Guest of Honor Badges? Safe idea or no?

[katefromny]

Hi,
We are going to Disney the last week in April and my sister and her family will be joining us (they don't know this yet, it's a christmas present!). I was thinking about getting GOH badges for each of the kids as stocking stuffers (kids ages are 5, 4, 2, and 1)...but then began thinking about safety issues related to allowing a child's identifying NAME to be right in plain sight for anyone (included anyone who might wish to abduct my child). Call me paranoid, and I cannot concieve of a time or place when my children would be out of my sight, but stuff happens. What is anyone elses opinion on the Guest of Honor badge for young children?

 

[poohlover]

We have used the guest of honor badges the last several times we have gone and really enjoyed the interaction with the cast members. It seems to start conversations when they can call you by name. My 3 boys just loved having the CM's know their names! We did ask our older daughters, 15 & 12, to leave theirs off if they were by themselves shopping.

Mostly we were all together, which is surprising that the older ones wanted to stick around with the younger ones. We have 6 kids ages 15-3. We didn't see it as a problem or a saftey issue but I know some people will say it is. You need to use your best judgement, as YOU need to feel the kids are safe.

 

[Melika77]

I agree. If everyone is together and in a group, GOH badges are something to enjoy. I also think it's a great way to enhance interractions with children. After all we know who the CM's are and where they are from.

Melissa

 

[jillhou]

We are getting them as stocking stuffers and you can order then for $5 per from the Disney MErchandizing Company who handle all merchandise at the parks and DD. They can be reached at 1-407-363-6200. They have Mickey, Minnie, Tigger and Pooh. If you order then by Saturday and 8 pm FL time, they are guaranteed by Christmas. You can also get the Mickey or Pooh Santa hats....they are darling.

 

[Mom of 5]

Wow, Poohlover, I'm impressed! Six children between 3 and 15. I'ts not often that I encounter someone with more children than us! Our 5 are between the ages of 21 months and 15. We ordered Guest of Honor badges for them a few months ago. They will be part of their large box from Santa -- they don't know it, but he's bringing them a trip to WDW! I can't wait for them to find out.

It's nice to hear about a good experience with the badges. We don't plan to let our children out of our sight either...

Tracy

 

[Pete's Mom]

We got ours before we left and

1) All the CM's greeted us by name.

2) The characters made my son's autographs out to "Pete".

3) Other guests thought we were VIP's!

4) Some guests thought I was an employee and kept asking me questions!

It added a special personal touch to our visit and my son got picked quite a bit for special little skits, i.e. Rosie at MGM, Green Army Men, Street Mime at EPCOT France, and Hunchback and I think it helped because it was easy to remember his name when they were interacting with him.

 

[catwho]

They do seem more fun than dangerous. If someone *really* wanted to abduct your child, they would know how to do it. They can pick up on names just by listening to people talk. My concern is more for nick names than real names. My kids have pet names and my 6 yo would be very leary of anyone that used her nick name. She knows that if anyone calls her Boo but us that that person is not to be trusted. It's sort of a code name. Our kids also have passwords. If you don't know the password, then you know that that person wasn't sent by mom or dad.

Common sense makes us safe. Have fun and hope you enjoy the GOH badges!


51 more days!

 

[Crow]

You know, I've thought the same thing! Thanks for asking this question Kate! It's a bit scary that a younger child could be called to and respond to anyone just because they think this person knows them! Even at Disney!

 

[jd_mouse]

I'm glad some of you have had such wonderful experiences with the GOH badge. After reading so much about it, we bought one for my mom who treated all her children and grandchildren to a Disney trip this past week. We went to the parks every day, had a WONDERFUL time, but only 4 people greeted her by name (3 cast members and one plain ole' friendly vacationer!). I bought it at Downtown Disney for $5 plus tax...but I was SO glad I didn't order it from Gifts of a Lifetime, because I don't feel it would've been much return on my investment!

Have fun!!!

 

[WDW2002]

I guess I am an overprotective parent but I wouldn't want strangers, even at Disney, to know my childs name. As safe a place as we would all like to think Disney is i would rather be safe then sorry. It is too easy, especially fro a younger child, to be lured away by an adult because that adult knows his/her name.

 

[poohlover]

One other thought I had when we were talking about this just this weekend was that my hubby was frequently mistaken for a CM!! He loved being able to share what knowledge he could but it seemed to get too much for him after a while.

I don't know if it was just the way he dressed...nothing special...but he also has a BEARD! He loved telling all the people asking him questions that CM's aren't allowed to have them. He ended up looking at it as a way to share his loved for disney!!

 

[catwho]

Actually, I have seen one CM that MUST have a beard. ARG I can't remember his name, but someone is going to remember it for me I'm sure, but he dresses like an old prospector and he wonders around down between Splash and BTMRR. He's also very large. This is frustrating, everyone in the house is going, "Oh yeah, he's, uh, hmmm. What is his name?" LOL!! Anyway, the older train conductors and attendants are allowed to wear mustaches. My dh would love to work for WDW, but he refuses to cut his pony tail or shave his beard and moustache! He'd also like to work for Pixar, but he doesn't want to move to California. LOL!


48 days!