if your child goes missing at WDW, what should they do?

[Hannathy]

I'm just glad I find my son. I'm not going to blame anyone (I just think the CM's handled this terribly.)

One can do everything right. You can have your child's name and phone number printed on his forehead, you can put him in a harness, you can do lots of things, but if they do get away, it only takes one sicko a few minutes to get them out of the store and into their car in a matter of minutes.

You do know this risk is infinitesimally small right? It really isn't something to dwell on or loose sleep over or excessively scare our children over.

 

[Melrosgirl]

You do know this risk is infinitesimally small right? It really isn't something to dwell on or loose sleep over or excessively scare our children over.

I just wanted to know what the Disney policy was and see if others agreed that this was handled incorrectly by CM's. Thank you for your input.

 

[Crystal824]

I haven't worked for Disney in 10 years, but when I was a castmember the policy was to send any lost children and lost parents to one location. It seems that is still the policy, since you were sent to the jewelry counter at World of Disney. However, the CM could have been a little more sensitive to the situation. Once the child or parent reached the location, I think other cms were notified of the missing child via walkie talkie, phone, etc. with details as the description of the child and where they were last seen. They will not do an overhead pa system call anywhere on property.

 

[PHXscuba]

I also want to add not to stop talking about safety when kids get older. We were preparing for our Disneyland trip a couple months ago and I was chatting with DS13 about keeping his little brother (DS4) safe and with us. Ds13 matter-of-factly said, "well, if I got couldn't find you, I'd just go back to the hotel and wait for you."

I was stunned. He thought that was totally logical -- to leave the park and walk back through DTD to the Disneyland Hotel, where he wouldn't have a key to get in our room. I of course had a talk with him about staying put and never ever leaving the park without us.

Although we may not worry as much about abduction with our older kids, it's still a threat, and I would be very worried if I couldn't find DS after a couple minutes.

On that trip, we assigned buddies -- DS4 with me, DD7 with DH, and DS13 and DD10 together. They didn't have to ride every ride together, but they had to stay together when we were walking around unless we deliberately split up otherwise. That way no one would say "I thought he was with you!"

PHXscuba

 

[mjkacmom]

I would not blame the CM but my friend. SHE was in charge and SHE let him get out of her view.
Children are like water ,fast and easy slipping away.

Please don't blame your friend - I'm sure she felt horrible! I'm a mom of 5, and I honestly can't count how many times I've lost a child on both hands - and the sick feeling that goes with it. I've lost a child, and have been called to customer service, without even knowing a child was lost (crayola factory - 6 adults). I've lost a child at WDW (darn the separate seating for Nemo). Ds6 was a runner/hider. Just last week, at the pancake breakfast after church, he got in a mood and left, and walked down the street. This wasn't the first time we tried to find him using a microphoned announcement (the DJ at our strawberry festival had to do the same). He's the same kid who we lost at Rocking Horse Ranch when he was 18 months - the staff sprung into action with walkie talkies, and found him at a table eating breakfast with another family. Unfortunately, I have a bunch of stories like this about him.

Anyway, kids get lost, and we need to tell them what to do when it happens. I'm sure CM's experience this situation every hour, and the child turns up 100% of the time, so even though we, as parents, are terrified, this is common for them.

 

[perpetualplanner]

Just so you're aware, they don't do a Code Adam or Amber at a store either. I lost my DS years ago when he was 2 at a sears (turned to look at jeans for a second to find the right size) and he was gone. Went to the register and asked them to call a code whatever I had a lost toddler. She told me I needed to calm down. I said ma'am we're right by the mall entrance he could be out those doors already even but she wouldn't call the code and didn't even help look. I found him hiding in a rack of clothes moments later. Just an FYI - the personnel really aren't trained for this and I assume by the time a code is called the child is LONG gone.

 

[wtrmlnlabs]

I admit I didn't read all the posts, sorry if I repeat but...
Your experience really surprised me! We JUST got back from Disney and have commented on how great they were about helping with missing children. The dino play area in DS was crazy. We saw at least 5 frantic mothers in the 2 hours we were their searching for their kids. We also saw one right outside TSM frantically looking for her boy. In all cases we saw CM's very concerned, on their walkie talkies, searching everywhere.
As for us, I got vital id's for both boys to wear and they put them on before we left the hotel daily and knew if I saw them without it on at any point their trip was over Gave a great piece of mind....

 

[kimmylaj]

i am sad to say we had a similar situation in 2007 at christmastime in magic kingdom. we were at the dance party at cosmic ray's and my niece got lost walking from her mom at the edge of the dance floor to me at the center of the dance floor. i alerted goofys handler and he shrugged his shoulders. then i alerted plutos handler, same response. we frantically searched with no assistance for ten minutes and finally we found her outside cosmic rays. it was a very frightening experience and very unusual for disney

 

[pls5286]

My DD who is 6 has a Passporter pouch that she wears when we go to a local park here. She keeps her ride pass in this pouch around her neck as well. There is a note behind her pass that says her name is "Doodlebug". It says my moms name is "Mommy" and has my phone number. My brother's name is "Bubba" and his phone number is and has his number. It also says I like Dora and Sponge Bob.

She knows if she gets seperated from us, she is to go to the nearest Police officer and give it to them and they will find us.

We recently cut off our house phone and went to cells and she has trouble remembering our numbers.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I always had shoe tags for my kids with all our information on them. This way if we ever got separated all my child would have to do was point down at his/her shoe and an adult would know exactly how to reach us.

Also, I am a huge fan of Gavin DeBecker's who has written books on child safety. He tells parents to tell their children to ask a female for help for a few reasons. First, females are statistically much less likely to be abusive towards children. Second, females are much much more likely to stay with the child, even if an employee takes over, until the actual parents are found whereas a male is more likely to walk away once they get a hold of an employee who can take over.

 

[MyHappiestPlace]

My 8 yo dd who has high functioning autism become lost at the Honey I Shrunk the kids play area at DHS a few months ago. The cast members were HORRIBLE handling this situation. I had to beg them to call security; they were clueless. I have never seen such incompetence in my whole life. After 20 mins I was begging the CM to call security and then we finally found her hiding - even tho the CM maintained they checked all the tunnels. It was the single most horrific moment of my life. It will be a cold day in you-know-where before I ever go back to that play area again.

 

[QVCshopper]

To the PP's note, the Honey I Shrunk the Kids and the Boneyard are both places where you can lose your kids in an instant. They are very crowded and it's hard to pick your kid out from among all of them, even when watching them like a hawk. Go up with them, follow them, and maybe have a meet up spot. The CM at the Boneyard said she's asked to find about 10 kids a day. Mine was not one of them, for which I am lucky, but I did help her find someone else's little boy. Or, avoid these areas except for less busy times, when it's easier to tell your child apart from the rest.

 

[jmartinez1895]

Just a reminder ( sorry if it has already been posted but I did not see it ) PLEASE teach your children that if someone grabs them and trys to take them to yell "Help Stranger,This is not my mom/dad". How many times have you seen an adult carry a screaming child out of a store and you think, boy that kids gonna get it when he gets home. So please teach your child to not scream and to let people know its a stranger.

 

[Alice's Mommy]

Just want to offer a suggestion to anyone reading this thread...

Take a picture of your child on your digital camera every morning after they are dressed for the day.

This way, you'll have a picture of your child to show the CM, and also a description of the clothing they are wearing.

Of course, this is in addition to discussing with your child the importance of staying together, and what to do and how to react in the event they are separated from you.

What a great tip!!! My DS will be 4 when we head to WDW and he's a wanderer. DH and I are on top of him like gravy on potatoes but in a place like WDW it's good to be prepared in any eventuality.

To the original poster...That is scary and if I were you I'd file a formal complaint. Disney needs to know that the CM's at this store were not doing their job. Precious minutes passed while you were racing back and forth to that jewelry counter and if it had been a horrible situation that time would have allowed someone to get that much more space between you and your child.