What Happens if You Lose Something on a Disney Ride?

Most Walt Disney World attractions with significant movements come with a designated space to store your items during the ride, but what happens if you leave something on the attraction? Or worse, what happens if your items fall off the ride? The short answer is “it depends,” but we’ll get into the longer answer in this post!

What exactly depends? Well, the process of (hopefully) getting your lost items back entirely depends on the attraction you lost it on, what the item was, and whether it fell off the ride or was left in a storage space.

Items left in ride vehicles

In most instances, if you leave something in a ride vehicle, especially if it is in a space where it will not fall out (think the storage pouches on a ride like DINOSAUR in Disney’s Animal Kingdom or Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom.) If you notice immediately after the ride that your item is still in the pouch, talk to the nearest Cast Member.

You can usually wait in a designated area by the attraction’s unload station for the ride vehicle to come back around so a Cast Member can check for your items. This is not possible for every attraction, but if you happen to notice a number or color of the ride vehicle you were in, this could help Cast Members find your item and get them back.

Ideally, in this case, you would only need to wait for your vehicle to come back around. And, oftentimes, if you notice your lost item right away you will get it back. Of course, we can’t guarantee this, and theft can happen even in Disney World, but more often than not the Guest who hops into a ride vehicle after you is not trying to steal your hat, bag, or sunglasses so if you notice it quickly you are likely to get it back.

In the chance that you do not get the item back after re-checking the ride vehicles, Cast Members at the attraction will give you the next steps. Sometimes they will take down your contact information, or have you check back at the ride or Guest Relations later in the day, but it depends on how each attraction handles lost items.

What if it fell off the ride?

Items that fall off a ride are much more difficult to retrieve, and how items are retrieved depends on where on the attraction it was lost and what the item is.

The exact process varies depending on the ride, but if possible a Cast Member will ride through the attraction with a picker and attempt to retrieve your item without causing any downtime to the attraction. This is generally the procedure for slowing moving attractions like The Haunted Mansion in the Magic Kingdom or Spaceship Earth in EPCOT.

Cast Members (again, depending on the ride) may be able to look at cameras to locate your item, too. If they cannot retrieve the items while the ride is moving, though, that is where you can run into some difficulties.

In the majority of cases, if an item cannot be retrieved from a Cast Member on the attraction, the Guest will need to wait until the end of the day to get their item back. If there is unexpected downtime at the attraction, Cast Members may be able to retrieve it sooner, but it really depends on what kind of downtime it is and the attraction. Otherwise, most Guests will need to return either to the ride or to Guest Relations after the ride finishes operation for the day.

In extremely rare cases, operation on an attraction will pause to retrieve an item. This is not the norm, as it is reserved for truly extenuating circumstances (otherwise Disney rides would be going down all day for lost hats and sunglasses!) But, if you happen to lose an item that is medically necessary (think along the lines of a power bank for charging oxygen machines or insulin) an exception may be made to try to get that item back to you sooner.

Will my stuff be in one piece?

We hope so! But truthfully it depends on the ride, the item, and at which point on the attraction it was lost. On a thrill ride, depending on where your item fell it is quite possible that it will have been run over by a ride vehicle. On a slower-moving ride, your item is likely to be in better shape, but it really depends on where it fell.

Of course, Guest service recovery is a major part of what makes Disney’s Guest service so renowned, and while we can’t promise anything, Cast Members will generally do the best they can to help whatever the circumstances may be.

What if I never get it back?

If your item is never found, or at least not found on the day of your visit, it will be treated like a regular lost and found item. Guest Relations can take down your contact information, and reach out to you if it is retrieved. If you do not give your information, or if you decline to retrieve your item, it will go to Disney’s central lost and found location where it will eventually be donated.

There are also a few attractions, where getting your item back in the first place may not be possible. On Kali River Rapids in Animal Kingdom for instance, a small item like glasses would not be able to be retrieved simply due to the nature of the ride. (We are curious for how many glasses turn up when the ride is drained during refurbishments though!)

Whenever you ride a Disney theme park attraction, be sure to follow all instructions for how to properly stow your items. Any storage areas provided by Disney will keep your items safe. Remember to remove hats and glasses, and keep all bags inside the ride vehicles, and you should be good to go!