Disney Can Fix It

[cruisingtwins]

20 yards is 60 feet. Hardly "right there". Close enough to run into the water after the child was grabbed? Yep. Close enough to keep the gator away Nope. Sort of like after the baby drowns in the bath tub.. I was just out of arms reach... Not saying they were bad parents, a momentary lapse in judgement? Junior ran off while they were watching the fireworks / boat parade? Personally I wouldn't let my 2 year being playing in central/south Florida lake after dark. Gators or not.

Where did you hear he was 20 yards away. Everything I read says he was right next to him in the water.

 

[gojoe]

I'm not trying to place blame on any one party. This was just a possible solution.
I feel signs should also be placed on walkways close to water's edge. We walk from Boardwalk to Hollywood all the time at night.
I know this will not stop a determined alligator but it might keep an easy target out of harm's way.
An alligator on shore is much easier to see than one lurking in dark waters.

 

[Kimberle]

There is never going to be one "full proof" solution. WDW is very good at "layers". They could start by warning guests of the possible dangers of nature (gaters, snakes, etc) during the check in process. (There is a thread of a little boy who was bitten by a rattlesnake while picking up a toy in mulch. Thankfully, he was ok after treatment.) More signs, with more specific knowledge can be posted. Beaches can be modified so people can't just walk into the water.

 

[k8Davies]

I just feel so sorry for that poor family, and nothing will be able to change this unfortunate situation but focus can be put on it not happening again.

I do think for starter they need to update the signs, as "No Swimming" has the potential to be misinterpreted.

Also if you're not from an area with Gators, you might not know how dangerous they can be, so further warnings won't hurt.

 

[Duckiedee]

There are also probably creative ways Disney can do it so you don't really notice the wall. Plus adding underwater vegetation at the shoreline would make it hard for gators to get through

Yes - especially with all their wonderful Imagineers! Disney would do it the best!

 

[samsteele]

What happened was an absolute tragedy but it was also one terrible incident. I don't mean that to sound cold at all but there is a need for some rational thought. Pylons and fencing may make parents feel better but will not stop gators and snakes from finding their way onto property. There are some straight forward, common sense responses that we will likely see from WDW in the weeks to come including: improved gator wrangling and removal (more staff and more culling of 4ft and longer), no longer scheduling movies or any other family activities anywhere near the beach after dark (including on the grass higher up on the perimeter), increased lighting and more explicit signage . . although personally, I had believed 'no swimming' covered it all but after reading through the two predominant threads on the Boards yesterday, it was clear that many would only accept a literal interpretation and had for years ignored or failed to understand the implied warnings in those signs and chose to allow their children to wade & splash at the edge secure in some belief that WDW could somehow control and imagineer all natural threats in the water. That lagoon was not a pool. I get the sense that many guests didn't give much thought to the difference between a freshwater lake, man-made or not, and a clear, clorinated swimming pool or water park. Guests want to believe that they have paid for near perfect WDW security and can mentally relax on vacation. After the terrible events of the past week in Orlando, that's a state of mind that must change or guests will need to find another destination. Again, sounds harsh but it is intended gently and in the most practical way possible.

This tragedy will fade from discussion and public consciousness as other news items cycle in front of us over the next few months. Sad but true. There are significant limits to what WDW can do in gator country. Disney cannot remove all the alligators from its property as some posters have demanded on other threads. That isn't remotely possible. No amount of money paid to WDW as a guest can make your vacation perfectly safe. Pylons and fencing may give deluxe resort guests the illusion of complete safety but it isn't an honest response and its doubtful that WDW would undertake such a massive project when the only point of it is to deceive. Many other guests, who are just as valued by WDW, stay at Mods and Values. CBR and CSR have just as much if not more beach exposure on property with their central lake designs. Any rehabs to the Deluxes would need to be extended to at least these 2 Mods. It just isn't feasible and in the end, really won't do a thing to safeguard guests. Only guests can make the difference here.

 

[disneysteve]

My point in suggesting a barrier/pylons wasn't to keep gators off the land. It was to keep people out of the water. Just as the MK has railings around the flower beds rather than just "keep off the grass" signs, I would see nothing wrong with some type of barrier at water's edge to let people know not to enter the water. Yes, there are signs, but honestly, they're easy to miss, especially at night.

Don't forget that gators are only one reason to not go in the water. The brain-eating amoeba is an even bigger reason in my opinion. And there's always accidental drowning to consider, too. Aren't there now fences around all of the resort pools? If they protect those areas, why not also protect the lakes? Again, not just because of alligators but because of general safety.

Part of me agrees with not changing things just because of a single incident in 45 years, but part of me also understands that sometimes it takes a single incident to highlight a flaw in the system.

 

[limabeanmom2003]

I will be honest here. Enjoying life had inherent risk. My heart breaks for this sweet little boy and his family. This was a freak occurance that hasn't happened before in the 45 years the lagoon has been there. Signage needs to change but I hope nothing else. "Stay out of the damn lakes!" "Do not enter water- Gators present". Trust me, I'll never go anywhere near that water again. But walls and fences have no place here. We can't childproof Walt Disney world.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Ok, can I just be honest here?

Disney doesn't need to fix anything. If parents are going to let their kid wade through a foot of water at night and ignore all the signs and warnings about staying out of the water, you have to be ready for the consequences. Disney can't foolproof the entire resort... people have to be responsible.

Wasn't it one sign that said no swimming...?

 

[loves to dive]

I've never understood the whole idea of the beaches at the resorts to start with. It's obvious you can't go swimming in the water, it's yucky. We've been staying on property for over 30 years, we started staying at the MK resorts and moved over to the Epcot resorts. We have never stepped foot on the beaches. I'm guessing they either didn't show the movies when my son was young or he was just too dog tired to go to them or they were elsewhere and that would have been the only reason to go on them. If the little guy couldn't get in the water, in his mind, there was no reason to be on a beach. For me, no swimming meant stay out of the damn lakes. I didn't go on the beaches because I just don't need sand in places sand shouldn't be in and is darned hard to get out of. I'm a diver and unless I have a tank on my back, I'm not near sand. Wouldn't hurt my feelings to block them off entirely, but certainly wouldn't hurt to have some sort of people barrier because we know people don't read signs. Just watch in the areas that say don't feed the wildlife how many people are throwing food to the wildlife.

My heart goes out to that family, no mother should outlive her child and have to bury it. It doesn't matter if that child drowned on vacation in front of your eyes or you woke up on Sunday morning to find your child gunned down at a club or your child was entertaining a group and got shot or your child was overseas defending their country or your child was fighting a fire or your child was 2 or 60, no mother should have to bury their child.

 

[Accident]

I've been thinking about this myself and OP has a great example of what would work. The idea isn't to make something to block you from gators, it's to make it obvious this isn't a beach for water recreation. A small retaining wall would go a long way for the visual aid to stay out of the water. A place to put more signage.

I personally didn't want to see anything changed but this makes a lot of sense to me to offer that visual that the water is not a place to be in.

side note: I discovered armadillos are naturalized in the area, the damn thing dug up my lawn last night., never knew they were in florida.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

People keep romancing that Disney let the water become like this was it clear and blue back in the day?

 

[Accident]

People keep romancing that Disney let the water become like this was it clear and blue back in the day?

no lake is clear, it takes on the color of what is in it and the decaying leaves and vegitation of what falls into it. When the beaches were maintained for swimming, like any lake the sand went into the water for the "safe to swim" area.. that was clearer, not pristine blue.. Any lake with a swimming beach is similar...

Now what is not normal on this lake is there is infrastructure under the water.. It's man made, there is industrial needs that go through the water, ways to control the water height, abandoned projects like the wave machine.. It's not just "dirty", it has gas and things that have come off the boats and everything over the years too. plus whatever is under that water rusting away.

 

[SgtTibbs]

Forty Years of service at WDW
Hundreds of millions of visitors
One Alligator fatality

The NTSB, FAA, FDA, etc.. would all love a safety record like that

Nothing needs to change. No one, not the parents or Disney needs to take any blame here.

 

[disneysteve]

Forty Years of service at WDW
Hundreds of millions of visitors
One Alligator fatality

The NTSB, FAA, FDA, etc.. would all love a safety record like that

Nothing needs to change. No one, not the parents or Disney needs to take any blame here.

I'm curious. How many of you agree with them discontinuing allowing passengers to ride in the front of the monorail due to a single accident in 45 years?

 

[Accident]

I'm curious. How many of you agree with them discontinuing allowing passengers to ride in the front of the monorail due to a single accident in 45 years?

I rode in the front after that accident. I always thought they stopped allowing it when they went into the refurb testing of automating the monorails/making them driverless.

 

[disneysteve]

I rode in the front after that accident. I always thought they stopped allowing it when they went into the refurb testing of automating the monorails/making them driverless.

Nope. It was stopped indefinitely following the accident in July 2009.

 

[loves to dive]

Nope. It was stopped indefinitely following the accident in July 2009.

Another one that didn't know that was why they stopped it, I know we did it once when my son was small and he had a blast. I try to avoid the monorails now, so I guess it was off my radar. I don't think Disney should over react to the accident, but like I said, I never understood the beaches any way since it was obvious you couldn't swim in the water. So I have no horse in the race.

 

[Accident]

Nope. It was stopped indefinitely following the accident in July 2009.

i'm not doubting you but we got lucky during katrina week in august 2010 as I remember riding the front with my daughter. It was her first time on the monorail and she loved the front and keeps asking why we can't do that again everytime we're on the monorail.

 

[Accident]

I don't think Disney should over react to the accident, but like I said, I never understood the beaches any way since it was obvious you couldn't swim in the water. So I have no horse in the race.

I don't think disney can pick in many cases. This was probably an insurance company dictated thing.