I'll need to connect with it, has me leaning towards storing it in a drawer or locked suitcase during the day while at the parks if it doesn't fit in the safe.

Just another point of view. Since you aren't really planning on using your laptop, why not get extra SD cards and leave the laptop at home? The cards are a lot cheaper and lighter than a laptop.

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Originally Posted by CanadianWDWFan

Just another point of view. Since you aren't really planning on using your laptop, why not get extra SD cards and leave the laptop at home? The cards are a lot cheaper and lighter than a laptop.

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I'll second that.

If you really do need to bring your laptop, I don't think it will fit in the in room safe at Pop Century. I would have a user password set up, although that's not a guarantee to prevent access. If you're concerned about information on your computer, make sure you have anything you can't lose backed up on the web or at home. Anything that's sensitive should be encrypted or wiped from the drive (deleting doesn't erase the data). Clear out your cache, cookies, history, and passwords in any browsers you use and make sure it's not retaining that information when you shut down the browser. Even if you leave at the desk or with bell services, you want to make sure no one can access anything you don't want them to on it and that if it does disappear you don't lose any data, pictures, files, etc. you need.

Don't forget you can always get a laptop cable to lock it up. My husband uses one of those when he travels.

Thanks again everyone for all the great tips and info. Just got back from a week in WDW over the weekend and wanted to post a quick update to the thread I started on this topic. Once we got to our room at POP, I found that my laptop (inside its sleeve) was able to fit nicely in the in room safe. It actually had a little room to spare for items like travel documents and things like that.