Has anyone actually lost their kid at Disney?

[Sleepy425]

When I worked in Disney, I found quite a few kids with lost parents.

But the one I remember most was finding the lost parents before the lost kid. The mother FREAKED OUT on me. My job was to stay with her, while another cast member got word out that there was a lost child. The mom would not listen to me that there were security guards all over the park currently looking for her child. I had the mom yelling at me, other moms coming up and telling me I couldn't possibly know what the mother was going through since I am not a mother (never said I did. Just kept repeating to her that every person with a radio knows what her son looks like and there is nothing more that I personally can do except stay with her so security can locate her when he is found).

This lady dragged her poor older son, maybe 5, around screaming at people "have you seen my son he is dressed like this but he is 2." I tried to get her to stay with me because security was bringing the child to my location when he was found, but nothing was getting through to her.

At the end, when the kid was found about ten minutes later, I got the family all snacks and drinks and had them sit down for a while so they could calm down. When I went to get their drinks, a cast member who saw the whole thing told me she was convinced I was going to get punched.

The moral of this story? Disney has MANY security guards who are not in uniform. It may seem like the park is running normally and nobody cares about your missing child, but I promise you there are an unbelievable number of people looking for the kid.

 

[hsmamato2]

yes- it was awful....tho Disney does a great job helping.... many years ago,ds1 was 2,and wearing a cap that looked like Pooh's face.....we're in Mousegears in Epcot,that massive store with like 5 doors..... we're shopping,suddenly,ds is gone,in an instant. horror,fear we felt dumb at first ,but let a cast member know and right away& they locked the store down and notified the entire park with a special code. It took almost 30 minutes,and I was dying,worried someone had taken him out a door before they were shut..... turns out,the little stinker had hidden himself in a pile of stuffed animals that were bigger than he was,including,you guessed it,Pooh! we didn't even see him,b/c of that dang cap he had on,and he thought it was funny that we were all looking for him...... Long story short,Disney was so great- and the alert is parkwide so fast....after we could breathe again,we felt so much better knowing this was how it works.....

 

[DawnM]

Yes. He was found by a cast member. I was a mess.

Dawn

 

[bunkkinsmom]

Timely thread!

We just got back on Wednesday, and on Tuesday we found a missing boy! We were in Epcot World Showcase coming out of the bathrooms in Norway. The night time carts were coming out with all of the blinky things on them. A man walked up to the CM pushing one of the carts and said his son was missing. The CM asked the boys name and what he was wearing. My DSIL and DD went towards Mexico and my DS and myself went towards China, yelling "EVAN, EVAN!!!" and asking people if they had seen him. My DSIL and DD found him over the bridge and he was already with a CM! The CM was taking him to the Guest Relations office I guess? At any rate, Daddy and Mommy of Evan were quite happy to get him back! And I'm glad we found him before he got to Guest Relations, that would've been another 15 minutes away from Mom and Dad!

 

[Order66]

My son got separated from myself and other son in the wave pool at TL. You know how big that pool is. I knew he wouldn't leave the area and he knew where our "camp" for the day was set up. Some lounge chairs on the wave pool beach so I didn't panic knowing he was somewhere nearby. The boys both had instruction to go to "camp" if we were separated. They even went on a few things alone, and came right back to the camp. But going alone and being lost aren't quite the same.

When I couldn't find him in the pool, we got out and went to the chairs. He wasn't there and I waited about 5 minutes. I figured he didn't realize he was lost and still in the pool. So my other son and I took another walk through the wave pool. Still not there. I went one last time to the chairs and would have reported him lost at that point......but he was there, laying on the chair.....in tears. I told him I was proud of him for remembering what I told him to do if lost. He replied that he didn't.....but he figured I wouldn't leave the park without my purse or phone, so as long as he stayed by that he'd be safe. He laughs about that now........that I'd leave my child, but not my cell phone, but at the time he was very upset and forgot everything I told him about getting lost and what to do. He didn't think to tell a lifeguard or other CM he was lost. Not one CM or any of the guests sitting right next to him paid any attention to a child alone and crying. Perhaps because he was 10 and not 5, but still.

My kids have their own cell phones now and I know if anything like this happens again.....he'll be able to call me and he won't panic.

regards

 

[Britgirlus]

We didn't lose him, but he was found anyway ! Ds5 was misbehaving, so we gave him a time out - we left him standing on one side of a walkway in Epcot, and we stood on the other side - it wasn't very busy, so he was in our full view - and he could see us. We told him that when he had calmed down, he could join us. Two minutes passed, and along came a CM on a Segway, she rolled up to ds and asked him if he was lost (that's how close we were, we could hear her). Little toad told her that yes, he was lost !! So of course we ran over to claim him - very impressed with the speed with which he was "found" !

 

[walkdmc]

I got lost in Disney-MK about 30 years ago and I'm pretty sure the process for reuniting with your child hasn't changed. A stranger saw me crying, figured I was lost, took me to a CM, who walked me to a Red Caboose-type building. I met some other kids there who were also lost, LOL. In another part of the park, my Mom told a CM I was lost and the CM walked my Mom to the caboose. I don't remember if they used the walkie-talkies then.

BTW, I got lost during the nighttime parade which I recently read is still a prime time for losing kids...if you're interested

The caboose and the staff were AWESOME, I can still remember how comforting they were. There were toys and books and other kids. It wouldn't have been the worst thing if it took my Mom a little longer to find me.

(I remember a caboose but maybe I'm wrong. My brother passed out from dehydration then came to shortly after. He was taken to some center for fluid...maybe he was taken to the caboose? I can't find a pic of the caboose online so maybe it's not there anymore?)

That must have been a really fun trip for my parents. I wonder why they aren't interested in going to WDW with us?

 

[SnipsNSnails]

One of mine, no. But I do remember losing my brother when he was 13! We were staying at BC and were in MK. There was something he wanted to do so my dad said, OK and to meet him by the castle when he was done. Well, my brother was in the wrong spot. He was missing for hours. The park closed. We went back to the resort thinking he might have just hopped the bus back once he couldn't find us. My mom was hysterical. This was back before cell phones were a standard (about 13 years ago) so no help there. She was on the phone trying to locate him. My dad went back. I don't even remember how or when they finally found him. But I do remember it was quite scary.

But on our last trip to MK for the day on Dec 26th, I was taking DS to ride on Aladin's Magic Carpets and I noticed some CMs straight across from the entrance to the Tiki Room, one was telling another to stand right there and watch a stroller. Someone had left a very small baby asleep in it's stroller, not a soul in sight! I made an Oh wow! face when I realized what was going on and proceeded to the line while watching with interest what was going to happen. Then I noticed a lady making her way back through the line. Apparently the baby's mother, who was in line for the ride with another child and lady and about the time she got there, here comes a man, the father from the direction of the Jungle Cruise, I had to assume that he was getting FPs or something. There was quite an animated discussion with the CMs, but the parents didn't seem worried or upset in the least that the baby had been left on it's own! One of the CMs was saying something about security having already been called. I couldn't catch what all happened because the line wasn't that long so we moved through quickly. That was crazy!

 

[bellelab]

We didn't lose him, but he was found anyway ! Ds5 was misbehaving, so we gave him a time out - we left him standing on one side of a walkway in Epcot, and we stood on the other side - it wasn't very busy, so he was in our full view - and he could see us. We told him that when he had calmed down, he could join us. Two minutes passed, and along came a CM on a Segway, she rolled up to ds and asked him if he was lost (that's how close we were, we could hear her). Little toad told her that yes, he was lost !! So of course we ran over to claim him - very impressed with the speed with which he was "found" !

This is too funny!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I tried losing my kids once, but unfortunately they found their way back.

 

[nchulka]

My kids are older now, on our Sept. trip DD was 8 and DS turned 7, so losing them isn't really an issue anymore. We may get separated, but at their ages, it's really no different to me than when I "lose" my husband somewhere. At Epcot we were all in the cool club trying different sodas and after a few minutes realized DD wasn't in there. I walked back outside and didn't see her there either. I wasn't worried, I knew she just hadn't been paying attention when we all went in the building and was around somewhere. I was a bit annoyed because it was time to be moving on and now we had to wait for her. Sure enough a couple of minutes later my phone rang, she had found someone and asked them to call me.


The only time I had a bad experience with a lost child was at 6 Flags when DS was 3. The kids were playing in a big playground and my mom and I were at the exit. I knew it had 2 exits (unguarded, just walk in and out), but figured the kids knew which one we were at. I hadn't seen DS in a while, but figured he was around, it was a big climbing thing. After a while I started to look for him and still couldn't find him. Turns out he had gone out the other exit looking for me and had been scooped up by a worker and taken to lost children, which I didn't even know existed. I'm looking all over near where we were. My mom knew there was a lost children area and went to look there, I kept wandering. I wasn't really worried, I knew he was somewhere, I just wanted to find him quickly though. There is a lot of water, it's a waterpark too, and he was only 3. My mom found him and called me. As it turns out, he had done just what I had taught him, he fought his "kidnapper" as hard as he could. He told me when the man (Six Flags worker) took him by the hand and told him he was taking him to find mommy (which is exactly what I told him a bad guy would say) he broke free and started running. The worker then picked him up and carried him the rest of the way to lost children, with my son screaming and hitting him all the way! It was a tramatic experience for him, not the getting lost, but the being kidnapped, which is what he truly believed was happening. He has never been lost again Although at his age, now 7, he is allowed to go off by himself to ride a ride or two, with DD.

 

[Ctsplaysinrain]

I still regularly lose my 13 yr old son who has ADHD... He can be gone in the blink of an eye .. One thing we do now ( whenever out in a big public place), I dress him in the NEON tshirts that they sell now for construction workers etc. You can find even places like Walmart.. It makes it very easy to spot him even in a crowd and it's easy to ask a CM or someone if they have just noticed a BRIGHT orange or yellow tshirt go by.LOL

 

[CandyHead09]

I'm just totally curious, has anyone, or anyone that you know lost a child at Disney.

If so, what was the outcome? Was there anythying on your child to ID them?

I think it was my first trip to Disney in 1994 I was about a year old so I dont remember but everyone took a bathroom break and left my sister behind! My WHOLE family went so it was a big crowd! So my cousin ran back to the bathrooms and found her there she was 10 or 11? She just waited outside the bathrooms kinda shaken up and she said she thought about telling a Disney employee for help when my cousin found her.

When I'm in Disney I keep an eye out for lost kids you can tell if they're lost or not they're usually just standing there frantically looking around or crying. I feel so bad for them :/

 

[CandyHead09]

I tried losing my kids once, but unfortunately they found their way back.

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

Several years ago, I was checking out at the World of Disney when I looked down and saw that my daughter was no longer in the stroller. I panicked and started yelling for my other family members to look for her. My heart was in my throat. A plain clothed woman saw me and could tell what was going in. She brought me over to a counter and told a CM that my daughter was missing. The CM behind the desk radioed another employee. They stopped letting people in or out. They asked me what she was wearing, I couldn't even remember, I couldn't even speak. I always dressed my daughter's in the same outfit so I showed them my other daughter.
Come to find out, the plain clothed woman was actually security. There are a lot of them in the stores. They ended up finding my daughter laying in a pile of plush animals about 5 minutes later. That was the longest 5 minutes of my life. I hugged the woman who told me that they had her in their custody.
From then on, because I panic, if it ever happened again I decided to take a picture of my daughters first thing in the morning while on vacation. They no longer dress alike. Before they learned their phone numbers, I would pin a piece of fabric to their shorts with my cell phone on it.

 

[Soexcited!6]

I'm just totally curious, has anyone, or anyone that you know lost a child at Disney.

If so, what was the outcome? Was there anythying on your child to ID them?

I didn't lose my kids, but my mom lost me!! I was probably 7 and we were watching the parade, and they walked off without me! I remember someone finding me and hoisting me on their shoulders and bringing me to a room and my mom came. It was pretty uneventful for me. Probably NOT for my mom ;-)

 

[gabriellyn]

Great stories! Sadly, I have one to share too.

We were in Epcot during FD last year. We had just ridden Maelstrom and we wandering through the gift shop. Both boys were interested in the swords, but of course we said no, and moved on. Once outside we realized that a CM had moved our stroller and both DH and I went looking for it. About 30 seconds later I asked DH where our DS3 (now 4) was. He countered with "Where's the stroller?". I answered back - "Where's DS3?" AGAIN he asked the where the stroller was. This time I YELLED - "WHERE'S DS3?????" DH finally heard me and immediately panicked, as did I and DD and DS9. We started scanning the crowd. To make matters MUCH WORSE Illuminations was about to start and there were A TON of people everywhere! We were frantically running around calling DS3's name. We backtracked to the gift shop and two different men told us they had seen a boy inside. DH ran inside and found DS3 playing with... you guessed it - the swords. We were both sobbing when we got our hands on him. Of course DS3 didn't realize he was lost!

It probably lasted less than five minutes, but it was horrible.

We have also lost DS9 twice on different trips - in the same area in FL, near Mickey's Philharmagic. He basically wandered off and we kept going, assuming he was with us. Within minutes we got phone calls and also found him at the same time. Luckily he followed instructions, stayed put, was found by another parent with a cell phone using the number on the tag he had AND we backtracked, all at the same time. It didn't stop him from being scared though and he was teary eyed when we reunited. The first time it happened he was only 7 and it scared him into being more careful about sticking with the group, but the second time, well, I suspect he did it on purpose, since it happened not long after we talked about what happened the first time! A CM found him the second time and DS was pretty calm.

ARGH.

 

[kelleyrn2000]

Yes, twice, last June.

My 7 yo, who has a mind of her own, took off on us twice last summer.

First was at Typhoon Lagoon, five minutes before we were to leave. She decided she didn't want to leave, I guess, and snuck out of the lazy river. It took an hour to find her! DH gave the CM the wrong swimsuit description, and dd was apparently in the wavepool as if nothing was wrong. She finally turned up an hour later, but I was panicked because it looked like there was no security people at the park (I know I was wrong about that).

Then two days later we were having dinner at O'Hana's with our friends. DD was dancing with the hula lady, and disappeared. My friend and I searched all over that part of the Polynesian looking for her. I thought she was hiding from me (she tends to do that). In tears we told the manager at O'Hana's her description, and within minutes, we got word they had found her. She had gotten on the monorail and gotten off at The Grand Floridian, and was waiting there with a CM

Honestly, I wish I had known about the GPS that you can rent in Orlando, because that would have helped us find her faster if she had somehow gotten away from Disney property. Actually this thread reminded me I never sent a thank you to the manager of O'Hana's...she was sooo nice and calming, and I need to send something.

After that we had no choice but to use the hand holding at all times, or require her to be "leashed" with her Mickey backpack that we attached a cooler strap to. No more taking chances.

 

[WantToGoNow]

Last November we took a trip with my cousin's family - it was me, my dh, my dd26, ds8 and dd5. My cousin's family was her, her dh, ds8, ds5, dd4 and dd2. We lost their dd5 - 5 times including at the Orlando airport. She would just wander off - even with 5 adults watching. My dd5 got separated for a few minutes right after we got to our first park - she had walked across the street at Flame Tree (where were were looking at menus) to watch some musical group. Their ds5 got separated for a few minutes at DHS when he stopped to look at the Buzz/Woody autograph area and the rest of us kept walking. Each time (except for once) they were back with us within a few minutes. The other time was right after dc's family arrived at POR. Our room was ready, there's was not. We were in our room for about 30 minutes before anyone noticed she wasn't there - think 11 people in a room at POR and you have the picture. She was sitting in the lobby by the Christmas tree, right where we left her.

 

[jklefas]

I was lost in Disney World as a child. I was about 8 years old and was with a large group. We were on our way to the Mexican pavillion in Epcot and followed the wrong bald guy in a peach polo (Uncle). I realized I was lost and continued on my way to Mexico to meet up with my family. They however stopped as soon as they realized I was gone and panicked. I stood on the stairs in Mexico anxiously waiting, trying to not look lost. FINALLY after about 15 minutes saw my dad running to me in tears. I then realized how scared I actually was!