Heartbreaking news...a big reminder to be aware of wildlife on property

[gsp4ever]

How many of you are sitting there saying this would never happen to me and have put yourself within a foot of the water in that area.

Unfortunately, I'm thinking it could've been my child. She has run around on those beaches playing with other kids during movie night. She's been at the water's edge though not in the water--not even wading.
Now I'm starting to think about walking along the dimly lit paths heading out to the boat launch at Wilderness lodge not to mention the dimly lit paths at the Poly--ugh and all that vegetation. My husband even sent me a text wondering if there might be "ambush points" in and around those new bungalows. Yikes

 

[Eastern]

What would the cost of a resort have to do with the fact that wildlife will go where they want to go and the property owners can't do much about it ? Does Mickey have a magic wand that clears the normal habits of wildlife away? People amaze me

Well there is a beach there, and activities set up close by. I must be an idiot because in decades, it has never occurred to me that walking near the water's edge at dusk in Disney could be remotely dangerous. That is how dumb I am.

 

[chmurf]

a sign says "Beware of Aligators"

if they had that kind of sign, you could bet that someone would be bitten by a mocassin,and come arguing that they double checked there was no gator around, but they overlooked the snake because it was not explicitely written

we might all have different teachings, but in most part of the world, a no swimming sign means "don't enter that water"

 

[capegirl]

Sadly there is nothing anyone can do to bring this poor baby back, and it serves no purpose to beat each other up with our opinions. This tragedy hit too close to home for many of us, and emotions are running high. Personally, this devastating tragedy will always be with me whenever I am on Disney property, and I know so many of you feel the same. This is now between the grieving parents, the lawyers and Disney. It was a shockingly hard lesson for all of us; a life can be snatched away in a heartbeat. The only way through something as painful as this is to focus on preventing it from ever happening again.

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

The article I read said the family was "wading" in the water. I'm hoping they were not as there is a sign that says "No Swimming".

I have

That's exactly what it means. Swimming & wading are different activities.

That sign says it all. I lived in Oregon for 10 some years and "No Swimming" did not mean stay away from the water. I'm not saying Disney is at fault as this was a freak accident but changing their signs to "Don't go near the water" would be a good idea. These parents are suffering a great loss and therefore I would give them the benefit of the doubt. It is not unheard of to wade or go near the water's edge in a No Swimming zone so I assume that is what they thought. I also knew there were gators in the water but never thought they would come that close to a shore where there were people. My heart goes out to the family and the recovery team having to deal with this.

 

[atp]

It's interesting how it's apparently a one in a million chance of this happening and therefore Disney is not being negligent for failing to warn their guests.

But at the same time the parents are to blame for allegedly letting their child walk along the shallow water even though there was only a one in a million chance of being snatched by an alligator...assuming they even knew that was a possibility (they probably were unaware like most of us).

Funny how that goes. A company who knowingly subjects their guests to this danger that is known to them and has been for years (however small the odds), by inviting them to these beaches at all hours of the day, even when it is dark, is not being careless at all.

But a family who is on vacation, doing an activity organized by Disney, in an area known to and maintained by Disney is to blame for not knowing all the particulars of the area as well as Disney does.

I don't know about you, but if I had a lake in my backyard where gators were often seen, I would not invite people over to sit by the water in the dark and watch movies that will take their attention away from their surroundings and prevent them from noticing the gators approaching. That sounds like a recipe for disaster!

 

[DnA2010]

Bingo...they can tell you what time you need to get up to take the bus to be at rope drop to get in line for Elsa, but they don't know there are alligators in the waters, or that there are poisionious snakes....seriously....

Ironically I was googling Disney wildlife the day before yesterday, looking for an answer for a trip report, and gators didn't come up...

 

[IrishNYC]

Sadly Disney is too nice to its guests. They don't want to scare and alarm so graphic signs that say Gators, were not there. And before this I would have agreed they were not needed. But this incident has shown to me and hopefully to Disney, that people are not very educated about the dangers of gators in Florida. They are everywhere in central Florida and just because you have never seen one does not mean they are not there. We always see them but we look for them.

This gator I can assure you has been fed before by humans and lost its natural fear of people and had begun to associate people with food. They are as much to blame as anyone in this. In Florida it is against the law to feed gators. Disney needs to quit being nice and call the sheriff on people breaking this law and have then fined and escorted off property. I think this is what is so sad to me is that people that will not do as they should have contributed to this little boy losing his life.

I guarantee you if it was just a "do not feed the gators" sign, someone would be saying, "But they weren't feeding them!"

 

[A Mickeyfan]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/healt...dex.html?campaign_id=A100&campaign_type=Email

A must read for all non Floridians. Sadly we know about the shoreline and small pets and...small children

 

[Duckiedee]

OP: I am not picking on you and absolutely do not mean any disrespect by this post, but I am really having a hard time understanding this and hope maybe someone can explain it to me.

I have been to Canada and I'll actually be going to Whistler again in a few weeks. I know that Whistler is a tourist attraction with a mad-made village, but it would never occur to me to think that somehow bears have been removed from Whistler. Can anyone explain to me where the disconnect comes in with knowing that alligators are all over in Florida, but not realizing they would be at WDW?

It's a good point. It probably has a lot to do with context. You are in a Village in the middle of the wild - not a theme park in the middle of a large urban metropolis.

Likely if you are in Whistler you are going for the outdoor activities, hiking, skiing, so you would be researching the outdoors and you would find this info.

In Disney, you would be reading the pamphlets Disney sends you and checking out things like MagicBands and waiting times. Any wildlife research you would do would be limited to what animals you will see at AK.

That said:

Likely if you stay in the village - any bears will likely be going for garbage and disappear - they will not bring their cubs or they will hide them in trees.
Black bear, like alligators do not normally hurt humans... even grizzlies are more likely to show and run.

 

[lynch34]

I have three young kids. I'm not sure that I'll ever look at that stupid lagoon the same way. I understand that tragedies happen but I think every parent could put themselves in that family's shoes and would just sob thinking of that poor boy.

I just think its so awful and I think Disney needs to rethink the whole strategy around that stupid body of water. Its easy to say "well, in all the years they have had it - its only happened once." Once is too many. Why in the world they made those stupid beaches look like something they aren't, I have no idea. Those are not safe beaches. That's insanity.

 

[megster1123]

I don't care how many people say " wading ". No swimming means stay out of the water. This isn't some real beach on the coast.

I highly doubt anyone with a child would let their child anywhere near a body of water that says no swimming

But see, now we are debating on if the parents were wrong or Disney, which we shouldn't.

Fact is this is a freak occurrence. Disney is doing all it could for the family and the family is going through a major trauma.

Will this affect the kind of signs that go up? Most likely, to help people who clearly don't understand that no swimming means stay out of the water.


What a horrible thing to say. Failed to keep him safe? Gimme a break, you weren't there and didn't see anything. That father has to live with those scars for the rest of his life knowing he couldn't save his boy after attempting to get the gator off him.

Just horrible

The sign said no swimming. It doesn't matter why. It was there for a reason. I'm sorry you think it's a horrible thing to say, but if something tragic happened to one of MY children because I FAILED to follow what was clearly posted then yes - I failed to keep my child safe. I protect them, I follow rules for them, because that's how you keep your child safe. It's awful and I cried for the family and that poor little boy last night, but that doesn't erase the fact that they failed to keep their child safe.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

How tall is a 2 year old? Odd to think they would be standing a foot deep in water.

MG

I just looked and the average is roughly 34.5 inches tall.

 

[GrammieMame]

Don't forget about Hilton Head. The same situation applies there. We have seen gators on the side of the road, on the golf course. Assume they are in the canals and stay away. Once the lifeguards went up and down the beach getting everyone out of the ocean because there was an alligator in the water.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

For those that do "research" and say they didn't know. This is from a very well known tourist searched site...and look at the number 1 listed
http://www.****************.com/fea...ddly-characters-live-walt-disney-world?page=1
Oh well, since it's another site like this, it won't post. .sorry about that. .but trust me, it will come up if you look, just won't come up under Official Disney site

 

[Duckiedee]

You find these things out by researching the State, the environment you are going into. No tourist destination is going to warn you in their flyers. OMG, have you ever been to Mexico lol do the resort brochures tell you to be careful out on some of the streets for you will be robbed. Do they tell you not to drink the water etc.. you have to research everything on where you are going. While Disney is a resort destination, it's built on swamp and FL is notorious for specific wildlife. Common sense is going to tell you to expect it. It's just that many guests truly see Disney as really magical and its not. It's like any other resort destination, it's got teal world issues. This entire situation is so sad. I hope others have opened their eyes to their surroundings there.

It certainly has - and it does bring home the point that no matter WHERE you are - we are always, ALWAYS encroaching on animal habitat.

 

[marivigi]

Im very sorry for what this family is going through.

They will regret this decision for the rest of their lives.

 

[DnA2010]

It's a good point. It probably has a lot to do with context. You are in a Village in the middle of the wild - not a theme park in the middle of a large urban metropolis.

Likely if you are in Whistler you are going for the outdoor activities, hiking, skiing, so you would be researching the outdoors and you would find this info.

In Disney, you would be reading the pamphlets Disney sends you and checking out things like MagicBands and waiting times. Any wildlife research you would do would be limited to what animals you will see at AK.

That said:

Likely if you stay in the village - any bears will likely be going for garbage and disappear - they will not bring their cubs or they will hide them in trees.
Black bear, like alligators do not normally hurt humans... even grizzlies are more likely to show and run.

I was going to reply with something similar - noting that Whistler is a village in mountains vs theme park in a big city...I actually googled Disney wildlife the other day as I was looking for info on what was out there, and alligators didn't come up. I would have thought they would have been in swamps and such- where you take a tour to go see.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Ironically I was googling Disney wildlife the day before yesterday, looking for an answer for a trip report, and gators didn't come up...

Just googled local wildlife disney world property and found gators. ..and on a site dated 2014, so it wasn't from this tragic event.
Here is a thread from this very board..dated years back...very easy search too
http://www.disboards.com/threads/do-you-ever-see-alligators-on-wdw-property.2694894/

 

[JodyLynC]

The sign said no swimming. It doesn't matter why. It was there for a reason. I'm sorry you think it's a horrible thing to say, but if something tragic happened to one of MY children because I FAILED to follow what was clearly posted then yes - I failed to keep my child safe. I protect them, I follow rules for them, because that's how you keep your child safe. It's awful and I cried for the family and that poor little boy last night, but that doesn't erase the fact that they failed to keep their child safe.

But the child was NOT swimming.