Be careful at Kid's Club check in

[SweetSpot]

I experienced how well DCL deals with lost children last Nov. at Castaway Cay. We had just gotten off the banana boats and were going snorkeling. My DH got ready fast and went right in the water and I was getting the 3 kids all geared up when I realized the vest I had for my DS was too small. My DD8 was already set to go and saw her dad hit the water so she followed him while I was trying to blow up the bigger vest. My back was turned and her dad didn't know she was following him (the kids were staying with me) so we lost sight of her. It really was only a minute but I panicked being so overprotective and usually so unbelievably careful to never lose sight of them.

My DD realized her dad was swimming ahead and knowing she wasn't allowed to go in without someone keeping an eye on her got out of the water immediately. She came up on the beach a little further away from where she went in and where we were. Since we hadn't really sat down yet she didn't remember where our chairs were and couldn't pick us out on the beach because it was so crowded.

I made my DS's stay where they were and I screamed for my DH to look for her in the water as I searched at the waters edge and around the beach. A CM noticed me panicking and notified all CM's of a lost child. Another kept an eye on me and kept telling me I had to get a vest on before going any further. I snapped at her but she never left my side. (Afterwards I apologized many times for getting upset with her.)

In a matter of minutes she was found walking further down the beach looking for us by a CM who immediately notified me and another kept calling for my DH in the water over a loud speaker to notify him. The situation was handled extremely well (by everyone but me). Even overly protective parents can find themselves in these types of situations. It is such a comfort knowing that DCL is prepared when they occur.

 

[chrisn]

My DS is now 6 1/2. Thankfully we have never lost him, but let me tell you that if I did, I would freak first and ask questions later. I have to commend you for staying calm until you saw your baby. I am one of those overprotective, overdramatic, always the worst possible scenario moms. My daughter was 12 when we lost track of her in the line to Fantasmic at MGM. She knew we were in that line and I knew she was somewhere near the line but I freaked and ran the first cast member I saw. She immediately got on the radio (this was for a 12 yr old). A nice couple saw me freaking and wanted a description so they could help me find her. It took 15 minutes but when we found her she was hyperventilating she was so upset. I just hugged her trying to soothe her. There was another young couple standing in front of us about 18-20ish and the girl told us she would ball if she got lost too! Now 16, she always carries a walkie talkie if she is going to walk away from us, for my son last year I had a set of GI dog tags made for him with our information and cell phone number that he wears to the parks but he also knows that if he were to get lost, to immediately look for a cast member. Just thinking about my babies lost and reading some of these stories makes me cry!

 

[jrabbit]

That is why I recommend checking kids into the clubs as soon as possible (right after Palo and spa ressies). It's not as crowded and you will get in and out quickly.

 

[cotomom]

This hasn't just happened on check in day. On our January trip, we returned a 3 year old boy that was alone wandering the hallway right outside Oceaneer's Club. this was on the 3rd day or so. No one had noticed him get out of the club. An oversight I'm sure and hopefully not a regular occurrence, but it CAN and DOES happen. This definitely upset me and my friend who both had 4 yo's in the club at the time.

And as for the background checks... that's a great idea IF they do that. But you KNOW that people who have records are only the TIP of the iceberg, right? Think about how many pedophiles haven't ever been caught, therefore don't have anything to show up in a background check.

Yuck, how depressing. Sorry guys...

 

[tbuot]

I'm glad everything turned out OK.

 

[Captain Jim]

Actually there is very little expense to a background check. Sure if you're going to do a massive one, but they don't need to do that. Disney doesn't care about a full record. I do background checks for my company all the time because we work with children. It cost nothing. Yep, nothing. Just time. They can run thousands of names and addresses in just seconds. You can easily see if someone has outstanding warrants or has been convicted of any sexual indiscretion.
I'm sure that's all a company like Disney would care about.

Heck, now that I think about it there's probably government funding that would even allow them to do full background checks if they wanted to. Big companies get perks like this all the time. Even my company can do this at no cost. Agencies will go well out of their way to help protect children.

By the way, I sure don't need a SS# to do a background check. That's simply another way to run it.

 

[disneymom3]

Thanks all for your kind words of support. It was a really stressful beginning to our cruise. Being what many consider to be overprotective parents, this really blew us away. None of my kids has ever been what I would even consider close to lost, even for 2 minutes ever before. In the last two years, we have been to Disney 5 times and never had a moment's concern. Had I known that you could check the kids in whenever, I certainly would have not gone there during that chaotic time.

As I said, this is just something I really wanted to point out for other people's notice for future trips. I consider myself and DH to be really watchful parents and if this happened to us, it could happen easily.

 

[westjones]

We go to register the kids first thing. The last two times we were the first ones in there and there were very few who joined us during that time. Most seem to go eat first or go to make Palo reservations.

DJ