Does your child know what to do if lost?

[imgoingtodisney]

I tested my 9yr son today and he had the correct answer - I figured he would but never hurts to be sure. They say if split tell nearest CM and they will phone it in to Baby Care. So contact the Baby Care center even if child is older.

 

[BethC]

This is one of those things that we all think will never happen to us. But WDW is VERY big and can be quite crowded at times and even with the best intentions, people can get split up. So, it's always a good idea to talk to your kids about what to do if they ever get lost. Every trip, we bring up this subject to make sure my daughter and son know what to do.

The best thing to tell them is to approach a Cast Member and explain that they are lost. Cast Members are any workers at Disney and can be identified with a WHITE name tag. If there are not any CM's nearby, they should go into a store or restaurant and look for one. I just now asked my son what he would do if he couldn't find a CM, and he responded matter-or-factly that he would go to a ride because there's ALWAYS CM's there! (Most rides DO have a CM standing out IN FRONT of the ride).

If you're planning a WDW trip in the future, it's a good idea to take a moment and go over this with your children so they know just what to do and (hopefully) won't panic.

 

[Tamie]

My DD (12) knows what to do, but we are still working on DS who just turn 5. When we went to the Renaissance fair last weekend, we put a note in his pocket with his name, our cell phone and names on it. Also we wrote it on a notepad from where DH works and said if they could not contact us to call the number on the paper. Once we got there we went up to a security guard, showed my son who they were and what kind of shirts that they wear. They also hold poles with yellow flags on them. Told him if he got lost to look for someone like that and give them the note. We never used it, but we were just trying to cover all the bases.

 

[Barb D]

We just did two days at another theme park (and it was fun, too, even if it wasn't WDW!) I made sure my 8 and 10yo kids have my cell phone number memorized, and I had my 12yo niece write it on her hand. (It wore off by the end of the day, but by that time she had it memorized, too.) BTW, the way I had my kids memorize it in the first place was by putting it to music. My toddler was never out of sight, either in the sling, the stroller, or on her harness. But I like the note idea. Maybe I'll laminate a card with my name, cell phone number, etc. and pin it to the back of her shirt.

 

[Super Mom]

Our 9 &7 yr old DS's know what to do and we are working with the 3 yr old. BTW, our back-up plan if they can't find a CM right away is to find a mother with a baby and ask her to help.

 

[KangaT]

Our kids (10, 7 and 4) were well rehearsed on what to do if we got separated. But to be on the safe side, we made ID cards for each of the kids and for DH and I to carry. Theirs had the names and a brief physical description of all the adults in our party, our hotel, home address and phone #, and my father's cell phone # (he was back home in MD - we figured if one of them really freaked out, PopPop could always be reached to help calm them down). Ours had all 3 DSs names, DOB, height, weight, physical description including any identifying marks - and mine had a picture of each DS on the back of it.

Speaking of identifying marks - we realized our 4 y.o. didn't have any. So each day before we left the hotel I put a mark on his left foot with a "permanent" marker. Due to sweat and swimming during the day, it was always very faded by bedtime. So he got a new one each day - it became another little game that added to the fun of WDW.

 

[Mattmax]

My then 3 year old son got an elevator at the Dolphin while his Dads back was turned. I was in a meeting. He got off and found a Mickey Mouse nametag like we told him and all was well, thank God I did not know about it until it was over. Look for castmember, that is key. Also, I remember reading that when a child is abducted for wdw, the abductor changes their clothes, but not shoes, so WEIRD shoes are helpful for security to locate child being removed from park. Ugh..on to happier subjects....

 

[Super Mom]

That whole abductor not changing shoes story is an urban legend. It NEVER happened. go to www.snopes.com to find the documentation on this and other Disney-related urban legends.

 

[jiggerj]

When we enter a new park we always make a meeting place that if we get seperated we will meet there. Since the parks at Disney are so big we choose a spot that is very, very visible such as the enterance to space ship earth or the tunnel through the castle. My kids are a bit older 10 and 14 but its a good feeling to know that we can find each other instead of wandering around the park looking.(that goes for myself and my husband too !) On the other hand I have a 2 year old too that I remember last year I wrote on his sneakers his name, my name and the resort we are staying in. I think I had that info plastered in and on everything ! Scary thought of losing your child at WDW though but I understand they have quite a system on finding lost children. I hope none of us have to find out. take care-laura

 

[curlyjbs]

actually the shoe theory is true. An abductor can change your childs clothes in seconds thus altering their appearence immediately. Shoes on the other hand take too much time and come in way too many sizes. I always mark my kids shoes with colored beads on the shoelaces. You can NEVER be too careful!!

Thanks for the tip about the CM's having WHITE name tags. Didn't know that.


curly

 

[Super Mom]

It is true that clothes can be changed quicker than shoes, but there has never been such an incident at WDW. This story has been circulating for years. sometimes it takes place at a shopping mall or at the Bronx Zoo it depends on who is telling it, but it is an urban legend none the less.

 

[Barringer75]

We will be in WDW in Sept with our almost 4 year old twins. I will definitely point out CMs to them and have already used the "mother with kids" with them when we are at the mall. I like the idea of some ID on them with our names, hotel room, cell #, etc., but what do you make it out of? Where do you put it on them? Most of their shorts don't have pockets. Any ideas? Thanks alot.

 

[Jacquelyn11]

I've heard of a couple of things you can do to put ID on your child.

1) Pin or use iron on tape on the back tail of their shirts. This is usually an un looked at out of irritation way part of kids clothing.

2) Use small luggage tags on their sneakers or clothes loops. you can find this on a clip or snap chain and are small enought not to get in the way of walking.

My 7yo son got lost when we boarded our last Disney Cruise. I had made us all green ribbons with our name in baby beads. Another DIS member found him and got the info to security and we found him in about 10 min.

Thank God for lime green ribbon!!

Jacquelyn

 

[VickiVM]

Don't forget the airports...When we traveled this past summer to Seattle on Southwest (the Greyhound of the skies) we had a couple of connecting flights. We put my DH's business card in my 7yr old DS's pocket with flight info as well as important phone numbers. He's well versed as to whom he should go if we get separated, but in a crowded airport it's not easy to hear announcements. So with the flight information, we knew someone would get him back to us at the right gate.

 

[lvs_eeyore]

We bought our seven year old an FRS radio for our last trip. He is pretty good about not wandering off but I'm just afraid of him getting swept up in a crowd etc... We taught him how to use it and also he knows to go right to a CM if he gets seperated. I figured even if he got scared and forgot how to use the FRS( unlikely but you never know) the CM would know. I also make him memorize what channel and subchannel we are on that day so that if his gets bumped and the channel changes (or in the case of his FRS it does a scan...we will carry his next time and give him one of ours that doesn't do that) he knows what numbers to reset it to or to tell the CM what channel and sub channel we are on. I also print out an ID card for him and our youngest before we leave.

 

[carrieann]

My 8yr oldson and I recently returned from our 1st trip to DW, really our 1st vacation ever!
And yes I am sort of overprotective considering his maturity level - but we rehearsed what we would do if he became lost and also discussed what he would do if someone strange tried to convince him to leave with them. A good idea is for parents to teach their children to as calmly as possible - yell This person is not my parent - HELP! This really helped to ease my fears as a single parent travelling across the country with a child. BTW I was thrilled to find "companion" bathroom in both airports we used - this is a wonderful development!