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Over the many years my family has been visiting Walt Disney World in Orlando, it has been rare for us to lose something. When we do lose something, we’ve usually been lucky enough to find it right away. On our most recent visit for a conference I attended, we lost something pretty substantial: my husband’s backpack (containing brand new jackets, trading pins, and other various things we needed during our stay). It was the first time something like that had ever happened to us, and we were pretty emotional about it. Hopefully this information I am sharing with you will help you benefit from our mistakes and make your experience with lost items a more pleasant one.If you've ever lost something at Disney, you'll want to read these tips. Lost and found at Disney can make your vacation either "tragical" or "magical" depending on what you know. These tips will help tremendously in knowing what to do to recover your items.

The Backstory

I decided We decided after Christmas last year that it would be good for me to attend a blogging conference. I’ve been to some before, but I wanted to attend a bigger one. While my main purpose in writing this blog is to share funny stories, tips for family travel, and parenting encouragement, I won’t lie to you and say I’m not trying to make some money for my family while accomplishing all of those things (cause I am….bills don’t get paid by writing everything for free). Thus our travel to the Type-A Parent Conference in Orlando at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. We didn’t decide until April to take the kids with us, but when we did add them to our trip, we decided to keep it a surprise (boy was that ever stressful!). I say all of that to say this; my sweet, sweet husband had the girls at Disney by himself for 2 days. I fault him in no way, shape, or form for losing his mind a little bit while he parented solo.

It Only Takes a Second

_mg_3178While parenting solo, Neil took the kids to Disney Quest. Disney Quest is the interactive, indoor theme park in Disney Springs (the shopping/dining area formerly known as Downtown Disney) with video games, virtual reality simulators, and other high-tech fun for kids of all ages. Basically, it’s a kid’s dream and a parent’s nightmare (I kid, I kid). It can be more difficult to keep up with your people there because it’s darker, there are more places to hide (why do kids love to do that to parents?!), and it’s stimulation overload. Back to the story: while running around with the kids in there, Neil inevitably set down his backpack to play a game or help one of the girls play a game and walked away from it. 

Being a Team Player

Disney has a great system for helping you get your lost items back.This part of the story is where I come in. You see, Neil and I are team players in our marriage. I am usually the one who sets something down and forgets it, and he’s usually the one that looks out for my forgetfulness. Occasionally, he needs help remembering things too, and I’m usually there to help him. Except this time I wasn’t. And I can’t fault him. He doesn’t usually carry a bag of any kind the way I carry around a purse, so it wouldn’t feel unnatural to him to walk out of somewhere without a bag. 

Lost and Found at Disney World

Here’s where the tips part of my story comes in: did you know that Disney Springs has a lost and found of its own? Neither did I! If you’ve ever experienced lost and found at Disney (or even if you haven’t), you may already know about “Central Lost and Found.” Basically, everything (well, mostly everything) that gets lost in the parks, hotels, or on Disney transportation winds up in Central Lost and Found. The exception to this rule is items lost at Disney Springs. They will hold your items at the Disney Springs lost and found for THREE days before sending it to Central. Neil lost his backpack on Friday. We left on Sunday.

The Conclusion

Lost and found at Disney does not have to be a sad experience if you know who to contact.We could have retrieved his backpack before we departed Orlando had we know about Disney Springs Lost and Found. Now that we know, we want to make sure others know about it too. The good news is that the backpack was found, was sent to Central Lost and Found after 3 days, and is on its way home to us now. Don’t hesitate to follow up with anyone you can think of when you lose something. We talked to the concierge at the front desk of our hotel, called the Lost and Found number, tweeted the daily Disney parks twitter account (interact with them when you can…they are so fun!), and kept calling every day until we got an answer. Don’t give up!Lost and found at Disney doesn't have to be a headache!Have you ever lost anything while on a Disney vacation? I’d love to hear about your experience (good or bad)!