Drowning?? Arts of animation

[MakiraMarlena]

all pools at AoA are fenced/gated. I believe they also close the pools when lifeguards are not on duty.

 

[AngiTN]

all pools at AoA are fenced/gated. I believe they also close the pools when lifeguards are not on duty.

I thought so. I was thinking it was built after the tragedy at Pop and as such, required to have one at time of construction. Pretty sure closing the pools when the lifeguards are not on duty is another policy change following the accident at Pop. I believe they used to be open 24/7. At least some of them did

 

[wendyt_ca]

This is so sad. I've been thinking about it ever since finding out last night. Thoughts with the family.

 

[jerseygal]

SO VERY SAD AND TRAGIC! Prayers and thoughts to the family, friends, lifeguards, and first responders.

 

[slickpoetry]

When my son was 16 months old we had a family vacation (not at Disney) where my in-laws were in a connecting room with our hotel room. Me and my wife decided to have a drink at the hotel bar one night and left the in-laws to watch our boy. About 30 minutes later we get a panicked phone call about how our son locked himself in the connecting room alone and we need to run up the room key to unlock our room. As we're running back to the room, we pass the indoor pool. He's inside there already. The pool has a four foot high fence and he's trying to climb it. There isn't a soul around because it was like 10:30 at night.

So in the span of about 2 minutes he had
a. locked himself alone in a room
b. Left that room to go out into the hallway
c. walked down a flight of stairs
d. Entered the indoor pool area.

All I'm saying is terrifying things can happen very quickly. We got lucky that day because our route back to the room happened to take us right by the pool. I think about that night a lot still and am so thankful that pool at least had a fence around it to slow him down.

I don't know what happened at AoA and trying to assign blame for it at this point in time is really not justified.

 

[scrapquitler]

No matter what the circumstances were surrounding this tragedy were, it is a heartbreaking situation.

 

[kamik86]

The tragedy at the Pop a few years ago has already caused them to require gates on all pools. That is part of the renovations going on for all pools at Disney. WL got their last winter, Poly earlier this year. Other Poly pool's construction started this week and it will include a fence.

Good! I always wondered how more kids didn't end up in the AKL pool with the deep end being so close to the mara walkway.

 

[mom2rtk]

I thought so. I was thinking it was built after the tragedy at Pop and as such, required to have one at time of construction. Pretty sure closing the pools when the lifeguards are not on duty is another policy change following the accident at Pop. I believe they used to be open 24/7. At least some of them did

AoA opened in 2012 and the Pop drowning happened in 2013.

 

[mom2rtk]

all pools at AoA are fenced/gated. I believe they also close the pools when lifeguards are not on duty.

They do now. I believe that change came about after the Pop Century drowning. We swam at Pop many times after the lifeguards were off duty (back when it was allowed). One time I had to send a CM for help to get some small kids in the area to stop using the unoccupied lifeguard stand as a diving platform into shallow water.

 

[sharadoc]

So so sad. It makes you wonder about the way things work. A large family, over 50 people, went to Orlando to help celebrate his third birthday. In some way, it gave them all the opportunity to see him before he passed.

 

[Summertinkerbell]

This is a parent's worst nightmare.

Every day, I teach and protect 18 four year-olds. I'm certified in first aid and CPR, am accredited by NAEYC, and am constantly vigilant. Every day I pray that they are safe on the playground; walking down the steep double stairway; eating in the cafeteria; you name it. I am constantly concerned about their safety. Guess what? Accidents still happen.

As a mother, when DD was a toddler and preschooler, we always held hands in public, or she was in a stroller. I vividly remember swimming with her, chasing her down the beach. I was never tethered to her, but I was within a few feet of her, my eyes always on her. Accidents still happened, no matter how careful I was.

We will never know if these were negligent parents or if they were exhausted from chasing around their 3 year-old all day and literally looked away for a second. Three year-olds are fast.

We all need to supervise our children well and try our best. But, sometimes our best just isn't enough...

Judge not, lest ye be judged...

 

[AngiTN]

AoA opened in 2012 and the Pop drowning happened in 2013.

Wow, I would have thought it was way longer ago than that. I have a heck of a time keeping dates straight, that's for sure.

 

[PirateD]

This is just heartbreaking news. My heart goes out to the family, lifeguards, first responders, and all who witnessed this tragedy. You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[DCDisney]

When my kids were little until they learned to swim the length of the pool on their own there was always a responsible adult in the water with them, close enough to grab them. Heck wanting to not be "tethered" to adults may have been a great motivator to learn to swim well enough that we would just watch them without being next to them. I've pulled a neighbor's 3 year old out of the deep end before and the Mom was really embarrassed and told me that I should have just come to find her while the child struggled to catch his breath. Both of my teens are lifeguards now and can't believe how few parents actually watch their small children who are not competent swimmers. There are times where the ratio of swimmers to lifeguards are 50:1. They are taught to scan the whole pool area they are responsible for. It's not like they can just mentally say well 40 of these are good swimmers I can ignore them and just watch those kids who are at high risk. Certain kids who really were in constant danger on their own they would alert the manager to talk to the parents about supervising them but that rarely resulted in a good outcome. Most of the time that they pull kids out of the pool the parents are not happy either like our neighbor they are usually embarrassed and upset and don't want to think they should have been watching their kids more or getting them swim lessons before letting them loose in a pool. Accidents happen and I feel terrible for the family and the lifeguards on duty who I'm sure will also feel terrible for the rest of their lives. But as soon as you can get your kids into swim lessons, it's an important life skill.

 

[Fastpassminus]

I feel so sad for the family of these little boy. It happens in a flash. Heartbreaking.

 

[mefordis]

If his parents were elsewhere on the grounds, then someone let him into the pool.

The parents could have been in the pool area but not swimming. Maybe getting something from the bar when he wandered off? Or returning a life jacket? I didn't see any other information just that he wandered off and it happened around 8pm.

 

[Kalliope]

The parents could have been in the pool area but not swimming. Maybe getting something from the bar when he wandered off? Or returning a life jacket? I didn't see any other information just that he wandered off and it happened around 8pm.

They could have been. My point was if the parents were not in the pool area and he wandered off, someone opened the pool gate for him.

 

[Angel Ariel]

They could have been. My point was if the parents were not in the pool area and he wandered off, someone opened the pool gate for him.

Ot he could ha e tagged along with another family entering and that family didn't notice. There are a ton of what ifs and hypotheticals that are possible.

 

[Lehuaann]

If his parents were elsewhere on the grounds, then someone let him into the pool.

We haven't used the pools since the installation of the gates - do they automatically close behind you? Do we know if this happened in the main pool; perhaps the child was found in a quiet pool? From what I understand, not all quiet pools have gates.

 

[RachealM]

What a horrible tragedy!

Prayers and condolences to the family.