Sister and niece abandoned at MK

[Rosered]

Still haven't spoken to DSis personally but I found out she took the monorail and them bus to DHS and found them there. It may not seem like a big deal to some and yes she is an adult, actually she's 22 so she is still relatively young and hasn't traveled on her own anywhere but the reason we were so worried is because of my niece. If they have been at the park all day any 3 year old would be tired and not knowing when they'd be able to get back home or how she would reach her friends made us worry for our niece. I'm sure she would have found help but with her phone not working we didn't know if she would have her friend's phone number and address memorized. Remember she's not from Florida and without an actual address how would she have made it on her own back to their place. I realize it probably wasn't as big a deal as it seemed to be last night but when one DS tells you the other DS (the youngest in the family) is hysterical crying and seemed to have been abandoned somewhere, even at MK and it's very late at night and you are thousands of miles away you tend to worry. Yes she should have planned things out better and yes she shouldn't have depended so much on her friends, I actually thought this whole trip was a bad idea from the beginning, but I still think her friends should have taken the fact that she was traveling with a 3 year old into consideration when they decided to leave her.

She should be home by 7 tonight so I'll speak to her then.

Again thanks to everyone.

 

[tkoran]

In any case, her "friends" don't sound like much of friends. They should have made sure they knew where she was at all times and had a back-up plan should they get separated.

 

[Karnak]

With friends like that, who needs enemies?

 

[Schmeck]

Still haven't spoken to DSis personally but I found out she took the monorail and them bus to DHS and found them there. It may not seem like a big deal to some and yes she is an adult, actually she's 22 so she is still relatively young and hasn't traveled on her own anywhere but the reason we were so worried is because of my niece. If they have been at the park all day any 3 year old would be tired and not knowing when they'd be able to get back home or how she would reach her friends made us worry for our niece. I'm sure she would have found help but with her phone not working we didn't know if she would have her friend's phone number and address memorized. Remember she's not from Florida and without an actual address how would she have made it on her own back to their place. I realize it probably wasn't as big a deal as it seemed to be last night but when one DS tells you the other DS (the youngest in the family) is hysterical crying and seemed to have been abandoned somewhere, even at MK and it's very late at night and you are thousands of miles away you tend to worry. Yes she should have planned things out better and yes she shouldn't have depended so much on her friends, I actually thought this whole trip was a bad idea from the beginning, but I still think her friends should have taken the fact that she was traveling with a 3 year old into consideration when they decided to leave her.

She should be home by 7 tonight so I'll speak to her then.

Again thanks to everyone.

She traveled to someone's house with a 3 yr old in tow and didn't know the address? Did anyone in your family know the address? Is she the mother of the 3 yr old, or an aunt?

 

[Allison]

How old are your sister's friends? This sounds like a group of teenagers not being very organized.

 

[NC State]

Hopefully this will teach her a lesson. She's know this "friend" her whole life and they've always had problems with her "friend' criticizing her, or be very judgemental or getting upset if my sister didn't do exactly what she wanted her to do. She would also always offer to do favors for my sister then rub her nose in it.

I hope she now sees that she's not a friend and just stays away from her. Friends wouldn't do this.

 

[Tiffany]

With friends like that, who needs enemies?

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[dopeyfanatic]

Oh no! I feel so sorry for your sister! I don't think she did anything wrong. Her friends offered to let her stay with them and they'd take her to Disney. Why would she think she needed to plan for being abandoned? I think the lesson she learned from this is that those people aren't her "friends" after all. I hope your niece was ok. I'm sure she was too busy watching everything to even realize she should be scared about something.

 

[Rosered]

"She traveled to someone's house with a 3 yr old in tow and didn't know the address? Did anyone in your family know the address? Is she the mother of the 3 yr old, or an aunt?"

They picked her up at the airport and although I'm sure she would have their address written down somewhere I'm not sure she'd have the exact address memorized. Maybe she'd remember the street name but not the number or something like that. That's what I meant, sorry if I wasn't clear. And she is the mother of the 3 year old but she gets a lot of help from my mom and others with her and sometimes doesn't seem to have too much common sense.

Anyway, she did find them, all ended well and hopefully she learned her lesson. She's only 22 and her friends are the same age so it is pretty much a group of "teenagers" (well almost) not being organized.

I think now the reason she was so upset during the phone call was probably more out of frustration and anger than out of fear. I still haven't spoken to her, her plane was delayed so I don't know for sure but it seems that she had been dealing with them running off on her a few times already that day and that was probably the straw that broke the camel's back. Honestly if they would have just decided that they'd go their own way in the parks and meet up later on to go home things would have been better for everyone but they kept saying she should stay with them to the parent swaps and then they leave. She would have been happy touring the park just her and DN. Very poor judegement on her part.

I just can't wait to speak to my niece and see how much she enjoyed MK. She was very excited about going to meet Mickey so I hope she had fun despite all of the drama from the "grownups".

 

[SnwflkCts]

I'm glad she is safe!

I am WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY over 22 and I don't like being lost/abandoned with or without a child in tow! I just panic - I can't help it!

So I can understand and sympathize with her reaction very well. I still hope there was fun to be had now that the "bad stuff" is all over. Keep us informed on what good moments were had by your niece! 's to your DSis & DNiece!

 

[Allison]

I hope your niece had fun at least.

 

[lizardqueen]

Glad to hear that she was able to find her "friends". After you get to talk to her let us know how your niece enjoyed her Disney visit.

 

[Schmeck]

So, she's the mom of this 3 yr old, and she didn't have enough money on her for an emergency? What would have happened if either one of them got very, very sick, or injured? That's more scary to me than being 'abandoned' at WDW. I'd at least make sure I had enough money/credit to get room and board for me and my child. When I travel overseas I always have enough currency to pay for transportation and one night in a hotel room, above and beyond what I have for everyday expenses.

I'm not very impressed with this gang of adults - 22 is four years over the legal age of majority. If she's old enough to have a child, she should be mature enough to be able to handle this situation. Even responding with frustration and anger (not fear) is not very mature. Hopefully she has learned a lot from this experience?

 

[bumbershoot]

I am WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY over 22 and I don't like being lost/abandoned with or without a child in tow! I just panic - I can't help it!

lol.

I'm 38 and ran out of gas on the way to the gas station with my 3 y.o. in the car, in easy walking distance from my apartment, and I didn't handle it all that gracefully.

I can't imagine being that young and seemingly naive, and having friends being such jerks...must have been rotten for her.

 

[StratMan]

Criticizing the young mother here is really out of place in my opinion. It's easy to say she should have been better prepared and used better judgement but that's hardly the point. It seems clear that she expected her hosts to observe some measure of customary hospitality and they completely failed to do so. The simple fact that they moved to DHS without her is mind-boggling and indicative, I believe, of a fundamental lack of consideration and concern. If they were willing to do that, I can only imagine how many other ways they ignored their obligations to their guests.

This is a 22yo mom and her 3yo daughter at WDW for the first time. If you don't see how overwhelming this situation must have been for both of them, then I think you're missing something.

 

[Tomh]

At age 38, I can confidently say that most 22 year olds are not properly equipped to handle a situation like that, and especially not when they are responsible for the well being of a young child. It is no wonder she freaked out. I'm glad everything turned out alright. I would hardly call those people friends!

 

[mamaLori05]

So, she's the mom of this 3 yr old, and she didn't have enough money on her for an emergency? What would have happened if either one of them got very, very sick, or injured? That's more scary to me than being 'abandoned' at WDW. I'd at least make sure I had enough money/credit to get room and board for me and my child. When I travel overseas I always have enough currency to pay for transportation and one night in a hotel room, above and beyond what I have for everyday expenses.

I'm not very impressed with this gang of adults - 22 is four years over the legal age of majority. If she's old enough to have a child, she should be mature enough to be able to handle this situation. Even responding with frustration and anger (not fear) is not very mature. Hopefully she has learned a lot from this experience?

I'm sorry, but was that really necessary!!! The OP was just worried and venting, she doesn't need you to tell her how much smarter you are then her sister. Sometimes things don't go as planned. And as for saying that she wasn't mature enough to handle the situation, well clearly she did handle it because she found her friends. I think she just panicked and called her sister to vent as well.

Anyway, to the OP, I'm glad your sister and niece made it home safetly. I can only imagine what you must have gone through while waiting to see how everything turned out. I also hope they were both still able to have a great time. Keep us posted.

 

[steelfish535]

I'm glad everything worked out. I hope the 3 year old enjoyed her day, and hopefully was too involved in checking out Disney to realize how upset her mom was.
That being said, the people who bashed the 22 year old mom were out of line. I had my DD at 20. At 22, in another state, with friends who were supposed to stay with me...I don't know how well I would have handled it either. And, in my situation, I might not have had enough money to handle the emergency either, BECAUSE I PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE EXPECTED IT TO HAPPEN. You go out with friends, you don't expect those friends to leave you. After a long, hot day with a 3 year old, I probably would have lost it too.
I'm glad she found them, and yes, I think it was a big deal to have to go to another park to find them. Those aren't friends.
Ok, I'm done...lol

 

[carmur73]

Unfortunately, many people would never take a vacation or experience anything if they needed to have a credit card or lots of extra money for lots of emergencies on hand. Unfortunately, for many... these things are out of reach. For people who don't have much, going to disney with a place to stay, etc.. extra money on hand could be as little as $100 - it's all relative.

And, it seems she has amazing sisters to call on to get her out of a jam. That's the ultimate back up plan! Great that she's safe, I just hope they managed to have a fantastic day.

 

[BroganMc]

Ah, the group trip to Disney. CMs find this situation predictable and sometimes hysterical.

FWIW I've lost family twice. First time I was with my folks and lost them coming through the turnstiles at MGM/DHS. No lie. My pass got demagnetised and I was sent to Guest Relations for another. My folks were redeeming vouchers at GR outside the turnstiles. We were separated for about 3 minutes and lost each other for about 2 hours. They thought I had gone on to the Little Mermaid show and I assumed they were still lingering their way into the park. (How fast could two 60+ year olds walk?)

I gave my folks a cell phone as soon as we got home and preprogrammed our numbers in each other's phones.

Had another unexpected separation happen to my sister last October. Her husband (over 40) went off with their 8 yo son and without a cell phone. She ended up with me and her 6 yo son. My dad went off in the same direction as my BIL but never found him at the Indiana Jones show they raced to. My sis totally freaked for about two hours. The CMs laughed because a responsible adult with a child is not considered lost. Not when they are staying on property and have room keys. Eventually they'll turn up.

The lesson here is that it is amazingly easy to lose someone in Disney (especially MGM/DHS). Every child should be with a responsible adult. And every responsible adult should have a means of communication and backup meeting plans that get you home at least. Most of all, when you get lost, just remain calm, focus, and be logical.

That's a lot to expect of a 22 yo, but then so is motherhood. It's all a learning experience for her. On the bright side, she was perfectly safe. A lot of 22 yo's that get lost aren't so lucky.