Alligator dragged 2 year old into 7 seas lagoon

[mummabear]

The parents IGNORED a sign that was there. Why do you think they would pay attention to one that says not to feed the alligators?

Please tell me that you don't mean Lane's family ignored the sign?

I think it has been cover plenty of times in this thread that to many of us no swimming means just that don't swim, not don't enter the water there are alligators there. Quite different wording you see.

 

[cruisingtwins]

I don't know why people think everyone is out there looking to break rules. I would say the grand majority of people obey the rules posted. The signs are a good thing.

 

[Dread Pirate]

Please tell me that you don't mean Lane's family ignored the sign?

I think it has been cover plenty of times in this thread that to many of us no swimming means just that don't swim, not don't enter the water there are alligators there. Quite different wording you see.

They were IN the water. That is ignoring the sign. Those who argue otherwise must be special snowflakes, to use a DIS term.

 

[ronandannette]

I'm sorry to hear how your mom was treated. I don't think it would happen in this case though. Can you imagine the PR nightmare of them trying to blame this on the grieving family?

If we use the CB threads as a barometer, Disney could apparently line up SCORES of character witnesses willing to testify that the incident would not have taken place if only the parents had been smarter, better-informed, more careful and more compliant (like, you know, THEY would have been).

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

They were IN the water. That is ignoring the sign. Those who argue otherwise must be special snowflakes, to use a DIS term.

7/10

 

[CPanther95]

They were IN the water. That is ignoring the sign. Those who argue otherwise must be special snowflakes, to use a DIS term.

Only a special snowflake would think that simply putting a foot in the water means you're swimming.

... the same kind of Huckleberry that spins the little propeller on his beanie, jumps up in the air and yells, "Hey Momma, I'ma FLYING !!! "

 

[IndyRnRfan]

I hope it is a good fence. I have seen videos of gators climbing fences. Please excuse the language.

Thanks for posting. You know the people who didn't know gators were in Disney sure as heck didn't know gators can climb a fence.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

Thanks for posting. You know the people who didn't know gators were in Disney sure as heck didn't know gators can climb a fence.

I certainly didn't think it would be high on their list of skill sets, but I'm probably on that special list you keep referring to.

 

[Magpie]

Please tell me that you don't mean Lane's family ignored the sign?

I think it has been cover plenty of times in this thread that to many of us no swimming means just that don't swim, not don't enter the water there are alligators there. Quite different wording you see.

And that right there is pretty much how things will go in court, if the family chooses not to accept whatever settlement/compensation Disney offers them. They will be painted as irresponsible parents who ignored signs, and who should have known not to go into any body of water in Florida at dusk.

 

[mom2rtk]

And that right there is pretty much how things will go in court, if the family chooses not to accept whatever settlement/compensation Disney offers them. They will be painted as irresponsible parents who ignored signs, and who should have known not to go into any body of water in Florida at dusk.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on that. I think the PR risk to Disney of beating this family up when they are down is just too high for them to take a chance.

 

[IndyRnRfan]

I certainly didn't think it would be high on their list of skill sets, but I'm probably on that special list you keep referring to.

Actually, I thought they'd just push a fence like that over but I knew they could climb, just not that high. Ive actually seen gators in trees before.

 

[mummabear]

They were IN the water. That is ignoring the sign. Those who argue otherwise must be special snowflakes, to use a DIS term.

Can you read? Does the sign say don't go in the water? No.
If what they wanted was people not to enter the water at all then that is what the sign should have said.
It's pretty simply really, it said no swimming, no one was swimming by any definition of swimming.

And that right there is pretty much how things will go in court, if the family chooses not to accept whatever settlement/compensation Disney offers them. They will be painted as irresponsible parents who ignored signs, and who should have known not to go into any body of water in Florida at dusk.

I really don't think Disney will think it in their best interests to attack these parents. It would make a bad situation for them worse.

 

[maxiesmom]

Can you read? Does the sign say don't go in the water? No.
If what they wanted was people not to enter the water at all then that is what the sign should have said.
It's pretty simply really, it said no swimming, no one was swimming by any definition of swimming.

And yet here I have lived near a major body of water for years, and when they post a No Swimming warning it means STAY OUT OF THE WATER. It took a while for me to understand how people could think that getting their toes wet was ok when there is an obvious NO SWIMMING sign. It seemed obvious to me that means stay out, but I guess not to others.

Hopefully the new clearer signs will stop the confusion.

Btw, if you go to the Merriam-Webster on line dictionary, on of the definitions of swim is "to play in the water (as at a beach or swimming pool)."

 

[Magpie]

I really don't think Disney will think it in their best interests to attack these parents. It would make a bad situation for them worse.

I think it would only happen if the parents chose to reject whatever offer Disney makes, and go to court for more.

But if they did... Disney's lawyers are some of the best. Disney's survived bad PR in the past. And it's not hard to swing the tide of public opinion against someone, even someone innocent and injured. Just look at how effectively McDonald's assassinated the character of that elderly woman in the Hot Coffee lawsuit. They spun it so effectively, people still believe it's the epitome of frivolous lawsuits.

There are people on these boards who are critical of the parents for "ignoring signs" and being ignorant (because no one should visit Florida without becoming an expert on gators). Compared to what I've seen elsewhere online, that's the mildest of the criticism these parents have been facing. (Shockingly, Dissers are some of the nicer folks online!) Other people have (incorrectly, but that hardly matters - I refer you again to the coffee lawsuit), painted them as neglectful, spoiled, affluent and disconnected from reality, sitting on the beach texting while the child wanders into obviously gator-infested water.

PR is a brutal game, it cuts both ways, and Disney's a master at spin. I wouldn't want to take them on!

 

[mjkacmom]

And yet here I have lived near a major body of water for years, and when they post a No Swimming warning it means STAY OUT OF THE WATER. It took a while for me to understand how people could think that getting their toes wet was ok when there is an obvious NO SWIMMING sign. It seemed obvious to me that means stay out, but I guess not to others.

Hopefully the new clearer signs will stop the confusion.

Btw, if you go to the Merriam-Webster on line dictionary, on of the definitions of swim is "to play in the water (as at a beach or swimming pool)."

It's amazing to me that some people can't wrap their brains around the concept that things are different in different areas, even after reading post after post. HERE, No Swimmng DOES NOT MEAN No Wading. If wading is not allowed, the sign will say NO WADING. How hard is this to understand?

WDW has allowed guests to wade for years. The sign doesn't say NO WADING. The obvious conclusion is that wading is allowed.

 

[maxiesmom]

It's amazing to me that some people can't wrap their brains around the concept that things are different in different areas, even after reading post after post. HERE, No Swimmng DOES NOT MEAN No Wading. If wading is not allowed, the sign will say NO WADING. How hard is this to understand?

WDW has allowed guests to wade for years. The sign doesn't say NO WADING. The obvious conclusion is that wading is allowed.

That is why I said it took me a while to get it. And again, it is not obvious to everyone that wading was allowed. You yourself stated that things are different in different areas. No reason to be ugly about it.

 

[mefordis]

Since Disney seems to be immediately addressing the safety problem I really hope the family takes whatever they offer them and tries to move on. The litigation process will add nothing but more stress to their lives and put them in the spotlight. So far they seem to have successfully avoided media and cameras. They can grieve in private if they just settle. However, I don't think Disney will offer them anything unless they file a lawsuit. Not a lawyer but I believe if they just out of the blue offer money they are admitting some fault and I don't think corporations like to do that.

 

[Kimberlyann11]

That is why I said it took me a while to get it. And again, it is not obvious to everyone that wading was allowed. You yourself stated that things are different in different areas. No reason to be ugly about it.

Exactly. Where I'm from, no swimming usually means that the water is contaminated - e coli being the most common culprit. I would never dream of letting my kid play in it. My thought at seeing people do it would be "enjoy your projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhea". Indeed, around here reading it differently would be like when my kid would say "You said don't put my shoes on the furniture, these aren't my shoes - they're boots".

But dang, I think we all get it now. Those of us who thought that the no swimming sign was taken way too literally were seeing things from the perspective of where we live and that doesn't make us monsters.

 

[Clifton Tesh]

Indeed, around here reading it differently would be like when my kid would say "You said don't put my shoes on the furniture, these aren't my shoes - they're boots".

This is pretty much what I've been saying the whole time.

Like no diving signs at the pool and you see people jumping in the water but "I'm not diving".

Or when you tell your kid not to jump on the bed, and you catch them jumping on the bed. If they said "you didn't tell me why I shouldn't jump on the bed!" Like all these people saying that Disney didn't tell them why they shouldn't play on the water.

Or when you tell your kids to not run and instead they walk faster than the speed of light because they're not running.

 

[luvsJack]

This is pretty much what I've been saying the whole time.

Like no diving signs at the pool and you see people jumping in the water but "I'm not diving".

Or when you tell your kid not to jump on the bed, and you catch them jumping on the bed. If they said "you didn't tell me why I shouldn't jump on the bed!" Like all these people saying that Disney didn't tell them why they shouldn't play on the water.

Or when you tell your kids to not run and instead they walk faster than the speed of light because they're not running.

Well technically no diving generally means the water is too shallow for head first diving. It has nothing to do with jumping in. Water can be deep enough for jumping and not deep enough for diving.

Sort of like technically wading and swimming are two different acts. Especially when the entity that puts up the no swimming signs has allowed wading for many years.

But obviously different people take the signs meaning differently dependent on their experience. No swimming can be posted for a thousand different reasons.