Heartbreaking news...a big reminder to be aware of wildlife on property

[DnA2010]

I think the issue with signage becomes how do you make it understandable by all. If I come from a country where gators are prevalent and i'm used to swimming with them a gator on a sign is not gonna tell me to not swim. I think the sign they have is as simple as they can be to say to all with picture to not swim in the water. But in the end unless its baricaded off or even when it is no one follows signs when your in a bubble of fun it becomes background white noise.

A sign with a crossed off swimmer and a gator is sure going to keep me- the tourist from far away who doesn't know better, away from the water- at least I would know the risk right?

 

[maryj11]

Wow. Just, wow. You have no IDEA what went on. That gator is many, MANY times stronger than a human being. It could easily have gotten away from a man w/o a blink and instantly underwater.. Gone. It doesn't exactly have fur to grab or handles to hold on to. I'm sad to see arm-chair QBing and judgement of this family.

Yes you are right. Sorry I said that because I do not know what happened and I'm not familiar with gators. I was just imaging what I would of done if it happened to my child. It just is very upsetting and I have been praying for the baby and their parents.

 

[sabrecmc]

Just such a heartbreaking tragedy. I don't blame Disney or the parents. It was a terrible, freak thing. Even as a native Floridian, alligator attack would've been way down my list of concerns walking along the GF beach. Bacteria, snakes, drowning, cutting a foot on something I can't see, all of that kind of thing would've been in my mind before a gator on a well-used beach with boats and fireworks and all kinds of stuff happening around it. Honestly, when I first saw the story pop up, it seemed so bizarre, my first thought was that it was a hoax.

I've never received a warning about things that lurk in the Florida waters, despite hundreds of hotel stays, except for things that were out of the ordinary, such as red tide or an abnormal amount of jellyfish. But, there are sharks out there in the warm waters of the Gulf, and you hear about the rare attack happening. It never occurred to me that people would expect to be warned about the normal native wildlife that could be out there. Honestly, in Florida, that is going to be a very long warning list. We're like mini-Australia for things that can kill you.

That doesn't mean that Disney and parents (including me) can't learn from this and do better in the future. More specific signage probably wouldn't hurt on Disney's part, though I don't know if that would've prevented this or not. But, can't hurt to give a harder warning. For parents with young kids, know that wildlife is a part of any trip to Florida, and even the best wildlife management policies can't prevent everything, nor can even the most vigilant and cautious parenting. I know we all want to find a reason why this would not have happened to us, but sometimes, there is just a terrible confluence of events and no one did anything truly outlandish that we can point to.

 

[thetallone101]

The point of this post is not to point fingers at the parents, but to be aware of your surroundings as there are several people that have/had no idea that gators exist in Disney parks. Please remember that a family has lost their child and they are going through turmoil...should have, would have, could have. I just hope that Disney can amp up their signage or do whatever they can to prevent this from happening again. Yes humans are humans and we have encroached on wild life, but anything to make the parks/resorts safer for all I'm game.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Swimming used to be a thing in the lagoon... so much so that they built a wave machine on one of the islands way back in the day. It never worked so they just tore it apart.
http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_c...quot-to-seven-seas-lagoon-s-wave-machine.aspx

 

[JimmyV]

Yes you are right. Sorry I said that because I do not know what happened and I'm not familiar with gators. I was just imaging what I would of done if it happened to my child. It just is very upsetting and I have been praying for the baby and their parents.

Understood. I think it is fair to say that everyone on this Board would have fought to the end to save their baby...and every last one of us would have failed. There is nothing that a human can do to unlock the grip of an alligator. And the alligator will retreat to the water as fast as it can where it is nimble and humans are inept.

 

[wdw&sonny]

Signs. Walls. Fences. People want to find blame and assume that proper measures weren't taken. But as pointed out, this is the first alligator-related fatality since 1971, and only the second known alligator attack in 45 years. It is irrational to think that a company is going to take extraordinary measures to prevent such a rarity. Think about how many people have died or been seriously injured at WDW since 1971, and now compare that to alligator attacks. Disney has plenty on its plate before it needs to account for the once-every-45-years accident. And that is what this was. No one is to blame. The humans were doing what humans do. The alligator was doing what alligators do. When the two intersected, a tragedy occurred. By all accounts, Disney already searches for and removes alligators that it believes might pose a threat. That is a sensible reaction, and they already do that. But they weren't perfect, obviously. And a family lost a precious boy in part because Disney wasn't perfect, and in part because the family went into water that they weren't supposed to be in, three inches, a foot, or otherwise. When people and/or corporations fail in their quest for perfection, then things like this happen. But are we really at a point where we expect either the parents, the child, or Disney to be perfect? Is the lack of perfection blameworthy?

Well said.

Terrible, tragic, accident.
Disney will survive.
The family may not.

 

[MariMama]

This is ridiculous. Disney is SO careless with their guests' safety sometimes, it's insane. And for what? Maintaining the image of the most "magical" place in the world? A perfect world where nothing bad every happens? They try so hard to convince their guests of those things and at the same time you are supposed to be extra vigilant about all kinds of dangers that you are not familiar with because they of course never mention anything negative and try to hide and dismiss every single negative event that happens there, leading you to think it's so safe and nothing bad ever happens.

I'm well aware there are alligators in Florida, amoeba in the water, etc. But that is only because I was pretty much obsessed with Disney and the US growing up and read a lot about it. Living in South America and now in Europe, I would never imagine that was a danger had I not read about it due to my habit of researching everything. I'm a very paranoid person and extra cautious, but I can only anticipate situations that I have heard before. Up until now, I had not idea alligator could attack even if you were outside of the water. I also had no idea there were so many alligators at Disney or that Disney was aware of that until many pages into the thread.

The vast majority of people DO NOT research every last detail about their lives. They barely plan their vacations or check the weather before they go! It may seem like common sense because we are in a forum full of Disney fanatics who book everything a million days in advance and schedule every single vacation day, sometimes coming to the extreme of scheduling even bathroom breaks.

However, even know I know all of that, I had absolutely no idea that the reason for the "NO SWIMMING" signs was also alligators. A lot of things at Disney are artificial, those beaches are artificial, they have all kinds of activities right by the water, they encourage you to walk on the sand, to stay at those beaches at night by having events and chairs there and just making them generally accessible via walkways, but they do not tell you that it is in fact dangerous to even walk next to the "shore". That is something I would have liked to know and I'm sure the family of that precious baby would have appreciated knowing as well!

You could actually be attacked by an alligator just by walking close to the shore, and that is something that the signs DO NOT tell you and something I would not have know had I not read every single reply on this thread. How can Disney take this risk and not post clear signs warning people of the danger, not only with words but also pictures? There are people from all over the world who often do NOT speak English.

Sure it may be rare for an incident to happen, but it clearly is not rare for alligators to be around, so why take any chances?

It is unbelievable that Disney chooses to take not only the risk of being sued, but the risk of having a guest be injured or killed, by choosing to have a vague sign that can be interpreted in different ways depending on where you are from! And if we take it to mean what it literally says, it just means to not immerse yourself fully in the water by swimming. It does not tell you to not walk or stand close to the edge, to not splash the water, to not go there at night, to look out for the alligators who obviously live there.

Yes, people ignore even clear signs about danger, but a lot of people do not. I do not. I follow directions and add a huge margin of error to them, and still it would not have occurred to me to not walk close to the shore. It made me now want to do any activities that Disney offers in the water because I didn't want any water splashed on me as I thought the danger was bacteria/amoebas, but that's about it!

Had I known alligators were so common at WDW I would NEVER have walked near the shore and NEVER EVER have gone to those beaches at night, which I have done multiple times! I think it is ridiculous that Disney does not inform their guests of a potentially fatal danger.

One may think it is common sense to do what one has been taught to do their whole lives being familiar with this type of danger, but that is only common sense to YOU. Everyone else who had a completely different upbringing in a completely different area will have different concerns and will have a different common sense. I still can't believe Disney chooses to take this risk knowing the huge amount of alligators around. The "beaches" look nice and all, but you don't need to allow people to walk on them if it's not safe or you need to warn them of the dangers. It's negligent not to.

This just blows my mind. Disney has disappointed me a lot in the past few years, but this just takes the cake. That poor family. I'm still hoping for a miracle.

Careless with guests safety? Seriously? IMO, Disney goes way beyond what is needed, just because people think rules and limitations don't apply to them.

 

[mousefan73]

No swimming to most mean water conditions are actually too dangerous to actually swim (currents, rip tides etc. ) wading in a foot or less of water is for me walking on the beach. I read the signs and from own knowledge of the gators would never go in, but thought the no swimming was to actually protect real swimmers from getting hit by boats or sudden drops in deepness ( drowning for non-swimmers)

To me if it says no swimming that also means DO NOT go near the water.

 

[2pinwheels]

I posted earlier that NASA does a pretty good job informing it's communities of wildlife dangers. There is a protocol for notification, so animals can be managed at their centers.

Not just gators. Bucks during mating season are dangerous. Snakes.

Maybe Disney can learn from the NASA safety teams on how to notify and get people to stay alert in an appropriate way? The dangers of feeding animals?

Reading through the posts I'm floored at the number of people who did not think gators were a threat.

**That's not their fault.**

It means to me that Disney is not communicating this properly. Signs and a pamphlet could go a long way.

They could informally do it here. Make a giant thread called safety.

Tragedy like this should not be the first teacher. People on these boards pore over details and many have admitted not concluding gators a Disney issue. That lack of awareness should be changed by the host, Disney.

Prayers for the family and the child.

 

[brunette8706]

The father apparently did make contact with the gator and may have a scratch. So basically 2 year old boy playing about a foot into the water, not on the shore, father was near by, gator attacked, dad and mother went after the gator.

So sad, and I'll say it now, preventable.

*****

How "COLD" and unsympathetic can one be? YOU SHOULD KEEP THAT OPINION to YOURSELF! UGH!!

 

[gemologygal]

The point of this post is not to point fingers at the parents, but to be aware of your surroundings as there are several people that have/had no idea that gators exist in Disney parks. Please remember that a family has lost their child and they are going through turmoil...should have, would have, could have. I just hope that Disney can amp up their signage or do whatever they can to prevent this from happening again. Yes humans are humans and we have encroached on wild life, but anything to make the parks/resorts safer for all I'm game.

Very well-stated and I agree too with the signage improvements.

Keeping the family in my thoughts.

 

[brunette8706]

Only speaking for myself, and not judging the family... And I don't know the particulars.
But I'd still be swimming looking for my child. Not sure what else to say.

MG

WOW! So many judgmental **^&$F# on this thread!! How do you know what they were told to do by police?

 

[FigmentKrazee]

I'm honestly not trying to start anything, but just honestly wondering if, besides the family, there were any other witnesses

 

[snowman]

I think this is just one of those unfortunate accidents that sometimes happen. Disney can't control against naturally existing predators. The family perhaps was naive to be wading in the water at dark. I've read people saying "well they were from Nebraska. They didn't think alligator." That I don't buy. I'm from Maine and everything about Florida says "Gator" to me. Prayers for everyone involved.

 

[bumbershoot]

That doesn't mean those signs shouldn't be there to help warn and protect those who WILL pay attention to them and heed warnings.

I think they *have* signs already. I know perfectly well to not go into any body of water other than the pools, for instance. Because of their signage.

Swimming used to be a thing in the lagoon... so much so that they built a wave machine on one of the islands way back in the day. It never worked so they just tore it apart.
http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_c...quot-to-seven-seas-lagoon-s-wave-machine.aspx

Yep. Back in the day of sleeping in the "way back" and no carseats and my dad sitting me on his lap to "drive" to the store when I was 2. Fairly certain that adults were on some serious drugs back then... Or they were just so messed up from the "Mothers' Little Helper" THEIR parents had given them during car trips they just didn't know better. (true story; my father's mother used to drug the heck out of her 7 kids for car trips)

They could informally do it here. Make a giant thread called safety.

HOW long has that snake bite thread been going on? And how many people continue to discover it anew?

When Cheshire was here and actively posted to his ticket sticky thread, how many people didn't see it there at the top of the page, and still asked questions that were right there?

Do it if you want. But expect that people will still not know because they didn't see it. Remember how many people didn't know about FPs even though it was explained (quite well IMO) in the park maps that almost everyone grabs.


Every single area of the world has something dangerous. Expect there to be something that could get you. I would highly recommend that many people never ever go to Australia. That whole place is trying to kill people.

 

[JimmyV]

I'm honestly not trying to start anything, but just honestly wondering if, besides the family, there were any other witnesses

I don't think people appreciate just how fast this would have unfolded. The alligator would have been back in the water in seconds. By the time anyone noticed the commotion, there would have been nothing to see.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

WOW! So many judgmental **^&$F# on this thread!! How do you know what they were told to do by police?

Did you even read my post? If you did I'm not sure how you can call me judgmental. I clearly stated otherwise at least twice.

MG

 

[snchpnz]

Actual sign at a Beach/Park in Miami. People shouldn't leave their children alone near the water, gators or not.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm honestly not trying to start anything, but just honestly wondering if, besides the family, there were any other witnesses

Same wonder. Hoping there were non-family witnesses. Nature being ghastly is "better" than humans being ghastly to each other, IMO.