Can I Carry at WDW?

[2beararms]

Although this is a rebirth of an old thread it is worth bringing out some important points about carry at Disney.

1. First of all although Walt Disney World is not in favor of anyone with weapons anywhere on their property, they do not tend to try to push their will onto the public areas of their property and restrict the zealousness to the private areas also known as the "ticketed" areas. This is in general limited to the theme parks themselves.

2. Although everyone is correct as noted that Disney does not search "on the person" other than by visual observation of which they are fairly well trained, their official policy is NO concealed weapons by ANYONE including LEO (except on-duty, on official business) no exceptions.

3. By utilization of purchase and use of a ticket to gain access to any ticketed area you have agreed by legal contract to abide by whatever rules Disney may have decided to put into place at that time and are now on that property as an invited guest and may be asked to leave (permanently) at any time.

4. If you are going to carry a weapon, and you are discovered, you most likely will be asked to leave. The scenerios outlined here with being allowed to "lock it up" are usually with LEO, so the permit holder was lucky. Non-permit holders will be immediately arrested and in general permit holders will be asked to leave the area immediately and if refused will be "tresspassed" and either escorted from the area or arrested. This is generally a permanent ban from the ticketed areas for life.

5. If you are armed in a Disney Park and you decide that a situation requires the use of your weapon you may want to be very, very careful about your decisions for several reasons:

a. You are likely to be in an very crowded area, or an area that is constructed of what may appear to be solid stone walls, for example, when they are actually styrofoam. If you fire a shot, the chances of a stray, or pass through bullet injuring an innocent are quite high.

b. Florida law provides a certain degree of protection for the use of deadly force under the "castle doctrine" law, for a person who utilizes deadly force in a "place he has a right to be". Realize in advance that within a ticketed area of Disney with a gun is NOT A PLACE YOU HAVE RIGHT TO BE and said protection under the law LIKELY WILL NOT apply to you opening you up to criminal prosecution as well as civil action both from the family of your victim (yes, victim, you are considered the perpetrator now) and anyone else damaged by your actions.

c. Walt Disney World has very deep pockets and very highly paid attorneys. They go to great lengths to keep their "no guns" policies in place. They have fought long and expensively to defend their positions against employees having weapons anywhere on property. If you use a weapon in Disney World you most likely WILL be bankrupted in the ensuing legal battle regardless of if you are right or wrong.

I happen to spend a lot of time at Walt Disney World and after careful consideration have realized that the usefulness of a firearm within the confines of the Disney Parks is relatively negligible and not worth the risk of the penalties that could come as a result of said use. Therefore, I choose to go less than lethal within the parks (I carry a Kimber Guardian Angle Pepper Blaster). But then, I also understand the "Keystone Cops" that many like to call Disney's Security are actually more like TV's "The Unit".

Disney Security only gave up their police power to protect their ability to not disclose their operations within court proceedings. Until that issue was forced, Disney security cars carried Blue lights and Security were fully sworn officers under Florida Law (even then they did not carry sidearms).

I have seen Disney Security train to clear a bomb threat (training is done in closed parks in the middle of the night) and they are a lot more effective than the local PD at these SWAT type actions. Do not underestimate the Mousecops, especially the ones you do not see.

[FN1910]

b. Florida law provides a certain degree of protection for the use of deadly force under the "castle doctrine" law, for a person who utilizes deadly force in a "place he has a right to be". Realize in advance that within a ticketed area of Disney with a gun is NOT A PLACE YOU HAVE RIGHT TO BE and said protection under the law LIKELY WILL NOT apply to you opening you up to criminal prosecution as well as civil action both from the family of your victim (yes, victim, you are considered the perpetrator now) and anyone else damaged by your actions.

Although your point is well made I believe that you are using the wrong part of the equasion. YOu do have a right to be there in WDW by purchasing a ticket but the part of the law that would come into play is that you must not be breaking any laws. If you are carrying in WDW where they have restricted you from carrying on private property and with notice then you are breaking the law and would not be protected by the "Castle Doctrine" or "Stand Your ground" provisions.

Tresspass is when you have been notified that you are not welcome and WDW is well posted to the point that you have been notified and therefore are tresspassing if you carry there and they do not have to ask you to leave before you are breaking the law. As you said be very careful using your gun there as if you do you are going to be in trouble unless you have an airtight case and reason to use it. I may be in the minority but I am not going to try to carry into Mickey's house. Maybe from my car to the gate but not inside.

[matthewaynelson]

Took my CCW permit class on May 16, 2009. My instructor offered the following with regards to places where you cannot carry your gun in Florida:

1) Any Federal building or voting place.
2) Schools or any school property (including even a street in front of a school!).
3) A secured area of an airport. HOWEVER, you can declare a firearm at the ticket counter; weapon must be unloaded and in a secured container.
4) Any place you have to pay admission to gain entrance to. He said this includes movie theaters.
5) Bar or even a parking lot of a bar.
6) No place considered a public nuisance (i.e., a place where illegal drugs are sold, prostitution or illegal gambling occurs, etc.).

[NRA UR2]

Dumb question....I am carrying concealed at Disney World...A Crazy opens fire and kills my wife and kids as well as the guy whos wearing the Mickey Mouse suit....Without hesitation I pull my weapon, line up my CT beam on his chest and drop the SOB.At that moment Walt turns over in his grave...How much hard time am I liable for?

[2beararms]

Took my CCW permit class on May 16, 2009. My instructor offered the following with regards to places where you cannot carry your gun in Florida:

1) Any Federal building or voting place.
2) Schools or any school property (including even a street in front of a school!).
3) A secured area of an airport. HOWEVER, you can declare a firearm at the ticket counter; weapon must be unloaded and in a secured container.
4) Any place you have to pay admission to gain entrance to. He said this includes movie theaters.
5) Bar or even a parking lot of a bar.
6) No place considered a public nuisance (i.e., a place where illegal drugs are sold, prostitution or illegal gambling occurs, etc.).

Perhaps your CCW "instructor" should get some instruction. There is no "Anyplace you have to pay admission to gain entrance to" restriction in Florida statue, nor is there any restriction on the parking lot of a bar. Both of these are simply instructor bovine excrement.

Of course there are a bunch of areas he missed like police stations, courthouses, professional sporting events and others. The actual wording of the statue is here --- READ IT!

Florida Statute 790.06(12) No license issued pursuant to this section shall authorize any person to carry a concealed weapon or firearm into any place of nuisance as defined in s. 823.05; any police, sheriff, or highway patrol station; any detention facility, prison, or jail; any courthouse; any courtroom, except that nothing in this section would preclude a judge from carrying a concealed weapon or determining who will carry a concealed weapon in his or her courtroom; any polling place; any meeting of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality, or special district; any meeting of the Legislature or a committee thereof; any school, college, or professional athletic event not related to firearms; any school administration building; any portion of an establishment licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, which portion of the establishment is primarily devoted to such purpose; any elementary or secondary school facility; any career center; any college or university facility unless the licensee is a registered student, employee, or faculty member of such college or university and the weapon is a stun gun or nonlethal electric weapon or device designed solely for defensive purposes and the weapon does not fire a dart or projectile; inside the passenger terminal and sterile area of any airport, provided that no person shall be prohibited from carrying any legal firearm into the terminal, which firearm is encased for shipment for purposes of checking such firearm as baggage to be lawfully transported on any aircraft; or any place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law.

[matthewaynelson]

Perhaps your CCW "instructor" should get some instruction. There is no "Anyplace you have to pay admission to gain entrance to" restriction in Florida statue...

You may be right 2bear. There are specific NO CARRY locations detailed in the statute... WDW, Walmart, and the local AMC theater were not included in that list. It would seem the only reason you would be disallowed to CC into a place of business like WDW would be if they asked you to leave once they discovered you were armed.

I do hope to bump into the instructor who did my CCW class next time I'm at the gun range. I'd like to quiz him further on this matter. Maybe he can point me to the case law or statute that would make "anyplace you have to pay admission to gain entrance to" part of that NO CARRY list. If I do, I'll post an update.

Otherwise, thanks for posting the info and stating your professional opinion! :)

[nd4spd86]

the guy that taught my ccw class told me that we are not allowed to cc in church because it is a place of nuisance... I think the classes are great for covering the basses but we really need to study the law for ourselves, in the end if we break a law we are the responsible party not the ccw instructor.

[DiveGerry]

Visiting your fine state in a few weeks. Thanks for the info about WDW but I also notice that you cannot conceal carry in a place that serves alcohol. Does that also include restaurants that serve alcohol - if you are not drinking? How about places like Mideval Times or the Arabian Nights?

One more question - how strict is Florida in terms of printing while carrying. I am from an open carry state so I seldom worry about printing.

Thanks for your assistance.

[obiwan]

Just the fact that we're having this discussion confirms that the House of Mouse is the ultimate soft target.

Bottom line: Always have, always will.

[Wolfling68]

Visiting your fine state in a few weeks. Thanks for the info about WDW but I also notice that you cannot conceal carry in a place that serves alcohol. Does that also include restaurants that serve alcohol - if you are not drinking? How about places like Mideval Times or the Arabian Nights?

One more question - how strict is Florida in terms of printing while carrying. I am from an open carry state so I seldom worry about printing.

Thanks for your assistance.

Not a lawyer disclaimer.

You cannot carry in a bar, you can carry in a restaurant that serves alcohol. The easiest way to tell is if they allow smoking, you can smoke in a bar(not 100% but close enough), but not a restaurant. You cannot sit in the bar portion of a restaurant, but you can walk through it to go to the restroom.

You can even drink if you want (NOT A GOOD IDEA!!), but God help you if something happens!!!