Losing Your Children

[Feralpeg]

DD and I went to Epcot tonight for a stroll and dinner. While walking around World Showcase, we saw several incidents with parents losing or almost losing their children. One woman was frantically looking for her child near France. We heard her tell the CM that she was just caught up in things and didn't notice her child slipping away. Fortunately, a few minutes later, the little girl (about 7) was found.

Then, we were over near Mexico. Parents were screaming the name of someone. From the looks on their faces, I'm sure it was a child. It was very crowded and starting to get dark. I don't know what happened on that one because we kept walking.

By the time we started for the parking lot, it was dark. I noticed a little girl who looked to be about 5 or 6 playing with one of those traffic cones. I thought it odd, because there was no one around her. I looked ahead and noticed four adults walking toward the parking lot. There were probably 100 ft or more in front of us. I was just about to yell to them when the little girl noticed me looking at her and took off running toward the adults. She caught up with them. Not one of those four adults had a clue that she hadn't been with them all along.

People, please watch your children. It is a big, crowded place and it is easy for them to slip away. It usually turns out okay, but how scary for you and for the child.

I don't mean this to start anything, but it bothered me to see this happening.

 

[HaleyB]

Bothes me too. I am always reminding my DH to walk behind the children (they think they are too big to hold hands). I never let them trail behind me, it drives me nuts to see that.

I am always glad to know Disney has lots of security, both visable and plain clothes, and that they are really good with the children of 'lost parents'.

 

[TnTsParty]

It happened to me and my sister last October at MK in the dark. We had just gotten off the train in Adventureland and were making our way to get Fastpasses for Big Thunder and my sister turns around and my 7 (at the time) year old niece isn't right there. My sis went one way I went the other - she found a CM - I walked back toward the train station and in a clearing there was my niece - poor thing was so scared she ran to me and hugged me. My sis and the CM cought up with us and everything was fine. Total time missing 2-3 minutes - but it felt like an eternity!! She didn't let go of our hand the rest of the night - and she never liked to hold your hand before!! She kept saying over and over she never wanted that to happen again. It can happen in an instant - and even though she isn't my child I was majorly paniking. And there are people I have seen that are way lax on watching their children.

 

[KangarooRat]

We will be going to WDW for Christmas vacation to meet our grandchildren there. They are teenagers, but my wife is visually impaired.

Will she be able to enjoy the day? or should she just stay at the hotel.

She cannot see at a distance much at all. Just shapes.

 

[S. C.]

During the night time and/or in crowds i made 8 yr old GS hold my hand.

While we were waiting in line to do the robot race at epcot a little girl about 2 yrs old started to wander off. Her parents were standing in the front. By the time i had said to them excuse me your little girl is leaving she was almost in the isle way. All of this happen with in a matter of seconds.

Kids are so fast. I remember when oldest GS now 12 was about 6 yrs old and we were at a small theme park in our state. We were all waiting in a ride line and GS pointed & said he wanted to ride the other ride over there. when we turned around he was gone, He had ran over and got into the other ride line. he was missing all of a half of a minute & yes it felt like forever to us.

 

[kbkids]

We lost our 3 yr old briefly at DTD. Totally scared me to death!! I was taking a picture of him by Buzz at the toy store. Snapped the picture, looked down at the digital display to make sure it came out okay, looked up and he was gone!! Four adults sitting there, and not one of us saw him walk away. First instinct - he's a kid, he went in the toy store. I ran in, told the first clerk I saw that he was lost, they called security. Turned out, he had for some unknown reason taken off in the direction we had came from. He was about three stores down. Another guest had seen him walking by himself and signaled for a security officer to come over. About the time my Dad spotted him - all four of us had went in all different directions to try to find him - the security officer got the alert over his walkie-talkie. Couldn't have been more than 2 or 3 minutes, but seems like an eternity. I don't think he ever realized he was even lost.

 

[jjarman]

It is absolutely the worst feeling I have ever felt losing DS. We are lucky because he didn't mind holding hands but once at Gulf Shores he wanted to go "just around the corner of the building" where we were waiting to eat. We had been that way before. It was literally 10 feet total distance around the corner to the rail where other kids were watching the turtles and fish. I followed him not 2 minutes later and he was gone. He was about 5 at the time. It took us about 10 minutes to find him and I was so close to panic. I knew if I panicked I would not be any use. DH and I still shudder at the thought of that trip.

 

[ChickieToo]

I sent you a pm or private message regarding your questions.

Thanks

 

[DISUNC]

UGH! This gets me crazy! I see this too, when I am sitting o a bench taking breaks. Adults walking w/o a care in the world and you see their kids walk the other way. I always notice this and call the parents. I always think it must be nice to have such a clear head.

Anyhow, these things DO happen. I always tell my kids NO MATTER WHERE we are or where we go. I assign a predetermined meeting spot or person to go to. In WDW they know to go to a CM if we get lost from each other. The only problem with this is that the kids never realises THEY are lost!

 

[DISUNC]

We will be going to WDW for Christmas vacation to meet our grandchildren there. They are teenagers, but my wife is visually impaired.

Will she be able to enjoy the day? or should she just stay at the hotel.

She cannot see at a distance much at all. Just shapes.

She will be with her grandchildren during Christmas....SHE WILL ENJOY immensely!

I can be of no help to you with this, however may I suggest the Disability boards here on the Disboards! They can help you with any of your needs. Here is the link!

http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20

Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[WDW1st-timers]

Were going in September and my girls will be right beside me or my husband. My girls are my life and love them to death and I would never forgive myself if I didn't keep an eye on my kids when I know that "Kids are Kids" and things are bound to happen, but I'll try my hardest to make sure nothing does happen.

 

[new mom11]

We lost our 3 yr old briefly at DTD. Totally scared me to death!! I was taking a picture of him by Buzz at the toy store. Snapped the picture, looked down at the digital display to make sure it came out okay,...

I know how you feel..My 2 1/2 yo DS...I let him go up the slide in Legoland in DTD while my husband went to get ice cream. I swear I did not take my eyes off the slide for a second. After a few minutes he was not coming out. At just about that time, my DH came back and started "flipping out" on how I could ever let him go up there by himself. We thought maybe the bigger kids were just pushing ahead of him. Although, there's only one way up and one way down, you cannot really see the top. (It's sort of enclosed). I was on the slide ready to climb up to check when my DH saw him walking back around to go for another round. Be careful, everyone!! Don't make my mistake.
Also, just as a side note, I wish there was only one opening/entrance to Legoland. Don't get me wrong, I realize that no one but the parents are responsible for watching their child, it would just be a nice feature. I will never let my son play there again unless I am at one opening and my husband the other.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I lost my daughter for a very long 3 or 4 minutes at Epcot last October. In 10 years of parenting it was the first time that it happened. One thing that helped me find her pretty quickly was a plan we had come up with before our trip, knowing this could happen. If either one of my kids suddenly realizes they are lost they stay where they are! Look for a castmember as close by as possible or a mommy if no cm is right there. I told them both that if they started wandering around looking for me we could get separated even further. I knew they would be upset if this were to happen and at their ages of 10 and 8 maybe not able to logically think or even know where we had been heading and to keep heading that way. It helped immensely. DD stopped where she was saw a mommy and a cm and told them she was lost and that she needed to stay put so her mom could backtrack and find her! It was a terrible feeling and I hope it never happens again.

 

[kbkids]

We lost our 3 yr old briefly at DTD. Totally scared me to death!! I was taking a picture of him by Buzz at the toy store. Snapped the picture, looked down at the digital display to make sure it came out okay, looked up and he was gone!! Four adults sitting there, and not one of us saw him walk away. First instinct - he's a kid, he went in the toy store. I ran in, told the first clerk I saw that he was lost, they called security. Turned out, he had for some unknown reason taken off in the direction we had came from. He was about three stores down. Another guest had seen him walking by himself and signaled for a security officer to come over. About the time my Dad spotted him - all four of us had went in all different directions to try to find him - the security officer got the alert over his walkie-talkie. Couldn't have been more than 2 or 3 minutes, but seems like an eternity. I don't think he ever realized he was even lost.

I'll never forget that feeling! Felt like my heart was being ripped out!

But something else about that story that I always think about whenever I tell it is what happened right after. It was starting to get dark, and we just all decided after then that it was time to go back to the resort. I had already cried off all my makeup. My DD - then 6 - was totally freaked out because she thought someone had taken her baby brother. DS, well, wasn't quite sure what all the commotion was about.

Anyway, we get on the boat to head back to POFQ. I don't know if this couple saw what happened or was just hearing us talk about it. It was me, DH, and my parents. All of us were on the boat talking about the incident, I guess trying to rationalize how it happened. Anyway, I just glanced up at this couple, and you could tell they were listening to our conversation. The woman kinda tried to smile when she caught my eye. The husband kept rubbing her arm, almost like trying to comfort her. Everytime I glanced back at them, they were very quiet, never said a word to each other - I don't know, it was just kinda obvious that our conversation was upsetting the woman. I have always wondered if she had lost a child and didn't have a happy outcome.

 

[penchris]

I am scared to death of losing DS6, because he wanders off wherever his interest takes him. This will be the first year I am taking him to a amusement park without the hand-holder (he takes it off himself now). I actually was wondering how practical one of those electronic laptop "low-jack" devices are that alert when the transmitter and receiver are more than so many feet apart...and if it would work attached to a kid?

 

[penchris]

I am scared to death of losing DS6, because he wanders off wherever his interest takes him. This will be the first year I am taking him to a amusement park without the hand-holder (he takes it off himself now). I actually was wondering how practical one of those electronic laptop "low-jack" devices are that alert when the transmitter and receiver are more than so many feet apart...and if it would work attached to a kid?

In response to my own query.... there is such a product made just for kids called Child Guard. I orderd one and am going to test it out at the mall before we go. A link for the product description is http://www.tbotech.com/child-guard.htm

I was able to find it for about 30% less (for $14) from an Ebay retailer though.

There are also even more hi-tech kid tracking systems involving GPS, but they are around $200.

If this works half-way decent, I will pair it with a whistle to wear around his neck. If anyone goes in August and is standing between a frantic lady with a 120db alarm going off, and a child blowing a coach whistle....you will know its me....LOL.

 

[jiminyfan]

On every trip since my son was 15 months old, we made him an id card to put on his pin lanyard. It is very simple one side is his photo, name, our names and cell phone numbers. The reverse side is puctures of us. He has been instructed to go to the nearest cast member if we/he are lost and tell them to call our numbers and that only we can get him. WE also carry id cards of just the front portion of the card to give out in case of a situation.

We have gotten many "thumbs up" from characters and cast members on the id card. It is one way to make a bad situation just a little easier. We have him wear a lanyard and id anywhere where we may get separated.

It can also be used for elderly parents, my father was lost for some time at EPCOT as he became disorientated. He could not remember any of our cell phones, bt handed the card to the security officer and we were called to go get him.

Just an idea we wanted to share with everyone.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

that drives me nuts too. the one time i noticed a family, from out of the country, and the father was "walking" the 2 strollers but the one stroller he had behind him and he was pulling it. i was just thinking "how easy is it for him to unbuckle himself and take off and no one would notice?"

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

On every trip since my son was 15 months old, we made him an id card to put on his pin lanyard. It is very simple one side is his photo, name, our names and cell phone numbers. The reverse side is puctures of us. He has been instructed to go to the nearest cast member if we/he are lost and tell them to call our numbers and that only we can get him. WE also carry id cards of just the front portion of the card to give out in case of a situation.

We have gotten many "thumbs up" from characters and cast members on the id card. It is one way to make a bad situation just a little easier. We have him wear a lanyard and id anywhere where we may get separated.

It can also be used for elderly parents, my father was lost for some time at EPCOT as he became disorientated. He could not remember any of our cell phones, bt handed the card to the security officer and we were called to go get him.

Just an idea we wanted to share with everyone.

that's a really good idea!!!!!

 

[PatsGirl]

While I understand that toddlers are too young to understand the "rules" and I tried to keep mine in strollers, by the hand, or with "wristthingies", once kids are 4 or so they should be told not to wander for ANY reason and should be properly disciplined when they do. One time of sitting out of a favorite ride should take care of that problem once and for all

All too often we see kids jumping out of cars into parking lots or running to get into line at the rides, etc. I hate it when my kids "trail" me and am forever asking them to walk side by side with me or slightly in front so I can keep an eye on them. If my DD, 8, decides to stop or backtrack to see something it usually just takes one reminder that this is not allowed and we are good to go. Of course, all they have to do is say, "hey Mom, stop for a minute so we can...."

To have a child that is constantly running off in different directions is not only dangerous but would drive me insane! I have no patience for this type of behavior and like to keep my life as stress-free as possible