I live in canada and we don't hang out with gators except in the ZOO!!!! I gues the unkown is scary BUT THEY ARE GATORS!!!!!! I can't believe more people are worried about corn snakes and harmless spiders ( can't say i like them either) then the man eating gators. Are they not a concern?? Won't they come out of the water and travel the paths? What keeps them from snacking on children? I have to say we stayed at okw in feb and I had no idea that there were gators in WDW.
Now I am scared to book treehouse villas with little kids. The only thing that freaks me out are sharks. I have never seen a shark walking around disney but someone tell me more about the gators.



did i mention i am scared
Though they look scary, and they have on rare occasion bitten and even killed people, alligators are generally very non-aggressive and are much more inclined to run away from people before they're even spotted. They do not attack people naturally...most attacks that have occurred have been one of three scenarios: 1. People being stupid, 2. Alligators in drought conditions starving and desperate, 3. Alligators defending nests.
The people being stupid category is most common. Sitting on the bank of a canal, completely still for 30-40 minutes, not paying attention to the water where a very large alligator is sitting. Jumping in alligator infested waters while drunk on a dare with friends. Standing waste deep in murky alligator infested water trimming marsh plants for hours. (All three of those, BTW, resulted in the last 3 alligator deaths in Florida).
I have lived around alligators most of my life, and find them to be some of the least aggressive animals I know. I've never seen one jump up onto a walking path and randomly attack a person (only one time have I ever heard of such a thing, where one did jump up after a dog being walked by a man...and that was during a drought when the alligators were known to be getting desperate...even then, it was the dog being attacked). I've watched alligators submerge and pop up 30 feet farther away when people walk too close. Respect, as with any large animal, is required...it CAN hurt you, even if it doesn't necessarily want to...so don't push your luck. Stay away from the shoreline when you see an alligator, keep a healthy respect for the larger ones that could pull you in if they wanted to, and listen to warning signs to know if you are approaching a nest (they will hiss, and sometimes snap their jaws...and make very noticeable movement in your direction if you're walking towards something they are protecting).
You are likely in more peril dealing with bears, mating elk/caribou, moose, or large male deer, all of which can be distinctly more aggressive and more willing to attack, and capable of inflicting serious damage on you! Plus, they don't generally live in water, and only occasionally come up on land like gators...they're on land all the time, right where you are!
Really, don't worry about gators, especially at Disney. They are not aggressive animals, and Disney is always monitoring for larger ones to be removed before they become capable of any real harm. If Disney says 'don't swim', then don't! Otherwise, enjoy the awesome beauty and power of a real-life dinosaur that has survived millions of years!