keeping 6yr old safe

[mermaidlagoon]

I really really am not trying to scare anyone , but this is NOT true at Disneyland Park , especially at Fantasyland . You will need to have a current pix of child and be able to identify their shoes in detail. The plainclothes men , CMs and what I call "trench coat FBI men with walkie-talkies at the exit have a job to do, and do it well , Lots of kids cry at the end of the day , say they dont want to go ...or looked "drugged " with exhaustion. I do consider WDW without a doubt , one of the safest places to vacation with your family . Go prepared , plan ahead as much as possible, and practice holding hands before you go , maybe even dress in same family loud colors.I guess TRY not to be too distracted, and teach child (AND HUSBANDS WHO ARE THE WORST) to reply when you call their name. You will spend more time looking for husband ,than kids, : so t rain him too before you go.

 

[michvin]

Have you thought about getting inexpensive walkie talkies? You could keep in in a hip pouch on your child and keep one on you. Always have them on..if he gets out of site, just ask "hey, I don't see you...where are you"...they are easy to operate and they could just tell you where they are.

 

[Senske]

Look into purchasing a Motorola Talkabout two-way radio (or something similar). They're easy enough for a 6-year-old to use. In fact my 4-year-old can effectively use one. Just be sure to practice with them ahead of time. Kid's love walkie-talkies so yours will probably think it's really cool.

 

[DawnaJean]

----I second the whistle idea. My 10 year old DD wore a whistle around her neck when we went to the parks and it made her feel as though she had a way to get my attention if she couldn't find me....or get everyone's attention if she was in danger. While she didn't have to use it, she did feel "safer" just having it available.
----Walkie talkies are a great idea - practice at home before you leave and make sure you bring extra batteries from home...too expensive at Disney!
----Always have a very recent picture of the child with you at all times with detail of the clothing for the day as other posters have mentioned. I've heard that some parents even have a polaroid picture taken in the morning before the parks so that it will show the current outfit....it is so hard to remember things like shirt/shoes when we are stressed!
----Put an ID on the child with your name, cell phone number, hotel contact information - whether on a bracelet, necklace, luggage tag on belt loop, etc.
----I told my DDs when they were 3 - 5 to either go up to a CM with a badge or at a store and tell them mom is lost OR if you can't see a Disney CM go up to a woman with children and tell her your mom is lost.
----One thing that we didn't do for safety, but it turned out to really grab our attention was make the whole family tie-dyed shirts. My DD 10 and I made ours and ones for DH, DD 11 and DS 2 1/2. The patterns were bright and very different so we could recognize each other very quickly in a crowd. Either this idea or possibly buying everyone the same color T-shirt for the same day may work very well.

Have a great trip!
Dawna

 

[NotUrsula]

I really really am not trying to scare anyone , but this is NOT true at Disneyland Park , especially at Fantasyland . You will need to have a current pix of child and be able to identify their shoes in detail.

I don't find it perfectly clear what you are trying to say here, but the reference to identifying the shoes makes me think that you might be implying that children HAVE been abducted [by strangers] from the Disneyland Park, as opposed to WDW. If so, I have to point out that just isn't true; there has never been a reported-to-law-enforcement stranger-abduction of a child from ANY Disney theme park. http://www.snopes.com/disney/parks/parks.asp#kidnap (the link to the debunking of the kidnap stories is near the bottom of the page).

There *have* been abductions connected with visits to Disneyland [and Disney World, too] but with one exception, every one that I have ever been able to find documentation for in a legitimate news source involved a custody case, where a non-custodial parent got a visitation extension for a Disney trip that turned out to be a way of getting extra time to snatch the child. The only "stranger" situation I've been able to verify was a case where a molester lured a 16 yo runaway TO Disneyland in order to gain his trust.

 

[tlbwriter]

I've heard that some parents even have a polaroid picture taken in the morning before the parks so that it will show the current outfit....it is so hard to remember things like shirt/shoes when we are stressed!

You could also do this with your digital camera or camera phone.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

crisi -- our nametags were gold for the 50th celbration. My sister's are red. I think you could pick from a lot of colors.

My suggestion - take a picture on your digital camera of your child EVERY SINGLE MORNING before you leave. This way, you always have a current picture of them and all their clothes -- if you get in that situation, you won't have to remember what they were wearing. Better yet, have someone at the hotel take a picture of your whole family TOGETHER!

 

[kristen17]

My six-year-old would be mortified by a harness. But that's my six-year-old. You're the mama--you get to decide.

I think the whistle idea is terrific.

 

[crisi]

crisi -- our nametags were gold for the 50th celbration. My sister's are red. I think you could pick from a lot of colors.

My suggestion - take a picture on your digital camera of your child EVERY SINGLE MORNING before you leave. This way, you always have a current picture of them and all their clothes -- if you get in that situation, you won't have to remember what they were wearing. Better yet, have someone at the hotel take a picture of your whole family TOGETHER!

Cast members are white. Last reported, only CMs had white nametags and you couldn't buy white GOH badges.

 

[mermaidlagoon]

Have you thought about getting inexpensive walkie talkies? You could keep in in a hip pouch on your child and keep one on you. Always have them on..if he gets out of site, just ask "hey, I don't see you...where are you"...they are easy to operate and they could just tell you where they are.

Ya hoo, I got em ,and we are having fun practing at our house , upstairs and down!!! I got a package that had 4 in it for $32., but it should be less on the mainland. It was at that store called ( something shack) I don't know if Im supposed to say , but they are by motorola.

 

[lamb1022]

Some good advice that I heard once was to teach your children (say 6 and up) is that if someone does grab them or tries to, start shouting as loud as possible "You're not my Mommy" (or Daddy, as the case may be). This is bound to attract attention. Another bit of advice i've heard from police officers is to tell the child who becomes separated to find another Mommy (look for a women with children) and tell her that they're lost and need help. I've never had my children get lost or separated from me, thank heaven. I pray I never experience that...

 

[Loriannf]

The "beepers" are available both at Leaps and Bounds and One Step Ahead; I've also seen them at Babies R Us. Just be sure to put the "beeping" half of the pair on your CHILD. The instructions say keep the receiver with you, but that's the one that beeps. You want to be able to find your child, not have everyone wondering why you're beeping. I think I paid about $30 for mine, and that's clearly worth it for my piece of mind. My 3.5 year old DD also has a tag with my cell number and her first name on it that she wears on a necklace around her neck. She also knows that if Mommy is lost, she should find another mommy with kids and ask for help finding her lost mommy.

Lori

 

[Sinderelli]

We went to WDW in 2003. As we were leaving MGM at closing time, we walked into one of the stores close to the exit. DH thought I had my son and I thought he had him. Needless to say, we could not find DS4. It was the worst feeling I have ever experienced. There was a man standing at the register and he overheard me telling the CM that I could not find my son. This man left his purchases and took his teenage son up and down the street, calling my son's name. We did not find my son until 35 MINUTES later. He was standing by the bathrooms, holding a lady's hand. She was comforting him because he was crying. Thank God there are such Good Samaritans out there! I was disappointed with Disney's response to this event, however. I wanted to know if they were watching the exit to make sure someone did not walk out with my son and they told me they could not be sure to watch every person that exited. It just seems like this is the first place they should dispatch, especially considering how close we were to the exit. Thankfully, this ended happily although I am definitely going to look into the alarms for our next trip in 2006. DS will be 6 but he is still a wanderer!

 

[all4fun]

Here is an article on Mouseplanet.com which describes Disney's procedures on how they deal with lost children: Click Here

One thing it does say is to immediatly ask for help from a CM once you realize your child is lost. They have a very efficient system ( I have not experienced it myself thank goodness, but have seen it in action) and you will probably be reunitied faster this way.

As pp have said CMs have WHITE BADGES and it's a good idea to make sure your kids know this as well. If it is colored it is a guest of honor badge. I wear one of those and people often mistake me for a cm. I don't mind answering questions though.

hth!

 

[Sinderelli]

I read the article regarding lost children and in my son's case some of those steps were not taken. I was only asked for a description of my son by the cashier. As I was frantically running around I saw 2 security guards (I guess so-they had radios). They were standing together and talking. I was so scared at this point that I went up to them and asked them if they were helping to look for my son. I probably sounded rude but by this time I was terrified. They told me yes, they put a call out about him. I then asked them if someone was watching the exit to make sure he did not leave. I did not feel this was an unreasonable request- I was thinking if he were abducted the person would try to leave with him. They told me they would not know if someone were to leave with him. This does not sound like any policy I read in the Disney books. Luckily our situation had a happy ending. From what I've read and heard, Disney has a good policy on dealing with lost children. However, what I experienced was totally different.

 

[tlbwriter]

We did not find my son until 35 MINUTES later. He was standing by the bathrooms, holding a lady's hand. She was comforting him because he was crying. Thank God there are such Good Samaritans out there!

This is why you should teach your children to look for a "mom" when they get separated from you. A woman, especially a mother, will usually take care of that child until the parents are found. Of course, in WDW it would be good to look for a CM, but since looking for a mom works in or out of WDW, it's easier for little ones to remember.

 

[NoWorriesMate]

if you do want to use a harness but don't want it to be babyish perhaps you and your daughter can make one together out of bright ribbon etc and tie it aroung your wrists. she could decorate it as she likes and make it fun rather than like a leash.

 

[PrincessCyann]

I lost my son for a couple of minutes at a small local amusement park when he was about 7 so I understand completely the looking into a harness. We were with friends and one assured me that there was only one way in and one way out of a little play area. Well, there wasn't, and ds took the exit in back thinking I would be there waiting for him. I was absolutely terrified when I didn't see him, and panicked. I found him a few minutes later as he was working his way back to the play area entrance looking for me. He was scared, I was terrified! A few minutes can seem like forever, and in this day in age, you can't be too careful. If your child is comfortable with a harness, I'd go for it. My son just turned 9, and I still hold his hand (not non-stop, but esp. when there is even a slight crowd).

 

[crisi]

Sinderelli, I'm wondering where you heard or read it was SOP to watch the exits? I'd heard what you were told, they don't watch the exits because too many "blonde four year old boys, about 38" tall, wearing a red tshirt and blue shorts" walk through the gates. Disney doesn't have "probable cause" to hold and talk to each parent with one of those kids, so watching doesn't do anything. And because the risks of abduction are really slim (its never happened from a Disney park) while the chances that the child will be found within a few hundred feet are really high.

(Not to mention that when the kid is found, the t shirt turns out to be blue because Mom forgot, in her panic, exactly what the child was wearing).

 

[Anjiebaby]

In March I lost my DS 5 in World of Disney at DD. He was lost for 15 minutes and I was freaking out, trying not to cry and I felt sick in the pit of my stomach. I felt very guilty because I allowed him to stand in the middle hub of the store watching the movies with a promise he would not move from that spot. I checked on him every 5 minutes. He was gone after the second check.

I approached the Information desk right away after I ran around the immediate area calling his name. I gave her a full description and she put out a call to all the CM's and told me to wait there for him. As I waited it just didn't seem like anyone was doing anything and I couldn't just stand there imagining him being led out a door. I started running to all the doors and all the seperate rooms of the store calling his name. My large bags from Once upon a toy were getting in my way so I stashed them under a table.

I searched every room with things that he might be interested in and ran around the outside of the building while running back to the information desk every 2 minutes to see if they had found him. It was finally me who found him standing in the back of the jewellery/pin room looking at $400 Glass Disney figurines. Definetly the last place I would have looked. When I found him with tears running down my face he said "Hi mom, aren't these pretty?" I almost lost it but was just so happy he was safe. I told him I couldn't find him and everyone was searching for him and asked him why he hadn't gone to a CM. He didn't realize he was lost. He was just looking around while waiting for me.

I was so upset and he was so blase and I couldn't make him understand how mommy thought he was gone and was afraid I wasn't going to see him again. I took a deep breath and went to get my bags from under the table where I had left them and they weren't there. I had lost them now too. Suddenly my son was very upset and said I feel like crying because my Power Ranger Megazord is lost. I explained that was how I felt when he was lost.

We sheepishly went to the info desk and said "now my bags are lost", I had to describe them too and they pulled them out from the back. My son was very relieved I was just embarasssed. Unfortunately that will be burned in as one of my strongest disney memories from that trip.

Curiously the only memory of the trip I took with my mom & sis at 17 is sitting in some stands to watch some sort of show in either tomorrowland or Epcot and leaving my purse on the seat and when we came back it was gone. I lost my purse and my mom made me feel very guilty that I was careless. Imagine how careless I felt losing my son

We finished our shopping with him glued to my side we kept passing CM's and shoppers who were calling him by name and saying to me oh good you found him. I guess with his description 4ft tall, red hair, green stripe shirt, red sunglasses he was recognizable. When they put out the alert on the walkie talkies everyone standing near a CM heard it too. Probably if he hadn't been in a back corner he would have been found sooner.

My advice always hold hands when you are moving in crowded areas like off the monorail or out of shows, make sure to tell them to find a CM if they are separated from you not if they are lost they don't think they are lost if they are looking at something interesting. He had a card with all our info on it but didn't use it because he didn't realize he was lost. I think if it happened again I would be less self consious and create more of a spectacle. If I had stood at the entrance to each section and yelled his name (there's only 9 or 12 sections) I would have found him faster.

I still wouldn't leash him though, he would hate it and he does hold my hand when asked. I think we would mow so many people down in the crowds with our leash it would be too hard to manage.