Please hold little one's hands!

[Laugh O. Grams]

This is so scary!! Just think about it--if you want to steal a baby what better place to try than a theme park filled with little ones! I know we all like to think that things like this never happen at WDW but now we know that isn't true. I'm a nervous wreck and I don't even have little ones anymore....

I wouldn't get too concerned. Nothing personal to AJKMOM or her family, but this is a pretty common "urban legend" about WDW. The story goes that the kidnapper snatches the kid, take him into a bathroom stall, changes the clothes to the opposite sex and, sometimes, dyes the hair another color. If you Google Disney's urban myths and legends, you will see that these kind of stories have been debunked.

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

I copied and pasted it from somone elses siggy

Aha...thanks, I was just wondering, cause it seems just a bit off.

 

[okck]

I also used a harness 9 years ago when my dd was 2. Parents were coming up to me asking where could they get one for themselves and did they sell them in the parks. I also got several negative remarks however they were from people who did not have children so they did not bother me. I would tell them it was better then losing her in the crowd.

 

[dkrause716]

I wouldn't get too concerned. Nothing personal to AJKMOM or her family, but this is a pretty common "urban legend" about WDW. The story goes that the kidnapper snatches the kid, take him into a bathroom stall, changes the clothes to the opposite sex and, sometimes, dyes the hair another color. If you Google Disney's urban myths and legends, you will see that these kind of stories have been debunked.

You may be absolutley right in this case but, this kind of thing does happen all the time. I certainly don't think it hurts to ere on the side of caution --urban legend or not.

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

You may be absolutley right in this case but, this kind of thing does happen all the time. I certainly don't think it hurts to ere on the side of caution --urban legend or not.

You're right, being cautious is just part of being a parent. Beleive me, I'm certainly not suggesting that since this is a pretty well known urban legand, that you should pull the car up to the front gate of MK and let 6 year old Jimmy or Susie (or I guess these days, Logan or Zoe ) hop out of the car and hit the park alone. Kidnapping does occur, but it has never once happened at Walt Disney World. WDW's security is second to none, and I just hope that noone's vacation would be effected negatively because of their concern about "recent kindnapping attempts".

 

[dkrause716]

Glad to hear it! I do know that Disney security is top notch. Just scary and I don't even have little ones anymore. I doubt that anyone will try to nab my 6'3" "baby"!!!

 

[bdcp]

Actually, someone snatching a child, changing his clothes, haircolor etc has never been documented. It is an urban legend. See this link at snopes.com: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/kidnap.htm
It's unlikely someone is at WDW to snatch and run with a child. Not too feasible. But, that said, children who get lost terrify a lot of people and the parents responsibility should be the child and not getting to the next ride or show. My son started walking at 12 months and from then til he was about 18 months I used a leash/harness too. (Didn't use it after that because he quit taking off.) Not because I was afraid of kidnappings, but he'd wander off because he was constantly on the go and it got difficult to sit and talk or do anything because I was always following him when we were outside at an event like a ball game or my sister's HS graduation. It was for his protection. He's 21 now and it definitely didn't ruin him in any way. My boys (the other is 19) always held our hands until they were about 7 because then we knew where they were in crowds. Neither of them ever got lost anywhere. My oldest baby I used the leash/harness for is now 6'1". Funny thing is my now 19 year old never wandered away, he was a clingy baby when I was around, who has turned into a very independent, social on the go young man.

 

[SonyaD]

We also put a clip on Logan belt loop with our name, his name and our cell phone number is case we ever did get lost from him. He talks well and knows all of this information but sometimes when children are scared they freak out and can't remember or will not tell the people. I also instructed him to go to the first store or person selling food and tell them that he lost his mommy and daddy.

 

[BonnieA]

I used a harness and leash with my son over 30 years ago. I'm sure some people frowned on it but he wasn't a hand holder and he had a very independent mind.
He wouldn't even stay in a car seat (days before mandatory car seats and the ones around were flimsey). We bought a harness type thing for the back seat of the car. The strap was bolted to the seat foundation and allowed him to stand, lay and sit.
I don't remember getting any dirty looks or comments from people. We did what we had to do and didn't pay attention to other folks.

 

[ksjayhawkfan]

Leashes to me show that the parent actually cares about thier child!!! I wished more parents used them!!!

Ya know what, Im all for using leashes if thats what makes you comforatable. But dont assume that just because a parent doesnt, that they dont care about their children.

We have never used them, not saying that I wouldnt, but we have never needed to. Our oldest 2 were happy in their strollers, now they are old enough to stay with us(8 and 6) Hopefully the baby(6 months) will like the stroller.

I was looking at WalMart the other day and they have a really cute new harness. It looks like a small plush backpack. The one I saw was a monkey. It had a clip on the back of the monkey that the "tail" attached to. I thought those were adorable.

 

[all4fun]

My sister-in-law said her brother and family were in the Magic Kingdom when someone got their baby snatched right out of the stroller. So, it can happen anywhere, even at Mickey's place. The story had a happy ending, the place went into lockdown and no one could leave without the parents looking at every baby who people tried to get out. The kidnapper even changed the baby clothes to look like a girl, but got caught.

I have heard this story before and it is an urban legend: http://www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/kidnap.htm
I think most criminals are looking for an easy target and therefore WDW would probably be one of the last places something like this would actually happen. Not that it's impossible just unlikely. I do think we should be careful with our kids no matter where we're at.

Having said that, we used a harness on my ds (21 mos at the time) on our last trip and it was great. He was just getting into the phase where he doesn't want to be in the stroller all the time and this allowed him to walk along with us without us worrying that he would dash off and possibly get hurt by running in front of someone pushing a stroller or something. Like a pp stated we also saved him from a few skinned knees by catching him with it when he fell. I prefer the harness style over the wrist leash for this reason as one risks dislocating something during a fall if it's attached to the wrist instead of the body. We got a lot of comments about using it too and I'm glad to say they were pretty much all in approval. We saw a few other folks using harnesses with their kids so it was nice to see we weren't the only ones.

 

[Ilovestitch]

I think I'm gonna use one of those leashes on my boyfriend on our next trip to WDW- he gets distracted easily by shiney objects and takes off.

Actually that might not be a good idea b/c he's bigger than me and I could get dragged

Just kidding... I think the leashes are a great idea at WDW. I can't stand it when parents just let their kids run. People come in the office I work at all the time and their kids just takes off. Then, they come up to me and say "Where's my child?"- like i'm supposed to be watching them! Drives me crazy!

 

[WDW1st-timers]

I think I'm gonna use one of those leashes on my boyfriend on our next trip to WDW- he gets distracted easily by shiney objects and takes off.

 

[BraveMom3]

My children always stayed in a stroller, thank goodness (just made our 1st trip without renting a stroller at all for almost 8yo DD!!! ). I didn't think I would ever get her to give the things up!. With that said, I still lost my middle child at AK one year (he was about 4yo) for about 5 minutes, and I thought I would be physically ill. I usually go alone with my three children and we have our "routines". This particular year, some friends of mine came for a few days with their daughter. Well, while I was "distracted" talking to them as we left one of the shows, my son gets out of the stroller and their daughter gets in (a double). As soon as we get out to the main pathway, I realize that he is not in the stroller. I immediately left my other two children with the couple and ran back to where we came from. My son was there, surrounded by several CM's. I was so relieved. A couple of weeks ago as we left MGM, I noticed a little girl (maybe 3 or 4yo) standing around the planter that's just outside the security check of the park. For some reason she caught my attention, and as I looked around, I realized there was no adult anywhere near her. I went up to her and ask her "Who are you here with, sweetie?" She said she was with her Mommy, but when I ask her where her Mommy was, she shrugged and mumbled, "I don't know." My children stood there with her for a few minutes looking around for someone that looked like they had lost a child, but did not see anyone, so I walked her back over to the security guard (just a few feet away) and explained to him the situation. I hated to leave her - I felt that she might be more comfortable waiting with a Mom and her three children than with a strange man, but he assured me that he would keep her there for a few minutes, then she would be taken to "guest services" until she could be re-united with her Mom. Since she was not acting terrified or crying, I decided to take my children and continue on to the boat launch, but I thought about that child off and on (and how her Mom must have been panicking) the rest of the day. My daughter even asked me about her a couple of times later.

 

[Key51697]

"But dont assume that just because a parent doesnt, that they dont care about their children."


I never said that or assume it! My DS 6 never needed a leash because he stays right by my side and loves holding hands. But when I see kids running around and parents not watching them, then I assume it!

 

[melaniemiller2002]

We also put a clip on Logan belt loop with our name, his name and our cell phone number is case we ever did get lost from him.

The only reason I disagree with this is that it enables a perfect stranger to call your child by name. I see these kids walking home from the elementary school with their embroidered backpacks and cringe. Kids are naive sometimes and if someone knows their names, they can figure that person must be "safe". My stepkids used to have their names written on their water bottles, then we figured it may not be a good idea to have it advertised so we used a happy face for my stepson and a flower for my stepdaughter. They know which sport bottle is theirs but nobody else knows what their name is....maybe being a little overprotective, but that's the way we feel.

Another thing we did just in case someone did try to coerce the kids to go with them is give them a secret passworld. It's a very weird word that they remember well and that nobody else should know. We have told them if anyone ever tries to get them to go with them, they need to know the password. This worked out well about a year ago when my stepson was standing in front of the school. Some man told him that we were waiting for him around the back of the school and to go with him. My stepson asked him what the password was and the man said "please". My son looked at him and then ran into the school, told the principal, and when they came out, the man was gone. He was later arrested in connection with trying to get a 5th grade girl into his car about 2 blocks from the school. We found out about a month later he used to be a inmate in my husband's prison

When we make our trip to WDW next spring, we will be putting all the information regarding our cell phone, names, etc. in a small wallet that hangs on the child's neck but under their clothes. I wore this type of wallet when I was traveling in Europe for safety reasons (pickpocketing and purse snatching run rampant in certain countries over there). It worked out great and only I knew it was there. This way, the kids will have the necessary information, but nobody else will know it. And the password system will be in place!!!

Melanie

 

[grandma jan]

I am going to use these when we go in about 2 weeks. There will be 3 adults and 3 kids ages 4, 8, 11. Our only fear is when we try to get out of the parks at night after the parades or fireworks. When it is really crowded each adult will use these just to make sure we don't get separated. At least each child will have an adult attached to them!!

 

[cristbaby]

I say do whatever it takes to keep your child safe. Alot of parents are just to preoccupied in this day and age. It's not their fault and they are not bad parents, we just live in a very hustle bustle world even at Disney. Go for the leash or whatever else you need, just pretect you child from getting lost!

 

[barb45]

When my kids were little I had the wrist bands that had the "phone cord" attachment. They were the best because they have some stretch to them if the kids yanks on it. Also the kids liked them because they didn't have their arms stretched straight up in the air to hold hands. Even without the wristbands (for short shopping trips or whatever) my children were always attached to me somehow. I remember in the parking lot carrying a baby using both hands and the kids new the rule was to have a fist full of mommy's pant leg until I got them in the car. This way I knew they were attached (plus they never ran off).

Does anyone know if you can still get those velcro wrist bands with the phone cord?? I would love to have one for DGD when we go in December.

 

[leighmidd]

I really appreciate parents using these leashes. It makes me feel so much better knowing that that particular little one is in no danger of escaping their parents.

Now if we could just call it something else, besides a leash. Maybe "Protective Child Restraint", or the "Not Gonna Runna Away Child Harness". LOL, I dunno -- but when I hear leash, I see dog.