Joining Pete's Campaign on NO SWIMMING!!

[FireDancer]

I wonder how Disney holds triathlons in their lakes if they know of these problems. The Athletes for a Cure Triathlon is at Fort Wilderness Campground in September and the swim is most likely in Bay Lake.

 

[LilGMom]

Heck, I don't even like swimming in the Gulf if I can't see the bottom. Rivers around my part of FL, like Blackwater River, I will not swim in because, well, the water is black and there is no telling who or what you are swimming with.

I think some of the resorts have not only signs but floating ropes just a few feet off the shore, I know WL does.

 

[luna99]

I think some of the resorts have not only signs but floating ropes just a few feet off the shore, I know WL does.

I could be totally off base about this.. but wouldn't some people think the floating ropes might be a sign that it's OK to swim in the more shallow areas and that disney is roping it off in order to say "don't go past this certain part"?

I just am thinking about our trip to Aruba and how they had an area roped off that we could not go past when swimming in the ocean... granted, it was a lot further away than a few feet from the shore.

 

[LilGMom]

I could be totally off base about this.. but wouldn't some people think the floating ropes might be a sign that it's OK to swim in the more shallow areas and that disney is roping it off in order to say "don't go past this certain part"?

People might think that but at WL the ropes are maybe 3-5 feet from the shoreline and there are still signs about not swimming in the area. People will see the signs, see the ropes and still do what they want regardless because some people tend to think those warnings don't apply to them because they are 'special'. Kinda like people stepping over barriers to stand near a lion enclosure at the zoo, sticking their fingers in the enclosure and then wonder why they got attacked.

 

[Minnie Lor]

So tell me, how do you respond when you see someone doing something dangerous. Do you turn the other way? Mubble real loud under your breath about people being morons that can't read or do you point out the error of their ways? I've always been curious how others react. I feel like I should mind my own business but I can't help saying something.

What do you do?

 

[luna99]

So tell me, how do you respond when you see someone doing something dangerous

this is a great question because DH and I had an incident like this happen this weekend. We were hiking around some waterfalls and there was a woman with her infant baby posing for a picture on a bridge over a BIG drop that lead to a gorge.... the woman thought it would be a cute idea to sit her baby on the edge of the bridge, hold the hands of the baby, and then crouch down behind the wall of the bridge so her husband could take a picture and it would look like the baby was sitting alone on the bridge. Ummm...what?!?

I didn't say anything.. but come on! all it would have taken was a small slip and if she let go of the baby's tiny hands... it would have fallen down into the gorge! It was literally the scariest thing I had seen in a long time..but what could I do? She more than likely would get angry at me for telling her what to do with her child... and it's not like the baby actually fell... but still! DH and I walked away and before I could say a word to him he said "never do something like that with our child". lol.

 

[FireDancer]

Based on the new signs I’ve seen around the Disney Lakes it would appear that they are finally getting pro-active about the problem:

 

[tlbwriter]

does anyone know... are the signs well posted? like all over the place? where there is no excuse for anyone.. or is there like one or two signs that could be easily not seen? (I'm guessing Disney would have them plastered everywhere!) I've never been out to the lake by the Poly.

I don't remember seeing signs at all when we stayed at the GF. And if I saw signs that said "no swimming," I would have assumed they meant exactly that - no swimming. As in, "don't go swimming or you'll get eaten by an alligator or a boat will run over you." I would have assumed wading along the beach was safe - in fact, I did assume just that, and let my daughter do it (cringing over that now, of course). If the water itself is unsafe, the signs need to say more than "no swimming." They need to say "stay out of the water."

 

[Kaler131]

Great sign Firedancer!

 

[disneyholic family]

I wonder how Disney holds triathlons in their lakes if they know of these problems. The Athletes for a Cure Triathlon is at Fort Wilderness Campground in September and the swim is most likely in Bay Lake.

i posted a question earlier in this post about the triathlon..
a friend of mine asked if i would participate in the triathlon with her...
when she mentioned triathlon, the thought of amoebas immediately popped into my head...i couldn't imagine they swim in the lake...do they????
if so, i'm definitely not joining in the "fun"

 

[lady danger]

Even before Pete explained the dangers of swimming in Florida lakes, I was surprised anyone wanted to swim in the ones at Disney. I've always thought they looked pretty gross (at least where it's shallow). I grew up swimming in lakes so I'm not normally opposed to it, but they didn't look inviting to me at all!

 

[mommyceratops]

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa272/kdreino/Pete-shirt.jpg

 

[Justish]

I knew there was a reason why I wear this nose plug besides the
fabulous fashion statement it makes...

(It's GREEN! ^_^)

Not that I'd EVER swim in bay lake... but you never know what could be in
tha water! don't want my nosey getting ickified! *shudders*

~Ally

 

[pwdebbie]

In the pictures, the people are not swimming, they are wading. Two different things. Perhaps the signs should say No Swimming or Wading.

Deb
POFQ, Oct. 2007

 

[MenashaCorp]

In the pictures, the people are not swimming, they are wading. Two different things. Perhaps the signs should say No Swimming or Wading.

Deb
POFQ, Oct. 2007

Two Diseases... No Wading

 

[Tissa]

i friend of mine wants me to participate in the triathlon (swimming, biking, running)..
does anyone know where the swimming portion of the race is held?

when she told me there's a triathlon at WDW, my first thought was amoebas....

They do swim in the lake. I found this on a blog.

I was happy to be in the first wave and get going first thing. I wore a noseclip for the first time in a triathlon swim since there was some possibility of toxic amoebas in the 84-degree water. It was also my first non-wetsuit swim in a triathlon.

 

[Jennygt]

I also saw small kids in the water at the poly last year and I was afraid something was going to happen to them. I was just watching the planning dvd tonight the "just for kids section" and they show the kids IN bay lake water ski, tubing. I was surprised that they let the kids in the water like that for all of the reasons that Pete said. I think that better signs are needed. I have seen threads of all the photos of "wildlife" in the water around wdw

 

[VonBaroketch]

As a native Floridian growing up in the water skiing capital of the world, I have seen too many gators and water moccasins to ever step into a Florida lake (granted, I do have an irrational fear of snakes - I blame Sunday School). I remember as a child living across the street from a lake when we would find gators in our yard. I was at the Polynesian tonight watching the fireworks, and even after dark there were still kids playing in the lake water on the beach between the Poly and the wedding chapel. It just looked like a bad situation waiting to happen.

 

[disneyholic family]

They do swim in the lake. I found this on a blog.

thanks for posting...

that's truly disgusting.......why would i want to compete in a triathlon that could make me sick?

do noseclips prevent you from catching the amoebas?

 

[Cool-Beans]

I waded many times at the Poly and never even thought about alligators. The closest I ever came was the movie.

A (former) DISer told me I was being an idiot and should always remember that in Florida...where there is water, there could be alligators. Then I stopped.

They should put pictures of alligators crawling out of water on those signs. But there is the argument that if you're as dumb as I was, you deserve to get eaten by an alligator.