Mother separated from DD3

[Jenny]

last sun, 11/5, it was pretty crowded IMO at MK. i was w/ my family in Cosmic Ray's eating lunch around 11:30. i took my DD4 to the bathroom across the way near Belle's Storytime. while in the ladies' room, someone was asking if there was a girl named Ashley in the bathroom. i looked around b/c my niece's name is ashley & she was w/ me on our trip but the woman wasn't referring to my niece as it turned out. outside of the bathroom, i see a frantic woman crying, calling out for "Ashley" as her older daughter walked around w/ her. her DD3 named "Ashley" had disappeared out of her sight & her DH was somewhere getting food. within a few minutes, a CM came over to her to ask questions then walked away (to get help?). another CM came over then walked away (to get help also?). both CMs appeared to be working in nearby shops.....15 min go by & still no Ashley.

although i wanted to help, i had to move on w/ my own young DDs, ages 2 & 4 but wished that someone like security, etc would show up. i'm thinking they probably did but it wasn't until after the 15 min that i witnessed which felt like a painful hour. i hope ashley was found OK shortly thereafter.

anyway, the purpose of writing this is just to let people know that you can't be too safe in those thick crowds. do what you have to now while packing - bring photos of your kids, put your name/phone # on your kids, use a child harness if needed, etc - i know that Ashley's mother wishes that she would have. i heard her describe her DD but that's it - she said that Ashley had no id on her, etc.

we had a great time but were rattled by witnessing the pain in this mother's eyes - be safe on your next Disney vacation!

 

[Emmaline Lola]

This is exactly why I use a harness, a monkey backpack harness (very cute), just for piece of mind when I am at the parks............I hope Ashley's mom found her................I just went and hugged my almost 2 year old dd after reading this post.................

 

[lchadwick]

I have the monkey and puppy harnesses for my 2 little ones. Even when my 4YO is walking and holding my hand, I feel so much better knowing that I can grab that tail right away.

How scary for her mom....

 

[lapeen2]

It is scary...but honestly if you HAVE to lose your kid Disney is the place to do it. The CM's are so quick to respond and know exactly what to do.

We got seperated from DD last time we went. She was 8 years old at the time. We were all looking at the hippo tank at AK and then moved on through the next attraction, then on to the Gorillas. It was at the gorillas I said something to her about them and realized that she wasn't there. Turned out she hadn't come along with us and was still back at the hippo room. The CM there had her and was letting her use the microphone and talk about the hipppos. She thought that was SO cool that she never was scared. I had told her many times that if she ever got lost to find a CM.

My moral...try not to lose your kid ...lol... but prepare them and remind them often what to do if you do

 

[shellyfive]

It may have semed to you that nothing was happening , but once a cm is notified of a lost kid---it goes thru a whole network of people on walkie talkies,so lots of people get a discription in a short period of time-------i hope ashley was found in a short period of time-----an eternity for her parents though...........

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Wow. I think I would totally panic if I lost my DD3. I'm going for 9 days and I've heard stories like this before so it makes me a little worried. I'm going to try to keep her in her stroller as much as possible while in the parks or DTD. I'm going to put some type of ID on her too with my DH's Cell phone number and the resort we're staying at. Everyone should put I.D. on their child especially the little ones. Kids can disappear so fast.

 

[isyt]

In May I had gone to the Bronx Zoo with my dd class. I am always paranoid about losing someone when a woman with a double stroller (not with us) looked down to see one of her kids missing, a 2 year old. She was frantic as well as I and the other parents in the area. We couldn't move because we were so worried. The child turned up in the gift shop but I am sure it was the most horrifing 15 minutes of her life (it was mine).

Also while going into Ariels Grotto a few years ago I took my oldest dd on line while hubby parked the stroller with the other 2. Hubby walks over to me with only 1 kid and I asked him where #2 was and he thought I was kidding. She had decided to come with me but I didn't know it. I think she was 3 or 4 and dh took off searching the area, I wasn't panicked yet and I stayed on line (the man in front of me was offering to hold my place , he thought I should have been searching). My reasoning was 1 of us needed to stay in one spot so she could find us also. It took about 5 minutes but we found her. My kids have also been taught to stay in one spot if they get lost and find a cast member.

Its the scariest thing in the world!!

 

[AZMickeyfans]

I used to work in the EPCOT baby care/lost child center. After a child is lost and a CM finds them and gets a description security all around the park is notified through walkie talkie's. Within seconds there are several costumed and plain clothes security looking out for them. We were trained to make phone calls alerting security as quickly as possible. We even had to have a description of what the child would look like in other clothes for example long hair, freckles, birth marks etc. Just in case a bad guy took them and changed them. In my time there (2 years) we always reunited them within a half of an hour and never had a child not found. My job was to keep the security informed and to keep the child busy so they didnt notice "their parents were lost". We would feed them and play games. Now that I have kids I cannot imagine losing one of them, even for a second let alone a half hour. I always tell them that if they dont see us to find a CM and dont be afraid to tell them mommy and daddy's name and your name. I drilled that into their heads. I even told them stories of how children got lost when I worked there just to drive the point across. I sure hope that girl was found.

 

[WillCAD]

I sure hope that girl was found.

If she hadn not been found, it would have made the front page of every newspaper and been the lead story of every TV news program in the US for several days.

There has NEVER been a child abducted from a Disney park.

Obviously, 3yo Ashley must have been found quickly and reunited with her parents.

As several others have stated in this thread, keeping a leash on toddlers is the best preventative medicine. A toddler can wander - or stay behind while you wander - faster than you can blink, and having some physical connection to them at all times makes it impossible to get farther away from them than the length of the leash.

Play it safe - tie up your kids in public places!

 

[momofdbsdc]

While we were there in May,we came across 2 lost children! I always took them to the closest Cm and in both cases their parents were found quickly! It is such a scary experience!

 

[disnut8]

I've had two experiences with lost children as well. One was at MGM and this little boy's parents had lost him right by the exit. He was very scared and afraid to talk to us (never talk to strangers) but he wouldn't move. His parents found him and told us that the boy was told to stay put at the last place he saw his parents.

The second time was at the Boardwalk when a large party got up off the benches and started walking towards Epcot. One boy left something on the bench and decided to come back for it. The rest of the party continued on. Again, that boy (whose name was Edward) was told to stay at the last place he was with his parents. We hung out with him while one of our party went to find a CM. Within about three minutes, the frantic father was back to get Edward.

We've taken our granddaughter to Disney World twice. Each time, she had a homemade ID pinned to the inside of her clothing. She knew to hand over that ID to a CM if we lost her.

 

[Cellthing]

We were at Disney last week and found a little boy running back and forth in Africa at Animal Kingdom looking frantic. People saw him but just kept walking so I went up to him and asked if he was lost. Said he was looking for his mommy. I felt so bad for him as he was so frantic and crying then I thought about what the mom is probably feeling. I took him to a worker and at the same time a disney police officer walked up and they both walked off with him. I still wonder where they found the parents as I am sure he was reunited at some point. I feel better about finding the lost child then seeing a parent frantic that they can't find their child. At least I know the child was in safe hands as opposed to not knowing where he is. Yes, if I were to lose my child Disney would be my choice.

We got separated with my DD (then 5 I think) at the escalators by soaring and I don't think I have ever been in such a panic mode temporarily. It didn't take but a minute or two to find her and a worker had just walked up to her as she was crying.

As of that trip I always tell her if she gets lost to go up to a worker or a mommy with children. I do feel for all those who have been separated from their children, even just briefly. I'm not as worried about my older DD7 as I am about my DD3 as she doesn't really know what to do yet. Like someone said noone has even been taken at Disney (at least not that I have heard of).

 

[chrisn]

In the line from H*ll for Fantasmic; only...she was 12 at the time. It was still frightening. The CM's were great and a nice family came up to this obviously distraught mother and asked for a description so they could help look for her . We found her 15 minutes later and she was sobbing and scared to death. The newlywed in front of us told me she would be sobbing too! I never did find the nice family and to this day I have wanted to thank them for willingness to drop their fun and help us. If your out there somewhere, thank you very much. There are still wonderful peeps in this world!

Morale of the story: Doesn't matter how old your kids are. A 2 or 12 year old might be just as frightened being lost. Keep your kids close and keep them even closer in the line for Fantasmic!

P.S. She's 18 now and I still think she would freak if she got lost!

 

[edcrbnsoul]

I've posted them before but this is what I got for my boys I got a couple of packs

http://www.mypreciouskid.com/id-bracelet.html

They have many styles of wearable ID for kids including the ones they wear on sneakers.


http://www.mypreciouskid.com/child-id-bracelet.html

 

[Stitchfans]

I can't imagine what was going on in that poor mother's head. I was seperated from DD in a department store and went crazy can't imagine in a enormous park.

 

[Moonpie]

I think that little teeny, tiny children really need a harness in crowded situations like Disney. Those cute little guys always seem to always want to run around, and explore, and if you've got other children, or your hands are full....then making sure you're always holding your toddler is hard.

Last time we went to Disney we saw a little five year old girl who was lost. I was the only one who noticed the scared look on her face, and noticed that no family members were standing anywhere near her. I quickly told a CM, and the CM took care of her.