Hassled about my Leatherman Wave at EPCOT's entry gate and other fun things

misque

misque

Joined
Jul 9, 1999
Messages
3,316
Here's the story:
The better half and I had to renew the Seasonal Passes so we figured to make a day of it Monday and went to EPCOT. We got the passes and headed to the entrance gates and noticed right away that the crowd was gonna be sparse at best. Good news normally.:D
As I opened my fanny pack on the way thru the blue shirt bag checker stopped me and asked "what's that?" She was pointing at the keychain in my pack, which happens to be a Leatherman "Wave". She said that couldn't come into the park and I told her it's come in here for the last few years and has been seen numerous times by other blue shirts with no problems. She called the supervisor over(took ten minutes for that) and they asked me to open the knife blade. I asked why. They said no knives over three inches in blade length are allowed on Disney property and asked to see the blade again. I showed them the blade and the supervisor took out a card and measured the blade on my deadly Leatherman. It came out at under three inches and I was waved thru, although now I was thoroughly pissed for this intrusion into what I consider my private business. That, of course, is incorrect thinking. You go on other's property and it's their say so that matters.
My wife was quite livid and confronted both the guards (almost nose to nose) and told them they need to apologize for detaining us and for hassling me. They both sheepishly apologized for the inconvenience and we were not bothered the rest of the day.
I was quite irritated for the rest of the day because we are regulars there and are known by name by many of the Disney cast members.
This brings me to the reason why I'm posting this now and not that very night. Later that night after we got home I had a heart attack and had to be taken to the ER where I was admitted and underwent a cath and angioplasty for an artery in my heart that was 97% blocked. The artery wasn't totally blocked yet and it's a mystery to me why I manifested all the classic symptoms of a heart attack, but, I'm now the fortunate owner of a "stent"(sp?) which is basically holding that part of the artery open. WHEW!!
My wife is insisting the day's events triggered it and now that I'm home from the hospital I'm thinking she may be right to a certain extent. Of course, the fact that I'm overweight, plus an insulin dependent diabetic who has high blood pressure does not help much either.:rolleyes:
Nevertheless I'm still here, am home now and I feel a real need to let ya'll know this info so you don't make the same error I did at the entry gate to the theme parks. Please don't let one error in judgement ruin your vacation by getting you tossed from the parks. Think before exiting your vehicle to go in.
OH! BTW, I forgot to mention that my fanny pack is a CCW holster and in the very back where the gun usually goes, I had forgotten about my large Cold Steel Vacquero which was still back there. Imagine the look on that guard's face if I'd pulled that out!:eek:


All the best,
Mike U.
 
Sorry Mike, wishing you a speedy recovery! I work on a cardiac unit and I know your pain.
Take care man,
Matt
 
Thanks Matt!
I got to the ER quick enough to avoid a lotta permanent heart tissue damage so I feel like I dodged a bullet.:)
Now comes the hard part which is getting rid of the excess fat that contributed to it.
No worries though. I'll start working on that as soon as I get all that Morphine and Phenagran and Percocet and God knows what else they pumped me up with outta my system.;)


All the best,
Mike U.
 
I wish you well with your recovery. Watch out for the sugar, salt, and fat! I know how hard it is to hold weight down on insulin -- too much food and we get fat, too little and we get comatose.

All I can say about the aggravation with the guards is Illegitimis non carborundum -- don't let the bastards grind you down! :D I never lose my temper ... grrrrrrr ... :grumpy: At least they had the sense to apologize, and that was a good idea, insisting on it, since it should make them a lot more solicitous of the next paying customer with deadly Leatherman weaponry at the gate.

I love it when they quibble overr a three inch pocket knife and don't blink when I walk through with a three foot ash walking stick. Thunk!

Please, take it easy and get your strength up.
 
Hope you're back up to 100% soon Misque- My father had a stent put in a couple of years ago after a close call- cool little buggers- the tech explained it to us as being like "one of those little chinese finger traps" but made out of fine wire gauze.
Bummer about the security guard thing. Would've been funny to watch their eyes had you shown them the Vaquero :)
 
I'm very sorry to hear of your heart problems but glad to hear that you got early treatment. This reminds us all not to ignore these symptoms.

As for Disney guards, well, good guards can do their job without upsetting customers. Disney needs to remind their guards that the people they're dealing with are paying customers (and admission at Disney parks is non-trivial.) These people have a reasonable expectation of a safe day. So, Disney enforces rules that they think will create a safe environment. That's good. But, these same people have a reasonable expectation of being treated respectfully, in fact beyond simply respectfully and of getting through necessary security checks quickly. That's a very difficult ballance to achieve. But, Disney is a company that makes its money by coming up with creative and successful solutions to such problems. Any company that can make a roller coaster that is both safe and thrilling should be able to create a screening process that is quick, low-stress, and effective. If I want a security screening process that's slow, stressfull, and ineffective, I'll go to the airport. When I pay for admission to a deluxe theme park, I expect more. That's why they get the big buck.
 
Originally posted by Gollnick
If I want a security screening process that's slow, stressfull, and ineffective, I'll go to the airport.
Click to expand...
When I flew to Atlanta for the recent Blade Show, the screening was quick, painless, reasonably thorough (nobody hijacked the plane) and we were even bumped to an earlier flight because we got there so early.

It doesn't have to be a mess anywhere.
 
Glad to here that you are doing well Mike.I had a like situation happen to me at Mohegan Sun casino.I went there for a musical concert.As my GF and I enter theater(already inside the casino)there was people checking for cameras camcorders...no metal detectors or any signs refering to knifes but there was signs for the other items.So as we get closer to the door I take notice that the guys had to empty their pockets aand all the women had to do was open purse.Finaly we get up there and I empty my pocktes and I had a cheap folder with about a 3in blade and was told I could not enter unless I checked it with the coat check(was not very close)or I had to basicly throw it away in his bin.I asked him what would happen to them and he said that they would be thrown away in the trash.Now you know they are not just going to throw away anything of value.What really bothers me that I could have just given the knife to my GF and all would have been well.Is that not just plain discrimination??? :mad: :mad:
 
Don't they have steak knives at the restaraunts that could inflict more damage than your wave tool? :)

Later,
Tom
 
Thanks guys for the well wishes. They are greatly appreciated.:D

automantic,
I think the part that bothers me most is the fact that at the Norwegian pavillion in the World Showcase at EPCOT they sell PUUKKOS! Some with 4" blades. They also sell katanas, wakizashis and tantos at the China and Japan pavillions.:rolleyes:
Now, please don't get me wrong, I support this 100%, (of course;) ), but hassling people at the gates over pocket knives and multi-tools is just plain ridiculous in this light.
 
As Robert Heinlein wrote in Starship Troopers, "There are no dangerous weapons, only dangerous men."

Why worry about pocket knives, when all those humans are walking around, anyway? :D
 
Originally posted by misque
The artery wasn't totally blocked yet and it's a mystery to me why I manifested all the classic symptoms of a heart attack, but, I'm now the fortunate owner of a "stent"(sp?)
Click to expand...

Just to shed a little light on what you said. 97% is almost completely blocked as it is, and given the size of the coronary artery that was blocked, this can make an already small opening almost too small to allow blood to travel. Also, your coronary arteries are lined with smoothe muscle which can contract and dilate under certain situations. If an artery that is already 97% blocked constricts, or spasms closed, you will have a heart attack if the situation isn't reversed quickly. Stress can easily cause them to constrict, so the events that day could very well have played a big part. Also, the fact that you are overweight, the walking around the park will cause your heart rate to increase and blood pressure to rise, which causes the oxygen demand of the heart muscle to increase. Factor in a blocked artery that has also spasmd closed, and you can see why you had the symptoms of a heart attack. As you know, your history of diabetes and over weight, and probably hypertension means your are at a much greater risk of heart problems. Do everything you can to get the weight off, and try not to get stressed out easily.

Mike
 
wow Mike!!! sounds like the lord was taking care of you! He took something the devil meant for evil and used it for good!!!

I'll keep in you in my prayers!!!



sincerely John
 
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