toy trouble on airlines?

[KCMom]

I am not sure where to post this question, so feel free to move it where it belongs.

This may be a stupid question, but has anyone ever bought a toy at Disney that gave you trouble at the airport? I know they are sensitive about toy guns and knives. I am relying on memory, but isn't there swords at the POTC gift shop and other places? My son will want one. He loves to dress up and fight the bad guys. I'll say no if it's just going to get taken away. [img]graemlins/shakehead.gif[/img]

[King Triton]

Yeah, they're getting quite sensitive about things...but I don't blame them. I saw a sign a couple of weeks ago in Ft. Lauderdale that you aren't allowed to even joke about such a thing, but that's pretty much common sense anyway.

I think your best move would be to put any questionable toys (guns, knives, swords, etc.) in your checked luggage and you shouldn't have a problem. If that won't work for you, maybe put a box together and ship it...if you buy in DD, you can do that anyway and the shipping cost is often offset by not having to pay the sales tax. (I'm not sure you can still do that...I did it about 4 years ago )

[Janmac]

Back in '98 our son and d-i-l were flying home from WDW to get back to work, and their sons were going home later with us on the train. We weren't at the airport (MCI) but our d-i-l says that her son's little toy derringer from the POTC store that turned up in her purse at the security screening was taken away from her.

That was in '98. And a shame too, because if we'd realized where the toy was, we could have easily taken it with us on the train.

Jan

[faline]

You can have items you purchase shipped directly to your home. Then...you won't have to worry about passing through security!

[2NfinitE&B-ond]

I was concerned about this same thing on our last trip in AUG 04. It was the first time for the kids, and we let them have pretty much anything they asked for. DS ended up with 2 Buzz guns (which don't really look like real guns), and 2 guns from POTC, a rifle and a handgun type...I was afraid they would think I was gonna take the plane out!

I put ALL our purchases into one suitcases. That was all it had in it...toys, stuffed animals, resort cups etc. I figured that way when it was scanned, they would be able to tell that it was toys. I did not have any problems, and I did not notice that my bag had been opened.

I was on Song. I also took advantage of having some packages sent home. We purchased some items that we wanted to give the kids as Christmas gifts, and we had them shipped home. We did this at DTD...The CM helped me make up the shipping labels. It is done on a coputer kiosk and is very easy. A few weeks later, when we were back home, the packages arrived!!! It was great!

[pluto40823]

We flew US airways two years ago. My son purchased a toy gun at the Indiana Jones show in MGM. We kept it in its Disney bag and put it in our locked suitcase to be checked. When we arrived at home, the lock had been broken and a tag was attached saying the had to break the lock and open the suitcase to be checked. I know at the time they were doing random checks so I am not sure if it was random or because they saw the gun when scanning. Anyway it was ok with me. We just purchased a new lock for next time. Better safe than sorry. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[faline]

By the way, you're no longer allowed to lock your checked luggage.

[QTPie68]

FYI - our airline (Southwest) also advised us to pack our Pal Mickey in the suitcase and not in our carryon. Even though it looks likes a stuffed animal, the TSA would probably take it apart to check the mechanism inside and I didn't want that happening....what would our Spanky say .

We checked him and had no problems.

[Throckmorton]

My newphew's "light saber", the flashlights with the multi-colored expandable plastic ends that are sold just before the light parades, was taken from him at MCI.

Luckily we were able to split up and get it checked so that he wouldn't loose it altogether. I would definately recommend checking toys regardless of whether or not they simply "resemble" weapons.

[DVC2004]

No trouble. In October we bought DS a long wooden and metal rifle in Frontierland. The CM asked if we were flying and we told her yes. She packaged it in a long box and made a handle on it. We wrote our names and address on and checked it. We had no problems at all!

[TiggerRPh]

Originally posted by pluto40823:
I know at the time they were doing random checks so I am not sure if it was random or because they saw the gun when scanning. Anyway it was ok with me. We just purchased a new lock for next time. Better safe than sorry. [img]smile.gif[/img]

If your luggage is locked...it's a guarantee that the lock will be broken and the luggage checked. If you don't use a lock luggage is randomly checked.

Don't lock your luggage any more.

We took Pal Mickey on our carry on last December and didn't have any problem.

The security people at MCO are pretty good and understanding about the things you bring back home from WDW.

[bmj721]

We bought our son a long gun a couple years ago. We boxed it and sent it UPS. Never had a single worry after that. And the cost was low in comparrison to the potential stress.
Leaving for POR in 8 days, just hubby and me.
[img]graemlins/muscles.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/muscles.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/muscles.gif[/img]

[KathyMO]

We lock all of our luggage with the TSA approved locks. They have a special symbol on them that lets TSA know they are TSA approved.TSA has keys that fit all TSA approved locks, so they don't have to cut the lock. They have only opened up one of my pieces of luggage. It had the rechargers for the cell phone, camera and video camera in it. They leave a note telling you they opened your luggage.

Kathy

[SamG]

Here's what I was thinking about using... zipties. Get the kind that are small enough to go through the zipper pull's holes. You'll know immediately if anyone's gone through your bags.

Buuut, while it only takes a pair of wire cutters or pliers to break them, how do you get said cutters to your hotel? Can't put them in your carryon.

[Ed]

Originally posted by TiggerRPh:
If your luggage is locked...it's a guarantee that the lock will be broken and the luggage checked. If you don't use a lock luggage is randomly checked.

Don't lock your luggage any more.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but that's just not the case, at least not at Orlando International (MCO). [img]graemlins/nono.gif[/img]

You CAN lock your checked bags. If your bags go through the explosives detection system (the machine that's about the size of a van) without triggering an alarm, no problem. If it DOES alarm, and you are still waiting right where you dropped your bags off, you will be asked for the keys or the combination to open the locks. If you are NOT there, you will be paged over the airport PA system. If you do not return in a reasonable length of time, the locks will be cut off and the bag searched. The TSA-approved locks mentioned above are an excellent investment.

Please save your children a lot of heartbreak by putting ANYTHING that resembles a weapon in your checked baggage. If it's discovered in your carry-on, you will have only two options; (1) return to the ticket counter and have the property transported as checked baggage, or (2) surrender the item. I see (and hear!) many, many upset kids every day when parents opt to surrender the treasured keepsake of their WDW vacation.

[TiggerRPh]

Thanks Ed...apparently I'm working off old information. I wasn't aware of the TSA approved locks. They aren't doing a very good job of promoting them....odd since they're all over the place on the internet. This is the first I've heard of them.

[ January 31, 2005, 07:57 PM: Message edited by: TiggerRPh ]

[OleDoleDoffin]

Yes, definitely, anything that looks remotely like a weapon or has a sharp edge should go in checked baggage when flying. This isn't all new, either... a college friend told me once about his family's vacation to WDW back in the '70s. On the morning they were to leave for the airport, little brother Doug was tearing around the hotel room with a toy gun he'd bought on the trip. Their mother got tired of the noise, grabbed the gun from him and stuffed it in her purse... where it remained until they got to the airport

I'll cut to the punchline, which is Little Brother Doug sitting on the airplane watching them load the last-minute luggage, loudly asking: "WOW! Look at that big orange box, Mom! It says CHECKED WEAPON, Mom! Do you think that's my toy gun, Mom? Mom? MOOOOOOOOM!"

On the other hand, some toys probably don't belong in checked baggage. We decided to let our four-year-old carry his new Buzz Lightyear doll home, partly because he wasn't letting go of it in any case, and partly because in light of recent events we didn't think it would be a very good idea to have a suitcase that randomly said "I have a laser - and I'll use it!" [img]graemlins/rotfl.gif[/img]

[btuskan]

We lock our golf clubs and have never had a problem. When we depart from our small regional airport, the bags are unlocked and they search them right in front of us, because the airport doesn't have the high tech stuff. Anyway security locks the bag and sends it on it's way. Then at MCO we leave them locked because they have the high tech stuff and we've never been called back to the security area.

TTFN, Brenda [img]graemlins/mickey.gif[/img]

[sainter]

SamG
We use the plastic zipties all the time. I pack a small scissors in an outside pocket of one of our checked luggage. We do not tie that pocket shut and they are available to cut the ties open later. If security searches a suitcase, they have replaced the ziptie with one of their own (orange I think), and leave a note inside the suitcase.