🚨 Disney Resort Safety Explained Sheriff’s deputies regularly respond to “found property” calls at Disney hotels, often involving items that can’t go to Lost & Found. This article explains: • How Disney’s Lost & Found really works • Why deputies are called instead 🔗 Read the full explainer:
“Found Property” calls appear regularly in Sheriff’s Office dispatch logs across the Walt Disney World Resort area. Unlike misplaced phones or forgotten luggage, these calls often involve items Disney employees are not permitted to handle: most commonly firearms, ammunition, or illegal drugs discovered inside hotel rooms after guests have checked out.
These incidents typically begin quietly during routine housekeeping or maintenance checks. What follows, however, is a process very different from Disney’s well-known Lost and Found system.
What Is a “Found Property” Call?
A “found property” call occurs when resort staff discover an item that cannot be processed through normal Lost and Found procedures due to safety concerns, legal restrictions, or company policy.
At Disney-area resorts, these calls most often involve firearms, ammunition, controlled substances, or drug paraphernalia. When such items are discovered, staff do not secure or store them. Instead, law enforcement is contacted to respond, document the item, and determine the appropriate disposition.
These calls are procedural in nature and are not, by default, criminal arrests.
Disney’s Lost and Found System and Its Limits
Walt Disney World operates one of the most extensive Lost and Found systems in the hospitality industry. Guests who lose personal items at theme parks, water parks, Disney Springs, resort hotels, or while using Disney transportation can submit an online claim to help locate their property.
Disney uses a third-party tracking system that allows guests to file a report, receive a claim number, and receive updates if an item is located. This system is designed to reunite guests with everyday personal belongings such as phones, wallets, bags, clothing, and electronics.
However, even this expansive system has clear limits.
Items That Never Go to Lost and Found
Despite the scope of Disney’s Lost and Found operation, certain items are categorically excluded.
According to Disney’s official Resort Hotels Frequently Asked Questions, guests are not permitted to have firearms, ammunition, knives, or weapons of any kind anywhere on Walt Disney World Resort property. This policy applies to theme parks, water parks, Disney Springs, resort hotels, and Disney Vacation Club resorts.
Because these items are prohibited entirely, they are not eligible for Lost and Found processing, even if they are unintentionally left behind.
These items, if not illegal, will need to be retrieved from the Sheriff's Office.
Firearms Are Not Allowed in Disney Hotel Rooms
A common misconception is that Disney hotel rooms are treated differently from the parks. Disney policy makes no such distinction.
Resort hotels are explicitly included in the weapons prohibition. This means firearms are not permitted inside guest rooms, regardless of whether a guest is legally licensed to carry elsewhere in Florida.
As a private property owner, Disney enforces these rules independently of state concealed carry laws. All guests are expected to comply with Walt Disney World Resort Property Rules as a condition of entry and stay.
Why Deputies Are Called Instead
Disney employees are not authorized to handle, secure, or store weapons or suspected illegal substances. When such items are discovered, the response is automatic.
Sheriff’s deputies are dispatched to the resort to document the item, secure or seize it, and determine whether further investigation is necessary. In many cases, the response ends there.
Not all found property calls result in arrests, but all are treated as safety matters.
Found Property Calls by the Numbers
WDWActiveCrime tracks “found property” calls responded to by the Sheriff’s Office across Walt Disney World Resort and surrounding Disney-area locations.
A review of calls logged in the WDWActiveCrime database for November and December 2025 shows:
- More than 40 found property calls recorded across Disney property during this two-month period
- Calls occurred at resort hotels, resort roadways, theme park areas, and parking facilities
- Many calls originated from resort hotel areas, including Pop Century, Caribbean Beach, Old Key West, Port Orleans, Wilderness Lodge, and EPCOT-area resorts
- Several calls occurred in the late afternoon and evening, consistent with post-checkout housekeeping and room turnover activity
These figures reflect call-for-service activity tracked independently by WDWActiveCrime and do not necessarily indicate criminal activity or arrests.
Why These Calls Matter
Millions of guests pass through Walt Disney World Resort each year. Most never see the behind-the-scenes coordination between Disney staff and law enforcement that helps keep the property operating safely.
Found property calls involving weapons or drugs highlight how often deputies respond for non-criminal safety issues, the strict enforcement of Disney’s weapons policy, and the limitations of even the most advanced Lost and Found systems.
A lost phone may trigger an email notification. A lost firearm triggers a law enforcement response.
Final Thoughts
Disney’s Lost and Found system is built to recover everyday belongings, not prohibited or dangerous items.
When something that violates resort policy is left behind, the response shifts from customer service to public safety. These “found property” calls rarely make headlines, but they occur with enough frequency to reflect a clear and consistent enforcement process.
Lost sunglasses can be tracked online. Lost weapons cannot.
