Disturbing incident at Epcot last Thursday . . .

[NemoMOm]

HI,

So last Aug. was so hot, my little boy and I spent alot of time at the Baby Care Centers. Everyday we were there (we spent alot of time there) there was a lost little one. One little boy about the age of 9 spent 6 hours there. His parents sent him to the bathroom alone (he says they were waiting in line for a ride and did not want to lose their spot) by himself. When he came back they were gone. Now I was there almost the entire day. Family came back and forth taking turns with the baby so that we kept him in a/c while we alternated riding the rides. Disney fed this little guy 2 meals and snacks. The CMs tried to keep entertained. Now all of the CMs know that when a child is found they are taken to the center. So, his parents never notified a CM. I think that they do not make an announcement for several reasons. One is for the safety of they child, even while we were there at the center and the boy told us they couldn't find his parents, they wouldn't talk to us about. I think that they are concerned that someone may walk off with the child. But all the CMs are notified and told to keep a look out.

Another incident (during the same stay) was that a mother dropped her kids off at MK by cab and let them do MK alone because she said she couldn't afford to pay for her ticket. The girls were 9 and 7. Well, the 9 year old hurt her ankle, it came to the attention of a CM who brought them to the center. Now when the girls were dropped off they were not given any money, so when the brought them to the center the youngest told the Cm that she was hungry and had not eaten. So, the CM had lunch brought to them while they waited for contact from a parent. Believe or not a couple hours later security brings the mother in who complains that because the girls were not at the pick-up spot they missed their plane and she demanded Disney pay. I overheard a manager tell her that they would put them up for the night.

These two were the extreme cases, I saw two other children whom waited for about 10 mins before their shaken (understandbly, I would have a heartattack) parents showed up. I was really impressed how the CMs took care of the missing children.

 

[Disfan3]

I can tell you from personal experience. I lost my 9 yo dd last year at MK during the Spectro Parade. It was the MOST terrible feeling EVER. I went into the street so that I could look BACK INTO the crowd instead of OVER them (I am 5'2) and a cast member came and yelled at me to get off the street. Well...I told her in a hurry "I lost my child" but the CM was too busy yelling at me to GET OFF THE STREET! Only one other person, a nice man, yelled "what does she look liike?" and I yelled it to him. ONLY GOD helped me that night because as I was looking into the crowd as the CM was STILL yelling at me...my eyes just LANDED on her about 20 feet down the street. It was a nightmare. I can imagine WS being even worse because it is SO BIG. I taught my kids to take a laminated card with them that had the info on it and give it to a worker and I pointed out the name tags and such. My dd did not even realize she was lost.

You know. I have no excuse. It was crowded. It was our first time in such mass chaos, I was clearly not prepared for that type of ordeal.

All I wanted to say was that I received no help that night from that CM. I know she had HER job to do but she was going to have to haul me off to jail before I would get out of that street. I just kept praying and praying and only God helped me that night.


It was a horrible feeling. I cringe when I think of that family looking for their child after illuminations! What a living nightmare for them.


I hope everyone was safe and found.

 

[Cool-Beans]

It is really nice of Disney to assist with a Lost Kid...but, honestly, it isn't thier responsibility. You can't go yelling at someone for not finding the kid you managed to lose.

I agree that we should all pitch in to help those in trouble, but demanding that others fix what you messed up is a bit much, IMHO.

 

[pezheadmeg]

Another incident (during the same stay) was that a mother dropped her kids off at MK by cab and let them do MK alone because she said she couldn't afford to pay for her ticket. The girls were 9 and 7. Well, the 9 year old hurt her ankle, it came to the attention of a CM who brought them to the center. Now when the girls were dropped off they were not given any money, so when the brought them to the center the youngest told the Cm that she was hungry and had not eaten. So, the CM had lunch brought to them while they waited for contact from a parent. Believe or not a couple hours later security brings the mother in who complains that because the girls were not at the pick-up spot they missed their plane and she demanded Disney pay. I overheard a manager tell her that they would put them up for the night.

That mother should be lucky Disney did not call it as abandoned children. I know the manager of a video game store, they have so many incidents that the parents drop the kid at the store and tell them they will be back in an hour or so just play the video games. Her solution has been to notify the parents that she will be calling mall security if they leave the kids in her store unsupervised. What parent in their right mind would drop children off at a theme park unsupervised? I mean last time I went with my parents I was 16 and even then my best friend and I had to be in the same park as they were.

 

[PatriciaH]

On http://stupidguesttricks.com/ they say that they do call CPS if a child is left alone unattended.

 

[mydisneykids]

A suggestion I heard a while ago and started doing on my last trip. When you get up in the morning take a picture of your children on a digital camara or phone. In the unlikely event you get seperated you can pull up the picture to show security exactly what they look like on that day(clothes, hair, ect.)

 

[kparc]

A suggestion I heard a while ago and started doing on my last trip. When you get up in the morning take a picture of your children on a digital camara or phone. In the unlikely event you get seperated you can pull up the picture to show security exactly what they look like on that day(clothes, hair, ect.)

What a great idea!

 

[Mecha Figment]

are you honestly offended they did not stop the fireworks to find one child? untimatly it would probably do no good, and in the end they would have thousands of angry people instead of one fami

 

[Mecha Figment]

I can tell you from personal experience. I lost my 9 yo dd last year at MK during the Spectro Parade. It was the MOST terrible feeling EVER. I went into the street so that I could look BACK INTO the crowd instead of OVER them (I am 5'2) and a cast member came and yelled at me to get off the street. Well...I told her in a hurry "I lost my child" but the CM was too busy yelling at me to GET OFF THE STREET! Only one other person, a nice man, yelled "what does she look liike?" and I yelled it to him. ONLY GOD helped me that night because as I was looking into the crowd as the CM was STILL yelling at me...my eyes just LANDED on her about 20 feet down the street. It was a nightmare. I can imagine WS being even worse because it is SO BIG. I taught my kids to take a laminated card with them that had the info on it and give it to a worker and I pointed out the name tags and such. My dd did not even realize she was lost.

You know. I have no excuse. It was crowded. It was our first time in such mass chaos, I was clearly not prepared for that type of ordeal.

All I wanted to say was that I received no help that night from that CM. I know she had HER job to do but she was going to have to haul me off to jail before I would get out of that street. I just kept praying and praying and only God helped me that night.


It was a horrible feeling. I cringe when I think of that family looking for their child after illuminations! What a living nightmare for them.


I hope everyone was safe and found.

you're lucky you weren't flattend . those float drivers dont' have the best visability in those things.

 

[Sammie]

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.

Another thing you can teach your child is to immediately if seperated go into a store and tell the person at the check out. That way the person at the cashier has access to a phone to call security and the child can stay in the store until someone comes.

Much better than roaming around the parks.

 

[Sammie]

Not heartless, just naive that you think it could never happen to you.

Personally I don't think she is being naive. It is possible not to lose children. Sure it takes a lot of planning, and constant supervision and constant observation but it can be done. More people do not lose their children than do so someone knows how it is done.

Usually what happens is when one parent thinks the other one has the child. Or the younger child is with an older sibling who are not responsible enough to watch a 5 year old especially at a theme park.

My mother's plan was always she was in charge of the kids, and therefore at all times she knew exactly where we were. Now probably she did not get to see as much as others, but she knew where the kids were at all times, as she never let us out of her eye sight.

I am not saying that parent's that lose their kids are bad parents they are just distracted. But don't think either that it happens to everyone as it doesn't.

 

[DisneyFreq]

Okay, I'm a little freaked out by this story.

Last trip, we did lose my youngest (6 at the time) in MK. We split up and I found him within 20min. I attributed my luck to the fact that I had dressed my kids in identical colored shirts (lime green that day...but boy was there alot of lime green when you're looking for it!) and a very nice couple that had the wife calming my son down and the husband standing in the crowd doing 360's. He saw me coming his way with my daughter dressed identically and signaled to his wife to send my son our way. They disappeared as soon as they saw me so I never got a chance to say thanks.

After hearing this story I've decided to take more direct action. I went on ebay and found some disposable waterproof ID bracelets. They are NEON with ID written on top and when the bracelet is twisted there is contact info where you can write the childs name, phone number and address (in our case our hotel and room number). They're alot like the "all you can ride" wristbands you get a fairs that have to be cut off. The opening bid is 99 cents for five bands plus a perminent sharpie. Quite a deal. I plan to tell my childrent to go straight to a cast member and show their id and ask them to call mom/dad (we always carry our cell phones).

It only takes 10 seconds of distraction to loose a child. In our case we had stopped at a PIN trading cart to look at lanyards and my son had continued walking.

 

[Silly Girl]

I think we should thank the OP for starting this thread. I for one have come away with many ideas for our next trip.

On a side note let's remember that the OP was describing what she saw and what she felt. I know as a parent the worst feeling you can have is when you lose a child no matter how short a time. I can only imagine how one might feel witnessing something like this.

 

[Mickey1122]

I hope he was found. I know that Disney is probably one of the 'better' places to get lost though, what with all the Cast Members willing to help.

 

[Dolce27]

I can tell you from personal experience. I lost my 9 yo dd last year at MK during the Spectro Parade. It was the MOST terrible feeling EVER. I went into the street so that I could look BACK INTO the crowd instead of OVER them (I am 5'2) and a cast member came and yelled at me to get off the street. Well...I told her in a hurry "I lost my child" but the CM was too busy yelling at me to GET OFF THE STREET! Only one other person, a nice man, yelled "what does she look liike?" and I yelled it to him. ONLY GOD helped me that night because as I was looking into the crowd as the CM was STILL yelling at me...my eyes just LANDED on her about 20 feet down the street. It was a nightmare. I can imagine WS being even worse because it is SO BIG. I taught my kids to take a laminated card with them that had the info on it and give it to a worker and I pointed out the name tags and such. My dd did not even realize she was lost.

You know. I have no excuse. It was crowded. It was our first time in such mass chaos, I was clearly not prepared for that type of ordeal.

All I wanted to say was that I received no help that night from that CM. I know she had HER job to do but she was going to have to haul me off to jail before I would get out of that street. I just kept praying and praying and only God helped me that night.


It was a horrible feeling. I cringe when I think of that family looking for their child after illuminations! What a living nightmare for them.


I hope everyone was safe and found.

I understand why you went into the street - but that wasn't the smartest move to make. The CM probably would have helped but the first issue for her was to get you safe - which meant out of the street. While you were worried about your child, she was worried about your safety. I am very glad that you found your child quickly and everything was all right. Please don't be upset with the CM for handling the first issue presented to her first - which was your safety.

 

[diznyfanatic]

I hope he was found. I know that Disney is probably one of the 'better' places to get lost though, what with all the Cast Members willing to help.

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.

 

[TinkerbellMama]

I know as a parent the worst feeling you can have is when you lose a child no matter how short a time.

So true! However, it may be helpful to remember that 99.9% of the time (yes, I made that up, lol) lost children are just that--lost. They are not kidnapped, molested, and/or killed...just lost. Obviously there are horrific exceptions, but panicking and assuming the worst will only interfere with your ability to quickly find your child. If a child is lost, take a deep breath and try to stay as calm as possible. Focus on relaying anything that can identify the child to others (red shirt, Goofy hat, light-up shoes) and of course use your own eyes and ears. Odds are that he or she will be just fine, and that anyone who finds him or her alone will do the right thing and help the child to a CM. I'm sure it's a terrifying moment, but the more you can control your (understandable) emotions, the better. And let none of us be afraid to stand close to a child who is seemingly alone, to make sure Mom or Dad is nearby...and notify a CM if something seems amiss.

 

[blondeheroine]

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.

Second, if, after briefing your child on what to do and not to do, they still manage to get lost, the first thing you should do is alert nearby cast members that your child is missing and to keep an eye out for him/her. Give a good description. Make sure you know what they are wearing. Give them their name, but on no circumstances do you YELL the child's name out in a public place. More on that later.

After this, have someone make your way to a guest relations or a baby care center. This kinda becomes a hub in the event the child has REALLY wandered off. As someone said earlier, Disney does have a great system for finding lost children that involves restricted radio/walkie talkies. You can also kinda keep closer to the situation here than in the middle of the chaos and, in the event you get a clueless CM, those in guest relations are aware of how to handle this situation. Give them all the information the other CMs were given. Guest relations are noted on your in-park map and tend to be around the entrance area.

Back to why you shouldn't YELL out your child's name or why their name isn't announced over a PA system. In short, it's a stupid thing to do. And here's why. Let's say your lost child is in the vicinity of a child predator. Said predator hears "Timmy! Timmy! Where are you?" You've just not only alerted this predator that your child is lost, but also given him the child's name. So what can this predator do? Say he notices your child - lost - upset - disoriented. He goes up to the child and says, "Timmy?" The child turns and the sweetest word in any language is one's own name. The predator can say something along the lines of, "Timmy, your parents are looking for you and want me to bring you to them." Sounds good to Timmy! He's tired and just wants his Mom.

Above all, don't lose your head. Don't get irate at the CMs because this only causes more stress to be introduced into the situation. Do not get angry with them because they won't make it easy for a child predator to abduct your child. The worst thing you can do during a stressful situation of any kind is lose your cool.

 

[despina]

During Dec 2005 visit, we lost our 11year old DD. Thank goodness a MK visitor offered her help and she called us on his cell phone....little kids, maybe having parents cell phone info on them would help...ie necklace of some kind... Also, right beford illuminations 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, it was alot of money in this mans wallet.....nope security took wallet and instead of running to guest services with it, he just stood at to coffee area talking up a storm....I just dont get people....

 

[memymomonica]

Just a thought, but Disney may not have been reuniting the family for a reason. We have all witnessed parents who get frustrated with their kids. The "This vacation cost a lot of money, you are going to have fun." I trust Disney. The child may have runaway. Maybe Mom or Dad wasn't a great parent after all. Maybe the hysterics are about being outed in some way. The Dad could have struck the parent which made the child "get lost". Not knowing the whole story, I would just put my trust in Disney was doing what was best for the child. Just a thought.