DON"T let this happen to your family!!

[1stvisit0909]

On our trip this past June, we were sitting in the very back of a Disney bus. I'm in the seat next to the window. All of the sudden, a HUGE spider crawls on to the wall next to me. I jump onto my DH's lap, yell to my daughter to move because the spider was crawling on the window towards her. She sees it, screams & people on the bus are looking at us like we are crazy. I was so scared I could barely talk..until I got the word SPIDER! out..and people saw it on the window. The whole bus jumped to the opposite side of the bus. This thing was huge. I believe it was a Banana Spider..I googled it and it looked similar. It definitely had yellow in it and I kid you not it was as big as my hand (with it's legs-- the body was probably the size of my thumb). Even the men on the bus were scared to kill it. When we got off the bus the driver asked us what the commotion was about and we told her...but couldn't find the spider to show her ..so I don't know what she did about it. The rest of the trip I was sweating riding the buses. What I read it doesn't sound like they are poisonous?? I don't know how that thing got on the bus without someone seeing it...it really was huge.

Depends...the regular banana spider bite is likened to a bee sting...
The Brazilian wandering spider, also known as a banana spider...has a bite with neurotoxin venom like a black widow.

Dont think i'd mess with either. I googled pics of both and would FREAK if I saw either!!

 

[NJAmanda]

Thank you so much for thinking of our children. I really appreciate it and I know so many others do too. I just read this to my husband and he said, wow, that is terrible. We will keep this in mind on our upcoming trip and your son and your family in our thoughts. I am so glad that he is feeling better and that he is safe!

 

[1stvisit0909]

To keep things in perspective, you are far more likely to be struck by lightning in Florida than to be bitten by a snake or a shark.

True, but one should be aware. Cus all three stink!

 

[princessmom29]

WOW! Your poor family... I can't imagine--and my kids like to run around outside our room at the Poly-lots of time barefoot!!!! I do hope you get to take another trip there & actually get to enjoy it. I hope he wouldn't be afraid to go there again... It's really too bad that states that have a poisonous snake problem can't have that anti-venum stuff available more readily (like in the resorts)-I know it's probably impossible especially at the cost!!!!! Although I think Disney probably does a good job at trying to keep them out-obviously it's still happens.

Just wanted to comment on why antivenin cannot be kept at resorts ect and administered there. It really would not be cost effective, but it is not medically possible either. It has to be prepared in a very specific manner by someone specially trained, and it takes anywhere from 30 min to an hour to be ready to administer. Also, there is a high risk of an anaphylatic reaction to the antivenin so it must be administered in a hospital setting with access to epinephrin and advanced lifesaving equipment. It is not just a pill or injection that can be given immediately like an epipen. I live in a state with several venemous species and we are taught from small children to look where we are stepping ect, and never place any body part into a place you can't see. I would say that this is the best advice I can give for how to avoid being bitten. If you cannot clearly see into whatever brush it is, don't go there.

 

[720L]

Depends...the regular banana spider bite is likened to a bee sting...
The Brazilian wandering spider, also known as a banana spider...has a bite with neurotoxin venom like a black widow.

Dont think i'd mess with either. I googled pics of both and would FREAK if I saw either!!

It definitely wasn't a Brazilian wandering spider. I think it was a Banana spider. I'm glad I know what it was now. Not that it makes me feel any better!

 

[ScrapperBelle]

First of all, I'm so glad your son is recovering.

We were at POR last year and while I was walking around the resort one evening, there were some children playing on the cypress knees that jut up along the water's edge. These things are VERY dangerous in their own right. There have been people killed when they slipped and fell on them. Not to mention the fact that there could possibly be a gator or any one of several different varieties of venomous snakes!

I didn't see any grown ups around so I told the kids that they didn't need to be playing there and of course a "well-lit" man (supposedly the father) was laying in the grass on the other side of the sidewalk(I didn't see him before he said something) and he got pretty nasty with me and told me to mind my own business.

I didn't understand that at all. I live where there are lots of cypress trees and everyone knows that you don't play around the knees. They are a natural harbor for nasty varmints.

BTW...the thing about the banana spiders is funny...I currently have 2 very large ones in residence on my front porch. They aren't harmful and they eat ALOT of annoying insects...VERY important here.

 

[luvthemouse71]

How terrible! I'm glad your son is recovering.

 

[zddPaul]

To keep things in perspective, you are far more likely to be struck by lightning in Florida than to be bitten by a snake or a shark.

Lightning? Oh great, now I have something else to worry about!

And if I get bit by a shark at WDW I think I probably made a few bad decisions somewhere a long the line...

 

[Feralpeg]

BTW...the thing about the banana spiders is funny...I currently have 2 very large ones in residence on my front porch. They aren't harmful and they eat ALOT of annoying insects...VERY important here.

They may be harmless, but their bite feels like a bee sting. I still try to avoid them.

 

[MFLetou]

You know, people knock the cold weather, but...at least it keeps most stuff like this out of the way!

As far as Disney "taking care of it." You could argue that Disney has a responsibility to keep critters like this off of its property. Certainly, when you make a resort reservation, there is no explicit warning that you might encounter a snake attack. A lawyer could parse true liability here better than I could, but its borderline.

Plus, as has been suggested, you simply can't have people coming home from their WDW vacations recounting tales of snakebites. Honestly, if my wife had seen this thread, she might not get on the plane. She's THAT scared of snakes and she's not alone. The simple fact that if the victim is loaded up with goodies, he/she is going to be less likely to talk to a newspaper, etc. In fact, I'm kind of surprised that Disney Legal was not in the touch with the OP right away with various offers in return for a nondisclosure agreement. Frankly, in my view (and again, I'm not a lawyer, though my career has exposed me to quite a bit of the law), that is probably a mistake. If I were Disney, I'd be much more aggressive.

 

[Rhonna]

Unfortunately, that is the cost. It was $11,622.90 per vial. I was shocked because everything I read online was stating prices in the range you said. I called my insurance and the hospital to confirm the price and it is correct. Thankfully we have great insurance. The total hospital bill was well over $160,000!!

OMG! Now the detective in me would be trying to figure out why it was so much more expensive in this case. The hospital stay was peanuts compared to the anti-venom! Wow.

 

[2BigKIdz]

When dd was injured on Disney property, we never had to pay any hospital bill. I believe our health insurance and Disney settled on something, we never found out.
I would imagine Disney would pick up the tab on this one.

I am so glad your little guy is okay, I can't imagine the worry!

I guess that is not always the case because a good friend of mine was injured in 2006 on Disney property and is still waiting for anything to happen. Just in May of this year those of us that were with him had to give a video deposition to be turned in to Disney, his attorneys are still waiting to hear from them. It will be a full 3 years next month.

I am so glad the op's little boy is okay, that is so incredibly frightening!

 

[eeyorethegreat]

I have to say first I am not afraid of snakes but I do respect them a great deal.

I remember reading the OP post on another thread and I felt bad that her son had to go through all that but happy that he recovered. I saw this thread and read through some of it and the thought of snakes and what happened to the OP's son didn't really frighten me but reinforced that one needs to keep in mind that there is wildlife and venomous wildlife in Florida. Still not frightend, but making another note to keep an eye on my wildlife loving son (this kid can spot ever lizard, squirrel ant or what ever wildlife is around, it's amazing). I told him about what happened to the OP son to remind him to be careful next time we are in Fla as I did catch him in some bushes once last trip tracking down a frog!

So last night, I dream that we were having a Photo Pass Photo session and we were standing near some shrubs and I notice that there are snakes around us laying in the grass! I was trying to get the kids out of the way of the snakes without startling them so they wouldn't strike! I guess this story made more of an impression than I thought.

Also wanted to thank the OP for reminding folks that just because it is WDW doesn't mean wildlife of any kind ceases to exist.

 

[bart0205]

I want to share what happened to my son on our recent trip to make everyone aware and to be very careful.

At the end of May we were staying at the Caribbean Resort. We had only been there for 2 hours when we headed toward the bus stop to go to dinner. We were walking on the sidewalk when my 7 year old son dropped a toy into the landscaping. The toy landed less than a foot from the sidewalk edge into some very manicured landscaping. He bent down to pick it up, his feet never leaving the sidewalk, when he suddenly said, "Daddy, Daddy, something just bit me!" At first we thought it was just a prickly bush or a lizard until my husband saw the snake. We immediately called for an ambulance and I scooped him up, praying all the while, and headed for the bus stop to wait for the ambulance. The pain was excruciating and his hand began to swell. He kept asking me if he was going to die. Imagine hearing a question like that from your child and not knowing the answer. He was bitten three times on the finger by a water moccasin. We were first taken to Celebration Hospital and then transferred to Florida Children's Hospital. He spent three days in the pediatric intensive care unit and received 12 vials of anitivenin. The swelling reached all the way to his shoulder, but antivenin was administered before it invaded the shoulder joint, or he might have lost his entire arm. Thankfully the antivenin worked, he survivied, and was able to keep his arm and finger. For several weeks he was sleeping over 14 hours a day, one of the side effects of the antivenin, and he still has some stiffness in his finger.

I know the chances of getting bitten by a venomous snake at Disney are very rare, but it can and did happen. I just want to make everyone aware. It is a natural wildlife area. Watch your children around the landscaping, keep them from making shortcuts through it. Would our experience keep us from Disney in the future? No, but I would definitely be more cautious. Just be aware of your surroundings.

I feel so bad for your son. I'm glad to read that he is recovering fully though.

 

[LuvMy3Monkeys]

Good advice for any outdoor areas really. Cotton mouth water moccasins such as the one that most likely bit your son can be found as far north as Virginia, but there are many breeds of poisonous snakes that can be found in all sorts of climates. CroFab anti-venom can almost always cure even the most severe cases if administered in time luckily. Glad your son is safe.

We have them up here in Ohio at Lake Erie. That is so scary, snakes terrify me! We will keep an extra eye out next week while we're there!

Also, when we stayed at ASMo in Feb, we were in the buzz light year building and my husband smokes and would walk to the end of the building in the mornings down in the grass where he wouldnt bother anyone with the smoke (the end of the building farthest from the rest of the resort). There was a pond/lake there that he would sit and watch every morning because there were two otters playing in it. Every day he talked about these otters. About 5 days into the trip, he said he saw a huge alligator laying on the bank of the pond sunning itself and then get in the water. I literally was scared sh**less when he told me that. Maybe I'm used to squirrels and racoons up here in Ohio... but, I mean... who has alligators just out chillin and walking around? That is just scary!!! We definitely will be steering clear of the water and no more riding the boat to GF from the MK with our little ones

 

[Donna3271]

I am glad your son is OK! All this talk of spiders and snakes makes me really appreciate our troops in the Middle East. The things we encounter here are miniscule compared to the things they see on a daily basis (think Camel Spider, while not venomous, they are tremendous).

 

[WDSearcher]

You know, people knock the cold weather, but...at least it keeps most stuff like this out of the way!

As far as Disney "taking care of it." You could argue that Disney has a responsibility to keep critters like this off of its property. Certainly, when you make a resort reservation, there is no explicit warning that you might encounter a snake attack. A lawyer could parse true liability here better than I could, but its borderline.

That's a tough one, though. Sure, you could play it that Disney has a responsibility to keep such reptiles off of its property, but at no point in any literature does anyone guarantee that animals and reptiles native to the region have been fully eradicated. Sure ... there's an assumption that snakes won't be a problem at WDW, simply due to the fact that there are a lot of people around and snakes don't like people. But still ... not a guarantee. A lawyer would have to go through every single guest report and find those specifically mentioning snakebite to find out how "in danger" the guest was. If this guest was the only guest in, say, a 5-year period to be bitten by a venomous snake, it's a lot harder to get a settlement than if there are three snakebites reported every month. That also goes to "explicit warning." If there had never been a snakebite reported at CBR, then why would CBR have a posted snake warning? And if they should post one because snakes are indigenous to the state, then technically, every business with an outside component (mini-golf, restaurants with decks, city parks, resorts, theme parks, shopping pavilions, landscaping showrooms, etc) would need to post a similar message, simply because of the rare chance of such an encounter.

Plus, as has been suggested, you simply can't have people coming home from their WDW vacations recounting tales of snakebites. Honestly, if my wife had seen this thread, she might not get on the plane. She's THAT scared of snakes and she's not alone. The simple fact that if the victim is loaded up with goodies, he/she is going to be less likely to talk to a newspaper, etc. In fact, I'm kind of surprised that Disney Legal was not in the touch with the OP right away with various offers in return for a nondisclosure agreement. Frankly, in my view (and again, I'm not a lawyer, though my career has exposed me to quite a bit of the law), that is probably a mistake. If I were Disney, I'd be much more aggressive.

Then agan ... even if Disney DID "load them up with goodies", what family is going to come home from WDW and NOT tell everyone about "the snake attack"? I mean ... come on. It's too good of a story not to tell. The kid himself, especially. Doesn't matter what else he did at WDW -- his first story is going to be all about the snake. No kid his age is going to sign and honor a "nondisclosure agreement." Disney knows this. Plus, by forcing a nondisclosure, Disney is tacitly admitting fault. They're making it more than what it was ... which was a rare occurance, and not something that happens in the normal course of a theme park vacation. It's not like this family is going to go home and recount that their trip to Disney was the theme park version of "Snakes on a Plane." (At least ... one would hope not! )

 

[jacksmomma]

Eek! I would have freaked! I am so glad your DS is okay!

DH and I stayed at Pop right after it opened for our honeymoon. The first night we were walking back to our room when DH faltered as we were walking. He and I were talking and not really paying attention to where we were walking, though we were on the sidewalk. I looked down to see that he had stepped on a very large snake! It slittered off into the grass, but I freaked. I am deathly afraid of snakes. I was frozen for about 10 seconds and then I just started running and screaming! I was running so fast I could not see where I was going. I know others at the resort thought an ax murderer was after me!

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

Wow, I am so glad he is ok and sorry you had to go through this!

 

[Feralpeg]

You know, people knock the cold weather, but...at least it keeps most stuff like this out of the way!

As far as Disney "taking care of it." You could argue that Disney has a responsibility to keep critters like this off of its property. Certainly, when you make a resort reservation, there is no explicit warning that you might encounter a snake attack. A lawyer could parse true liability here better than I could, but its borderline.

Plus, as has been suggested, you simply can't have people coming home from their WDW vacations recounting tales of snakebites. Honestly, if my wife had seen this thread, she might not get on the plane. She's THAT scared of snakes and she's not alone. The simple fact that if the victim is loaded up with goodies, he/she is going to be less likely to talk to a newspaper, etc. In fact, I'm kind of surprised that Disney Legal was not in the touch with the OP right away with various offers in return for a nondisclosure agreement. Frankly, in my view (and again, I'm not a lawyer, though my career has exposed me to quite a bit of the law), that is probably a mistake. If I were Disney, I'd be much more aggressive.

Short of clearing out all vegetation and filling in all of the bodies of water on WDW property, it would be impossible for Disney to ensure that no guest would ever encounter a snake. It's Florida. We have a lot of snakes, bugs and other creatures. It's part of what makes Florida unique.

People need to take a certain amount of personal responsibility. In the case of the OP, the child would not have been bitten if he hadn't reached into the vegetation. I'm not blaming the OP or her son. It was just one of those situations. Most guests will never be bothered by a snake on WDW property as long as they stay out of the bushes and long grass areas. Anyone who plays down along the edge of a body of water in Florida is taking a chance of encountering something harmful. I never go into long grass or among bushes without looking carefully. I wouldn't do that in any state let alone Florida. Wild things seek the shelter of vegetation. People should stay out or be careful. You really can't blame Disney when the chance encounter does occur.

As for Disney keeping it quiet. I'm sure they didn't contact the media, but I don't think they were necessarily trying to hide it. I do remember getting a call from the resort while I worked at the Disney Florist. The resort sent a gift basket to the family. The CM at the resort told me that the boy had been bitten by a snake and was in the hospital, so they really weren't trying to keep everyone from knowing about it. I could have told anyone. In fact, I did tell a couple of people about it. About that same time, two other people (locals) were bitten by water moccasins and they were reported on the news, so I figured it was just another case. Disney doesn't go out of its way to broadcast this type of thing, but they don't try to hide things either. Sometimes, the news media gets wind of it. Other times they don't. If they had, Disney would have simply made a press release saying they were sorry it happened and were working with the family to make sure they were taken care of. It happens.