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Great-Grandmother Arrested for Bringing CBD Oil to Disney World

Summer Hull
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Summer Hull , aka Mommy Points, ran the Mommy Points site for families who want to travel more for less using miles and points for seven years. She now heads up a variety of special projects at TPG when she isn't exploring the world with her own two girls.
May 08, 2019
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3 min read
Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire at Magic Kingdom Park
Great-Grandmother Arrested for Bringing CBD Oil to Disney World
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There's a long list of things you can't bring into Disney World: weapons, Disney costumes for visitors 14 years of age and older (except during special events), oversize strollers, stroller wagons, loose ice in coolers, alcohol and ... CBD oil. Unfortunately for one great-grandmother, unlike the stroller or loose ice situations, the CBD oil provided her a one-way trip from the Happiest Place on Earth to the local jail.

Disney security entrance (Summer Hull / The Points Guy)

Hester Jordan Burkhalter, a great-grandmother who made the anticipated family trip to Florida from North Carolina, had CBD oil in her bag as she went to enter Disney security, reportedly to help with her arthritis. (And let's be real, if there is anywhere arthritis is going to act up, it's when traversing Florida theme parks.) However, as Fox News reported, the CBD oil was discovered at the Disney security checkpoint.

To enter Walt Disney World, or so much as ride the monorail around the property, you must clear security. This is not just a metal detector type of screening. Security checks at Disney include security personnel searching your bags and belongings -- sometimes very meticulously. I've personally experienced bag screenings to enter Disney parks that, at times, have been at least on par with those to enter the White House for tours. Seriously.

After security personnel discovered the CBD oil, Burkhalter was arrested by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

In Florida, CBD oil is sold in a wide variety of locations, but if there is THC present in the CBD oil, it may require an active prescription from a physician and a medical marijuana card. While Burkhalter reportedly had a letter about the oil from her physician in North Carolina, that was not sufficient to prevent her arrest when the deputy reportedly identified THC in the oil -- despite her bottle being labeled as 0mg of THC.

Instead of riding It's a Small World, this great-grandmother spent 12 hours in jail until bail was posted, all a result of her CBD oil bust. The prosecutors office has since dropped the charges.

As the rules are ever-changing, TPG has put together a guide to traveling with marijuana -- and there's a section in there dedicated to CBD oil, with a full story about traveling with CBD products to come in the near future. At the very least, consider yourself warned about what can happen if you're traveling with CBD oil to Disney World. Read: Don't do it.

Featured image by Ryan Wendler