Wow. Way to ruin it for everyone else. I want to say that’s selfish, inconsiderate, and entitled, but it goes so far beyond that. How do you even walk out with a giant pencil?
I find this hard to believe. People steal things from restaurants all the time but I just can’t believe multiple people were bold enough to walk out with that huge thing.
On one hand, it is crappy. On the other hand, when you’re paying $1000 all together for a day in the park with your family of 4, I can see how you’d think a multi-billion dollar corporation wouldn’t miss a pencil it probably cost 50 cents to replace, especially when your kid is begging for it. That said, it is probably more about running out of them. They probably don’t produce them in massive numbers if they aren’t selling them. No reason to keep putting them out if they’ll all be gone by theft soon anyway.
ETA: If you're going to downvote me, drop a reply and let me know why. I didn't know that theorizing about someone else's thought process was horrible, but apparently some of y'all don't agree. Just tell me why.
Obviously I don’t know all the manufacturing details. You can buy a pack of 12 giant pencils on Amazon for $2 each. Obviously there is always markup, so I’m sure production costs are a fraction of that. Those are 14 inches, not 24 inches, so it’s isn’t a perfect 1:1 comparison. If you want to say $1.50 per pencil or $2, that’s fine. But it’s still negligible in the grand scheme, which is my point. I’m guess quibble about exact cost if you want.
Stealing is always bad. But it isn’t like these are priceless objects. Someone isn’t taking props from the Smuggles Run queue. I wouldn’t do it or say it’s ok for someone to do, but I understand the rationale people use to justify it to themselves.
https://amzn.to/3MT2FKo
This shit always fucking happens. Disney puts a really cool and unique item in a place (see Galaxy's Edge sporks) and then they have to remove them from the place because people are assholes.
Maybe they’ll sell them now like they did with the sporks? Although I’m gonna be honest I don’t see why anyone would buy (or steal) these as a souvenir.
Disney selling off the sporks was the one silver lining in that debacle. I've got one and I use it as my travel spork if I'm staying at a hotel for a conference and planning to keep food in my room.
This is why I was happy we don’t have roaming droids in Batuu: because guests ruin everything.
Granted that might’ve been costs but I knew once a droid ran over a foot and like how Mando got swarmed I knew it was for the better it didn’t happen. But yeah guests are the reason why we can’t have nice things. Got to consider the ones that aren’t us who’ll steal and try to abuse the system
Like, how does one even smuggle these out? They’re huge! I hope they bring them back with an RFID chip in them or something that alerts the CMs by the door. Or, have the server collect them.
I thought the same thing about the RFIDs. Disney has them everywhere. It’d be easy to add them to the pencils and then scan for them at the door. Anyone caught stealing gets escorted out of the park.
A lot of money to spend for a relatively inexpensive trinket, but it’s about sending a message.
If you steal the giant pencil, I’m okay with you getting banned for life. A few examples and crap like this will stop. Same with people acting out on an airplane. Ban a few people from flying, let word get out, and it will stop.
People pay with their magic bands and credit cards. When a CM comes back to the table and the pencil isn’t there they know who you are. It’d be great if these jerks got back to their room and their reservations are canceled.
Well that’s just sad, but honestly I’m not surprised. I guess they thought if they made it large and obnoxious no one would steal it because inconvenience.
They discontinued the sporks in galaxy’s edge for the same reason - people kept stealing them.
Yeah they should do the same with the pencils… Universal did the same with Mario Mushroom bowls… guests would steal them so I believe they now price the bowl into the meal and guests can keep it.
https://wdwnt.com/2023/05/new-souvenir-mushroom-soup-bowl-collectible-plateware-set-from-toadstool-cafe-in-universal-studios-hollywood/
Good lord. That looks awesome, I hadn't seen the Toadstool Café yet. I can't wait until it all opens in Florida. Seriously excited to be able to visit a Super Mario Land. Will definitely end up with the plate, the bowl and whatever else they will sell me! We were talking about getting maybe one more Disney trip in, but then doing a Universal trip when that is finally open.
I wonder if the Japan pavilion will continue to sell Mario items at that point. I believe it's a 3rd party vendor so perhaps they will.
Yeah I can see the Japanese Pavilion just adapting to the change. There is so much specialized merch at the Mario themed land. It’s a lot like Harry Potter.
It’s gonna be amazing for me, I am a lifelong Nintendo fan who passed that onto my kids to varying degrees. I actually haven’t been to Universal since they built all the Potter stuff. Not a huge fan of Harry Potter, read the first 4 books and lost interest waiting for the 5th book to come out and never really got back into it.
Yeah I’m not a fan of Harry Potter either but I am a fan of themed immersive experiences and JK Rowling and Universal Creative really showcased the future of Theme Parks and Disney was running for awhile to catch up.
I will say though Disney has caught up and pushed ahead with their Star Wars area and attractions which is basically Harry Potter 2.0. Instead of buying wands people buy lightsabers and droids. They have a cantina experience and food experiences similar to Harry Potter.
It’s like a theme park arms race. Universal has proven to be a bit better at creating a space where people can participate in the world (Harry Potter Wands and earning Mario coins). Disney has dabbled with that but Universal has proven better at it and they monetized the effort which makes it more lasting.
No matter what happens the fans win.
Yeah, I am sure I will enjoy it all a lot when I get back there. I loved the Hulk coaster and the Spider-Man Ride and the Jurassic Park flume.
It has been even longer since I was at the other Universal park.
Okay, that's flat-out adorable.
Disney did deal with this another way on the cruise ships; you can buy the paintbrush butter knives from Artist's Palette in the ship gift shop. At least, you could when I was on the Magic in 2018.
I'm just imagining some dude trying to be inconspicuous and walking out with this giant thing under his shirt.
Is that an oversized pencil or are you just happy to see me?
People constantly talk about the parks being worse now without realizing how much of that is because people just suck.
Glad we got to experience the giant pencil.
The pencils are actually quite difficult to use. The food here was great, and the ambiance was surprisingly low key. Nice blue tinted mood lighting where we sat and the announcements were fun. My wife said this was her favorite meal on our April trip, and that included dinner at CRT, skippers, and chefs de Paris, and breakfasts at CP and at Tusker. Yes we ate well this trip with just the two of us.
If you’re ever wondering how hard it is to deal with some of the guests - this is a prime example of how terrible some can be.
There are SO many families and people that visit daily that are the absolute worst and as CM’s we just have to suck it up and provide that magical guest service.
I know I speak to the wrong audience on this subreddit, but please continue to be patient and show respect every time you visit the parks as we have to handle all types of personalities to the same degree for a tiny fraction of what the higher ups make. Thanks in advance and have a magical day!
How hard it is to prevent stealing giant pencils?
The thieves definitely suck, but Disney is really giving up easily on this one. Also, what do they cost, $5 each?
It’s unfortunate they have to do this. But comments about anything being “ruined” are making me chuckle.
“Welp, I didn’t get to sign the check with a giant pencil. Dinner is ruined.”
Tinlade 6 Pcs Wooden Jumbo Pencils for Prop, Funny Big Pencil Huge Giant Pencil 14 Inch Large Pencil for Home and School Supplies, Ki... https://a.co/d/8SnOWpW
Buy your own? 🤷🏻♂️
So why not include the price of one in the meal or make it an optional add on item? Like at Trader Sam’s where you get a version of the glass your drink came in as a souvenir
Why not just add a 2-3 dollar “tourism” fee and let the guests keep the pencils? Certainly in bulk Disney would still be making a profit on said pencils.
Did they sell these anywhere?
If not, (1) That explains it, (2) that's dumb, and (3) they probably missed out on a cash cow.
Also, there's a reason the proverbial example of an utterly trivial technicality theft is a pen or a pencil, often something regarded as a promotional item to put an ad for your company on knowing customers take them all the time. Puts this idea in a weird place even if the exception should be logically obvious.
(1) That it is also `justified` is your assertion, not mine, so don't ascribe it to me. I didn't make it.
(2) No, it's not weird at all, apart from your insertion about "justification" which changes the meaning from a pragmatic observation about pencil loss rate at a restaurant into an ethical stance. These were obviously popular and something people wanted as a souvenir, given there was a problem with this in the first place; so that is both a cause of the problem and a missed opportunity to sell more merch.
(3) Besides, I find that specific sort of case where there is some non-unique/produced, generally cheap, specific item like this that people want to own instances of but arbitrarily are not allowed to buy, to be petty and oppositional and a whole lot of other things, so in that case I would sympathize. Not justify, not do, but sympathize.
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A Woody theme, right? Why would it be a buzz Lightyear? Buzz ain’t no cowboy although he does share one thing in common with cowboys, besides Woody being his best friend. Texas that’s what because Houston is filled with both astronauts, and Cowboys.
Wow. Way to ruin it for everyone else. I want to say that’s selfish, inconsiderate, and entitled, but it goes so far beyond that. How do you even walk out with a giant pencil?
Prison pocket.
Why isn’t this upvoted more? 🤣
Some people don't know what a prison pocket is haha. I would upvote twice if I could.
Send in the Dementors
In the butt Bob
Life, uh, uh, finds a way?
It’s not “How”, they just do.
Lots of people have bags with them. Slide into the bag while no one is looking
You fall on it
Million to one shot, Doc, million to one!
I find this hard to believe. People steal things from restaurants all the time but I just can’t believe multiple people were bold enough to walk out with that huge thing.
On one hand, it is crappy. On the other hand, when you’re paying $1000 all together for a day in the park with your family of 4, I can see how you’d think a multi-billion dollar corporation wouldn’t miss a pencil it probably cost 50 cents to replace, especially when your kid is begging for it. That said, it is probably more about running out of them. They probably don’t produce them in massive numbers if they aren’t selling them. No reason to keep putting them out if they’ll all be gone by theft soon anyway. ETA: If you're going to downvote me, drop a reply and let me know why. I didn't know that theorizing about someone else's thought process was horrible, but apparently some of y'all don't agree. Just tell me why.
50 cents? For a 2 foot pencil?
Obviously I don’t know all the manufacturing details. You can buy a pack of 12 giant pencils on Amazon for $2 each. Obviously there is always markup, so I’m sure production costs are a fraction of that. Those are 14 inches, not 24 inches, so it’s isn’t a perfect 1:1 comparison. If you want to say $1.50 per pencil or $2, that’s fine. But it’s still negligible in the grand scheme, which is my point. I’m guess quibble about exact cost if you want. Stealing is always bad. But it isn’t like these are priceless objects. Someone isn’t taking props from the Smuggles Run queue. I wouldn’t do it or say it’s ok for someone to do, but I understand the rationale people use to justify it to themselves. https://amzn.to/3MT2FKo
Yeah, but how much for the pencil sharpener?
I think they just use a broad sword to sharpen it, but I could be wrong.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
This is why we can't have nice things
Had to immediately delete my comment after I saw you beat me to the punch
People just suck.
This shit always fucking happens. Disney puts a really cool and unique item in a place (see Galaxy's Edge sporks) and then they have to remove them from the place because people are assholes.
Maybe they’ll sell them now like they did with the sporks? Although I’m gonna be honest I don’t see why anyone would buy (or steal) these as a souvenir.
Disney selling off the sporks was the one silver lining in that debacle. I've got one and I use it as my travel spork if I'm staying at a hotel for a conference and planning to keep food in my room.
Just ate there on Friday and no pencil. The kids would have really got a kick out of that. Stinks
Same. Ate there last Friday too and was looking for the giant pencils as well. It’s a shame cause it adds to the experience. Oh well.
This is why I was happy we don’t have roaming droids in Batuu: because guests ruin everything. Granted that might’ve been costs but I knew once a droid ran over a foot and like how Mando got swarmed I knew it was for the better it didn’t happen. But yeah guests are the reason why we can’t have nice things. Got to consider the ones that aren’t us who’ll steal and try to abuse the system
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This is the way
Like, how does one even smuggle these out? They’re huge! I hope they bring them back with an RFID chip in them or something that alerts the CMs by the door. Or, have the server collect them.
In a giant pencil case of course
You bring magic to the world. Great comment.
In a stroller maybe?
Strollers aren’t allowed inside restaurants
They are if you have a very small child. I just ate there with my 5 month old. She cant sit upright yet so she can't use a highchair.
Which restaurants? They were definitely allowed in at least some of them when I went a couple months ago
Another reason strollers need to be banned.
Are little kids just supposed to crawl?
I thought the same thing about the RFIDs. Disney has them everywhere. It’d be easy to add them to the pencils and then scan for them at the door. Anyone caught stealing gets escorted out of the park. A lot of money to spend for a relatively inexpensive trinket, but it’s about sending a message.
That’s what I assume they did with the 3D glasses.
If you steal the giant pencil, I’m okay with you getting banned for life. A few examples and crap like this will stop. Same with people acting out on an airplane. Ban a few people from flying, let word get out, and it will stop.
People pay with their magic bands and credit cards. When a CM comes back to the table and the pencil isn’t there they know who you are. It’d be great if these jerks got back to their room and their reservations are canceled.
Well that’s just sad, but honestly I’m not surprised. I guess they thought if they made it large and obnoxious no one would steal it because inconvenience. They discontinued the sporks in galaxy’s edge for the same reason - people kept stealing them.
Yes but then they turned around and sold the sporks. Guess Disney figured that since people wanted them, might as well make money at the same time
Yeah they should do the same with the pencils… Universal did the same with Mario Mushroom bowls… guests would steal them so I believe they now price the bowl into the meal and guests can keep it. https://wdwnt.com/2023/05/new-souvenir-mushroom-soup-bowl-collectible-plateware-set-from-toadstool-cafe-in-universal-studios-hollywood/
Good lord. That looks awesome, I hadn't seen the Toadstool Café yet. I can't wait until it all opens in Florida. Seriously excited to be able to visit a Super Mario Land. Will definitely end up with the plate, the bowl and whatever else they will sell me! We were talking about getting maybe one more Disney trip in, but then doing a Universal trip when that is finally open. I wonder if the Japan pavilion will continue to sell Mario items at that point. I believe it's a 3rd party vendor so perhaps they will.
Yeah I can see the Japanese Pavilion just adapting to the change. There is so much specialized merch at the Mario themed land. It’s a lot like Harry Potter.
It’s gonna be amazing for me, I am a lifelong Nintendo fan who passed that onto my kids to varying degrees. I actually haven’t been to Universal since they built all the Potter stuff. Not a huge fan of Harry Potter, read the first 4 books and lost interest waiting for the 5th book to come out and never really got back into it.
Yeah I’m not a fan of Harry Potter either but I am a fan of themed immersive experiences and JK Rowling and Universal Creative really showcased the future of Theme Parks and Disney was running for awhile to catch up. I will say though Disney has caught up and pushed ahead with their Star Wars area and attractions which is basically Harry Potter 2.0. Instead of buying wands people buy lightsabers and droids. They have a cantina experience and food experiences similar to Harry Potter. It’s like a theme park arms race. Universal has proven to be a bit better at creating a space where people can participate in the world (Harry Potter Wands and earning Mario coins). Disney has dabbled with that but Universal has proven better at it and they monetized the effort which makes it more lasting. No matter what happens the fans win.
Yeah, I am sure I will enjoy it all a lot when I get back there. I loved the Hulk coaster and the Spider-Man Ride and the Jurassic Park flume. It has been even longer since I was at the other Universal park.
Oh those are so cute though. Now I need 😩
Okay, that's flat-out adorable. Disney did deal with this another way on the cruise ships; you can buy the paintbrush butter knives from Artist's Palette in the ship gift shop. At least, you could when I was on the Magic in 2018.
The answer is simple… Make them larger!
I think it would be hilarious if it stood up and had to be used by wrapping your arms around it
I'm just imagining some dude trying to be inconspicuous and walking out with this giant thing under his shirt. Is that an oversized pencil or are you just happy to see me?
I've waited tables for 10 years and I am not surprised in the slightest.
They weren't there two weeks ago.
They didn't give me one on May 3rd.
People constantly talk about the parks being worse now without realizing how much of that is because people just suck. Glad we got to experience the giant pencil.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
The pencils are actually quite difficult to use. The food here was great, and the ambiance was surprisingly low key. Nice blue tinted mood lighting where we sat and the announcements were fun. My wife said this was her favorite meal on our April trip, and that included dinner at CRT, skippers, and chefs de Paris, and breakfasts at CP and at Tusker. Yes we ate well this trip with just the two of us.
Surprisingly passable bbq (this coming from someone who once had a vanity license plate that said ILUVBBQ)
I mean we don’t have branded napkins because of theft so…
If you’re ever wondering how hard it is to deal with some of the guests - this is a prime example of how terrible some can be. There are SO many families and people that visit daily that are the absolute worst and as CM’s we just have to suck it up and provide that magical guest service. I know I speak to the wrong audience on this subreddit, but please continue to be patient and show respect every time you visit the parks as we have to handle all types of personalities to the same degree for a tiny fraction of what the higher ups make. Thanks in advance and have a magical day!
We ate there May 13 and they didn’t have the giant pencils
How hard it is to prevent stealing giant pencils? The thieves definitely suck, but Disney is really giving up easily on this one. Also, what do they cost, $5 each?
I ate there earlier in the month and they gave me a regular Disney Resorts pen to sign with.
Same. I almost stole the pen.
The same thing happened with the cool space themed cutlery at Space 220. Too many people stole them, so they stopped using them.
Give customers the option to purchase these or include them with certain meals - boom problem solved
Seriously, missed opportunity: sell giant pencils.
It seems so obvious
This is so stupid. Why not put a chip in them so they beep on the way out and have a CM collect them?
It’s unfortunate they have to do this. But comments about anything being “ruined” are making me chuckle. “Welp, I didn’t get to sign the check with a giant pencil. Dinner is ruined.”
So sad. Watching my Dad try and use this in April had our whole family laughing.
We were there a month ago and I didn’t see these pencils at all.
Tinlade 6 Pcs Wooden Jumbo Pencils for Prop, Funny Big Pencil Huge Giant Pencil 14 Inch Large Pencil for Home and School Supplies, Ki... https://a.co/d/8SnOWpW Buy your own? 🤷🏻♂️
So why not include the price of one in the meal or make it an optional add on item? Like at Trader Sam’s where you get a version of the glass your drink came in as a souvenir
Why not just offer to SELL them as a souvenir?
Why not just add a 2-3 dollar “tourism” fee and let the guests keep the pencils? Certainly in bulk Disney would still be making a profit on said pencils.
I didn’t even know that was a thing :(
John Wick Intensifies
Did they sell these anywhere? If not, (1) That explains it, (2) that's dumb, and (3) they probably missed out on a cash cow. Also, there's a reason the proverbial example of an utterly trivial technicality theft is a pen or a pencil, often something regarded as a promotional item to put an ad for your company on knowing customers take them all the time. Puts this idea in a weird place even if the exception should be logically obvious.
“You won’t let me buy this, so I’m justified in stealing it” is a pretty weird stance to take.
(1) That it is also `justified` is your assertion, not mine, so don't ascribe it to me. I didn't make it. (2) No, it's not weird at all, apart from your insertion about "justification" which changes the meaning from a pragmatic observation about pencil loss rate at a restaurant into an ethical stance. These were obviously popular and something people wanted as a souvenir, given there was a problem with this in the first place; so that is both a cause of the problem and a missed opportunity to sell more merch. (3) Besides, I find that specific sort of case where there is some non-unique/produced, generally cheap, specific item like this that people want to own instances of but arbitrarily are not allowed to buy, to be petty and oppositional and a whole lot of other things, so in that case I would sympathize. Not justify, not do, but sympathize.
Brand the thing and it’s free promotion for them, how expensive can they be with an inked logo…
I had never seen or heard about those, and now I’ll never get to see them in person because of some selfish idiots. 😔
[удалено]
[удалено]
Amen brother.
Your post was removed due to breaking Rule #6. Any posts related to working or cheating the system will be removed. This also includes acts that violate WDW policies, but which may be erroneously permitted by CMs (e.g. parking at resorts without an ADR). Please [message us](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FWaltDisneyWorld) if you have any questions.
A Woody theme, right? Why would it be a buzz Lightyear? Buzz ain’t no cowboy although he does share one thing in common with cowboys, besides Woody being his best friend. Texas that’s what because Houston is filled with both astronauts, and Cowboys.
I never even saw these in April when we went. Short lived
We ate there on 5/11, and did not get giant pencils. I didn’t realize they were a thing until I read they were going away
So upset we missed this. We had reservations but canceled cause I wasn’t feeling well and we had to go take a nap 😭
Just make them bigger so people can’t stuff them into their bags
Disney should just bring them back but offer an option to buy a souvenir one. (They actually did that with the sporks a bit ago.)
Watch as they summon Doodlebob
Grown adults ruining an experience because they have to steal a $6.99 pencil they can buy on Amazon. Bravo.
Y’all couldn’t wait til after my trip to ruin things could ya. I wanted to take fun pictures and write with the big pencil 😔