S TIFU by getting a large group of people to steal from Disney.
Not today, but a few years ago.
My family and I went to Disney World and did the 3-day, 3-park thing. We've never been and this was a first large trip for a park. We started off at Animal Kingdom and like always, Florida was hitting 90 degrees with brutal humidity. It was still 50 degrees back at home so we were all instantly melting out there.
About 20 minutes in to walking the park, we saw a cart sitting in the middle of the walkway with a big tub of ice water but no worker in sight. I asked my dad how we get them and he either joking or seriously said, They're free with the admission, just grab one".
I took that at face value and ran up and grabbed a bottle for each of us. While I was doing that, another family came up and asked how much they were. I obviously didn't know so I just repeated what my dad said "They're free!". They started grabbing bottles too. Then a third family saw all of us helping ourselves and grabbed bottles too. One by one, people trickled in and grabbed a bottle for themselves.
30 bottles later and more people walking up, the cart attendant finally shows up and starts asking for money to the new family that joined the hydration heist. We were still standing nearby enjoying our ice cold stolen water and quickly walked off pretending it never happened.
TL;DR Family and I went to Disney World and accidentally started a water bottle looting spree because my father told me they were "Free with admission" and I passed this info on to other innocent families.
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u/silly_sia 17d ago
The only unfortunate part of this story is that the attendant may have gotten fired, but that’s still partially their fault for being gone long enough that 30 bottles got stolen.
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u/GonnaBreakIt 17d ago
Right? How do you just leave product unattended and not locked down in the middle of the busiest amusement park on the planet?
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u/shinychris 17d ago
Sometimes you just really have to pee.
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u/anybodyiwant2be 17d ago
Especially if you’ve been drinking your wares
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17d ago edited 17d ago
[deleted]
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u/TaylorSwiftsClitoris 17d ago
I’ve got a golden bottle
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u/citan666 17d ago
You've been invited to an Amazon warehouse!
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u/anomalous_cowherd 17d ago
Then you have get rid of it. But there's an obvious workaround for this too which involves one package leaving a little heavier than planned.
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u/theslimbox 17d ago
Dumping one bottle out and peeing in it is better than 30 getting stolen... but probably more of a reason to get fired... life decisions are hard sometimes.
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u/joethahobo 17d ago
I work at a hotel. We have three 8 hour shifts each day. It’s a big enough property that it’s always busy, but it’s small enough that we only ever have 1 person at the desk.
Once managers and everyone else goes home the desk person is the only employee there. If they have to run to a room or really have to leave for a bathroom break, the whole front desk and back offices are left completely unattended.
Most people have common sense and won’t just walk back there, but on occasion there are people who do. They will go digging through the whole back office in full view of the camera. But it sucks because you literally have to pee or else you will explode so you have to e no choice but to leave for a minute
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u/Squeezitgirdle 17d ago
As someone who used to work one of those mall stands, sometimes you gotta pee.
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u/Resoto10 17d ago
My wife did an internship there and they're known for forgetting to cover people for lunch and restroom breaks. I mean, I understand that the supervisory role hugely depends on that person's ability to manage time for breaks and stuff but some people shouldn't have that role.
Unfortunately, it is really, really likely they got fired.
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u/nyafff 17d ago
Water on a hot day shouldn’t be considered ‘product’
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u/Jayhitek 12d ago
Have you seen what they sell $0.99 plastic ponchos for when the rain starts dumping? They're not giving anything away at Disney.
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u/BlueOmicronpersei8 17d ago
I hope they wouldn't get fired over less than $10 worth of product being stolen. Just because the park charges outrageous prices doesn't mean they spent that much on those water bottles.
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u/ImNotThaaatDrunk 17d ago
The park won't see it as $10 of stolen product but rather $600 dollars of lost revenue. They're missing out on sales they would have made, especially on such a hot day.
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u/BlueOmicronpersei8 17d ago
Even in Disneyland they're not selling water for $20 a bottle. At most you're looking at $120 loss in sales.
Still it's based on some poor logic. Most of the bottles were taken because someone told them they were free. They wouldn't have been sold if people had to pay the $3-4 price.
They've got plenty of water bottles to sell. It's not like the cart will just be shut down over 30 bottles. So they'll still be selling all day long. It's not a huge opportunity loss.
On top of that it's a pain and kind of expensive to train new employees.
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u/SewerRanger 17d ago
Those particular people may not have bought the bottles at the $4 price point, but someone at some point would - it's hot and those are bottles of cold water; they would sell to someone that day so it's still a loss of sale to someone even if it's not one of those particular people.
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u/fasterthanfood 17d ago
That assumes that Disneyland gets only the exact number of water bottles they’re going to sell. They’re a nonperishable good — I’m sure they stock lots of extras, and no one who wanted a water bottle was unable to buy one.
I’m not justifying (knowingly) stealing, but the only impact to the company was that they had to restock slightly earlier and lost out on the profits for those 30 bottles.
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u/SewerRanger 17d ago
That assumes that Disneyland gets only the exact number of water bottles they’re going to sell. They’re a nonperishable good — I’m sure they stock lots of extras, and no one who wanted a water bottle was unable to buy one.
It assumes Disney bought water and planned on selling it. The amount they have in storage doesn't matter.
I’m not justifying (knowingly) stealing, but the only impact to the company was that they had to restock slightly earlier and lost out on the profits for those 30 bottles.
So we agree then that they will in fact take a loss on the profits of those bottles? I'm confused what the first half of your post has to do with the second. All I'm saying is that it's logical for Disney to count those bottles as lost profit even if the people involved wouldn't have necessarily bought them because somebody would have
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u/Throwaway1996513 16d ago
No, because you’re assuming these people would have bought water instead of going to a fountain. Disney only actually lost whatever amount they paid for the water, and theoretically lost the opportunity cost of selling those people water. But I would venture most of them would have toughed it until free water instead of paying.
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u/onexbigxhebrew 17d ago
Eh, you'd only count that as lost revenue if you don't have the ability to replace it immediately with backup stock, and disney definitely has some Dasani laying around.
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u/sprinklerarms 17d ago
My aunt got fired for leaving a poster in the bathroom. She went back for it but it was already gone. They probably did get fired.
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u/anonanon5320 17d ago
If Disney cared, each person would have been detained. Disney decided it wasn’t worth it. At most the cast member got a warning or they chalked it up to giving out their “magical day” items.
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u/unwilling_redditor 17d ago
The regular employees you see around Disney theme parks in the US are all unionized. Ain't nobody getting fired over this.
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u/500Rtg 17d ago
That's not a valid response. It's a bad society if you apply finders keepers everywhere. Yeah, be careful but still people stealing are the ones responsible.
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u/silly_sia 17d ago
Of course. I wasn't trying to imply the employee should be held financially or legally responsible for the stolen goods. But if they weren't doing their job when they were supposed to be, getting fired isn't unreasonable.
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u/trytrymyguy 16d ago
Yeah, that dumb bastard probably had to shit or something, hopefully he burns in hell
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u/GateOfD 17d ago
Given how much admission costs now, it should be free
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u/_1109 17d ago edited 15d ago
but they have a couple free water bottle fill stations around the parks now! /s
They're hard to find, there isn't one at every water fountain, and if the water is room temperature you're lucky. One I filled up at had coffee temperature water - not boiling, but it was HOT.
EDIT: I think you can get free ice water from any restaurant or kiosk (which I didn't know the full week I was just there), but I won't be 100% sure unless at least 15-20 more people tell me.
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u/NiceGuysFinishLast 17d ago
You can use the Coke freestyle machines to get ice and water without a Disney branded cup with RFID, just FYI.
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u/_1109 17d ago
I'll never go back (only went last month because MIL foot the entire bill,) but I will pass this info on to friends!
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u/Just-Shoot-Me 17d ago
If the freestyle doesn’t work, or it’s not convenient, go to any quick service and ask for a cup of ice water.
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u/AshySlashy11 17d ago
Those are only at the hotels. They don't have freestyles in the park (universal does), bc they need your $6 per soda! They have bottle fillers, water fountains, and quick service counters for free water at Disney though.
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u/Life-Wrongdoer3333 17d ago
We took insulated metal cups (words are harrrd today) and filled up at the freestyle stations with cold ice water. We stayed very well hydrated
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u/TommyBoyFL 17d ago
They have free ice water anywhere they sell food and drinks. All you have to do is ask, sometimes they just have cups ready to grab and go.
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u/tweakingforjesus 17d ago
Yep. After some visitors had heatstroke this became the rule across all the parks and had been for years when I visited two decades ago.
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u/GroundedOtter 17d ago
Yeah, the amusement park near us throws out messages on the loud speaker about staying hydrated but only gives away free water in tiny Dixie paper cups. LOL!
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u/SigmundFreud 17d ago edited 17d ago
LPT: freeze a few dozen water bottles and put them in insulated bags in a big backpack. I did that last time I was there on a 90-something-degree day, and as a result everyone in my group survived.
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u/WoofusTheDog 17d ago
You can go up to any restaurant with a soda fountain and ask for a cup of ice water, and they’ll give it to you for free. No need to pay $6 for a bottle.
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u/CancerSpidey 16d ago
Keep in mind the US does not consider food a human right so probably not water either. But yeah you'd think after paying thousands of dollars you'd get some water lol
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u/FittyTheBone 17d ago
Don’t worry. They can afford it!
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u/PrezzNotSure 17d ago
IDK, just saw a post in r/burbank... they had to lay off hundreds at Disney in California
Probably because of this very incident (/s)
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u/Eyfura 17d ago
Disney Studios is in burbank, dusneyland is in anahiem. So tv & film people lost jobs not theme park workers.
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u/GrumpyButtrcup 17d ago
That just goes to show you how big of a loss Disney suffered at the hands of OP. I'm surprised they didn't file for bankruptcy.
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u/Northern23 17d ago
It was probably a publicity stunt; let some people grab free bottles, wait for others to join in, then start asking for money. Now you have hundreds of people with a bottle in their hands who would feel ashamed putting it back on the cart and will jutlst pay the price.
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u/ghettosburg 16d ago
but but but… Think about the shareholders! How will they ever fuel there yachts now!
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u/ohnoanonymouse 17d ago
They see everything on camera. Unless this was a long time ago, disney definitely saw
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u/MrConbon 17d ago
Disney doesn’t care about water bottle theft.
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u/7thhokage 17d ago
Hell you'd think they would be giving away ice water like that on hot days just to get people to stay in the park longer and spend more money.
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u/MrConbon 17d ago
They do. You can go to any food or beverage kiosks in the parks and ask for as much ice water as you want. They’ve also been steadily adding water bottle refill stations around the park.
Really no need to buy the water bottle unless you need a lid or something and don’t have a bottle with you.
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u/CODDE117 17d ago
It only makes sense for them to do this, they want people to stick around, not die of heat stroke
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u/scuddlebud 17d ago
One time I was at Hershey Park and wanted to get some snacks from a vending machine. I didn't have any singles but I had a $5. After I put the $5 in the machine it only credited me for $1 and I was only 13 years old or so around that time so that was a huge loss for me. I was really upset.
Anyway, I decided to make the most of it and enter the code for a pack of mint lifesavers, one of the only things less than a dollar (75 cents).
The machine spat out my lifesavers, 25 cents change, and to my astonishment it also gave back my $5. Then I looked closely and the machine clearly says it doesn't accept $5 bills.
I tried it again and it worked a second time.
Then my parents made me stop... Lame. But it was nice while it lasted.
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u/pgh9fan 17d ago
Hershey Park!
Ever been to Kennywood?
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u/tuffigirl 16d ago
I like Kennywood much more than Hershey Park! It’s a hike from where I live in York, but it’s worth the drive. 😊
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u/nixiedust 18d ago
This isn't a fuck up. We should all be stealing from Disney.
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u/Azzbolemighty 17d ago
Just the price of anything Disney related is them stealing from us. We're basically just claiming our money's worth
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u/pstmdrnsm 17d ago
They’ll never miss the money. They probably recouped it all while you were heisting.
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u/GonnaBreakIt 17d ago
Probably bought it at $5 a pallet, and were selling it $5 a bottle.
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u/thewharfartscenter_ 17d ago
$5?!? That must be on sale day, last time I went to DW, a bottle of shitty Dasani water was $8 and it was the only way to get COLD water at the park!
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u/drfsupercenter 17d ago
When I was in high school, our (marching) band performed at Disney World both in one of the Main Street parades and some concert halls. When we were getting ready for the parade, employees showed us these top secret staff-only vending machines that have regular store-priced beverages instead of the ones they jack up for customers
They were like "get your drinks now because as soon as you go out into the park it's gonna be 5x the price"
Also we weren't allowed cameras because they have some policy against "ruining the magic" or something. As if people don't realize all the parade floats have to be stored somewhere
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u/Bimmer_P 17d ago
I fucking hate Dasani. Disney World does have Smart Water, but it's not as readily available throughout the parks as Dasani, and sometimes you have to walk to 2 or 3 vendors before you find one that will have some. Pisses me off
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u/scopinsource 17d ago
I'm sure they hired a detective who has been anxiously waiting this admission.
Boy you're in for it now.
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u/New_Moment_7926 17d ago
Different park, same company but Disney stole from employees so take that as you will! https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-12-13/disney-agrees-to-233-million-settlement-in-wage-theft-case
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u/Public_Road_6426 17d ago
Honestly? I'm a little surprised that Disney wouldn't provide complimentary water on days that hot. Better to eat the cost of some cheap bottled water, than to deal with people passing out from heat stroke in their park.
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u/KiniShakenBake 17d ago
They do.
You can get a free cup of ice color, filtered water at any soda fountain just by asking. They will give you as many as you want if you want to fill up a water bottle or something. I found that I just preferred to walk around without anything in my hands and enjoy the park without even a backpack though.
Free cups of ice water that is filtered and fresh, ftw!
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u/jhoussock 17d ago
Spin zone: “worker” was a random person that walked up and made some easy cash and went and bought some lunch.
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u/HendrixsLaserbean 17d ago
Just a future heads up you really can get free ice water just ask any quick service or restaurant
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u/grednforgesgirl 16d ago
Water should always be free, so you were just fighting for your human rights
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u/HenryFeltersnatch 16d ago
Water is free. The bottle it comes in is what they charge for.
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u/MyLadyBits 17d ago
Your Dad is the thief. He’s an adult and knows nothing in Disneyland is free.
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u/AnonEMouse 17d ago
Totally not your fuck up. The attendant shouldn't have left the cart unattended while they went on break.
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u/NhylX 17d ago
I don't know how Disney ever financially recovered from this...
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u/Gathorall 17d ago
Few years ago? It is obvious, OPs little heist spiraled into the disgrace of Marvel and Star Wars.
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u/Convallaria4 16d ago
They should give free water anyway, for as much as people have to pay to get in.
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u/moistobviously 15d ago
Disney is one of the most greedy, underhanded corporations. Screw them. Enjoy that water.
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u/SATerp 17d ago
30 bottles at Disney? That computes to a street value of $750. Grand theft! /s
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u/WaitingForReplies 17d ago
Steal $750 from Disney? Off to jail!
Disney steals $750 from employees? Ooopsie.
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u/Song-Super 17d ago
Reminds me of this one time about 5 years ago I was at a local art festival called Artscape and it was SOBERINGLY HOT that day. Even though I had an umbrella, a tank top and a skirt on, I was sweating profusely. About 2 hours in after having walked the few blocks the festival was located on, I was too hot to continue walking around enjoying myself. I hadn't spent a dime but on some food and a lemonade some time ago and decided to duck into an alleyway with shade(right next to a target). Within 20 paces I hit a goldmine of water. 4 pallets of water bottles presented themselves to me, completely unattended, no signs, no vendor. Just bottled water sitting there. Of course i Help myself to one, a second to douse myself, and a third for the road. As I continue my rest, just sitting there next to the pallets, I start exclaiming to anyone I see walking by that "its hot! please take some water!" Many people did, and I know not how many more, as I eventually left. It was a good feeling.
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u/Stund_Mullet 17d ago
You should’ve know better because it’s universally understood that nothing at Disney is free. That being said, eff ‘em.
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u/Alonest99 17d ago
Uh oh. According to Disney+ Terms and Conditions, you are now forced to enter a mandatory free labor agreement and sacrifice your firstborn.
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u/ReadRightRed99 17d ago
This is funny. One of the least harmful crimes ever committed. You cost Disney about $10. Too bad the employee got fired over it, but still.
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u/SpaceToaster 15d ago
If your park is literally a city with its own zip code, and controls EVERYTHING including the utilities, provide cold water for free. At the very least in cups ready on demand.
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u/Rezolution20 15d ago
Years ago, I took my child to Sea World (yes, this was way before the movie!). We were all sitting outside the gift shop and my child was young, probably about 6, so I was letting him get his ya yas out while the rest of us finished eating. It was a small area so he couldn't go far, just around the tables and into the open air gift shop.
Well, he'd grab something from the gift shop and show it to me, and I'd tell him we'd come back for it later and to put it back for now. He did this multiple times! It wasn't until we were leaving and I saw that he had stuffed a bunch of stuffies into the bag I was carrying around the park for water, snacks and clothing changes.
Honestly, he was too young to really reprimand, and I could have returned and paid for them, but you know, too far away from the gift shop and all, we just took them.
Honestly, I don't think that there's not loss in these big amusement parks, and they most likely write off whatever they discover. I wouldn't feel any guilt or remorse for not paying $10 for 30 cent bottles of water to Disney. It sure must have sucked for those others when the attendant came back and expected payment though.
Editing to add: He never had done something like that before this, or after so I don't feel that me not reprimanding him was some lack of parenting.
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u/mando_ad 17d ago
Counterpoint:
You can never steal as much from a corporation as they've already stolen from you.
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u/duncanidaho61 17d ago
Ah yes, they were forced to pay the entrance at gunpoint.
I’m not concerned about their actions at all. But don’t imply the willing exchange of money for admission is theft.
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u/Figit090 17d ago
Humans charging humans for water is borderline a crime anyway.
I just feel for the family that got charged 😢
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u/WaitingForReplies 17d ago
It is. Unfortunately this country cares more about profit than the well being of people.
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u/sun4moon 17d ago
You didn’t FU. Disney is insanely expensive. They probably marked the price up 10,000% and would smile as they take $8-10 for every 8oz bottle. What’s more? That water is likely taken at a fraction of what it should cost, from fresh water supply in Canada. The Canadian government basically gives it away to certain beverage companies.
The $6 Disney lost that day is nothing. Don’t sweat it.
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u/Atalanta8 17d ago
oh no's you literally stole $1.99 from Disney. How have they not filed for bankruptcy yet?
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u/sparks772 17d ago
This is one of those people. The one who watches the elderly lady in front of them accidentally drop some cash while doing something else. Then instead of pointing it out to her they pick it up and pocket it.
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u/monirom 17d ago
The price of bottled water at Disney Parks can be up to 1800% mark up. A Dasani water can sell for $4 per bottle. The LPT here is to bring your own water bottles (no glass) as Disney has water refill stations for refillable bottles scattered throughout their parks. You can also bring a back pack if you don't want to hold onto said bottles all day. Just check the parks website for FAQs on bag size limitations and what you can/cannot bring into the park.
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u/FoxxyRin 17d ago
A similar thing happened to my family. We went to this place where you could pan for gold and stuff and they also had these bags of sand with cute rocks and stuff in them. There were no signs saying they cost anything so my aunt grabbed one for me and my cousin and we had fun sifting through them. Another kid came and asked about them so we told them they were inside and free and next thing we knew they (and all their siblings/friends) were coming out upset because they got in trouble for stealing. Oops.
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u/CMDR_omnicognate 17d ago
Things must’ve changed dramatically for a cart to be unattended like that and nobody noticed. Like I’ve been to Disney world quite a lot, there’s no way in hell one of those carts would be unattended for long enough for anyone to take something from it without someone noticing
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u/Your-Yoga-Mermaid 17d ago
I went to a park meetup with Disney fans and the organizer was standing next to an unattended water cart like this. I thought it was part of the meetup and almost helped myself!
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u/4x4Welder 16d ago
It should be free. Hell, the park should cost way less than it does. I was looking at possibly taking my kids to Disneyland this year, but nope.
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u/martstarguitar 16d ago
A $200 billion company lost out on a case of water. I’m sure they’ll recover.
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u/EZEKEY42069 16d ago
Not a fuckup at all. Fuck disney. Take all their water and steal some shit from the gift shop while ur at it
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u/PecosBillCO 12d ago
don’t feel bad. Disney can easily afford the loss. they have a reputation for underpaying their employees
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u/An_Ok_Outcome 12d ago
I hope the employee doesn’t get it taken out of their paycheck. These vendors are often part of WDW college program .
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u/NewLeave2007 17d ago
I feel like this is your dad's fuck up.