Gator grabs 2 year old at Grand Floridian?

[Maistre Gracey]

I find all the posters who are saying he was chest deep or whatever are trying to place blame on the parents which I find disgusting. All the reports say he was wading which means walking in the water. It was 830 pm there is now way a parent is going to let 2 year old swim chest deep in the dark.

Really?? You find my opinions disgusting? May I suggest you first learn a bit more about me? I'm a pretty good guy actually...

BTW... And this goes to my point. I never said "chest" deep. I said waist deep. Small difference in actuality, but large difference in dramatization.

MG

 

[PinkTink63]

No reasonable expectation of it happening...are you kidding? A movie by a lagoon was a horrid idea. We are talking about disney, the same company that spend money to manipulate customers with smells. I am in know way an anti disney person, we were just there from end of May to beginning of June. This is a sophisticated company.

The child want swimming, the poor baby was in at most ankle deep water. Take your kids to the beach area at any of those resorts and keep them away from the water. Completely away. Most gator attacks happen on the shoreline. You don't even need to be in the water. So yes, signage is a weak excuse. Blaming it on the parents is a weak excuse. and don't tell me don't take your kids to the beach then because that's not an answer. Disney is designed for children. FOR CHILDREN. Disney has a responsibility of keeping those children safe.

I understand stuff happens, I have a quadriplegic 27 year old brother and my other brother was hit by a truck last December. I get it. Stuff happens is not reasoning for a family that shelled out probably more than 5 grand to be at the most magical place on earth. They had a reasonable expectation that they'd make it back home as a family.

This was a horrific and tragic accident. That child was in a foot of water and I heard as far as 10 ft out in a "No Swimming" area at night! That gator didn't even get out of the water!! "No Swimming" to me means do not go in the water!! That water is so gross in the first place and I would never let my child go in there even if there weren't gators!! No one had to tell me that there are gators in there...it's Florida for goodness sakes!! I live 3,000 miles away and know that! I have never seen gators on property but I know they are there and Disney can't completely control that. Gators are usually afraid of people but this one probably couldn't distinguish this child from normal prey since he was in his habitat. We have to be responsible and aware of our surroundings even if we are on vacation!! The first time we ever went to WDW my son ended up in Emergency because he was bit by something on property walking through the grass. They think it may have been a spider. I don't expect them to put signs everywhere stating there are spiders. These parents have to live with this tremendous loss that I can only imagine!! My heart truly breaks for them!!

 

[cruisingtwins]

Really?? You find my opinions disgusting? May I suggest you first learn a bit more about me? I'm a pretty good guy actually...

BTW... And this goes to my point. I never said "chest" deep. I said waist deep. Small difference in actuality, but large difference in dramatization.

MG

Words got mixed up by some reporters and now people are insisting he was waist deep or chest deep whatever. What's the point? to blame the poor parents yes I find that attitude disgusting. The child was wading it was dark there is now way he was waist deep.

 

[cruisingtwins]

This was a horrific and tragic accident. That child was in a foot of water and I heard as far as 10 ft out in a "No Swimming" area at night! That gator didn't even get out of the water!! "No Swimming" to me means do not go in the water!! That water is so gross in the first place and I would never let my child go in there even if there weren't gators!! No one had to tell me that there are gators in there...it's Florida for goodness sakes!! I live 3,000 miles away and know that! I have never seen gators on property but I know they are there and Disney can't completely control that. Gators are usually afraid of people but this one probably couldn't distinguish this child from normal prey since he was in his habitat. We have to be responsible and aware of our surroundings even if we are on vacation!! The first time we ever went to WDW my son ended up in Emergency because he was bit by something on property walking through the grass. They think it may have been a spider. I don't expect them to put signs everywhere stating there are spiders. These parents have to live with this tremendous loss that I can only imagine!! My heart truly breaks for them!!

He was not 10 ft out. he was wading in the shore.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Words got mixed up by some reporters and now people are insisting he was waist deep or chest deep whatever. What's the point? to blame the poor parents yes I find that attitude disgusting. The child was wading it was dark there is now way he was waist deep.

I don't ever recall "blaming" the parents. Just trying to dig out the facts... Which indeed are speculative at this point.

MG

 

[chaoslobster]

To me, wading means you're only getting your feet wet, maybe a little more. The thing is, this was a little boy of two years. We hear that he was in a foot of water and think that fits with just barely wading, but that's from an adult's perspective. 12 inches of water for a small toddler could easily be butt deep if he wasn't too tall. If he had tripped or lost balance in the slimy water and fell to a crawling position he might have his head underwater and could have drowned before anyone noticed.

I think the father would have pulled him out, had he been that far into the water. For a two year old, wading would only be an inch or two of water. So the "foot of water" seems like maybe it was a very high estimate.

 

[NYUBwayBaby]

The problem is the wording in the articles, honestly. That makes things a little murky. This AP article says he "waded into no more than 1 or 2 feet of water in the lagoon" Which, to me, reads that he was in one or two feet of water- what could considered wading to an adult. But it could be that he was only one or two feet from shore and the wording just is not as clear as it could be. "Waded one or two feet from shore" or "waded one or two feet into the lagoon" would seem to talk about distance to me, for instance.
Please note that I am in no way trying to blame the parents. This was a terrible accident. I am just trying to figure out the facts- my inner journalism student is coming out.

 

[disneymath]

Add me as another who watched the first briefing from the sherriff. It seemed clear to me from the sherriff's remarks that Lane was about a foot from shore, not 10 feet from shore or in foot deep water.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the "conflicting" reports have arisen based on the words the reporters chose to use. Not any sort of stretch to change wading "a foot from shore" to "in a foot of water", but depending on the angle you're trying to spin ...

(And, the reporters at that briefing were definitely looking for any angle to exploit.)

 

[Delgado]

This was a horrific and tragic accident. That child was in a foot of water and I heard as far as 10 ft out in a "No Swimming" area at night! That gator didn't even get out of the water!! "No Swimming" to me means do not go in the water!! That water is so gross in the first place and I would never let my child go in there even if there weren't gators!! No one had to tell me that there are gators in there...it's Florida for goodness sakes!! I live 3,000 miles away and know that! I have never seen gators on property but I know they are there and Disney can't completely control that. Gators are usually afraid of people but this one probably couldn't distinguish this child from normal prey since he was in his habitat. We have to be responsible and aware of our surroundings even if we are on vacation!! The first time we ever went to WDW my son ended up in Emergency because he was bit by something on property walking through the grass. They think it may have been a spider. I don't expect them to put signs everywhere stating there are spiders. These parents have to live with this tremendous loss that I can only imagine!! My heart truly breaks for them!!

The child was walking in water to his ankle. I don't understand where the misconception came in that he was swimming. The sheriff never stated he was swimming.

I also have a very hard time with people not comprehending that common knowledge is different with every person you talk to. We all have unique stories, know unique things from learning, experience, or by chance. That's wonderful you knew about the gators. I knew because I grew up vacationing in florida and I read everything disney. Many people don't have these experiences or the interest. We know zero about this family, the assumption that it's common knowledge for them to know is not fair.

 

[Delgado]

The problem is the wording in the articles, honestly. That makes things a little murky. This AP article says he "waded into no more than 1 or 2 feet of water in the lagoon" Which, to me, reads that he was in one or two feet of water- what could considered wading to an adult. But it could be that he was only one or two feet from shore and the wording just is not as clear as it could be. "Waded one or two feet from shore" or "waded one or two feet into the lagoon" would seem to talk about distance to me, for instance.
Please note that I am in no way trying to blame the parents. This was a terrible accident. I am just trying to figure out the facts- my inner journalism student is coming out.

I didn't read the article, thanks for the info though. I've been wondering why people think this. The sheriff has made it clear he wasn't swimming. He also stated the child was doing what a two year old is expected to do. It was nothing off the wall what this family was doing.

 

[NYUBwayBaby]

I'm going back and trying to find the press conference video now, since I didn't get a chance to watch those earlier. The wording in a lot of these articles definitely makes it seem deeper, but it's also likely poor writing (trying to get the stories out before everyone else) and sensationalizing it.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Indeed.... This is why I said it's not clear exactly what happened.

MG

 

[NYUBwayBaby]

One video (ABC- I haven't been able to find the first press conference yet) states both that it was a foot deep and that he was ankle deep....
Based on the later press conference, though, I'd say it was on the shallower end. Just based on the sheriff's wording.

 

[Silock]

Nature gonna nature.

The fact that it hasn't happened before means the likelihood of it happening again is quite slim.

Was Disney negligent? Probably. Were the purposefully negligent? Highly doubtful.

 

[poison ivy]

One video (ABC- I haven't been able to find the first press conference yet) states both that it was a foot deep and that he was ankle deep....
Based on the later press conference, though, I'd say it was on the shallower end. Just based on the sheriff's wording.

If you scroll down on HopperFan's post here, you'll see a link with sheriff's interview.
Hopefully this clears up all the bad reporting on the web which should not be construed as conflicting reports. These writers who sent out the wrong information on this did a horrible job relaying the facts. It's borderline false reporting.

We get so much information written via various media outlets, we tend to rely on them. This proves we should really take the time to listen to what the sheriff actually said in these interviews and press conferences.

No sir. I watched the first press conference live in the middle of the night and the Sheriff was quite clear. I watched him give reports several times since and he said the same exact thing, consistent in his answers. That was the first and only report given by the Sheriff's department.

I will believe the Sheriff in charge of the entire thing who is working with the parents rather than some journalists, posters, bloggers, tweeters, "eyewitnesses" .... many who are obviously making up facts.

The same folks who say they were walking on the beach and the alligator came and grabbed him, that there was a crowd and lots of witnesses (where are they), that the lifeguard was on the beach, that the gator came from the bushes not the water, that the Dad was holding him and he got grabbed from his hands ..... oh and lets not forget that it was a girl at one point.

We should only listen to the folks in charge and only repeat the official comments.

Here is just one of the Sheriff's interviews ...... where he said -

"The father was there nearby, the child was playing in the water just a foot or so into the water."


http://www.fox47news.com/news/natio...gator-dragged-child-into-lake-at-disney-world

 

[lockedoutlogic]

There was "negligence" by several parties here...it will be settled by lawyers - no doubt.

But here's where this thread is going that it shouldn't: people want to blame Disney (which is correct to a degree) and put no blame on the parents. That is probably not correct.

It was - at a minimum - severe lack of judgement to let a kid play/enter into the lagoon at night. It simply is and was. It doesn't matter the signage or how many people have done it...it just was not wise.

Everybody feels terrible for them...it's a mistake they will never be able to get past...but that doesn't change this one detail.

And I'm sorry - I think it's because they hand out Mickey stickers and have Mary poppins take pictures with your eggs and they charge so damn much is the reason that many can't seem to accept its still a swamp and you don't get any guarantees. I may be wrong...but my opinion here is formed from a ton of experience and understanding.

As I said...i worked mere feet away from the accident and when I heard the sheriff say that the boy was in the water...first reaction was "it's pitch black out there...are they nuts?!"

We have to be able to accept the reality and learn from it. Disney will...rest assured. This has longterm ramifications for them.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Nature gonna nature.

The fact that it hasn't happened before means the likelihood of it happening again is quite slim.

Was Disney negligent? Probably. Were the purposefully negligent? Highly doubtful.

Right down the middle...

 

[Jess_S]

I feel terrible for this family, so please don't think my comments are intended to minimize their loss. I am commenting only because several people have described Disney as negligent. That's a legal conclusion that implies they had a specific duty they failed to perform. I am not at all convinced that is the case. After all, this was a wild animal attack. At the end of the day, there are many terrible things that happen in the world for which no person or company is legally liable.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I feel terrible for this family, so please don't think my comments are intended to minimize their loss. I am commenting only because several people have described Disney as negligent. That's a legal conclusion that implies they had a specific duty they failed to perform. I am not at all convinced that is the case. After all, this was a wild animal attack. At the end of the day, there are many terrible things that happen in the world for which no person or company is legally liable.

I'm with you...tragic but not what people think it should have been to make "sense" of this.

Somethings just are what they are.

 

[Silock]

Right down the middle...

Guilty as charged. I don't know how else to react, though. It's obviously terrible for the family, but I'm not sure what is to be done about it.