Can you believe this?

[ajsmommy1129]

I think you misinterpreted what I said. I am not an alarmist, but 'stuff' does happen. For a parent with a missing child, every possible nasty thing that 'could' happen is going through their mind. I know...my nephew went missing for over an hour!! So, for a parent with a missing child, every minute seems like forever, and to have a CM tell them to basically 'wait a minute' is unacceptable.
I do not see child snatchers lurking behind every bush...never said that, never intimated that. Don't put words in my mouth. I guess when I said 'it only takes a minute for someone to grab a child', I was thinking of what goes through a parents mind. That poor mother was told to wait a minute, while all manner of horrible scenarios were playing out in her mind. I'm sure she had already gotten the idea of someone leaving the park with her ds. Realistic? No, it's not. But, that doesn't stop a parent from imagining it. And that was my point...not people lurking behind the bushes, waiting to grab lost children.

IMO, there is no need to defend yourself or your post. The most recent stats available are from NISMART:
An estimated 58,200 children were victims of nonfamily
abduction, defined more broadly to include all nonfamily
perpetrators (friends and acquaintances as well as strangers)
and crimes involving lesser amounts of forced movement or
detention, in addition to the more serious crimes entailed in
stereotypical kidnappings.

58,200 children over the two year study, abducted, and that is just non-family abductions. Here are the stats on family/parental abductions:

An estimated 203,900 children were victims of a family
abduction in 1999. Among these, 117,200 were missing from
their caretakers, and, of these, an estimated 56,500 were
reported to authorities for assistance in locating the children.

Children who are murdered by their abductors are murdered within the first three hours, on average. When a child is missing, EVERY SECOND COUNTS. Just because it has never happened at WDW doesn't mean it can't, or wont.
I was applauding your response, and can feel the pain of the OP. My son went missing for about 15 minutes at Hershey Park, and it was the longest 15 minutes of my life. And to the poster who attacked you, you can snopes those facts, they come straight from the Dept of Justice.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

I would be contacting Disney and complaining about those CM's.

 

[rudy7696]

You should most definetely speak with the higher ups regarding this matter. Can't believe the CM thought the job she was doing at that moment was more important than finding a lost kid.

 

[disndatworld]

So glad he was found.

If I lose a child I will just scream my head off. I may look like a fool for a moment, but pride is a small thing to trade for my child. I bet the CM would take me seriously if I didn't shut my mouth.

So glad it all turned out ok.

 

[kadesha]

I am so sorry! i can only imagine how terrified your sister and the rest of the family was! I would definetly report the CM!

 

[kaysmommie]

I'm so sorry! Your sister must have nearly lost her mind in that time her DS was missing . I agree I would report the CM. So glad she found him and he as unharmed .

 

[TDC Nala]

That cast member should not have told her to stand aside and wait. I hope she got their name. While they don't have to go into panic mode, they need to show a bit more concern than that. She needs to do a report NOW while she is still at WDW.

However, you can do absolutely nothing about what other people say or think while they are walking past.

 

[Booyakasha]

IMO, there is no need to defend yourself or your post. The most recent stats available are from NISMART:
An estimated 58,200 children were victims of nonfamily
abduction, defined more broadly to include all nonfamily
perpetrators (friends and acquaintances as well as strangers)
and crimes involving lesser amounts of forced movement or
detention, in addition to the more serious crimes entailed in
stereotypical kidnappings.

58,200 children over the two year study, abducted, and that is just non-family abductions. Here are the stats on family/parental abductions:

An estimated 203,900 children were victims of a family
abduction in 1999. Among these, 117,200 were missing from
their caretakers, and, of these, an estimated 56,500 were
reported to authorities for assistance in locating the children.

Children who are murdered by their abductors are murdered within the first three hours, on average. When a child is missing, EVERY SECOND COUNTS. Just because it has never happened at WDW doesn't mean it can't, or wont.
I was applauding your response, and can feel the pain of the OP. My son went missing for about 15 minutes at Hershey Park, and it was the longest 15 minutes of my life. And to the poster who attacked you, you can snopes those facts, they come straight from the Dept of Justice.

Those are good stats but they are not Disney stats and the poster did not attack anyone. No one is saying that a missing child is to be taken lightly or that the CM in this case wasn't innappropriate. I think the point the "attacking" poster was trying to say is that they would like to see if there has ever been a case in Disney World history of a child abduction. With the millions and millions of kids that have gone to DW is seems like statistically it would happen yet I found no credible reports with an internet search. Here is a thread that talks more about this.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1451979
I think the point is that it is absolutely terrifying when your child is missing for even a second but ultimately Disney is a very safe place for kids and they will be located.

B.

 

[Purseval]

I think you misinterpreted what I said. I am not an alarmist, but 'stuff' does happen.

So what "stuff" happens at WDW? I asked for examples, where are they?

I do not see child snatchers lurking behind every bush...never said that, never intimated that. Don't put words in my mouth. I guess when I said 'it only takes a minute for someone to grab a child', I was thinking of what goes through a parents mind.

And why is that? Why would it be that parents would be thinking their child go snatched rather than their child just wandered off if it wasn't for semi-hysterical displays like we have seen in this thread?

Meanwhile, back at the WDW ranch:

I personally dealt with a very distraught mother who had just gone through a messy divorce and her ex had threatened to come and take the kids. He was apparently very abusive and she had been awarded soul custody and she had a restraining order against him. That particular situation was a little scary for me to and I really felt for the woman. Luckily her son had just walked into the ice cream store and when we found him, he said "I followed red shorts mommy."

So here we have some guy sitting at home minding his own business, not knowing that he has been branded an abuser and a kidnapper (not once, but twice), with no chance of defending himself. And why? Because little Johnny followed red shorts.

I also looked at the statistics that another person posted, which look pretty grim until you realize that we are a nation of 350 million people and those numbers are such a tiny percentage that it's more likely you'll be struck by lightning.

I'm not making light of the scare it must be to have a child wander off on you. But we are humans, which means we are fallible, and it happens but that doesn't mean we automatically have to assume the worst.

 

[slk537]

We were at DAK a few trips back on our way into ITTBAB and we saw a mother with several children on a cell phone just sobbing hysterically. She had a CM with her and appeared to be very well taken care of, but it was the most frightening thing I have seen at WDW, hands down. It was very clear that she had lost a child and I could just feel her panic. We only have the one DS, but he's always been a runner and we have had our own situations where he's disappeared and reappeared just as quickly. I wanted to hug her and prayed it would all be okay.

I can tell you - I barely left DS out of my sight as we went into the show and nothing ever felt sweeter than his little hand in mine at that moment.

 

[melly]

The CM's at Universal would have found the kid straight away

 

[gk90]

The CM's at Universal would have found the kid straight away

And even though child abduction is rare, stuff happens and it's not "alarmist" for a parent to be worried. Remember this story from last year, about the child molester caught at the Swan?
http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=48940

 

[tazdev3225]

I am glad your nephew was found safe. I truly understand the feeling of panic. I lost my DD 21 years ago at Sesame Place when she was 2 1/2. I took my eyes off of her for a couple of seconds to see where my 5 y/o was at and that fast she was gone. I had my SIL watch my 2 kids while I went to look for my DD. I went to customer relations to ask them if they could page the rest of my party, we were there with a large group from church, and the response was just listen for a lost child alert and see if it is your child. They also suggested I go up on Big Bird's Catwalk to see if I could spot her. It was at least 8 feet up and enclosed with a heavy rope netting, I never did know what they wanted me to do is I saw her. I didn't know if I should call my DH who was at home because I thought he would get killed racing up there and she would be fine. After what seemed like an eternity but was really about a half hour we did find her safe and sound. She wondered to the one place I never thought to look because she was terrified of water. To this day I can tell you what she had on, white shorts with a multi-colored pattern, a purple Claws and Paws T-shirt and the vest part of the harness I always had her on so I wouldn't lose her. I haven't been back to Sesame Place because of their callousness towards my situation.
OP I'm glad Disney seemed concerned about the situation when you called.

 

[Purseval]

And even though child abduction is rare, stuff happens and it's not "alarmist" for a parent to be worried.

Some "stuff" is a lot rarer than other "stuff". Statistically your child is far more likely to be killed/injured riding a bicycle. Do we have threads about panicked parents searching for their children who are on bikes? Do you threaten to fire your babysitter because they let your kids ride a bicycle while you were away?

You are vacationing in a place that has had countless of millions of children onsite, that has had thousands upon thousands lost and has never had a child abducted out of one of their parks. Read about the reactions of parents in this one thread and tell me it's not alarmist.

 

[dzorn]

I probably would have waited with the CM, but I would be screaming the child's name at the top of my lung shouting "where are you".

The CM needs training and you have made Disney aware so I would think the matter is resolved.

Denise in MI

 

[rie'smom]

Some "stuff" is a lot rarer than other "stuff". Statistically your child is far more likely to be killed/injured riding a bicycle. Do we have threads about panicked parents searching for their children who are on bikes? Do you threaten to fire your babysitter because they let your kids ride a bicycle while you were away?

You are vacationing in a place that has had countless of millions of children onsite, that has had thousands upon thousands lost and has never had a child abducted out of one of their parks. Read about the reactions of parents in this one thread and tell me it's not alarmist.

How many children do you have?

If you do have any, wouldn't you be panicked if they were missing?

No one here was saying that they were afraid their child was kidnapped. It's an instinct to protect your child and when they're missing, that instinct to protect kicks in full force.

 

[ajsmommy1129]

And even though child abduction is rare, stuff happens and it's not "alarmist" for a parent to be worried. Remember this story from last year, about the child molester caught at the Swan?
http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=48940

Exactly. That little girl wasn't technically abducted, but God only knows what he did to her, physically and emotionally, in the few minutes he had her. I don't feel it is "alarmist" to want your child safe, and it is natural for a parent to fear the worst. And while I have not fired a babysitter for letting my child ride his bike while we were gone, I did fire one for not making him wear his helmet. Does that make me an alarmist? I want my child safe, and there are too many people in this world who mean to harm children for me to just shake it off, shrug my shoulders and say whatever will be, will be if my child were missing. Again, the 15 minutes he was missing in Hershey Park were the longest 15 minutes of my life. I truly hope the poster calling us alarmists never goes through anything like that.

 

[Purseval]

How many children do you have?

I have 2 children, both in college, both who started going to WDW before their 3rd birthdays and both who learned what to do if they got separated before it happened. They never got separated at WDW but if they did it would have been my fault, I wouldn't be going after a CM because I screwed up.

If you do have any, wouldn't you be panicked if they were missing?

The first thing I would do would be to head for our prearranged meeting point while my wife notified the CMs. Running around screaming wouldn't be the first option or even the second. The last thing would be to blame the CM.

No one here was saying that they were afraid their child was kidnapped. It's an instinct to protect your child and when they're missing, that instinct to protect kicks in full force.

Maybe you should read the entire thread.

 

[Purseval]

I don't feel it is "alarmist" to want your child safe, and it is natural for a parent to fear the worst. And while I have not fired a babysitter for letting my child ride his bike while we were gone, I did fire one for not making him wear his helmet. Does that make me an alarmist?

Was your babysitter the person who gave your child an attitude that wearing a helmet didn't matter? Why would a babysitter have to "make" your child put a helmet on? Do you manage to transfer blame in every situation you encounter?

 

[MMmomto5]

We had a scary situation last year at DTD. My dh's 4 year old cousin got separated from us on our way out of Cap N' Jacks. We walked up the steps and were in front of the Christmas store when my MIL noticed him missing. There were 7 adults in our group and they immediately started looking for him while I kept my kids all together so no one else would get lost. My MIL was running around calling his name and no one, Cm's or guests offered help. The weird part was that my FIL found dh's cousin with a man over by the lego store. This man was carrying him and FIL ran up and grabbed cousin out of the man's arms. The man said he found him by the pin store and was trying to find "the lost and found"(man's words). My FIL thanked him and left. When we all got reunited I thought it was very odd that the man was carrying my dh's cousin and that he didn't go to the first CM he saw and ask for help or directions to the guest services building. We were all relieved that we found him so quickly, but I still say that it was weird.