A Missing Kid Story

[TDC Nala]

Stranger abductors look for easy targets. They are not likely to pull a child out of the club (kids who can't sign themselves out don't just leave the clubs unless it's with their parents or other authorized persons) or find one wandering around the ship by themselves and then try to take them off the ship while in port, too many people at the gangway and if the crew members scanning you off know who the kid is linked with, that's it. The only place they could hide the child would be in a stateroom, and a public alert wouldn't help with that.

I'm not sure anything would have reassured these parents.

 

[jjje]

Is it not true that if this had happened on another cruise line other than Disney, most of the people who have posted would have said this family should have a FULL REFUND and then some....along with maybe firing the club CM's and any number of other things????

Everyone would be saying "I'll NEVER cruise with them." Or "I won't LET my family and friends cruise with them".......

Haha. No. It doesn't matter if this happened on Disney or on Captain Crappy's (Imaginary) Cruise Line the family doesn't deserve a refund and I don't think anyone would feel any differently no matter where this happened.

This reminds me of something that happened on our cruise. One night before dinner I went to pick my son up at the Edge and my husband went to pick my daughter up in the Lab. My son and I get to the dining room and the other half of our party is no where to be found. It took them forever to show up and when they did my husband was a little red faced. It turns out he went to the Lab to get her but he couldn't find her so he went to the Club. Once he got there they informed him our daughter was in the Lab. He freaked out a little bit because he had just been at the Lab and he hadn't seen her. He went back to the Lab (after cast members assured him she was there) and still couldn't find her. At last she was discovered just taking her sweet time in the bathroom. My husband was ready to issue an Amber Alert himself. Maybe someone should give us a refund...

 

[lilpooh108]

I didn't read all 4 pages in this thread (just the first), but I think that there's an upside to this for "us." That is --- maybe at the next meeting the Cruise Director will discuss how to implement a better system for alerting the crew of a missing child.

At least all ended up well, and I think that they were very lucky that this whole incident happened while the ship was docked. Can you imagine the panic for that parent if the ship had been sailing?

 

[KappaSigHero]

I disagree, "Amber Alerts" get made all the time. The abductor KNOWS what they have done and it's only a matter of time before the authorities get involved or a search is started. Allowing the public to become aware and alert is a very key part of a successful recovery.

Secondly, while the gangway staff would hopefully be mindfully a small child trying to leave the ship on their own, they certainly wouldn't think anything was amiss if a child was leaving the ship with an adult. In this case, the parents fear is that adult would have been an abductor.

The parents obviously wanted to speak to the person of the highest authority on the ship...wouldn't that be the captain?

Amber Alerts are for confirmed abductions and allow for coordination between the public and police system- this is apples and oranges. I've trained and been trained in missing child situations in jobs where we've served parents and children, and Disney followed a protocol that is the norm. I agree with your other post that if a code word was used, they could have told the parents, but they did state to them that a protocol was enacted.

I don't know enough about the de-boarding process at ports to know if those who are at the exits just look at KTTW's or scan them electronically. If it's the latter, CMs would at best know that the adult and child weren't from the same group, and at worst be able to report to the ship that the child was not on board, and who they were last with. If it's the former, then I agree it's an issue.

The captain is the highest authority- but are they the person who is most capable of responding in the moment. If there is smoke coming from the engine room- I want the captain. I'm not sure that I would seek them for other issues.

 

[Green Tea]

True, the kid WAS in the club.....but if his bracelet was not working, the staff had no idea if he was there or not. If the device wouldn't show that he was there, then it wouldn't have sounded if he had left. I hope each bracelet is being checked.

 

[JimmyJackJunior]

At port there have been times when we were leaving the boat and our youngest was separated from me by her siblings. The CM has always asked for her parents and won't let her off the boat until I tell them she's with me and they look at the screen again. Their system has a list of who the child is linked with. Even if the child has their KTTW card, I am certain they would not let her off alone, nor with a strange adult.

Yes, if they are not in your room you have to add them manually to have check in/check out from the clubs much less taking them off the ship.

 

[KappaSigHero]

True, the kid WAS in the club.....but if his bracelet was not working, the staff had no idea if he was there or not. If the device wouldn't show that he was there, then it wouldn't have sounded if he had left. I hope each bracelet is being checked.

Agree fully. This needs to be part of the procedure every time the ship disembarks.

 

[KappaSigHero]

As for the issue of criticism of DCL vs other lines- while there are those who are fiercely loyal to Disney and critical of all others, that doesn't seem to be the majority. Maybe it's just me being new, but I've seen several threads lately where others recommend or praise their experiences on other lines when asked.

 

[GatorMomInNC]

I agree with you, and good point about Palo. I actually just posted a response to this person's blog because I could not understand all the other comments by people who were agreeing with the Father that DCL was horrible and he should have been compensated.

First of all, I do not consider myself a Disney apologist and I understand why the father freaked out BUT in the end, the child was right where he was supposed to be (albeit difficult to find between the hiding and the sleeping/not responding to his name being called). He had NOT gotten out of the kids club and the security system in place to protect him worked. Yes, those were probably the 45 most horrifying moments of his life, but that is what comes with being a parent. He found his child and no one really did anything wrong or was to blame. I am amazed DCL offered him what they did!!

I lost my 5 yr old 2 days ago at Disney Quest. Long story short, my husband and I had a system in place to keep track of him between us and we screwed up. I searched for 15 minutes (DQ is HUGE) before I finally started to lose my composure and admitted to myself that this was serious and I had to report it. By the time I went to guest services, my son had already gone up to a CM and told them that "my parents are lost", he was with DQ CMs and security searching DQ for US, the police had been called, and they had called the number my son gave them (our home phone). Even as we left some security guards recognized our son and told him not to let our parents get lost again!!!!

The point is, of course you are going to be freaked out if you can't find your child. But everything turned out okay and his child was safe, was NEVER in any danger because of the safety procedures at the kid's club. Next time they will know to look under the chairs sooner.

I mean, honestly, just way too much trying to get "compensated" (for WHAT??) and less, "wow, sh*t happens when you have a 3 year old and won't this be a funny story to tell him when he gets older".

I just read the account of the incident on his blog. Wow he over reacted big time. Running all over the ship freaking out at the staff. While I am sure it was upsetting it doesn't sound like he was helping the situation at all.

I also don't understand why they think that the cruise should be refunded. His child was exactly where he was suppose to be. Perhaps if he had kept a cooler head he might have helped find him earlier.

The couple seemed quick to plan what they should get for the incident vs just being happy with the fact that their child was safe.

They managed to go out to dinner at Palo's the next day presumably without the child. They couldn't have been that traumatized. Did they put the child back in the club while they were at dinner

 

[neg58]

People have commented on this guy's blog that he should sue and his response is that it's over, they've moved on, don't want to bother with it. So life crippling they deserve a free cruise but really not that big of a deal. It also does seem that they went to a dinner the next day, didn't stay inside their stateroom worried over it. Maybe someone else in their group watched their kids, but I'll bet they put them back into the nursery and club.

Nancy

 

[GoofyTwinDad]

I am sure most people on DIS have empathy for the parents involved. I had alot of stressful times in public places due to my twins loving to bolt in opposite directions, leading me to have to chose which one to needing to be chased first. It is very stressful at that moment.

IMO, the father is a publicity hound. There is no reason you should expect full reimbursement for this incident. If it was my child who was actually asleep in the club where he was supposed to be and I acted the way he did, I would be embarrassed and profusely apologize to the CM's. I suppose that in our sue happy society, the father feels he has an opportunity to get everything for nothing.

 

[TDC Nala]

So he doesn't want to sue (although people are urging him to - what the?), he just expects a free cruise, and they went to Palo after all this happened (although he doesn't say he left the kid in the club). Their last two days weren't ruined enough for that. I'm sure a full refund is not in order here, much less a lawsuit.

Yes, it was probably scary as heck to lose the kid for awhile, but absent the fact that I can't tell if the bracelet showed he was in the club or not everything worked the way it was supposed to. The clubs are now on alert to look under chairs, too.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

True, the kid WAS in the club.....but if his bracelet was not working, the staff had no idea if he was there or not. If the device wouldn't show that he was there, then it wouldn't have sounded if he had left. I hope each bracelet is being checked.

and its qiute possible the bracelet didnt work because of the metal in the chairs the lad crawlled under and fell asleep........

AKK

 

[FergusBC]

If it was my child who was actually asleep in the club where he was supposed to be and I acted the way he did, I would be embarrassed and profusely apologize to the CM's. I suppose that in our sue happy society, the father feels he has an opportunity to get everything for nothing.

Yes! I was thinking that as well. If it had been my child supposedly 'missing' and then turned up still where she was supposed to be, I would have been apologizing to the CMs for causing the ruckus (and giving my child an earful about hiding to have a nap!).

But I will file this away to not be too nice about it. I'll hold out for the free bottle of wine and consider myself well compensated

 

[gilsan]

I am sure most people on DIS have empathy for the parents involved. I had alot of stressful times in public places due to my twins loving to bolt in opposite directions, leading me to have to chose which one to needing to be chased first. It is very stressful at that moment.

IMO, the father is a publicity hound. There is no reason you should expect full reimbursement for this incident. If it was my child who was actually asleep in the club where he was supposed to be and I acted the way he did, I would be embarrassed and profusely apologize to the CM's. I suppose that in our sue happy society, the father feels he has an opportunity to get everything for nothing.

I agree I would feel embarrassed to have acted that way if I was him. I am sure by the next day my husband and I would have laughed about it, lost under chairs sleeping. I certainly would no be demanding a full refund.

 

[KappaSigHero]

I am sure most people on DIS have empathy for the parents involved. I had alot of stressful times in public places due to my twins loving to bolt in opposite directions, leading me to have to chose which one to needing to be chased first. It is very stressful at that moment.

IMO, the father is a publicity hound. There is no reason you should expect full reimbursement for this incident. If it was my child who was actually asleep in the club where he was supposed to be and I acted the way he did, I would be embarrassed and profusely apologize to the CM's. I suppose that in our sue happy society, the father feels he has an opportunity to get everything for nothing.

I'm even wondering if Consumerist grabbed the story without consent. Nothing in the article is exclusive of the blog- it seems to be cut and paste, including typos. You'd think if dad was still angry, he would have given more ammunition through emails or interviews.

 

[justmestace]

As for the issue of criticism of DCL vs other lines- while there are those who are fiercely loyal to Disney and critical of all others, that doesn't seem to be the majority. Maybe it's just me being new, but I've seen several threads lately where others recommend or praise their experiences on other lines when asked.

You joined the DIS in February of this year.

You're right, there was ONE thread in the last week that was very positive toward someone seeking advice about another cruise line.

That is the first time in the whole 11 years that I've been on the DIS, that I've seen a thread like that stay pleasant.

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

og.


The system did work the child never left the club. The parents did have a scare.......but the child was never in danger.

AKK

While it hindsight, its apparent the child wasn't in danger, I don't think it can be said that the 'system worked'. If the system worked, when the CM's checked their system, it should have said that the child is still in the club. They could have then focused their search in that area instead of the entire ship, which probably caused so much time to pass from when the child was thought to be 'missing' to 'found'.

 

[MagicFan75]

Also since the child was sleeping under a stack of metal chairs.... The metal may have interfered with the RF signal. I am curious how many dead spots exist in the club. Most Children are running around and Disney probably never notices areas that loose signal.

Excellent point! You may be right about the metal chair legs interfering with the RF signal.

 

[LasseKjus]

This guy was looking for his kid, his wife was freaking out and they had a baby. He may not have done a lot of searching in the club before he went out running around the ship. Apparently while he was gone the child was located in the club.

Amber alerts also don't go out after just 45 minutes.