Disturbing incident at Epcot last Thursday . . .

[janey99]

Hi All!

Just returned from WDW last night, and I wanted to post about a disturbing incident that DH and I witnessed at Epcot on Aug 24 evening. We were really shaken up and it made me start wondering about child security/safety procedures at Epcot (and the parks in general).

We had finished dinner at San Angel at about 815pm, and were wandering around killing time before Illuminations. It was pretty crowded. By 830 we had gotten down to "Japan" and saw some good seats on the wall right on the lake. Of course DS suddenly had to go to the bathroom, so he and DH went off and I stayed on the "spot."

At about 835, they came back, and DH said "Somebody lost their kid over there." I looked, and sure enough, there was a clot of about 6-8 older teens/adults, a couple of "costumed" cast members, and one guy who was in some type of "security guard" looking outfit standing right about in the center of the path midway between the boundaries of Japan. (I hadn't noticed them before because I had been busy defending our Illuminations spot)

By overhearing, we learned his name was John and he was 5. The group broke up and the adults started yelling his name and fanning out. The cast members and security guard did not appear to be helping with this. A guy who must have been the dad started to get quite loud with the cast members/security guard, yelling that they better start doing something because he wanted his kid found. He was starting to get quite hysterical, for which I don't blame him, but the security guard seemed to be indicating that he had better relax or there would be negative ramifications for him! (Like what, the Disney police would arrest him?!)

Time was ticking and it was about 5 minutes to 900pm. As best as we could gather, the dad wanted some type of PA system announcement to be made, but the cast members/security were refusing because this would have interfered with the Illuminations show. The Illuminations show went on as scheduled, no announcement was made, and at 925pm (!!!!) as we were leaving, the family was still walking all over the Japan area screaming for this little boy! I lost the cast members and the security guard in the crowd (or maybe they had left), so I don't know what they were doing, but it APPEARED like this family was looking for this child with no assistance. By this time it had been over an hour (and that is just counting from when I noticed the scene occurring).

As I mentioned, DH and I were pretty shaken up, and DS (7) figured out what was going on and he became scared and wouldn't let go of our hands and was a bit squirrelly about getting lost for the whole rest of the trip.

I would like to assume that there was a flurry of Disney activity behind the scenes looking for this child, and that if my dinky local grocery store has a Code Adam plan, that Disney must have numerous contingency plans for finding a lost/snatched child as quickly as possible, AND that Disney would make every effort to find a child, even if it meant disrupting their fireworks display, BUT IT REALLY DIDN'T LOOK THAT WAY. Cynical DH said "You'll never hear about THIS incident in the news, whether the outcome is negative or positive." It was really disappointing and scary to witness the way this incident unfolded, if our interpretation of it was correct.

Anyone know what type of procedures Disney has for finding lost kids? Has anyone ever lost a kid there? Any other comments?

Thanks for reading, I know this was long!

Jane

 

[Stepharia]

Oh my gosh, that is so scary. I sure hope they found the little boy.

 

[flortlebap]

That's awful.

I really hope that you're wrong and Disney were doing more about it than you thought. I think we'll be carrying wristbands for our kids, I'd hate to be separated from them, it would terrible!

I really hope that kid's OK.

 

[wilma-bride]

At MK last year, we saaw something similar. A family had lost a little fgirl who was only 3. Her Mom was beside herself and the staff on the podium outside the Plaza were radioing for people to come and help look. We were outside waiting for an ADR and about 10 minutes later a CM walked up with the little girl. I almost cried, her Mom was so relieved - she must have been terrified. It's my worst nightmare.

I really hope they found the little boy - I'm sure they must have or we'd have heard about it by now, surely. I would like to think that Disney were doing all they could to assist.

 

[TnTsParty]

Wow I hope they found the little boy. In Oct of 2004 me, my sister and my niece who was 7 at the time were at the MK at night and we got off the railroad by Big Thunder and were heading to the fastpass machines when my sister realize my niece wasn't with us so we freaked out and she went one way I went the other yelling her name. Immediately CM's came up and asked what she looked liked, what she was wearing and were looking with her. I went back toward the train station and right before that I saw my niece standing still in a clearing (luckly she had those pink light up fuzzy ear things on) when she saw me she immediately ran to me and hugged me. My sister and the CM's saw me with her and so once they realized she was found and ok the went about their business. I do know that they got on thier radios and alerted that she was missing so I am sure it was broadcast on on the MK CM's radio. The rest of the night she would NOT let go of either one of our hands. She said she never wanted to feel like that again. We told her if that ever happened again to go to a CM working in a shop and let them know and stay there.

 

[keishashadow]

wow, I thought WDW had a system in place where CM's radioed the front gates & child was ushered to guest services. When parent discovered missing tot, they were directed to that area???

We have wondered about the seemingly unsupervised children we've seen, esp. @ MK but, then realized the family was a distance behind them.

It's difficult to keep track of adult family members during illum, wishes & parades; can imagine it'd be a nightmare to go thru such a situation.

 

[rayelias]

They do NOT make announcements for lost adults (the children are never lost, it's the adults that are lost).

I would bet that they temporarily lose hundreds of parents a day.

In the millions of families that visit WDW a year, this ONE incident gives you concern? In a closed environment? With cameras and security everywhere?

You think they've got this kind of security at your kids' school? THAT'S something to worry about! Or, how about the local mall? Or Toys R Us?

I'd put Disney's track record up against anyone you want.

 

[tlev]

As I was not there I cannot comment on the actions of Disney in this situation. However, I am sure if there is one place in the world that is used to dealing with missing children, it is Disney. I have never heard an announcement at any park at any time that there is a missing child, but there must often be someone looking for a missing child so maybe there is some other protocol that they follow?

 

[FionaLovesShrek]

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?

 

[janey99]

It did not seem that way - we were getting carried away by the crowd at about 930, and eventually exited the park to walk to the BC, and there did not appear to be any type of visible screening or stopping of people who were leaving through that exit. Minutes before, when we left the Japan area, at least some members of the family were still canvassing that area screaming his name at the tops of their lungs.

Jane

 

[XYSRUS]

Scary,yes, but I'm sure Disney has more lost children protocol than you can shake a stick at. That being said, the reson they probably want to prevent parents from geting out of control is b/c that helps noone/nothing in a situation like this. Just another reason to keep 'em in sight!

 

[PlutoLuvr]

My neighbors have two little girls, and they lost one while at MK. The dad didn't get too specific with us, but he said WDW was incredible with finding her. They immediately closed all entrances/exits to the park. It took about an hour, but his daughter had eventually wandered into a store and the CM there took care of getting her back to her parents.

Years and years ago, when I was a little girl myself, I remember not being able to leave MK for a couple hours because a child had gone missing. This was right around the time that little Walsh boy had been abducted from south Florida. I remember that suddenly 1/2 of the crowds everwhere looked to be Secret-Service-looking guys that just came out of nowhere.

I hope Epcot was doing more "behind the scenes." I've heard all my life that if you're going to "lose" a child, a WDW park is probably the best place to have that unfortunate incident happen. Even my neighbor who did lose his child there said this.

 

[ksjayhawkfan]

Actually yes that incident would cause me concern. It wasnt me with the lost 5 year old but it was my last year that was lost from my 8 year old. And no one did anything to help.

t was our first night at CSR. My DH,DD and DS were walking to our room from the main building and our DS, who is 8 decided he wanted to run up the stairs at Casitas 4 and meet DH on the other side by our building Casitas 5. Well needless to say, he got lost and we couldnt find him. DH brought DD back to me in the room and went to look for him. About 15 minutes later we still couldnt find him, so DD and I went to look for him too. After another 20 minutes we still couldnt find him, so I went back to our room and called the front desk. I told them what happened and they transfered me to someone else. I told them the story and they transfered me to security. They said they would be to our room ASAP. Well 15 minutes later, no DS and no security. I called again and was transferred again. The person who answered that time said they knew nothing about it...Ok by this time I was really upset. So he said he would be to our room himself....15 more minutes no security and no DS. By this time oue DS had been lost for more than an hour. DH was still looking for him and about 10 minutes later found him wandering around Casitas 3. We called back to security and told them we found him, they said they still needed to stop by the room just to make sure everything was alright....they never showed up.

 

[Dolce27]

First of all, Disney will not make a announcement over a intercom system unless there has been a death and they are trying to contact the family members. If you ever hear a person's name being called over the PA system - know that there is a death involved. I've only heard it once.

Second, when I worked at Disney, a lost child was very serious. I bet most cast members were being notified via park radio. I found a lost child once. What we were told to do was first go back to the location, with the child, that the child last saw their family. Usually the family will first go back to that location. Then contact Guest Services. If the family does not show up at the location in x amount of time, the child will be taken to Guest Services. Also, were you saw the family was probably the location the family last saw the child. The CM's were probably trying to keep the family in that area in case the child wondered back by himself.

I don't know what the security guard/CM's were saying to the hysterical family, but I don't think Disney would have arrested the father -unless he became violent. However, I know it was (obviously) very personal for the father - but becoming hysterical would not help the situation. I know Disney wasn't doing 'nothing' for the situation. Most likely the CM's you saw were assigned to stay with the family while others were looking for the boy. That way as soon as the child was found, the CM's with the family could be notified via park radio and then take the family to the child.

 

[janey99]

I'm sorry that my being freaked out by this incident appears to have offended you, if your defensive response is any indication.

I'm not sure I see the relevance of the environment being closed - it is plenty big enough that anything could happen, accidentally or on purpose, and no one could prevent it in time. Similarly, who cares if there are security camaras everywhere if the images they capture are of your child falling into the lake and drowning, or of a molester doing unmentionable things while it APPEARED that Disney did not want to turn on the lights and do a search because a fireworks display would be delayed?

As for my child's school, each child is escorted in from the car to the front door, the doors are locked all day with one entrance being available for guests, who must be buzzed in and then are intercepted by office staff and "confirmed" before they can move past the foyer. I think most schools are like that these days.

 

[FionaLovesShrek]

I would be willing to believe security had found him and were in the process of reconciling him with the parents. That's the only reason I can see for not monitoring the crowd exiting the park. Whew! A parents worst nightmare!

 

[Sandi]

It's always disturbing to see a lost child/parent incident and, unfortunately, they happen a lot. No PA announcements should be made and, really, they shouldn't have been going around everywhere shouting for "Johnny." Those are things that would help a kidnapper. I'm sure there was a lot going on behind the scenes -- probably the toughest job in all of that is performed by the person who is supposed to try to keep the parents calm so they can find out what the child was wearing, did they have a photo, how tall is the child, etc.

In the mid-1970's my little brother got separated from us at Cedar Point. My mom was a wreck for the 30 minutes it took security to find him. DB, who was about 7 at the time, walked all the way to the parking lot and found our car. It was locked, so he couldn't get it. Security found him out there. His favorite ride that year was the ride in the police car!

 

[Evil Queen]

I hope they found him.

Just a good reminder, no matter the age, make sure you have a gameplan, on what to do should any of your party get separated.

 

[seashoreCM]

I suppose that Disney could monitor the turnstiles more closely that night and make sure that anyone leaving the park with a child who fits the description have a child pass whose usage makes sense with the child's age and perhaps has some correlation with other family members' passes.

The only way to guard against a really sophisticated kidnapper is to advance to tattoos or microchips. I'm hesitant to have society move in that direction.

At this time I would not expect Disney to do the equivalent of what airports do if someone jumps security.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[rhiannonwales]

Agreed. they won't do a PA announcement because it is an invitation to a predator. They also don't want people running around calling for a child for the same reason. 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.
I know all those people looking and calling were trying to help, but its really not the appropriate thing to do.
It's possible that EPCOT dropped the ball here, but its just as possible that they were doing lots of things that you never saw.They aim to operate in a fashion unnoticed.