Little boy on the bus...by himself

[MinnieTink]

Just wanted to share an experience from our recent (Aug) trip to the World. We stayed at WL and were waiting for the bus. There were about 15 other people in the area, waiting for buses. As we boarded the Epcot bus, a little boy, about 2 years old, got on ahead of us. He boarded the bus at the same time as a few adults, and he was so tiny, you could barely see him. I saw his family behind me...I thought they were getting on too. I sat down, settling in with my bags, stroller, 3 kids, etc. The bus started moving.... Across from us, sat this little guy...all by himself!!! I looked around at the other passengers, and asked if he belonged to any of them. Nope. I notified the bus driver and we turned around and brought him back. (We had only traveled about 50 yards.) But the poor mother! We could see the panic. (The panic was all hers tho. The little boy was totally calm.) The bus driver honked the horn and pulled over, and delivered the little guy to his parents. Whew. Happy Ending.

 

[teresajoy]

Thank goodness YOU were there and noticed what was happening!!! Can you imagine if the bus would have gotten much further away?? That poor mother must have been so scared!

She is so lucky you were on that bus!

 

[disneymarie]

Angels are found everywhere, you have your wings!
Glad to be a forum friend,
dianne

 

[karliebug]

We had a similar situation happen to us a few years ago. We were in line waiting for the bus and 2 buses pulled up because it was so crowded. We got on one bus and somehow our 6 year old got on the second one. Luckily I was able to get her off and get her with us before it took off. It just shows you how easy it is for your kid to get shuffled away in a crowd.

 

[kacaju]

thank goodness you were there for him!

A warning for thoese that are at the MCO airport and you take the monorail that is in the airport.
My 3 kids (ages 13,11 and 7) ran ahead of dh and I and theyjumped on the monorail, well the doors closed and they were off. Thank goodness they are older and were together. I yelled for them to get off at the other side and stay there. We caught up to them within 5-10 minutes, but it was a little scary!

 

[ptmmg]

when we were in the Magic Kingdom in Aug. a person in our group noticed a little girl probably about 2 walking at first it looked like she was with the man in front of her but it became apparrent that she was not with him when he went of in another direction we continued to follow her and told a cm. he immediataly radioed somebody as we continued to follow her . We noticed her in Micky Toon town and we followed her all the way over to future world she was a fast walker. at what was probably about 10 minutes they found the poor mom you could see the relief in her face as she ran toward her DD. She could not believe she had made it that far!

 

[noahdove]

I agree with Disneymaria..you are an angel on earth Thank you for stepping out to help someone, especially a little cherub.
Blesssings to you

 

[dijid]

I'm so glad you noticed! We had a similar situation many years ago. There was a huge crowd waiting for the monorail at the MK. When the doors opened, our 2yo ran in between legs and jumped right on. We were still working our way to the train when we noticed he wasn't with us. While I was frantically screaming to the CMs not to let the monorail go, a woman came walking over with DS. She had noticed him getting on without parents and took him straight to a CM. It is amazing how quickly these things happen.

 

[MindyLuvsMickey]

Oh, goodness! That is so scary! I know that I would have freaked out if my little guy would have done something like that.

Yikes!!

So glad that you noticed!

 

[fan_of_small_world]

And my kids always wonder why DH and I have the "death grip" on their hands in crowds. It's soooooo easy to get separated!

It's wonderful that you noticed what was going on and help that little one!

 

[dreamn_Disney]

You are a true angel. We saw something like this in Aug at SSR. We were on a very crowded bus one of the families was huge(number of people). The bus started to move and a lady yelled stop wait. She then said I think that little boy out there is alone. Next you see a man get off the bus and back on with the crying little boy. I am sure everyone thought someone else had him. I hate to think what would have happened if she had not noticed. This was at the stop by the main pool. Cars go so fast down that street at times and the pool is also so close. There is also a pond right behind the stop. That lady was an angel and I don't even know if the embarrassed parents even thanked her.

 

[mytwinklestar]

I could get flamed for this but oh well... this is exactly why people use children's "leashes". I used one in TN when we were in the mountains with our young child. I didn't care what people mumbled under their breath or the negative looks we got. This was a number of years ago and the one that we had was wrist to wrist. Now they make these with a backpack animal that are really cute. I support every parent who uses these. It is about safety. Period. Same goes for those who choose not to use a booster seat. My son used a booster seat until he out-sized it. I got many a stupid comment about him being "too big" and people scoffing that their kids didn't "need a booster anymore." Well, I don't want to have to tell a paramedic that I "thought" my child no longer needed a child restraint. Long story but I have reason to know the importance. Thankfully you were there to stop the bus driver and avoid further possible trauma for this family. Tragedy happens in a split second. Bless you for being the angel you are!

 

[MartDM]

I could get flamed for this but oh well... this is exactly why people use children's "leashes"...I support every parent who uses these. It is about safety. Period.

Well said!

 

[T16GEM]

I could get flamed for this but oh well... this is exactly why people use children's "leashes"...I support every parent who uses these. It is about safety. Period.

Well said!

Yup! I totally agree with you, my dd is 23 months and she is always on a "leash" but I don't see it like that, like you say it's about safety. I would much rather she was safe with me than running round getting on buses without us!

Well done on noticing the little one was on his own, I would have been freaking!

 

[nessz79]

And my kids always wonder why DH and I have the "death grip" on their hands in crowds. It's soooooo easy to get separated!

It's wonderful that you noticed what was going on and help that little one!

Us, too! We tell our 3 year old DS (who has that wandering tendency) that we either hold his hand or we pick him up. He usually agrees to holding our hands . Of course, this doesn't count being in the Disney stroller!

 

[emma'smom]

We observed this in August. We saw a family with about 6 kids leave a ride in Tomorrow Land and head over toward Fantasy Land. After they were gone, a little girl who looked about 3 who was wearing the same clothing (they all were wearing the same clothing which is why they stood out in the first place) was still wandering around. I did go up to her and say "Where's your mommy?" and she just smiled and shook her head. She didn't seem upset. So, I stood by her while my DH found a CM and we passed her on to the CM who took her over to a bench to talk to her. We did linger a bit a few yards away to see if a parent might come back. No one did and the CM began making calls. We saw the same family later than day still wanderng in a pack. I didn't see the girl with them, then. However, there were so many kids that they might have been somewhere else, too.

 

[Joanna71985]

I have had this happen to me several times over my 3 CPs (lost kids) but I have one that really sticks out. It was during my first CP, and I was working in Fantasyland. A lady came up to me and told me this litle girl had just been hanging around the front of the Snow White ride, climbing on the rails, all by herself. I went over, and she was about 2. She also had no shoes on. I kept her with me while a cordinator looked for her family. After about 10 minutes, her family was located. Apparently they had been at Ariel's Grotto and she had slipped away (hence the no shoes). They also had about 4-5 other kids with them, so it must have not been to hard for her to get away.

 

[traviesojmt]

thank goodness you were there for him!

A warning for thoese that are at the MCO airport and you take the monorail that is in the airport.
My 3 kids (ages 13,11 and 7) ran ahead of dh and I and theyjumped on the monorail, well the doors closed and they were off. Thank goodness they are older and were together. I yelled for them to get off at the other side and stay there. We caught up to them within 5-10 minutes, but it was a little scary!

We witnessed something sort of similar about 10 years ago at the airport in Frankfort, Germany. When we got to the monorail that takes you between stations, we noticed a man pacing back and forth and beating on the closed doors. He was cursing and yelling very loudly. We thought that he was going crazy. As it turns out, he was traveling with two young children (one was in a carrier seat and one about 3). He had put his children on the train and turned to grab his luggage and the door closed. I am sure that for him it took forever for the train to come back. Very luckily, his children were on the train when it returned. I would have been in a complete panic.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

As a parent I can just imagine the terror. I'm a finder of lost children myself. I found one in Ellen's Energy Adventure -- in the preshow. This little girl (about 3) was twirling around like she was looking for someone. I asked her if she was okay and she told me she couldn't find her mommy. Another woman came over also concerned. She staying in one spot while I took the little girl to find a CM. Then the dad appeared. The family decided to not stay for the show and slipped out the side exit. They were a big group and they didnt realize right away that their daughter was missing.

 

[Phlpsfamily01]

This is why I bought the backpack 'leash' for our 2 year old and the bear 'beeper' for our 4 1/2 year old. I am so scared to lose one of them it only take a split second even when keeping an eye on the constantly (happened at the mall years ago with out 4 1/2 year old) My husband thinks I am a little nuts about the backpack leash but I don't care what anyone thinks including him...I read this story to him and said "i told you so"!