Disturbing incident at Epcot last Thursday . . .

[Robo]

...I looked down and found a mans wallet, it was full of money, it was sticking out. I went to security and asked them to page person...

Disney does not page guests in the park
(unless there is a dire in-park emergency).

 

[Daxx]

Honestly, if you have a good plan in place BEFORE you leave, you have very little reason to worry. First of all, when you arrive at your first day at the park, introduce your child to a CM. You don't have to do a formal introduction. Simply find a CM and show the child their badge. Tell your child, if you become lost, talk ONLY to someone wearing one of these badges. You may even find a photo of a CM badge online and show them what one looks like before they go, but still show them the badge once you arrive.

This is excellent advice ... and if I could add just a smidge more to it ... we also told DS that if he lost us, he could go into any of the stores, restaurants or food carts at the Kingdom we were in, wait in line at the cash register and talk to the CM behind the register and he/she'd be able to help him out.

 

[snowbunny]

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).

That sounds like Gavin de Becker, and he is an expert on personal safety. This is one of the strategies he says to teach your kids - "find a mom with kids" is the easiest way to explain it to them - in his great book, Protecting the Gift.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

Disney will NOT make any announcements over any loud speakers for missing children. this interferes with the "magic" of Disney(sad, but true). they do, however, have a lot of undercover security with walkie talkies and they have them all around the parks. when a child goes missing they get the description of the child and start looking.


also, cast members are also told to keep an eye out for children who look as tho they are by themselves and will go up to any child who looks lost/scared/etc and ask them if they're lost and then that CM will get ahold of security.

security there is trained to not make a "big scene" of these things.

 

[Tinker*Shell*Bell]

I have experienced Disney's "Lost Parent" routine personally. My 12 yo son took a left when his big brother took a right. This put all of us except the 12yo at the monorail platform in the Polynesian...it put the 12yo at the Main monorail station for epcot and magic kingdom.

Matt was missing for 15 mins when we alerted the lobby concierge. The CM disappeared beingd the wall (hidden door) and notified the manager...at the exact time as the manager came out to see me 6 men quietly exited another door further down. They were not running and shouting and scrambling around...they were walking calmly out of the building is quiet pairs.

The manager took our information about Matt and got on a walkie talkie with Matts description, again quietly.

15 mins later Matt returned in the company of two of those men, he was sure he had gone to the right place but when we did not show up he headed back to the room. He was found on the path to our building, unconcerned except that he was worried we had gone to the Magic Kingdom and forgot him.

If I hadn't been scanning the lobby (looking for Matt) I would not have seen the cm's leave the building. I would have thought nothing was being done. There was no big flurry of activity. I was still terrified but Disney handled the situation perfectly. One of the lifeguards later told me that 2 of the men had come to them and enlisted them in the search as well and the marina staff as well.


A personal pet peeve: All the people in this thread who have the nerve to blame the parents and throw around accusations, or I'm a better parent so my kid won't get lost attitude. Kids will take wrong turns, kids who are old enough to go to the bathroom alone will exit the wrong door, kids are kids and we do our best to protect them, but they are kids...things happen...prepare for it.

 

[Silly Girl]

A personal pet peeve: All the people in this thread who have the nerve to blame the parents and throw around accusations, or I'm a better parent so my kid won't get lost attitude. Kids will take wrong turns, kids who are old enough to go to the bathroom alone will exit the wrong door, kids are kids and we do our best to protect them, but they are kids...things happen...prepare for it.

I am so glad to see someone put this in writing. It's exactly how I feel!!!

 

[cxcelica]

I can only imagine how scary it must be to lose a child. A parent will do anything to find the child which is why I am sure Disney has an excellent protocol for lost children. I would think one of the main problems is calming the parents down and making sure they do not make the matter worse, or put themselves or others in more danger

 

[TinkNH]

If Disney has to report that a woman fainted after riding Mission space..don't you think if a child were to be kidnapped or unfound that we would have known about it? I think it would be national news that a child went missing from the largest amusement park complex in the world don't you?
Also..keep in mind that most abducted children are not taken by complete strangers, but by people who know them (estranged family, or someone known to the family)
And not screaming a lost childs name is good advise, as it can only cause panic in others..as this obviously did.

The idea of losing sight of DD who is 4, scares me to death, kids are impulsive, kids lack forthought and kids are QUICK. Short of strapping her to my side, we have a plan and precautions in place for our upcoming trip. I got tags for her shoes at www.kidtagz.com I decided against a bracelet, as knowing my DD as i do she will pull it off as soon as possible. Inside the tag will be my and DH's cell phone # She will also be reminded over and over to find a mommy if we get lost, and we will take time at every park every day to show her what cast members look like. We will also make sure to take a snapshot of here every morning. That plus being aware of her and not distracted by our own interestrs, and I feel pretty good. If she were ever to be seperated from us..I feel confident that disney would do everything in their power to find her quickly and without causing a panic among other guests.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

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

I hate to naysay... but not every inch of the parks is on camera. As for the areas that are... have you ever seen a video tape from the interior of a bank? Even in such a small area, the resolution is crap. Imagine in the dark...

 

[Deesknee]

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

I actually bought a contraption made for luggage. It has two tags. They have cerial numbers on them, with some type of gps type chip in it. i keep one and have the other on my DD's stroller. Perhaps I should put it on my DD's person. It has no info on it other than to call a particular phone number, there they have all my info. The company will in turn contact me. At least that's how it claims to work. Thank God I have never had to use it.

Long ago I read somewhere to never put your childs whole name anywhere on them. That gives a predator too much info. If he calls your child by name, he/she may be more apt to go with them.

Prayers for all lost children.

 

[diznyfanatic]

A Google search of Amber Alerts issued in Orlando does not appear to show ANY alerts recently issued matching this scenario.

Based on that, I would thankfully suspect this child was found.

Just repeating that I am very hopeful this child HAS been found based on perfoming a Google search which revealed no evidence of an amber alert being issued in the Orlando area which matches these cirucumstances.

 

[lovethattink]

The more I read these posts, the more of a wake up call it becomes. I'm taking the kids for a weekend at Disney. I'm not worried about the 12 year old as he knows his way around Disney and has his cell phone if we were to somehow get separated. Now I'm really beginning to be concerned about the 2 year old at MNSSHP. I bought those Who's Shoes IDs for his shoes. I've had them for over a year and never used them. I hate to see kids on a leash, but I'm really beginning to think that's not a bad idea.

I was trying to do a search here, because a while back there was a thread about creative ways to put ID info on a child in case they get lost. I'm giving a "leash" second thought too. My 2 year old is so independent, he wouldn't think twice of running from me if I were to turn my back. He isn't one bit afraid of strangers either. If anyone can find that link, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[DisneyFreq]

A personal pet peeve: All the people in this thread who have the nerve to blame the parents and throw around accusations, or I'm a better parent so my kid won't get lost attitude. Kids will take wrong turns, kids who are old enough to go to the bathroom alone will exit the wrong door, kids are kids and we do our best to protect them, but they are kids...things happen...prepare for it.

HERE HERE! My sentiments exactly. I haven't even read this whole thread but I picked this "correllation" made in several posts. There is no connection between good parenting and not loosing children. It takes only seconds.

On a sort of off hand note, when my kids were really young (infant and toddler) I often made flights from Hawaii to Florida and back minus the company of my DH. We made several connecting flights in extremely crowded airports. How could I look for my gate and push a stroller, carry a car seat, AND hold my three year old's hand? I had no qualms about using a leash. Regardless of the dirty looks I recieved, I know I was doing what was necessary to keep my children safe. Now, tell me how perfect parenting would have helped me through that situation with just "constant vigilience"?

 

[kaysmommie]

You mean the little boy was still missing after Illuminations, when hoards of people are exiting the park and security wasn't screening those leaving in case he was in the crowd?

That just terrifies me. I guess I will use that leash for DS2 after all. DD6 knows better then to walk more than 2 feet from me or she will get it. I hope they found there little boy. Disney should do everything to make sure that kid didn't leave the park.

 

[Schmeck]

Do they make adult sized harnesses? I could use one for my hubby - we lose him all the time at WDW. Never lost a kid, but we've lost hubby 15-16 times...

If you do use a harness, make sure it has a very short, nonstretchy cord. At WDW people will try to cut through any little space they see in a crowd, and could try to get between you and your child if the cord is too long.

 

[Sammy]

We lost DD-10 at MK last year when walking from Fantasyland into Frontierland. It was just a matter of her walking just a little too far ahead of us in the crowd, and she got separated from us. We had talked about this type of thing prior to vacation and she knew enough to go into any of the gift shops or restaurants and speak with a CM. We ended up going into the same shop she was waiting in and found her within 15 minutes. The disturbing thing is that the CM told me she had already called Security and we should wait there until they showed up just to confirm she had been found. We waited for 20 minutes and Security never showed up. Now, maybe the CM called them back and told them, but if that was the case, I would think she would have come to us to tell us that.

The panic I felt during those 15 minutes was excruciating. I can't imagine that family at Epcot after more than an hour. You'd have to sedate me.

 

[disneyjunkie]

A personal pet peeve: All the people in this thread who have the nerve to blame the parents and throw around accusations, or I'm a better parent so my kid won't get lost attitude. Kids will take wrong turns, kids who are old enough to go to the bathroom alone will exit the wrong door, kids are kids and we do our best to protect them, but they are kids...things happen...prepare for it.

I wonder how many parents would feel this way if a teacher lost a child instead of a parent.

Would you blame the teacher for not doing his/her job? Would you say kids are kids and things happen?

 

[Pats Dragon]

I have to say that every trip I see toddlers who can't even say their names left unattended while mom shops etc. It is scary to me. I have to go on to say that I watched my little ones too closely and was watching the time mk closed and my 2 y/o boy jerked and ran away and the crowds were so thick that I couldn't grab him. Luckily a cm brought him back. I was holding his hand too. Also my 2 y/o daughter climbed up a rock to slide down and I was behind her and her dad was waiting in the front on the other side of the rock and neither of us could see or stop her from climbing over the rock next to ours and sliding down and being rescued by a cm!! Some parents are asking for trouble and that is a shame but no parent is invincible. 2 y/o's are unpredictable.

 

[diznyfanatic]

I wonder how many parents would feel this way if a teacher lost a child instead of a parent.

Would you blame the teacher for not doing his/her job? Would you say kids are kids and things happen?

I understand the point you are trying to make, but it isn't exactly the same thing.

Generally, teachers spend far less time with their students than parents do with their children. Statistically, the odds of something happening are greater with the parents because of that.

In addition, that risk of a tearcher losing a child is even further reduced because the vast majority of the time spent with their students is in a controlled, not to mention enclosed, setting such as a classroom.

Just for those reasons alone, it isn't a fair comparison to make.

 

[DreaminDisney]

That just terrifies me. I guess I will use that leash for DS2 after all. DD6 knows better then to walk more than 2 feet from me or she will get it. I hope they found there little boy. Disney should do everything to make sure that kid didn't leave the park.

When DD was 2 and DS was 5 we were getting off Dumbo ride and DS kind of got shuffled in crowd of people getting off ride. DH looked at me and said where's Nick? I just about had a stroke. I started screaming his name and DS walked up to a stranger and said he "lost his family" and the person he said it to saw me freaking out, pointed to me and said "is that your Mom"? Well, that was the longest minute of my life.........

Point is, DS knew not to walk away from us but we still managed to get seperated. My 2 year old was in stroller most of the time when not on a ride so she was easy.