How much danger are the kids in??

[mshrm]

I saw on another site yesterday that an investigation into a child molestation now involves a disney hotel. Then I see the post about taking 9yo boys into the already way to crowded womens bathroom and cant help wonder how much danger are the kids in at WDW?

Im going in a group and have been going to Disneyland/WDW since I was a kid. I was only 8 when my parents would let us run the park and meet them at the big clock, never occuring to any of us that we were in danger. Ive been telling the other members of our group that the 12-14yo's in our group would be fine on their own and meeting us for dinner. BUT...after seeing all the fear here I think I might need to reevaluate our plans and suggest different for our party.

Is there a place that I can go and look up the statistics for child kidnapping/murders/molestations at the parks?

 

[BevS97]

I don't think the children will be in any danger at all - the case you are talking about is within a hotel room, and I would put money on it being a family member who is responsible. I think the fact that it happened at Disney is irrelevant, it could have happened anywhere.

 

[rcraw45425]

We were in Orlando at WDW last Wed thru Sunday, I saw the report on the news. It did not at that time say a Disney hotel, just showed video from the hotel room and an elevator. IMO it didn't look "nice" enough to be a WDW resort, the room looked more like the motel variety that you see on the lower end of I drive/ Irlo Bronson. I honestly cringe when I see the pretty teenage girls running around unsupervised together in packs at the parks. We were there during a cheer/dance compettion, it was wall to wall unsupervised young teen girls in heavy makeup for the stage. A perfect opportunity for a creep to make his/her move. There was also an incidence in an Orlando suburb where a man tried to pull a teen age girl walking home from school into his car, she escaped, this was in broad daylight on a residential, uppermiddleclass street. It's not safe anywhere, even Disney.

 

[G00fyDad]

Make sure they stay together and DO NOT leave each others sight for a second. They'll be fine.

I will NEVER forget one day we were leaving Paramounts Kings Island in Ohio and this woman was completely losing it and yelling someones name. It took me a second to figure out that the name was her daughters'. That woman never saw her daughter alive again. I found a story about it several days later and they found the girls body a state away. However this girl was 6 years old and left alone in an area called Nickelodeon Splat City while the mother went shopping. DUH!!!

You have nothing much to worry about. Your kids are older and they shoud stay together well enough.

 

[highland3]

The incident mentioned here did happen at a WDW resort, but I agree with BevS97, in that it almost certainly involved a family member. I am confident that WDW is one of the safest places on Earth. Just take the same precautions you would normally take. Keep your young kids within eyeshot (or arms-reach) and make sure you talk to them about what to do if they get separated from you. All kids today are so entrenched in the "strangers" philosophy that a kid is more likely to run away from a nice person. Still, better to make a plan and talk to your kids about safety, no matter where you are.

 

[jeepgirl30]

I think teens in groups that have been informed of the dangers around would be okay.

DH and I were on a non disney cruise last June. I was so shocked to find little kids running aroundy late at night alone. One night well after midnight we were getting on the elevator and a little boy was on it all alone. He was probably 7-9. I could not believe parents let their kids out alone that late.

I posted on the cruise board and was flammed. My point was what could have happen in a hallway, elevator, etc. Some perv could easily have grabbed him and drug him off to a cabin or laundry room, whatever.

There are freaks everywhere and being protective and overly cautious can not be a bad thing! Educate the kids on saftey.

Maybe have check points every couple of hours or have the walkie talkies if not cell phones.

 

[all4fun]

To add to what the pp's said, I don't think there has ever been a reported kidnapping from WDW. I have also read numerous stories here on the boards of people who have either had kids that were lost or witnessed the reaction of the cm's when they were notified of a child being lost. They basically come out of the woodwork, so to speak, and search the area until the child is found. On our last trip, we were in the baby care center at Epcot when two cm's came in with a child (maybe 3-4 yrs old) they found by the big water fountain. I didn't get all the details of course, but it sounded like the child's parents were in a completely different area of Future World and the cm's were the one that found the child wandering. How scary for the parents of course, but at least they had a happy ending.

Of course I'm not saying that WDW is totally safe. I'm sure that danger lurks everywhere, even the Happiest Place on Earth. Like the pp said, just follow the normal safety precautions you would anywhere and enjoy your trip.

 

[all4fun]

I think teens in groups that have been informed of the dangers around would be okay.

DH and I were on a non disney cruise last June. I was so shocked to find little kids running aroundy late at night alone. One night well after midnight we were getting on the elevator and a little boy was on it all alone. He was probably 7-9. I could not believe parents let their kids out alone that late.

I posted on the cruise board and was flammed. My point was what could have happen in a hallway, elevator, etc. Some perv could easily have grabbed him and drug him off to a cabin or laundry room, whatever.

There are freaks everywhere and being protective and overly cautious can not be a bad thing! Educate the kids on saftey.

Maybe have check points every couple of hours or have the walkie talkies if not cell phones.

Wow, that is scary! It's also a little disconcerting that people would actaully flame you for being concerned for the safety of a small child who was obviously not being supervised in a public place.

As far as the teens being on their own in the same park as the adults, I think that is fine as long especially if they've already demonstrated that they can be mature and trustworthy. There is also safety in numbers so if you know they will always stick together I think you have a lot less to worry about. Using walkie talkies or a cell phone, or having a check-in time, are all good ideas too.

 

[mist_e_rose2002]

I didn't hear that news, but I have a 12 year old who wants to run around wdw by himself.

I remember when I was a kid, we could do that, but I have to really think about letting him walk around by himself. I don't doubt Disney security, but anything can happen anywhere.

Hey, I got an idea. Disney needs to do what Chucky Cheese does. They stamp the hands of an adult and a child(ren) who come in together with the same stamp. Then post an attendant at the exit.

The child and the adult have to hold their hand under a black light to make sure the stamps are the same before they can leave.

 

[Tinkim]

Is there a list somewhere of the family bathrooms at WDW? Could someone please explain exactly what they are also? On our upcoming trip it will be just me and the kids. I have already told them we will have to stay together but I wasn't sure how to handle the restroom situation. My oldest son is 12 but he is 5' 7-1/2" and taller than me. I obviously can't take him into the ladies restroom. My thought was to have both of them go in the men's room together at all times while I wait outside the door. They will have a cell phone with them also. Usually my DH is along and just takes the boys to the men's room while I take DD to the ladies room so this is a new one for me. Thanks.

 

[NotUrsula]

The story re: the sexual abuse case is turning up on the AP wire, so it is probably true that Disney has identified the photos as having been taken on property. However, due to the nature of the total number of photographs of this girl that have turned up on the Web, the investigators believe that the abuser is a family member or close family friend, because the girl is aging in the series of photos. This appears to be an ongoing abuse situation; there is NO evidence to support the idea that the girl was at any time "grabbed" by a stranger and dragged into a hotel room.

Disney is no different from home in that kids need to know and follow rules about safety and stranger danger. Just like hotels anywhere, resorts are risky places to let young children wander alone, because there is easy and expeditious access to private places. As always, properties with interior corridors are more secure than those where every room has an outdoor exit, although WDW properties are much safer than the average hotel because they are located on private property that is under 24/7 surveillance, and all vehicle access to resorts is through secured gates.

All that being said, the level of activity in all parts of the WDW resort in the daytime means that the opportunity to get away with any kind of snatch or molestation is slim, especially in the theme parks themselves. There are just too many cameras and too many people moving about all the time for it to be an opportunistic criminal's venue of choice. (Except for pickpockets, of course, but you were not thinking of them, were you?)

 

[HM]

We were in the dig area at AK a few years back and a little girl about 4 years old started trying to play with my kids and following us around the climbing nets. After a bit I realized there was no adult with her. When asked, she said her Dad was riding a ride and had left her there to play. I went and told a cast member about the situation. She was alone for a least 20 minutes that we knew of. Her Dad came back and the CM said something to him (not in hearing distance). I really wanted to give him a piece of my mind. Who leaves a 4 yr old in a public place to play alone?!

If you trust the kids to be responsible and stick together, I don't see a problem with teens doing their own thing at the park for a period of time.
-HM

 

[goofy4tink]

As far as 'older/taller' boys being in the restrooms with their moms..I don't think too many people would have a problem with that. Just keep your eyes open for those family restrooms. They are all over the place. I would suggest that your son just stand by the entrance to the restroom when he is finished and waiting for you rather than hanging around by the sinks, for instance.

When my dd and I go to WDW in '06, it will be with another mom and her dd. Our girls are the same age, within 2 days, and they will be celebrating their 13th b-days there. That trip will be the first time they are allowed to go off on their own in WDW. And that will be for pretty short time frames I'm sure. They are really looking forward to 'going it alone' together, for the first time. Earlier than that and I would really worry.

 

[G00fyDad]

If you have an older but not independant child and dont want them just waiting outside the restroom while you are in yours then let them stand near a cm area (drink trolley, etc...) while you go to your restroom. Some idiot is less likely to grab them near a CM. They will be looking for kids off on their own and out of the way.

 

[dturner]

I would NOT hesitate to send a group of kids together to the restroom, or even let them go around the park together (above age 11) - there is safety in numbers.

The the original poster - the issue at debate on the restroom thread is sending a child into the men's restroom alone, i.e., I travel with DS(8) alone so there is no one to go with him and no, I will NOT take the chance of sending a young boy into the men's restroom alone ANYWHERE, not just WDW, but ANYWHERE, it's just not safe to do that anymore, anywhere in the U.S.

 

[G00fyDad]

It may be a little different having a boy (around 8 or 9) go into the womens restroom since there are stalls with privacy doors and all. But I tend to get a little freaked out when some guy brings his 8 or 9 yo girl into the mens room. Some of us are standing with privates exposed toward a urinal. Something about that is just weird. Besides, Disney has "family" restrooms everywhere. Why is this even an issue?

 

[mshrm]

In my mind the happiest place on earth is also one of the safest. Im glad to see there are others that think the kids are pretty safe there. One person posted that most molesters/kidnappers wouldnt pick the parks because their too crowded and there are cameras everywhere and thats pretty much what I have always believed.

I didnt see anyone post where I could find the statistics and since you people are pretty much experts I figure there might not be a place with these numbers?? Maybe there are no numbers to report?! Wouldnt that truly make WDW the happiest place on earth.

Thank you all for your advice and comments. The teens still might have a chance of running the park without having to ride Dumbo and see Cinderella with us moms and little kids!

Someone mentioned walkie/talkies..does the park rent them?

 

[Lesley]

This seems a great place to recommend a couple books on personal safety....Protecting the Gift by Gavin de Becker for parents, and The Gift of Fear by the same author for adults.

These books are wonderful for putting "stranger danger" in perspective and learning how to truly keep yourself and your children safe.
I highly recommend them to everyone.

 

[meandtheguys2]

I don't think the parks rent the walkie talkies, but you can buy a decent set at Walmart. We didn't use ours much, however, because there were too many others using them. We just sucked it up and used the cells for brief calls!

 

[bigcrit]

I am taking my twin daughters(8) there in May and would never let them go anywhere alone! This is a twisted world and I refuse to let my guard down. I feel sorry for the little girl and her family. I hope and pray that degenerate gets what he rightfully deserves. Did they find out who the girl was and catch the person responsible?