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

[Eastern]

FWIW, I live in Western New York State and in the past few days 3 children have drowned. Two drowned when their family went into a marked restricted area of one of the state parks and the entire family went over a waterfall. Two boys age 6 and 9 drowned. Another boy age 16 drowned when he was riding his bike along the towpath of Erie Canal in the evening and somehow he and his bike ended up in the canal. He didn't know how to swim. There are no warning signs along the towpath of the Erie Canal. Should we blame the parents in the first instance when they took their family into a restricted area? Should we blame the boy's parents in the 2nd instance for not teaching him how to swim? Makes you think.

Most parents do the best they can. You can teach your kids to swim and they can still drown. It's a long and rocky road.

This was a very rare and freak accident. The idea of room fliers, etc is just plain silly. This reminds me of the boy who was hit by a bus near FW. Disney rents bikes and has bike trails. Unfortunately this boy rode his bike in the road and was killed. Terrible, but Disney didn't overreact and eliminate bikes. We have spent many a wonderful evening watching the fireworks on the Poly beach. My children have never stepped foot in the water. The signs are there for a reason. The parents took the risk.

We all our responsible for our actions. We spent the weekend hiking in Oregon where there are rattlesnakes on the trails. We know the risk and try to take precautions, but there are freak snake bite accidents.

I would hate for Disney to have to react by destroying the scenic areas they have created. I'm sure there are bears in the woods. Should we cut down all the trees?

Why is an informational flier silly? If the Nebraska parents had seen that, do you think, in the remotest part of your brain, that they would have let their child do what he did? It's about educating people.

And I said fliers because everyone may not see the signs posted. You get enough fliers for BB and whatnot. Now that is silly.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

My husband and I have walked the path between Poly and GH dozens of times very late at night...inches from the lake...we are both handicapped and could never outrun a gator...castmembers who have seen us out at night never even once hinted there were gators...a sign should be there warning about exactly what risks are there...I cannot imagine how someone at WDW hasn't foreseen something like this...it is a tragedy.

A non handicapped person cannot outrun a gator either in a short distance, they are fast

 

[jknc]

I have to believe that somewhere today is one if not more than one person who desperately wishes they had spoken up when they saw that child in the water.

 

[capegirl]

FWIW, I live in Western New York State and in the past few days 3 children have drowned. Two drowned when their family went into a marked restricted area of one of the state parks and the entire family went over a waterfall. Two boys age 6 and 9 drowned. Another boy age 16 drowned when he was riding his bike along the towpath of Erie Canal in the evening and somehow he and his bike ended up in the canal. He didn't know how to swim. There are no warning signs along the towpath of the Erie Canal. Should we blame the parents in the first instance when they took their family into a restricted area? Should we blame the boy's parents in the 2nd instance for not teaching him how to swim? Makes you think.

Sad. Some people do ignore signs; I suppose they believe nothing could ever happen to them. In my corner of the country shark warning signs go up every summer; the sharks mistake people for seals. Yet people will swim in these areas anyway.

 

[fairytalelover]

It is Disney's responsibility to make sure that "their" guests are safe. Period. We pay top dollar to go to disney parks, resorts and cruises and they are the ones who need to put "detailed" signs and verbally tell guests when they check in about the dangers and tips of what not to do and they also need to figure out how in the hell to keep dangerous animals away from the people. I have read people have seen alligators inside the parks and inside a bathroom at MK??? Really?? I dont need to send my child into the bathroom and have him eaten on the way in!!! Not that I ever let my son go to any bathroom alone but sometimes he does run ahead of me and sometimes I run in myself for crying out loud!!

This entire thing is absurd!! Even though I believe these parents shouldnt have let their kid play in the water where there is a sign that says no swimming, but "no swimming" can at times be ambiguous. Personally when I see a sign that says no swimming that means dont even touch the water but then I have always been uber careful about these kinds of things. Not everyone is.

We had an incident at Typhoon Lagoon where our son got pulled under the water when the wave came in in the wave pool and his whole back was cut up with deep cuts and blood. I had seen the sign that said "strong waves may occur" and that kids under 12 must have supervision. Well the waves were so intense it knocked my husband over and pulled his hand away from our son who got pushed to the bottom on the pool and hurt very badly. When we posted about it here many got mad at us saying that we should have known how strong wave pools are!! Well we had never been to a wave pool and their weak warning signs were not enough to explain to us exactly what the dangers were. We still feel the warning signs should be more detailed and explain that there is a high risk of getting injured and getting pushed away from our kids from the force.

 

[CAS239]

I know this is a terrible question, not sure if it's been asked yet, but if his body has been found intact, how can wildlife authorities figure out which gator did it? They are saying they have pulled 5 gators out but do not believe that any of them are the gator. How can they tell if not going by content of stomach now?

Autopsy on the body. They didn't believe that those gators were it because the body wasn't in the stomach and probably different sizes. I'm sure the parents were able to say how big the gator was so possible they captured gators that didn't fit the length and euthanized anyways maybe

 

[Number Six]

I know this is a terrible question, not sure if it's been asked yet, but if his body has been found intact, how can wildlife authorities figure out which gator did it? They are saying they have pulled 5 gators out but do not believe that any of them are the gator. How can they tell if not going by content of stomach now?

Sorry to be grusome, but bite marks is one way

 

[chmurf]

A non handicapped person cannot outrun a gator either in a short distance, they are fast

This!

And don't listen to those idiots who say that running in zigzags is a way to outrun a gator ... That's a big pile of smelly things

 

[A Mickeyfan]

It's being reported he was 10 ft from shore. You have to remember how shallow the water is in the lagoon. He may have only been in up to his knee high water 10 ft out, and with it being dark, super easy for an alligator to come up unnoticed that far out.

10 ft out? There are also steep drop offs too!!! Its not completely shallow all the way out

 

[A Mickeyfan]

This!

And don't listen to those idiots who say tjat running in zigzags is a way to outrun a gator ... That's a ig pile of smelly things

exactly. ..it just makes it easier for them to catch you

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Sorry to be grusome, but bite marks is one way

That is what I was trying to figure out. I thought so but then I wondered if intact also meant no bites? Yes, a horrible discussion. It's so tragic and my heart really does break

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Where he was found has nothing to do with what happened (only rocks stay put in water) . It happened end of story.

Not true, not only rocks stay put. Not going into details but there are things under water that can cause other "items" to stay put

 

[Disneyliscious]

I have to believe that somewhere today is one if not more than one person who desperately wishes they had spoken up when they saw that child in the water.

With all the people here who thought everyone knew there were aligators at Disney World, yes, I have to agree.

10 ft out? There are also steep drop offs too!!! Its not completely shallow all the way out

10 yards. They said "10 to 15 yards" which is 30 to 45 feet.

 

[thedonduck]

10 ft out? There are also steep drop offs too!!! Its not completely shallow all the way out

10 feet out is most people's 3 steps. It isn't inconceivable to have it be very shallow especially if it is in the beach area. Given semantics, I would say it the same way as the parents. I was right by him, just steps away. 3 steps. That could be 10 feet.

 

[WuvEeyore]

If every possible danger at Disney had a warning, there would be so many things listed that few people would take the time to read it all. Then people would be complaining that there was too much stuff to read, so they didn't read it all and that means they didn't have proper warning. This was a freak accident.

 

[wendow]

Maybe I just live in my head a whole lot more than normal people, but when I think of Florida, I think of the wildlife. One of their college football teams is named the Gators!

I know FL has gators, know about their football team, know about the Everglades, etc. For me, it's making the connection that there are actually gators on the grounds at WDW that I would never have known about had I not read it here on the DIS.

It's just being there where everything is so magical, happy, clean, bubbly that gives a false sense of security. I have been to WDW quite a bit, stay on the monorail and yet, have never seen a gator. After reading some posters saying they see at least one every time they go, I am convinced I really am in La-La land while I am there. I am guessing these parents were too. I question the choice to let their little one be out in the water so far and late at night but I understand how we get caught up in the magic while there and think nothing bad could ever happen. I think Disney could do better with some reminders of the wildlife and tips to be safe but I do not blame them for this at all.

 

[Jetta8300]

I would assume this is disneys own advertising. Seen on many travel agent websites.

 

[jknc]

It is Disney's responsibility to make sure that "their" guests are safe. Period. We pay top dollar to go to disney parks, resorts and cruises and they are the ones who need to put "detailed" signs and verbally tell guests when they check in about the dangers and tips of what not to do and they also need to figure out how in the hell to keep dangerous animals away from the people. I have read people have seen alligators inside the parks and inside a bathroom at MK??? Really?? I dont need to send my child into the bathroom and have him eaten on the way in!!! Not that I ever let my son go to any bathroom alone but sometimes he does run ahead of me and sometimes I run in myself for crying out loud!!

This entire thing is absurd!! Even though I believe these parents shouldnt have let their kid play in the water where there is a sign that says no swimming, but "no swimming" can at times be ambiguous. Personally when I see a sign that says no swimming that means dont even touch the water but then I have always been uber careful about these kinds of things. Not everyone is.

We had an incident at Typhoon Lagoon where our son got pulled under the water when the wave came in in the wave pool and his whole back was cut up with deep cuts and blood. I had seen the sign that said "strong waves may occur" and that kids under 12 must have supervision. Well the waves were so intense it knocked my husband over and pulled his hand away from our son who got pushed to the bottom on the pool and hurt very badly. When we posted about it here many got mad at us saying that we should have known how strong wave pools are!! Well we had never been to a wave pool and their weak warning signs were not enough to explain to us exactly what the dangers were. We still feel the warning signs should be more detailed and explain that there is a high risk of getting injured and getting pushed away from our kids from the force.

So should Disney provide every guest with a bee keepers suit to keep them from getting stung by bees, wasps and mosquitos as well?

EDIT: I'm still waiting for a reply from the commenter. I'm concerned my post made too much sense.

 

[momtosam]

To me "No Swimming" means not going in and submerging in the water. If I saw that sign I would assume it was because there is no life guard on duty and wouldn't have thought about alligators. I can't see blaming the parents.

At the same time I view the whole thing as an unfortunate act of nature which Disney is not responsible for either.

At any rate, my heart aches for the family.

 

[CAS239]

Here's a pic I took in October of a baby gator. It was in Magic Kingdom in frontier land by that wooden walkway across from Tom Sawyers island.