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

[Tigerlily75]

This is a tragic accident, and I don't place the blame with anyone.

As a tourist though I would like a picture of an alligator on the "No Swimming" sign, just so I know the possibilities. I'm from Australia, I don't know anything about Florida's wildlife, an alligator at WDW came as a huge surprise to me. I had no idea!

A "No Swimming" sign would make me go "okay".

A "No Swimming - Alligators" sign would make me go "OKAY I'M LEAVING NOW".

The former gives no information and I can easily see how one mightn't think there's any harm in wading along the edge as you walk along the beach, for example,, which isn't exactly "swimming".

The latter... would make me run away in the opposite direction and go nowhere near that water!

So I'd just like to know.

 

[jknc]

Give me a break. Ludicrous.

Where do you draw the line?

 

[msdroz]

Many guests may also not know eating too many Mickey Ice Cream bars will make you fat, I look forward to the clear warnings on those as well.

Not to mention you can take any bag on a ride... what happens when someone starts tossing items to intentionally harm people. There are all sorts of freak things that can happen.

Will the warnings deter someone from walking at waters edge? It is completely possible for this to happen again. A gator can lunge out to the edge and snatch a small child. Chances are slim, but it can happen

People can also get hurt from flying objects on a ride considering Disney lets you take full bags on all of the roller coasters. And there are a lot of lightening strikes in Florida, I try not to think about these freak accident things!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Will the warnings deter someone from walking at waters edge? It is completely possible for this to happen again. A gator can lunge out to the edge and snatch a small child. Chances are slim, but it can happen

Not a sign in the world will prevent EVERY bad incident. But something like the sign below would at least give people INFORMATION that many seem not to have. What they do with that is a matter of personal responsibility.




That is certainly FAR more informative than this polite request about swimming:



I honestly don't understand what the argument is AGAINST having this type of sign. Some theoretical "slippery slope" argument?? Balderdash. This is easy, practical and costless.

 

[DonnaL]

My DH and I saw an alligator at MK last November sunning itself right off the bridge close to the boats for Tom Sawyers Island on the other side of the bottom of Splash Mountain. I would say it was at least 4' long. Many people were stopping and looking at it.......some actually didn't think it was real.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Ok, I guess I'm just naive (no snarkiness here). I get that the gators are in their natural habitat & we need to stay out of their way. But really there is NO barrier that has EVER proven effective in keeping alligators out? NEVER?

I heard they had gotten thru into River County. .not sure how true. I know it was closed down for good due to the water quality, amoebas specificly.

 

[mking624]

Aren't you kind? Allow me to clarify.
Since they're from Nebraska I doubt they were aware of alligators in the area.
If you continued to read you would have seen that I stated that if not for this forum I wouldn't have known they were there. That was in direct relation to that previous comment. I'm from Oklahoma.

(You conveniently edited my post in your reply to make me look bad as well.)
Thanks for being hateful though and assuming I was intending to say they were dumb idiots from Nebraska, which is the same thing you did to me just now.

I know this is way late but I wanted to say something...
I am from Chicago. I currently live in Oklahoma. I have also lived in Kentucky. I knew there were alligators in Florida (and therefore Disney) long before joining this forum. Not downing you at all, don't get me wrong...just saying that where you are from and/or currently live does not necessarily mean your knowledge cannot extend further than that.

 

[magicjojo]

Does anyone really have an objection to Disney posting a sign that says, "Alligators live here! DANGER!"

Why is that controversial? You can't adequately protect yourself from a threat you don't know exists! And I DO NOT think all people are aware or would suspect there would be alligators in the man made lagoon at Disney world! It is not the same as knowing there are sharks in the ocean, or even that some random freshwater lake in Florida has alligators (which also everyone might not know). All Disney needs is a sign that clearly marks the water as DANGEROUS. Then, they've protected themselves and everyone else as reasonably as can be expected. The Disney world resort does not strike people as a wilderness experience. It's not fair to compare this totally manufactured world to most other situations.

 

[MattRyan]

Does anyone really have an objection to Disney posting a sign that says, "Alligators live here! DANGER!"

I don't have an objection with it, I think that is the solution. I just feel like some people are expecting more from Disney, like trying to completely eradicate the alligators from the area, which will not happen.

 

[anneboleyn]

I knew Florida had gators. I didn't know that they snatched kids or that large ones were in the lakes in WDW.

I mean, it is not a common occurence but they are capable of pulling in huge prey, so it is possible. I just thought people have seen footage of them ambushing their prey on TV so they knew what they are capable of. If they will do it to a zebra or other large animal, they will also do it to a person. It was a horrible example of a wild animal being a wild animal, and it breaks my heart that it happened to the poor little boy.

Hopefully Disney will put up adequate signage spelling out that alligators are in the waters, and people will heed these warnings.

I also do not think the alligators should be removed from the area.

 

[Hibernians]

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?

Great question - I do believe many people on vacation at Disney have a suspension of belief and think they are completely secure in the "World". I think for many people, being on vacation brings about a different mindset and especially being at Disney World you can easily get caught up in all the Magic and forget about the real world - which is why many of us love to go there to begin with.

 

[thedonduck]

Does anyone really have an objection to Disney posting a sign that says, "Alligators live here! DANGER!"

Why is that controversial? You can't adequately protect yourself from a threat you don't know exists! And I DO NOT think all people are aware or would suspect there would be alligators in the man made lagoon at Disney world! It is not the same as knowing there are sharks in the ocean, or even that some random freshwater lake in Florida has alligators (which also everyone might not know). All Disney needs is a sign that clearly marks the water as DANGEROUS. Then, they've protected themselves and everyone else as reasonably as can be expected. The Disney world resort does not strike people as a wilderness experience. It's not fair to compare this totally manufactured world to most other situations.

I do not think ANYONE is against changing signs. I am against blaming Disney for this. Someone Disney's semantics are what some are blaming for this, when in reality it was just a freak accident that unfortunately cost a little boy his life.

 

[mking624]

Does anyone really have an objection to Disney posting a sign that says, "Alligators live here! DANGER!"

Why is that controversial? You can't adequately protect yourself from a threat you don't know exists! And I DO NOT think all people are aware or would suspect there would be alligators in the man made lagoon at Disney world! It is not the same as knowing there are sharks in the ocean, or even that some random freshwater lake in Florida has alligators (which also everyone might not know). All Disney needs is a sign that clearly marks the water as DANGEROUS. Then, they've protected themselves and everyone else as reasonably as can be expected. The Disney world resort does not strike people as a wilderness experience. It's not fair to compare this totally manufactured world to most other situations.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think anyone here is absolutely against Disney putting up new signs. There has been a lot of discussion over personal responsibility when it comes to informing yourself about your travel destination, debate over personal responsibility regarding "No Swimming signs, debate over signs that simply say "No Swimming" and debates over interpretation, and debates over what constitutes as swimming. But I haven't seen anyone say that Disney should absolutely not make the signs more clear. But the thread is 55 pages now so it is quite possible that I missed something.

As far as Disney being a manufactured world, that's only partially true. Like any other theme park, it has manufactured elements that sits on very natural land. Swamp land to be specific...and with it, swamp wildlife.The problem is the illusion of safety that people have when they come on property. And that really isn't Disney's fault. It's a common mentality people have with any vacation.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I don't have an objection with it, I think that is the solution. I just feel like some people are expecting more from Disney, like trying to completely eradicate the alligators from the area, which will not happen.

I do not think ANYONE is against changing signs. I am against blaming Disney for this. Someone Disney's semantics are what some are blaming for this, when in reality it was just a freak accident that unfortunately cost a little boy his life.

Agreed. But some really are arguing against changing the signs. This is inexplicable to me.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Not a sign in the world will prevent EVERY bad incident. But something like the sign below would at least give people INFORMATION that many seem not to have. What they do with that is a matter of personal responsibility.

View attachment 175719


That is certainly FAR more informative than this polite request about swimming:

View attachment 175720

I honestly don't understand what the argument is AGAINST having this type of sign. Some theoretical "slippery slope" argument?? Balderdash. This is easy, practical and costless.

I am not saying not to change the signage, but asking will it help. Pool closed signs don't help, no smoking signs don't help, no feeding birds signs don't help..and the biggest is that speed limit sign. Seems 90% of the cars on property do not adhere to that sign

 

[thedonduck]

Agreed. But some really are arguing against changing the signs. This is inexplicable to me.

I don't think it is a change of the signs that they are arguing. It is more so a question of would that make a difference

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think anyone here is absolutely against Disney putting up new signs.

Not worded as "absolutely against" new signage, but how should one read this...

And you are kidding yourself if a company as massive as Disney who is known for attention to detail hasn't had their legal teams clear the warnings they have on open waters.

Many guests may also not know eating too many Mickey Ice Cream bars will make you fat, I look forward to the clear warnings on those as well.

Where do you draw the line?

 

[mking624]

I am not saying not to change the signage, but asking will it help. Pool closed signs don't help, no smoking signs don't help, no feeding birds signs don't help..and the biggest is that speed limit sign. Seems 90% of the cars on property do not adhere to that sign

So true, and a point I was making earlier. Doesn't matter what the signs say, there will always be someone who completely disregards it. I have no problem with the signs being changed. But it's not going to stop someone who falls into that "elite" group that believes they can do whatever they want. We know they exist. Some of us have seen them in action. There really isn't a foolproof way to 100% guarantee everyone's safety from everything. At some point, the guest needs to take some of the responsibility.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I don't think it is a change of the signs that they are arguing. It is more so a question of would that make a difference

To that point: I can easily imagine that some people who IGNORE RULES like "no swimming please", would NOT ignore a sign that said "BEWARE - ALLIGATORS IN THESE WATERS". If we can agree that there are at least SOME people in that category, WHY NOT change the signs?

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Not to mention you can take any bag on a ride... what happens when someone starts tossing items to intentionally harm people. There are all sorts of freak things that can happen.


People can also get hurt from flying objects on a ride considering Disney lets you take full bags on all of the roller coasters. And there are a lot of lightening strikes in Florida, I try not to think about these freak accident things![/QUOTEyep, you try not to think, but if someone gets hurt from a falling cell phone, that will be the next major discussion on this forum. We don't think about these things because we don't want to face the fact it can happen. So when it does, it seems Disney should have warned us tends to be the mentality of those that don't want to deal with it ahead of time, or maybe even do something to prevent it from happening. ..why, because Disney didn't tell them to.