Gator grabs 2 year old at Grand Floridian?

[Pookasaurus]

Praying for that child and family. Horrific. I can't even imagine...

 

[rteetz]

Apparently about a month ago a gator was spotted during the day in the lake. A photo of the gator was on the tikiman Facebook page.

 

[atricks]

DO NOT FEED the gators, this draws them in and makes them associate people with food, when normally they'd just mind their own business. I've seen people feeding them over there before, and hoped nothing like this would happen.

 

[rteetz]

Apparently about a month ago a gator was spotted during the day in the lake. A photo of the gator was on the tikiman Facebook page.

Apparently this gator tikiman had the photo of was caught. This would be a different gator.

 

[rteetz]

The ferry boats have been shut down for the night during the search.

 

[rteetz]

DO NOT FEED the gators, this draws them in and makes them associate people with food, when normally they'd just mind their own business. I've seen people feeding them over there before, and hoped nothing like this would happen.

Yes that is part of the problem and gators are drawn in by that. This gator if true was likely hungry and looking for food.

 

[leholcomb]

Apparently about a month ago a gator was spotted during the day in the lake. A photo of the gator was on the tikiman Facebook page.

It was on June 5th. It was a small one though. He said that one was caught that day.

 

[Accident]

The ferry boats have been shut down for the night during the search.

They might have at first but running now

 

[rteetz]

They might have at first but running now

Ok good to know. The report I saw was recent so maybe it was incorrect.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Gators are always present in the area...particularly bay lake and the golf courses...

But they are usually content to be left alone...

I bet the relocation teams will be doing a lot of extra work the next few days...

It's a bad story all the way around.

Bad week for Orlando and WDW.

 

[angelmav]

Got sent that news story while putting the little one to bed. How incredibly sad. My prayers go out to that family, I deeply hope a miracle will be delivered.

 

[rteetz]

Unconfirmed report of a 7 foot gator

http://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2016/06/14/gator-drags-child-seven-seas-lagoon/

 

[whiporee]

They can't kill them all soon enough. Mindless, useless leftovers that should have dies out in the ice age.

I grew up in Orlando -- they were rarities, barely ever seen. Then someone decided for some reason they were worth saving, and low and behold, here's what we get. Millions of nearly indestructible dinosaurs cruising our neighborhoods, ready to strike. Attacks on humans are rare, but not attacks on dogs. A 10-foot long nuisance that serves absolutely no ecological purpose. They've ruined our lakes, they've made people scared of freshwater.

Can't kill them all soon enough.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

Dd and I have just returned to SSR from dinner at Ohana. We watched the boats and the helicopter circling throughout our meal but had no idea of what was going on. CMs in the restaurant also displayed curiosity but did not seem concerned. Clearly, they did not know what had happened. When we went out front to catch a bus around 10:30, a single police car with flashing lights pulled up in front of the Poly. That was our first sign that something serious was afoot. Folks at the bus stop became visibly worried. Still, we were very surprised when our Disney Springs bus approached the GF to see all of the emergency vehicles out front. Even more surprising was that there were no CMs about to reassure guests departing the bus. Every single person remaining on the bus with us was glued to their cell phone for the remainder of the trip to Disney Springs, sharing what they could find on the news.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Got sent that news story while putting the little one to bed. How incredibly sad. My prayers go out to that family, I deeply hope a miracle will be delivered.

That's great and all...but here's the take away: WDW is a swamp...Florida is a swamp...you have to watch your children at all times.

They have had an excellent track record over the years...really Superb. But you don't leave things to chance and play the odds with nature...it will always win.

 

[Capang]

This is just awful. How horrifying and tragic.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

My heart aches for this family. I could not believe it when I saw the news. How terribly horrifying.

 

[rteetz]

The gator and child haven't been seen since reported attack

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories...gator-attack-on-child-at-the-grand-floridian/

 

[Alice Sr.]

It's a Florida fresh body of water. Gators are there and sometimes even through connected canals are spotted inside the the magic kingdom. It's something that really can't be avoided in Florida.

Yes, I understand it's FL, I lived in Miami so understand how dangerous they are and adept at getting around (where you don't want them). I have seen them quite often at several locations in WDW, including MK last year. I guess I just assumed, since it is FL, that if Disney was going to let families that close to the water they had a system in place, that may not catch all of them, but at least the larger ones. I have to think they were confident as well or there's no way they would be allowing access to the beach area let alone showing movies that close to the water at night. So, so sad and scary Twice in one week I had to use a sad emoji

 

[robinb]

Unconfirmed report of a 7 foot gator

http://www.laughingplace.com/w/news/2016/06/14/gator-drags-child-seven-seas-lagoon/

IIRC they usually relocate at about 6 feet.