Silly Questions inside...

[Jasperann]

My family are going to be camping at FW in March. We will be camping in a tent. When I was a child we camped in Flordia every year for at least two weeks... Now on to my question... I know that there must have been gators there when I was little, although I don't remember seeing them and my mom says we would not have been in a tent if she knew that... I am scared to death of gators and with young children a little concerned. Have there been any issues with them in the past at FW? If we go to the bathroom in the middle of the night are we likely to run into one? (that is my main silly question) I know to not feed them and to keep my kids away from the banks of the creek and such, I'm just afraid of them coming out of the water, especially at night.

A little back story on why I'm terrified of them is... I had a very screwed up father and he thought it would be amusing to hold me over the edge of the bridge at Bush Gardens directly over the snapping Crocs/Gators. Which is where my fear is coming from. I know now that they probably thought he was trying to feed them... I'm still not sure why he thought something like that would be fun.

Okay I think I'm done with the silly stuff... Don't make to much fun of me.

 

[SCCamper]

Even though what you said about your experiences as a child is cruel, I wouldn't worry about gators. Relax and have a great time.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I'd worry more about the two gigantic chipmunks that frequent the campfire program every night. Now that's some scarey stuff right there.

 

[becky1960]

In all the years of going to disney I have never heard of a gator hurting anyone at FW. There gators around disney as we have seen some, although disney does it best to get them while they are young..

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Although I understand how someone might conclude that the Fort is overrun with critters, based on some of the joking that goes on on this board, the fact is that WDW is very vigilant with pest control, and it is very unlikely that you will see an alligator or snake or otter or any other interesting critter at the Fort.

I have camped at the Fort an average of six times a year over the past few years, and have visited the Fort on other occasions. I think I have visited every month this year. I am sure that I have spent well over a hundred nights at the Fort.

In all my visits to the Fort, do you want to know how many times I have seen an alligator? Once. And he was a little fellow, minding his business in one of the canals.

I have seen maybe three snakes. Again, they were minding their own business, and got away from me as fast as they could.

I have seen a lot of turkey and deer. I have personally never seen an otter (although my DD's have).

So, I would say that you have a better chance of running into a giant mouse wearing pants on your way to the comfort station than you would running into a gator.

TCD

 

[Jasperann]

Thanks I'll have to watch out for that giant mouse and the two Chipmunks... They sound pretty scary.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Thanks I'll have to watch out for that giant mouse and the two Chipmunks... They sound pretty scary.

Well, at least the mouse wears pants (and a shirt and coat and tie, too), and there is only one of him. Those chipmunks, there's two of them, and neither one wears pants!

TCD

 

[BRDof3]

Don't worry about the gators. They're afraid of the bears. And the bears can be bought. Just bring extra beer.

 

[campingdawgs]

In all of our trips to the Fort, we have only seen one gator. It was in the canal next to the 300 loop and was being removed by Fort personnel.

 

[BradyBz12]

The only time we have seen anything gator-related has been the truck hauling them away 10 seconds after someone called in a sighting!

Ok, not quite 10 seconds, but Disney is VERY on-the-ball when it comes to removing the rare less-than-magical creature.

 

[Jasperann]

The only time we have seen anything gator-related has been the truck hauling them away 10 seconds after someone called in a sighting!

Ok, not quite 10 seconds, but Disney is VERY on-the-ball when it comes to removing the rare less-than-magical creature.

That is good to know.

 

[Jasperann]

Don't worry about the gators. They're afraid of the bears. And the bears can be bought. Just bring extra beer.

Good thing I'm not afraid of bears... Being from MI does have it's advantages.

 

[bord1niowa]

This guy was last June. He was across from the sing-along area. They never did catch him that night. He may have been about 5 feet from what we could see.

 

[Jasperann]

This guy was last June. He was across from the sing-along area. They never did catch him that night. He may have been about 5 feet from what we could see.

As long as they stay in the water I'll be okay... I don't plan on visiting them in the water, even if we could. I definitely will not be as close as that lady is that is trying to catch him... My other half on the other hand would be standing right next to her asking if he could try to catch him.

 

[liv luvs disney]

We were there a few weeks ago and saw a small gator as well as personnel trying to remove it. We didn't stick around long enough to see if it was captured or not because like you, those things terrify me. However, I was so mad at myself for not having my camera with me.

 

[RocklandRVers]

We often take our dog who is always on the look out for something to hunt. Never have we seen a gator, snake or other dangerous critter. Mostly lizards and frogs. Sometimes rabbit and squirrel. Occasionally we see armadillos out late at night. We used to see peacocks until they were apparently rounded up and moved elsewhere. I think your odds of being attacked by a gator are on par with hitting the lottery. Forget about them and have fun!

 

[Jasperann]

We often take our dog who is always on the look out for something to hunt. Never have we seen a gator, snake or other dangerous critter. Mostly lizards and frogs. Sometimes rabbit and squirrel. Occasionally we see armadillos out late at night. We used to see peacocks until they were apparently rounded up and moved elsewhere. I think your odds of being attacked by a gator are on par with hitting the lottery. Forget about them and have fun!

You guys have really helped out with my fear. I'm glad I asked... I'll sleep much better at night while we are there now.

 

[Big Kahuna]

So anyone want to bet on whether this is her first alligator removal? The look on her face is priceless... Thanks for the chuckle... I needed that today..

 

[peggyN]

When I switched from cabin to tent for economic reasons, here in CO, everyone was concerned about the "gators". Well, the only creatures I saw were deer, otters, armadillos, toads and ducks. The ducks would walk through my campsite every morning! I did see one huge gigantic lime green spotted spider but I took care of that by running the other direction. So sorry you were traumatized as a kid. One of the park rangers assured me that they remove gators before they get too big. I was right by the canal and didn't worry at all, even tho I was solo.

 

[Jasperann]

When I switched from cabin to tent for economic reasons, here in CO, everyone was concerned about the "gators". Well, the only creatures I saw were deer, otters, armadillos, toads and ducks. The ducks would walk through my campsite every morning! I did see one huge gigantic lime green spotted spider but I took care of that by running the other direction. So sorry you were traumatized as a kid. One of the park rangers assured me that they remove gators before they get too big. I was right by the canal and didn't worry at all, even tho I was solo.

There are gators in CO? wow... I think I would have taken care of that lime green spider the same way..

I'm afraid of any kind of gator... you know any gator is TOO Big for me. I seen someone on the Theme Park Board post that they seen a 7 or 8 foot gator in the canal by the 300 loop last week. That sounds huge to me.

I know we will be fine. But it is very hard to get over this fear.

That doesn't take away the fact that I can't wait to get there...