"Inappropriate fondling" news story kill your buzz?

[Disney Canadian]

Your "humorous" thoughts and remarks on this topic are not the least bit funny.

Completely agree. As a mother of a little girl, I think it is quite tacky and extremely inappropriate to be joking about discounts on a thread about a young girl being molested and how the fear that it has put into mothers (and fathers) may benefit you.

I am relatively new here also but I realize that it was pretty recent when a pp decided to cancel her cruise. When making the decision to cancel, I doubt her first thought was "I better change/remove the tag under my name on Dis so people don't get confused."

 

[PatriciaH]

Yes, that was a tag from the Tag Fairy from years ago. Thanks guys. Like I said in other threads this was not a fun decision. I love Disney. My husband and I both worked there for years. I have many friends that still work there. I even worked at DCL at one point. I can not support how they handled this though. I will spend my money elsewhere for now. We visit WDW 2+ times a year and DL 1+ times a year so not an easy decision. Maybe they will make a statement about this. Maybe not. I do not like what happened. They failed this child. DCL and her grandmother. What good did reporting it do for her?

 

[keaster]

My DH has been a police officer for almost 30 years. I have worked in TV/radio news for over 20 years.

Between the two of us we have investigated/witnessed/read/reported on/attended pretty much every horrific situation you can think of, including unspeakable situations involving children.

We have taught our daughter from an early age the importance of being aware of your surroundings, the importance of strength in numbers, and to never let your guard down.

Bad things can happen any time, any where, period. There is no rhyme or reason. You need to be proactive and take the precautions before something can happen.

That being said, what happened will not stop us from taking part in any future Disney cruises or any vacation. If we based our travel habits on where/when bad things have taken place, we would never go anywhere!

Just because you are on a Disney ship doesn't mean there aren't bad people around.

 

[Reddy]

Yes, that was a tag from the Tag Fairy from years ago. Thanks guys. Like I said in other threads this was not a fun decision. I love Disney. My husband and I both worked there for years. I have many friends that still work there. I even worked at DCL at one point. I can not support how they handled this though. I will spend my money elsewhere for now. We visit WDW 2+ times a year and DL 1+ times a year so not an easy decision. Maybe they will make a statement about this. Maybe not. I do not like what happened. They failed this child. DCL and her grandmother. What good did reporting it do for her?

it got the Jerk off the ship so it did some good (not all that I would had like but it did do that)

 

[DLgal]

Nope. We are cruising this summer and this story has not changed a thing about that.

My sons are still young, and we usually only do the club together during open houses. They are always in our sight on cruises.

Yes, Disney's handling of this situation was less than ideal. However, if the responsible adult in the party decided NOT to press charges, what else could they have done besides get him off the ship a.s.a.p. and sent home jobless? Since this man was not a U.S. Citizen, even if he had been arrested in Florida, would he have even stood trial here? I honestly don't know, so that's why I'm asking. Considering the "law" that the ship in port is technically in US Waters, and not US Land, is there a difference in what could have happened had the crime been reported right away?

Cruise ships operate differently than land based U.S. businesses and I think that if DCL actually DID NOT violate maritime law in this instance, what else should be done at this point?

Remember that news papers and online articles make money off of ad revenue. Sensational stories with big name companies pay off big time with lots of internet traffic. So, the motivation for uncovering this story is probably as $$$ focused as DCL's decision to NOT report this crime right away.

 

[ranidayz]

This story has given me pause.

We are cruising next January, and had planned on giving our then 9 1/2-year-old checkout privileges at the club/lab. Now, not so sure about that.

The guide we use is whether we would allow our kids - at whatever age they are - go out alone if they weren't on the ship, maybe even in our own neighborhood. If the answer is no, they have to be supervised on the ship. That being said, even with our older two - Vibe-able - must go everyplace with each other.

 

[Bella29]

I'm not so sure people are questioning their future cruise plans based solely on what happened to this poor girl as most people realize this could happen anywhere. I think it also has to do with how it was handled. I don't have anything planned right now, but I'm not sure what I would do if I did.

Yes exactly, the problem is how it was handled. Bad things happen and bad people can slip by the best safeguards, but when an incident like this is not reported to the proper authority in a timely fashion, subverting a possible investigation and allow the perpetrator to get off scott free, there is a real problem.

 

[DisneyNurse19]

I have read all the replies to the 2 threads on this topic and yes everyone has their own opinion BUT can anyway say 100% that they know exactly what happened?? I don't think anyone can

 

[MagicMe]

If we based our travel habits on where/when bad things have taken place, we would never go anywhere!

Just because you are on a Disney ship doesn't mean there aren't bad people around.

I agree with this. If one cancels a cruise or visit to WDW for a lack of expediency in reporting this incident then do you also investigate the responses on the incidents in other parks, vacation spots, cruise ships, etc? I doubt that there is any place where something of this nature did not happen. Maybe it took longer than we’d like and maybe there were other reasons determining as to where and when it was finally reported. This is a horrific incident for the child involved but unfortunately the world is not always an easy place to live.

 

[Bella29]

Nope. We are cruising this summer and this story has not changed a thing about that.

My sons are still young, and we usually only do the club together during open houses. They are always in our sight on cruises.

Yes, Disney's handling of this situation was less than ideal. However, if the responsible adult in the party decided NOT to press charges, what else could they have done besides get him off the ship a.s.a.p. and sent home jobless? Since this man was not a U.S. Citizen, even if he had been arrested in Florida, would he have even stood trial here? I honestly don't know, so that's why I'm asking. Considering the "law" that the ship in port is technically in US Waters, and not US Land, is there a difference in what could have happened had the crime been reported right away?

Cruise ships operate differently than land based U.S. businesses and I think that if DCL actually DID NOT violate maritime law in this instance, what else should be done at this point?

Remember that news papers and online articles make money off of ad revenue. Sensational stories with big name companies pay off big time with lots of internet traffic. So, the motivation for uncovering this story is probably as $$$ focused as DCL's decision to NOT report this crime right away.

I think that DCL should have reported it to the FL authorities who had jurisdiction since the ship was in port there. They clearly knew this was their responsibility since they reported it the next day...from the Bahamas. I don't think it matters whether the victim wanted to press charges, it still should have been reported. The victim can decide later, once there has been an investigation and they have been fully informed of their rights. DCL is not the right party to help them decide that or to investigate this themselves.

 

[Davistigers]

My DH has been a police officer for almost 30 years. I have worked in TV/radio news for over 20 years.

Between the two of us we have investigated/witnessed/read/reported on/attended pretty much every horrific situation you can think of, including unspeakable situations involving children.

We have taught our daughter from an early age the importance of being aware of your surroundings, the importance of strength in numbers, and to never let your guard down.

Bad things can happen any time, any where, period. There is no rhyme or reason. You need to be proactive and take the precautions before something can happen.

That being said, what happened will not stop us from taking part in any future Disney cruises or any vacation. If we based our travel habits on where/when bad things have taken place, we would never go anywhere!

Just because you are on a Disney ship doesn't mean there aren't bad people around.

We are NOT cancelling our cruise which departs in about a month. We have an 11 year old daughter and we have raised her from an early age to protect herself in all situations. She has been in karate since age 6-1/2 and we regularly talk to her about using her voice and also her self-defense skills in real life if she ever feels threatened or even uncomfortable. I frequently have discussions with her about such possibilities in the world and we talk through scenarios of what she would do if such things happen. We discuss the possibility of it being a stranger, a man, a woman, a friend, other kid, teen, teacher or family member. I want her to know that any type of inappropriate touching or language is not OK and needs to be stopped right away by her if possible (yell, scream, kick, hit, run, etc.) and shared with me or Dad right away, or the nearest trusted adult if she's away from us.

Some might think it's terrifying to discuss possible real scenarios with my daughter, but I believe that telling her the reality of what "inappropriate" talk or touch could mean is reassuring to her. I also think if she hears me say these various words and situations, that it helps her know the range of what's not acceptable. If I only tell her that someone cannot touch her private parts, then she might think it's OK for a man to hold her hand and rub her shoulders or kiss her cheek. She listens and asks questions and I try to be as honest and forthright as I can with her. But I also tell her that there are wonderful people in this world and not everyone who is friendly is a bad person in disguise.

I also agree with the previous poster who said that if anyone tells a child to keep it secret or they or their family will be harmed, that it is an immediate alarm to tell someone. We have discussed this with our daughter, too. I told her that nobody has a right to ask her to keep something secret from her parents.

Again, I think it's our responsibility as parents to educate our children on the potential dangers in the world, and let them know they can talk with us about anything and share any feelings with us, good or bad. The world is a wonderful place with possible dangerous people and situations in it. I want our family to enjoy it, but also have the background of education and support to face an adverse situation if it comes up.

I still love DCL and would not boycott them because of this. Someone made what they thought was the best decision on when to (or when not to) report this, but I don't hold the whole crew/ship/brand responsible.

 

[JoiseyMom]

Nope, not changing our plans. We are cruising on The Fantasy and the week before we are at WDW. My DD was on her first DCL at age 11 and she will be 17 on this one. She knows the drill, we go over it each time we cruise. No one in our cabin, and she can't go to anyone else's. SHe can kick and scream really loud also!! DS also gets the same talk.

 

[TDC Nala]

Everyone is going to handle it in their own way. If the incident is enough to make you quit cruising Disney and cancel any future Disney cruises you may have booked, that's your choice. We've got one person here who is also going to avoid Disney parks entirely, they are so dismayed by the handling of this incident. Their choice.

I have 4 future Disney cruises. I'll definitely keep 3 of them. I might be cancelling one, but for nothing to do with this incident.

 

[PizzieDuster]

No. I would sail tomorrow if I could...

 

[Silverfox97]

No. I would sail tomorrow if I could...

Here, here!!! Me too!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[FJS961]

not canceling any cruises because of this but its just a sad reminder of our sick society

 

[momto2girls]

No. We have a DCL cruise planned for next February. It hasn't even crossed my mind to cancel.

 

[EPCOTatNight]

not canceling any cruises because of this but its just a sad reminder of our sick society

This.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[MND]

Yes, it changed our plans. I canceled our cruise and let them know why. We will also go somewhere else in the fall. No WDW.

No offense, but I think this a pretty silly and petty reason to now be a Disney hater.

So you don't want to be an Imagineer now?

Mike

 

[MND]

not canceling any cruises because of this but its just a sad reminder of our sick society

Sick sociey? What the heck does that mean?