Disturbing incident at Epcot last Thursday . . .

[mousebit]

I think it's a concern. Yes, Disney has a very good plan in place, but the problem is you have to reach the CM who is well-trained and can put the plan into action. There are far too many stories here and elsewhere of CMs being notified of missing children and then not following through and taking the appropriate action. I don't know if it's just because they get so many reports of missing children that they develop a nonchalant "they'll show up" attitude or if something in their training just didn't "click" or if some are just not trained at all in the procedure for missing children.

Many of us know that CMs are not all equally knowledgable; we hang up the phone when we have the misfortune of getting a CM who isn't aware of a new code, etc.. Then we call back and the next person has the correct information. That kind of inconsistent training is totally unacceptable when it comes to childrens' safety. It's one thing to have to search for a CM who can help you get your discount or ADR; it's quite another thing to have to search for a CM who knows how to help you when your child is missing in the parks. Each and every missing child reported should be taken seriously and each and every CM should know exactly what to do to put the plan into action immediately.

 

[MINNIE OF TWO MICE]

We have been fortunate not to lose our children when visiting disney. I have found lost children. I always carry them to a guest services person. What amazes me is that they usually have no type of identification with them. I always made sure that my kids have our information somewhere on them.(fanny packs) It has our names and cell phone numbers. They also know our numbers by heart and know to go to a register if they did get lost. If the dd was that scared can you imagine the poor child!

 

[helenm29]

I would like to think that you were right about Disney security behind the scenes looking for that child! how frightening for the poor baby to be seperated from his parents! Also, as a parent I would be FRANTIC if I could not find my child...especially in THAT crowd! I work at Walmart and the "Code Adam" really works well for us! we haven't lost one yet, thank goodness! Helen

 

[jlatina32]

Last year in our very first WDW vacation in Oct., I lost my DS who was 4 at the time, for about 5 minutes.....which to me seemed forever. I was in Hollywood & Vine having dinner with DH and DD. My DD said she needed to go to the bathroom and my DS wanted to come along with us so of course I took him along. Me and DD were washing our hands and in those 6 seconds my DS was gone!!!!!!! I went to every bathroom stall with my DD calling his name!!!! I ran out the bathroom and continued to call him and this one lady(not a CM) asked me what was wrong and I told her I lost my boy. I told her his name and what he was wearing and let her know where I was going to be. I made my way back to my table to alert my DH and found my son waiting in his dad's arm at our table. My husband was p'd off but I was overjoyed with relief and happiness. I hugged him so hard!!! My DS had wandered out the bathroom when someone let themselves in and managed to make his way back to our table to be with his dad. I went back to the bathroom and on my way told the nice lady that we found him and thanked her. I had myself a good cry and thanked the lord Jesus a milliion times.

I can understand how the parents at Epcot felt. It is the most scariest and God awful feeling to have when you lose your kid. Even for 5 minutes!!! Alot of Dissers feel that the calling of the child's name is not a good idea but when you are in that moment of realizing that your baby is gone, it is hard to keep your composure when so many things are running through your head. The dad in Epcot on the other hand must have been really going ********.

I have already made a plan for our trip next month in case our kids get seperated from us. I made up labels with their name, age, and our cell phones in case they get lost. When we get to the parks, I will show them what a CM looks like and know to go them in case something like that should happen again. To all the parents......my advice is be prepared and have a plan with your children in case of an emergency.

Have fun and most importantly be safe.

 

[disnutz]

Oh my - we were there too! And it was very scary - and I agree that it did not APPEAR that there was much going on in the way of finding this child. The manager of the Japanese place came out and was assisting and there were a couple security guards standing around. There are so many bushes and things around there.

We were very freaked out and upset by this incident. We also left by way of the gateway, around 9:30 and never did learn if they found the child.

Needless to say, my 7 year was tattooed to me for the rest of the trip!!

 

[dmk1021]

Hi, A GOOD TIP to bring up in this thread is to familiarize your young children as to how to identify a cast member.

A few weeks (months? I haven't been on in while ) I saw either here or in All Ears that some guests were concerned about showing their kids a CM Badge and telling them to go to someone wearing one if they get lost, because they sell badges for guests that look very similar.

Sorry if someone already mentioned this, but I got back on 8/14, and I noticed that all CMs now wear their CM ID Cards clipped to their costume somewhere (usually their pants pocket). I don't know if this is because of concerns like what I just mentioned, but it seems like that would be extra helpful to show your kids if they get separated from you.

 

[Lives4Disney]

That is so disturbing. I pray he was found. Very scary.

Lives4Disney

 

[kimmikayb]

I wish we could find out if he was found. I hope he was. I guess what scared me first when I read it, was not a predator, but the lake right there. We all know how appealling water is to kids. With all the water they can get in around WDW....sometimes it hard for them to know what not to get in. It only takes seconds for a child to disappear.

I did the Wal Mart tag thing too with my DD4 (at the time) and DS2 (at the time) when we were there last Feb. I attached it upside down on their shoe lace. We showed them the CM when we got there and instructed them to go to them and show their tag.

I've lost a child for only a few minutes and know how it feels. I can't imagine over an hour AND in the Illumination crowd.

 

[aztecgoods]

If I had a little kid I would probably put one of those GPS tracking bracelet things on them or something.

 

[GeorgeY]

We live close to WDW and looking at the bright side, if he wasn't found there would have been an Amber Alert issued for him or if something bad had happenend it would have made the news. Since neither thing appeared in the media and Disney doesn't(or isn't able to) hide info anymore, I think we can assume the boy was found safely.

George

 

[MyGoofy26]

Perhaps the reason that they were trying to restrain the dad is becasue he was interfering with protocol. I'm not saying i wouldnt freak out if it was my kid, but they can't do their job properly if people are interfering.

That was my first thought - that maybe the family wasn't listening to instructions. I had my share of "lost parents" that I had to reunite kids with when I did my CP, and there is no reason to worry that Disney isn't doing enough in the parks. It's just all very hush hush and behind the scenes. There is a special department in security that deals specifically with reuniting kids and parents. In cases like this, they'd want the parents waiting at security ( I know, it's tough to sit and do nothing while you're in a panic) so that when the child is located, they can be reunited within minutes instead of sending off another search party to find the family on their own hunt.

I had one woman come up to me hysterical, she had been separated from her 3 year old who didn't speak any English yet. She gave me a description and since the store was slow and the parade was getting ready to start, I passed the info along to another CM to call security so I could go out and start looking immediately. I explained to the woman quickly what we were going to do - that she should stay with the CM making the phone call and they'll get her to security, and a couple other CMs overheard and we all were going out in different directions. She hugged me and thanked me, and even though she was hysterical, understood to let us do our thing. We ended up finding him on the parade route within about 15-20 minutes and they were reunited at security.

 

[dwaters]

In fact, he said the inside joke was that they were up one because someone gave birth in a restroom in the MK and abandoned the child.

Wow, can you imagine?

On our last trip my wife took a marker and wrote her cell phone number right on our son's forearm. We kind of joked about branding our child, but hey, better safe than sorry.

 

[dsanner106]

I have had a lost child in epcot and the cm's alert security. every inch of the parks is on camera and the description is given to those CM's and broadcast to cm's on radio. Far more effective than a simple announcement. Disney has never lost a child to date, but has called for lockdowns many times. Probably the most secure public place in the world.

Drew

 

[MyGoofy26]

Oh, and I know it's already been touched upon but make sure your kids know the difference between a CM and a guest with a nametag. You could start out your first day making it a game - walk into an area and play a little "Where's Waldo" type game and ask the kids "Who here is a cast member?" so that you know that THEY know how to recognize a cast member. Managers are tougher to recognize since they're dressed in plain clothes, not costume.

Also, make sure that the kids know that you won't be angry at them if they get separated. That's why Disney has the "there are no lost children, only lost parents" attitude - because a lot of kids are more upset about their parents being angry at them than they are about being lost, so you spin it, "Well you're right here with me and we're right here in front of <insert landmark> so we KNOW where you are, you aren't lost. We don't know where your parents are, they're the ones who are lost!" If the kids can stay calm and go up to a CM and tell them all the info they can think of, it'll move a LOT smoother. I had a little girl walk up to me and she was SO calm it took me a half second to realize what she was saying, LOL. She just calmly walked to the counter, "Excuse me miss, I'm lost and I can't find my parents." She stayed calm the entire time I walked her to security - which we didn't make it, it just so happened we ran into mom standing there in tears searching for her.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

I've witnessed a missing child episode in MK. The child was standing in front of Buzz crying, I brought him to a CM. He was around 3 or 4 years old and did not speak English. We had waited in line for Buzz with this family so we knew what they looked like, we gave the description of the parents to the CM and told them that we had just gotten off of the ride, so the parents could not be very far away. I was really not surprised that this child had gotten lost, because the adults in the party were not paying attention to the kids at all. I wonder how long it took for this family to realize this child was missing.

Upon contacting the CM, she immediately got on a radio to contact security.

So just know that Disney is very capable of dealing with missing children, and other park guests are always on the lookout too. Disney is full of parents who will not allow a child to put themselves in danger. I know if I were standing around the lagoon and a child tried to get into the water I would stop them.

It is really terrifying for the child, my DD got separated from us in Old Navy last year when she was 7, she is still very scared to get lost. She sticks to me like glue in stores, and insists on holding my hand.

 

[lkjasd]

Regarding confusion between CMs and Guests. I believe it was Oprah (or similar show) where the "expert" they had on said to teach your kids to find a woman. It doesn't matter who they are, just find a woman (preferably a mother with kids but definitely a woman).

The rationale was that the number of women who are pedophiles or would take a child is so extremely low that this is the safest thing to do. Sometimes kids get confused about who is an "official" (i.e. CM, Police, etc.). Therefore, telling them to find a woman, no matter who it is, is the best course of action.

Don't know how true it is but it makes sense.

 

[Fredd's Girl]

I think all we can do as adults is be as proactive as possible to protect the kids. Me, and my friends who are foster parents went several years ago with 6 foster kids ages 2 to 10! Once we told the kids we were going to Disney (it was a surprise, so there wasn't a ton of time) they got quizzed constantly on our names and the name of our hotel. We also had name badges for them that had their name, our names, the hotel we were staying at and any other information. We placed them on the back of their shirts near the neck, so they wouldn't show up in pictures and told the kids they were there.

We did tell them how to recognize cm's. The name tag etc, but if I remember correctly, we also told them that a cast member wouldn't be in regular clothes, they would be in a costume, so they wouldn't stop just anyone.

When we took my Goddaughter in 2001, she would get tired of holding our hands, so we had a rule that if she didn't hold a hand, she had to hold on to some part of our clothing that we were wearing...the side of a shirt or whatever. It may have looked funny, but we knew she was there.

I feel safe at Disney, and honestly, if I had to lose a child, I think we'd agree that we'd get more attention and help there than possible in our cities! JMO though.

 

[Mariposa]

Regarding confusion between CMs and Guests. I believe it was Oprah (or similar show) where the "expert" they had on said to teach your kids to find a woman. It doesn't matter who they are, just find a woman (preferably a mother with kids but definitely a woman).

The rationale was that the number of women who are pedophiles or would take a child is so extremely low that this is the safest thing to do. Sometimes kids get confused about who is an "official" (i.e. CM, Police, etc.). Therefore, telling them to find a woman, no matter who it is, is the best course of action.

Don't know how true it is but it makes sense.

I've always taught DD to find a mom with little kids.

She knows if she gets seperated from us at WDW she is to:
1. Stand in that spot as long as she can (don't let anyone touch her, though).
2. If/when she gets too scared to stand still, she is to look around for a store or cart, if she sees one she should go straight to it and tell the person behind the counter that she's lost. (She always has something with her that has our cell phone numbers on it.)
3. If she can't see a cart or store nearby, she is to look for a mommy with little kids nearby and tell her that she's lost and ask if she can take her to a store or let her use her cell phone to call us.

We've gone through this so many times that she gets annoyed when we ask her to repeat it/play it out- but hopefully that'll make it stick in a situation where anyone would normally panic.

 

[Mitchel'sMom]

Regarding confusion between CMs and Guests. I believe it was Oprah (or similar show) where the "expert" they had on said to teach your kids to find a woman. It doesn't matter who they are, just find a woman (preferably a mother with kids but definitely a woman).

The rationale was that the number of women who are pedophiles or would take a child is so extremely low that this is the safest thing to do. Sometimes kids get confused about who is an "official" (i.e. CM, Police, etc.). Therefore, telling them to find a woman, no matter who it is, is the best course of action.

Don't know how true it is but it makes sense.

That is great advice! Actually, the owner of DS's school said they have told this to all the kids. If they are on a fieldtrip and they get somehow separated from the group, they should find a "mommy with kids". She said that this scenario is easily recognizable to kids over 3 and it's also easy for them to remember.

 

[JRawkSteady]

Disney radios every other attraction, food & beverage cart/station, to be on the lookout for the child. There honestly is nothing more they can do. What do you think, they should shut down everything? I think they handle these situations perfectly.