Is there a purpose to all the water around disney world at this point?

[Bullseye]

Okay. Good for you. Point is, wildlife encounters in suburban areas are not actually that uncommon and I felt your post was an inappropriate reaction to people's real experiences.

I can attest to this. Just now had to kill an earwig that was terrorizing my DD. It's ok, I'm a Dad...part of my job description

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

MickeyMinnieMom said: ↑
I'm getting a kick out of this! I know of FL wildlife, etc, etc, but some of you are making it seem like you're living 100 years ago, encountering these animals every day in the suburbs of... Well... EVERYWHERE!! LOL!

I have occasionally seen deer run along Wisonconsin Ave in DC! I wouldn't expect to see that often, and I wouldn't expect most tourists to DC to expect to see deer crossing the street in a major city like DC. :-D

Feels like some are now OVERSTATING their encounters with wildlife in everyday life. Boy, does the pendulum swing on DIS...

Just for the sake of argument. There is a protected wetlands area down the street from my neighborhood. I live in a suburban area in Fl. Here are a few photos from there.

 

[Boski]

Hello. If one of the lions or tigers were to escape from the AK, I assume that that it would be treated seriously and they'd return the animals to a safer place. Just exactly HOW they'd do that, I honestly donlt know. I have seen people feeding gators but I haven't seen disney people removing them. That's not to say that it isn;t done just that I have not seen it.
I thought other posters might have some ideas or experience with HOW to control the gator problems. Where I live there are big deer problems and there are many accidents. The township from time to time issues hunting liscences to bring the numbers down. Animal lovers may not like this but there is only so much open space and once the numbers become too much, they feel this is what they have to do. Of course, the deer aren't trying to hurt anybody but the gators are.
I'm not sure why a gator on the loose does not require the same sense of urgency as lion or a bear on the loose.

Dude you've earned a 10/10. This has been one of the greatest trolls on the DIS board! With that being said all good things must come to an end. Mods should lock this thread, award PA Dad his "You've won the internet" badge and we can all go back to being normal.

 

[JimmyV]

So why dont they just remove it and make the parking lot closer to the MK or put in some more rides or make the roads wider or do something with the space now?

Of course, the deer aren't trying to hurt anybody but the gators are.

Deer vs. Car Statistics
The National Highway Safety Administration (NHSA) recently conducted a study concerning the increasing dangers from deer-related vehicle accidents. Deer-related car accidents have consistently risen over the years due to increasing deer populations and destruction of their habitat.

• There are approximately 1.5 million deer-related car accidents annually
• The cost of these accidents results in over $1 billion dollars in vehicle damage
• There are around 175-200 fatalities every year and 10,000 injuries

Now go ahead and compare those statistics against alligator-related incidents.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

I'm sorry..... did I just read a post suggesting we plow over a lake with concrete because it might have an alligator?

What next? Level the rain forest due to mosquitoes?

Talk about over the top killing the planet.

in any case, I am pretty sure it was part of the contract that Disney has to leave a certain amount of land undeveloped and I think lakes and forests count.

Oh and beware those trees and undeveloped Forrest areas. They contain snakes.

OKay... this post has my all time record for me of the most likes of any post I have written by far. Every time I log in there are another 20-30 likes. Thank you all for the votes!

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Deer vs. Car Statistics
The National Highway Safety Administration (NHSA) recently conducted a study concerning the increasing dangers from deer-related vehicle accidents. Deer-related car accidents have consistently risen over the years due to increasing deer populations and destruction of their habitat.

• There are approximately 1.5 million deer-related car accidents annually
• The cost of these accidents results in over $1 billion dollars in vehicle damage
• There are around 175-200 fatalities every year and 10,000 injuries

Now go ahead and compare those statistics against alligator-related incidents.

But this too is an issue with the signs. If there were appropriate signs, there would not be any accidents.

Donna the Deer Lady calls to ask them to move the Deer crossing signs to a safer location.

 

[RustManFan]

Parking lots? Seriously? Being out on the water in one form of boat or another is a refreshing break on a hot day in Florida. And I love it as a mode of transportation!!

 

[anneboleyn]

Um, I'm aware of all of this. My point was that I think perhaps some people are exaggerating the frequency of their actual encounters with this wildlife -- not that it's out there.

I haven't seen any posts that seem like an exaggeration

It's not like people are claiming they saw Bigfoot or something.

 

[disneygolfer1985]

I haven't read all the posts on this thread, so my apologies. The purpose of the water is for drainage. As previously mentioned, Disney World was built on swampy land; thus, the water table is very low. I don't know what the elevation is, but let's just say roughly 100 feet. As a resident of Houston, having an elevation of 100 feet and not having many natural areas to handle water (it rains often in Florida, so the water needs somewhere to go), there would be massive amounts of flooding. There is a correlation to how much concrete to natural areas you need to prevent flooding. Also, Orlando being roughly 2 hours to either coast does not bode well for draining as the slope is very gradual and water will want to stay in one location. Also, destroying the wetlands causes many other issues. Look at Louisiana and what has happened to their wetlands and the higher likelihood of flooding from hurricanes now. Also, someone can correct me but I thought that the wetlands were protected as part of the Audobon Society or they are nationally protected. Humans have not been on this planet for that long, but we don't have the right to destroy animal habitats. We must learn to live with all animals. Sorry for my rant.

 

[JimmyV]

I don't know what the elevation is, but let's just say roughly 100 feet.

The elevation of Kissimmee is half that, at 49 feet. So the flooding problems that you refer to would be even more severe. The OP obviously knows nothing about wetlands management.

 

[BrianL]

I haven't seen any posts that seem like an exaggeration

It's not like people are claiming they saw Bigfoot or something.

I did see a Yeti on WDW property...but it wasn't moving at all.

 

[Kathryn777]

Of course, the deer aren't trying to hurt anybody but the gators are.
I'm not sure why a gator on the loose does not require the same sense of urgency as lion or a bear on the loose.

This is my favorite post in this thread... Bees kill more people than alligators. I'm guessing a lion, on the loose, would likely kill people. just a guess. I've seen many alligators on golf courses here in SC and in FL and somehow lived to tell the tale...

 

[momimouse27]

The way this is going, at this point I wouldn't be suprised if the Florida Gators had to change their name because it might be a trigger.

Yes, the water serves many purposes. An important one being that it is *pretty* and it adds to the overall look and feel of the place. And add to that every other reason anyone else here has stated, etc. We live next to a lake, and last year we found a snake in our backyard. They are not planning on filling in the lake, we just use caution and try to do things that will keep the snakes away.

 

[North of Mouse]

 

[snoopy352]

then a gator hears humans and goes over to find food and finds....a little boy who gets murdered?

"murdered?!?"

 

[mkla2015]

This has to be a joke!

What happened was very tragic and I can't begin to imagine what that family is dealing with BUT no one is at fault here- it was a tragic accident. We are talking about gators in Florida- you CANNOT remove all gators out of water ways around Disney World- it's not possible.

Turn the lakes/lagoons into parking lots?? Seriously??

And, I think there is a huge difference between a lion who escaped a zoo or AK than an alligator in its natural habitat.

 

[Bullseye]

Judge Doom: [Explaining his plan to wipe out Bay Lake & Seven Seas Lagoon] A few weeks ago I had the good providence to stumble upon a plan of the Disney Board of Directors. A construction plan of epic proportions. We're calling it...a parking structure.

Eddie Valiant: Parking Structure? What the hell's a parking structure?

Judge Doom: Eight levels of shimmering cement running from the parking toll booth all the way to the MK entrance. Smooth, safe, spacious. Animal control problems will be a thing of the past.

Eddie Valiant: So that's why you killed all those alligators? For this parking structure? I don't get it.

Judge Doom: Of course not. You lack vision, but I see a place where people enter and leave the parking structure. In and out, in and out all day, all night. Soon, where Bay Lake once stood will be acres of parking lot. Parking spaces for theme parks, stores, resorts, and restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food. Wonderful, wonderful parking spaces reaching as far as the eye can see. My God, it'll be beautiful.

 

[anneboleyn]

I did see a Yeti on WDW property...but it wasn't moving at all.

This is true! And I have also seen TWO Loch Ness monsters on Disney property!

 

[palmtreegirl]

It's Florida. We have a ton of lakes, marshes and water ways. My backyard is sand. The water is here and it has to be managed. Don't want to worry about gators or any other natural wildlife go to Disneyland, it's in the middle of a city.

 

[Mitzicat]

I first attended Disney World around 1985 or 1986. To remind me of what it was like then, I bought a 1986 guidebook online.
One thing I noticed is that back in the early days, they were using the water from their manmade lakes in a lot of ways:
-swimming
-Water skiing and other water sports
-the water was feeding the River Country water park
-the water was being used at the discovery island animal refuge (that closed when the Animal Kingdom opened up)
- and of course there was a lot of people on the beaches.
- the 20.000 Leagues ride used a small manmade lake for its subs.

I just wanted to comment on a two things. 20,000 Leagues was built in a tank that most likely had some type of treated water. The ride was closed in Florida due to the fact that the tank was cracking, the ride was to costly to maintain, and it wasn't a high capacity ride - meaning it didn't allow for a large number of guests to ride per hour. Pirates is about 3600, Haunted Mansion 1600, 20K Leagues sub hold 36 people and the ride was about 13 mins. If they were to run all 12 subs that they had you could push thru 1993 people per hour, but in all the times that I had been there I only saw about 4 to 5 on the track. That's only 828 people - not a big amount of guests. In 1986 yes...but by today's numbers...no way.

River country was closed due to many reasons some being, Florida passed a law that stated public swimming facilities had to be chlorinated and filtered, Typhoon Lagoon was about to be opened (newer, bigger, chlorinated!), and some argue the amoeba that lives in Florida fresh water that can cause major problems for humans.

There was a wave machine in the water over by Poly but that cause beach erosion and I believe the machine rusted. So Disney abandoned that.