So, anyone lose a kid?

[fertmc]

Just wondering what that was like....we've got a 3 yo dd that we'll watch like a hawk!

 

[Amirah95]

Nope and I hope to never lose one. Thinking about it almost kills me.

 

[gigi1313]

i lost one in a non-disney amusement park... without a doubt the worst fifteen minutes of my life! my stomach turns whenever i think about it

 

[ZuZugal]

we lost our DD5 at EPCOT. It was a cool and rainy evening and everyone had the yellow ponchos on. Don't even know how it happened but in a split second she was gone. She's not even a wanderer. Ends up she thought we (me, DH and DS) were ahead of her, so she ran up to this other family thinking it was us and as they turned around she exclaimed "you are not my family!!" A castmember had her back in our arms w/i a few minutes but that was the longest and scariest 10 minutes of my life!!!

 

[blowinbubbles]

I lost my seven y/o for a few minutes on Main Street one afternoon. I was horrified! Nothing scarier than trying to search through a huge throng of people to find a child. Plus, after a few days at WDW or any similar, crowded place, I tend to get overstimulated and overwhelmed myself, which makes it that hard to keep up with them!

Next trip, I plan to utilize an idea I saw on Disboards about making up dogtags for the kids with my name and cell # on them. Saw a machine in Walmart tonight that makes them for $4.00!

 

[LisaZoe]

I haven't lost my DD (knock on wood) but I did get lost twice in one day at DL when I was 6. Once was a very short period - I'd barely realized I wasn't with my family when Dad came around the corner looking for me. The second was much worse but probably still for only an hour or less.

We were leaving the park for day and it must have been close to closing because I remember it was dark. There was a large group of us (10 or 12) and several people wanted to get souvenirs while the rest headed for the cars. I wasn't paying attention because the group split in two and I wasn't in either one.

Once I realized (again) I couldn't see my family, I started to cry and a kind couple talked to me, found out I was lost and took me to wherever they took lost children at that time (early 70s). The CMs tried their best to get me to stop crying by offering ice cream, candy, drinks, etc. but none worked (my siblings later gave me a hard time about all the goodies I turned down ). It was only when I saw my uncle that my tears stopped.

I later learned that each group thought I was with the other so it wasn't until the souvenir shoppers got to the cars that it was noticed I was missing and my uncle and dad went in search of me. Because of that experience, I've always been very concerned when DD (not yet 3) and I are out and about and I lose sight of her. Of course, she doesn't understand why hiding in clothing racks is sucj a big deal.

BTW - My Grandma had made us all memorize our parking section but it didn't do much good for me as the CMs wouldn't take me there to find them

 

[WDW4KIDS]

Parents please tell your children to find a C.M. and tell them they're lost.Disney CM's are trained in reuniting families

 

[DeDixie]

When my kids were little and we were in Disney, we would have "parent/kid for the day". That way there
was no confusion on which parent had which kid. The next day we would switch. I also tried to dress
them in the same color top. You would ride with that parent, shop with that parent, sit next to at meals,
on bus etc.

Off topic: we would also assign certain "jobs" with each parent. Like whoever was with Mom got to push
elevator button, who ever was with dad got to open the door to the room with they key card. Saved lots of
figh

 

[MdmMim]

I found a lost little girl once. She was just sobbing and was so scared. My DD and I walked her over to a CM right away. He took her by the hand and calmed her right down. Her parents must have been frantic!

 

[mudnuri]

We have a very simple rule that we started when DD's were smaller, at any amusement park, fair etc..

the rule is that your feet do not move unless your hand is in dad or mom's. Exceptions to this at disney etc. are when they were with characters, or in dinoland, however if we stepped out of a "secure" area, the hands went into ours.

We also- had one DD for the day, that way each of us had to be concerned with one, instead of both.

DD8 did stop once at The Big E at a game, (DH's kid!) she was 3 at the time. and about 15 seconds- and 50 feet up the road, I said- Where's Goo? We turned around, and there she was infront of some taller kids, watching a game...let me tell ya- that 30 seconds was the worst of my life!

After The Big E- is when we started the, you dont move unless your hand is in mine! It worked very well at WDW this past April....never had to remind them, it was wonderful!..

Of course- when we walking from a counter to our table to eat etc... they didnt, but when we're just walking around, heading to a ride, or just daydreaming...they were holding on..

Brandy

 

[DisPadre]

If you have a digital camera, take a few individual pictures of your kids EVERY DAY before you go to the park. Not only will you have a picture to show a CM, but if you take a new one every day it'll show exactly what they're wearing! Plus you can delete the old ones every day.

 

[SueM in MN]

If you have a digital camera, take a few individual pictures of your kids EVERY DAY before you go to the park. Not only will you have a picture to show a CM, but if you take a new one every day it'll show exactly what they're wearing!

I saw that hint in Hints from Heloise yesterday and thought it was so good I came to post it, but you beat me to it.
DH and I found a little boy on our last trip a week ago. We turned around the corner between Pirates and Splash Mountain and there was a little boy about 4 years old, standing in the path, calling for his mom. He wasn't really upset, but was obviously lost. We watched for a few minutes to make sure his mom hadn't found him (and he didn't wander away), then just as I was letting a CM know (with DH watching the boy), someone else took the boy by the hand and led him to the same CM. When we left, the CM was trying to get as much information as she could about the boy so she could find his parents. She was having a little trouble with him, because he was insisting that he knew his mom had gone toward Splash Mountain and he was sure he could find her if he just kept walking. Who knows how far he had walked after he had lost her in the first place.
So, one of my hints is to make sure the kids know that if they lose you, they stay put and don't go looking for you.

 

[fanofmickey]

One of twins at the age of 2 ducked into the bathroom without us noticing when we were sitting at a restaurant table outside (near the Mexican counter service at MK, I think). I had purposely dressed the twins alike that day as I knew I would not remember what all 4 kids were wearing (other two were a lot older). I remember screaming out loud, "HAS ANYONE SEEN A CHILD DRESSED EXACTLY LIKE THIS ONE" as I pointed at other twin (probably scared him to death). About that time, missing twin comes out of bathroom and tells me that he had to go, so he went. I'm sure he was only missing for two or three minutes, but it seemed forever.