Someone's trash is someone else's...trash

As you can probably imagine, Disney has a LOT of lost and found items that go unclaimed and sent to a Goodwill warehouse. Whenever the warehouse fills up, they offer a lost and found sale for cast members.

Let me preface this with the fact that since Disney is a vacation spot, the lost and found items are usually pretty awesome - cameras, phones, stollers, jackets, etc. (You would not BELIEVE some of the things people lose and don't claim!) This being the case, people stake out their claim early in the morning to ensure they get good deals at the sale. They have even made rules for the event: you may not start lining up before 4 a.m. and you may not buy any more than 5 electronic devices or pieces of jewelry.

Andrew and I made plans to show up early to get a spot in line. Only the first 200 people in line got a wristband and only people with wristbands were allowed in the gates.

We showed up at 4:30 a.m., only to find a long line of people who had been camping out on the street (public property) since 2 p.m. yesterday. During the 2.5 hours we stood in the cold morning air, we made friends with the other cast members in line to pass the time. We were there SO early we watched the sun rise and took a picture of it behind us.

Once we got inside the gates, people were literally running to get to ANOTHER line inside for the wait for electronics. They allowed five people at a time to have three minutes to search the bins of cameras, phones, jewelry, and other expensive items. We were limited to only five items each.

Andrew and I secured our spot in the electronics line and took turns shopping through everything else. My first destination was the sunglasses bins. There were about eight long folding tables covered with heaping mounds of sunglasses. People were stuffing garbage bags full of sunglasses and taking them off to the corner to sort. Anything name brand, they kept and everything else they put back.

There was also a HUGE section of strollers (how do you forget a stroller?!) for sale, and people were literally piling them eight feet high to purchase and load up in their cars - surely to sell on eBay later on. When fights started breaking out, they put a limit of five strollers in place as well. And when I say fights - people were shoving and yelling at each other. Disney cast members. Who are supposed to be extra friendly and courteous. It was insane.

We made out alright, though, in the end.
Andrew bought a digital camera for $45. And I bought:
Jawbone bluetooth $5
Built insulated lunchbox $2
3 pairs of sunglasses (one Chanel) $.75 each

I would NEVER go again, but at least now I can say that I've gone. And it was unbelievable how much stuff they had/how crazy people got. I had to see it with my own eyes.

Now if only I could get some sleep. I only got about an hour's worth before leaving this morning. And about an hour after I got back. It's that Relay for Life type of tired. I'm just a little grumpy...