10/20/2026
I love a Disney souvenir, but having a locksmith make me a new car key was a little outside the budget.
Let me tell you about the time I lost my keys at Magic Kingdom. Because apparently taking a toddler to a theme park wasn’t enough of an adventure. I needed a side quest.
And of COURSE, when I realized my keys were missing, it was pouring rain. Not a cute little sprinkle where you duck into a store for five minutes. The kind of rain where everyone is suddenly stopping in the middle of the walkway to put on a poncho and everyone is running around frantic like they might melt.
So there I am, sitting on the ground in the rain, frantically digging through my purse. Checking the same pockets over and over like maybe on the seventh attempt my keys would finally decide to be in there.
Eventually, I’m crying in the Tiana’s Bayou Adventure gift shop, trying to figure out what I’m supposed to do while navigating a sea of wet tourists and attempting to put a cheap emergency Dollar Tree poncho on my toddler.
And THIS PONCHO...
It was like trying to dress a child in wet Saran Wrap. I’m trying to find the armholes, it’s sticking to everything, everyone around us is dripping, and I’m just standing there with puffy eyes, a child wrapped up like soggy leftovers, with a purse full of things that are somehow all very much NOT my car keys.
A magical moment for the whole family, indeed.
They didn’t find my keys that day, so I ended up having to call a locksmith out to make me a spare so we could finally go home. And after finding out what that was going to cost, it honestly would have been cheaper to just stay another night.
BUT there is a happy ending.
They DID find my keys! And they mailed them right back to me. After all that, my original keys got a complimentary ride home while I was still recovering financially and emotionally from their disappearance.
I was so happy to have them back. I would also like to know where they were and why they couldn’t have made themselves available a little sooner.
Anyway, if you ever see me at the parks digging through my bag, I’m probably just doing my hourly key check.