I had the pleasure of spending last week in Orlando, Florida. While that is close to Disney World, I spent the week at other attractions including Legoland, Sea World, and Kennedy Space Center. On the last day we decided to double back and visit Sea World again. On the first day, we focused on all the animal shows, which are amazing. On the second day, we attempted some of the roller coasters.
Arriving at the park early allowed us to practically walk onto any of the rides we wanted. Eventually we found ourselves at Ice Breaker. My 8-year-old grandson wanted to ride with me and we had a great time on our first ride. Then he wanted to go again. Not having any line made it easy to experience it a second time. As we started our free fall, I noticed someone lost their mobile phone and thought they would be having a bad day. Then I checked my pocket and realized it was mine. I don't know how it fell out but it did and the only person to blame happened to be me.
Before riding the ride, we saw signs on the fence around the roller coaster with a QR code telling people how to report lost items. My grandson immediately asked what you should do if you lost your phone. We all laughed and didn't think anything of it until I lost my phone. Then my son used his to report the loss. Not wanting to give up on finding my phone, I started walking around the fence guarding the track from the public. In one of the few areas that had close access to the ride, I found my phone about 10 feet inside the fence. Now I couldn't reach through the fence and get my phone but I knew where to find it. I had hope.
I went back to the ride operators and asked if they could help me get the phone. They told me I needed to go to guest services, which I did. I waited in a 30-minute line only to be told to go to lost-and-found. I went there and was told I should have just asked the ride operators for help. I explained I did. They told me to go back to the ride and someone would help me get my phone. I walked back, which turned out to be about a mile or so and waited. Then I waited some more.
Eventually a young man came out and told me they would have to shut down the ride and he would go get the phone. I waited for another 15 minutes without any signs of the ride stopping and the young man eventually told me they would not stop the ride and I would have to come back that evening when the park closed down. Unfortunately I had a 7pm flight and so that was not an option. While waiting in the lost-and-found line, another park attendee told us stories of maintenance retrieving her phone only to have it stolen from the maintenance locker. The hope of Sea World getting me my phone back disappeared.
Think about it for a minute and when was the last time you backed up your phone? I don't think I have ever backed up mine. That means any of the pictures I took on the trip would be lost. I would have to download all of my applications again, including quite a few multi-factor-authentication (MFA) apps that I use for work. I started getting depressed and decided I wouldn't leave the park without my phone.
The young man that came to help me get my phone brought along an 8-foot claw and let me try my luck with it. His arm wasn't as long as mine and I could get the device fairly close to the phone but not quite reach it. At this point my inner Engineer kicked in and I wondered how I could extend the claw 2 more inches as that is all that I needed to reach my phone.
The first thing I tried was Geometry and picking the right slats in the fence to put the claw through. I could get close enough to the phone for the claw to reach it but couldn't see the phone due to a track support leg. I solved that by positioning my wife to help relay the outcome of my efforts. While I could reach the phone now, I couldn't grip it because the claw didn't have the usual rubber feet necessary to hold the phone. I asked my wife if she had any hair ties. She had 2 and I wrapped one around each of the claw ends. They provided enough friction for me to grab the phone and move it 2 inches closer. At this point I knew I would retrieve the phone. I just needed patience. On my next attempt, I got the phone withing 6 inches of the fence. At that point I reached through the iron slats and grabbed it. Amazingly the 50-foot fall didn't damage the phone. I didn't even crack the screen. That is amazing considering I don't have a screen protector.
I returned the claw and let them know I got the phone. My wife and I then left the park so we could pack up and get ready for our flight home. It felt good to be successful in retrieving my phone. In the future I will keep my phone in a zippered pocket and not rely on friction to keep the phone from falling out.
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