Water Park Warning

[goodferry]

We did an adults only trip August 14-19th (ended up being the 20th due to flight delays thanks to Fay). We went for the first time to Typhoon, which we loved! We had a great time there until it was time to leave. We each went into our respective dressing rooms to change. I came out about 10 minutes later to wait for him. And wait. And wait. And wait. Finally he came out looking very upset.
Apparently while he was in there he noticed a wierd looking older gentleman standing at the pay phone area pretending to talk on a phone. When a young boy would come in he would follow him where ever he went to change, was watching kids in the mirrors while combing his hair, CHANGED HIS CLOTHES THREE TIMES in the process of doing this. He warned the people who were coming in and went over to alert a CM who was working a snack cart who called his supervisor. We waited and watched, but eventually the creep, who clearly could tell that DH was watching him along with the snack cart guy, walked off into the park.
It's easy to forget that there are creepy people in this world when you are at the Happiest Place on Earth!

 

[yoplit]

That is aweful!!! what a creep!! its true, no matter where you are you can never ever be too safe. what is this world coming too!?!? don't take forgranted that because we are on vacation nothing bad can happen. its a shame that we have to take those kind of things into consideration.

If its not a storm we're worried about, its about perverts etc...

 

[bas71873]

That just makes my stomach hurt. What are parents to do? I fortunately have a girl who I can just take in the rest/locker rooms with me, but what if I had a boy....who was too "old" to go in the ladies room? I know at the gym we belong too it says on the door of the ladies locker room that no boys over the age of 5 are allowed.....there is no way in HECK I would send my young boy into the men's room alone, but what would be my options?

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

NO KIDDING! Our oldest boy is going to be 6 on Friday and I still won't let him go into any men's bathroom by himself! I hate having to take him in with me, but even he's given up arguing with me! I hate that it happens at Disney. We want to believe that it's a safe zone. I guess we all needed a reality check to keep our guards up everywhere! THAT SUCKS!!!

 

[goodferry]

We were seriously sick to our stomach all day, it was awful. Hopefully nothing more happened that day, but he walked off into the park, who knows?

 

[Eljay]

I hope this is on surveilance video and they were able to track this sicko down.

 

[Jakesmom504]

THIS is exactly why DS will be 16 before he's allowed in a bathroom by himself! No really though I'm so glad more and more places are making "family" bathrooms for this reason. I know myself and I won't feel comfortable at all when DS gets to the age of not being able to come in the ladies room with me. It's disgusting that you even have to think about stuff like this especially in Disney where you are more likely to overlook it because, well it's Disney!

 

[hipchickie]

That just makes my stomach hurt. What are parents to do? I fortunately have a girl who I can just take in the rest/locker rooms with me, but what if I had a boy....who was too "old" to go in the ladies room? I know at the gym we belong too it says on the door of the ladies locker room that no boys over the age of 5 are allowed.....there is no way in HECK I would send my young boy into the men's room alone, but what would be my options?

my son is 7 and he comes in with me everytime. I couldn't care less if anyone has an issue with it.
If that gym didn't have a family changing room, then he would be in the womens room with me there too.

Maybe I should start printing out a few stories to take with me and hand to anyone with a problem
http://www.cnn.com/US/9811/17/boy.killed.01/index.html
http://www.mdjonline.com/content/index/showcontentitem/area/1/section/15/item/115163.html
http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-081308-mw-walmartmolestation.446bb8be.html

no one is going to force or shame me into endangering my childs' well being.

 

[PlutosFriend]

That just makes my stomach hurt. What are parents to do? I fortunately have a girl who I can just take in the rest/locker rooms with me, but what if I had a boy....who was too "old" to go in the ladies room? I know at the gym we belong too it says on the door of the ladies locker room that no boys over the age of 5 are allowed.....there is no way in HECK I would send my young boy into the men's room alone, but what would be my options?

I have told my son before "if you aren't out in 5 minutes, I am coming in there after you". I would too! I have actually stood by the door before and called his name to see what was taking so long..........

 

[PlutosFriend]

NO KIDDING! Our oldest boy is going to be 6 on Friday and I still won't let him go into any men's bathroom by himself! I hate having to take him in with me, but even he's given up arguing with me! I hate that it happens at Disney. We want to believe that it's a safe zone. I guess we all needed a reality check to keep our guards up everywhere! THAT SUCKS!!!

I don't blame you one bit! I as a woman, have no problem with little boys coming into the ladies room with their Mom's, etc. My ds is now 10, so I don't bring him in with me anymore, but I still worry like crazy, and like I said in my previous post.....I'll storm in that man's bathroom if I have to!

 

[ireland_nicole]

On the rare occasions I let my 6 y/o into the men's room by himself (i.e. one stall, or I know no one else is in there, etc.) I stand at the door and have him talk to me the whole time. That way I know that no one could be ... I know he's safe.

 

[snykymom]

I'm the mother of a girl, and I have no problem with boys in the women's bathroom. After all, anything that I do that requires privacy I do behind a closed door anyway. So he can see me wash my hands?? Horrors!

Locker rooms are a bit different - sometimes you are changing out in the open, but bathrooms? No problem.

Now, I really feel bad for fathers with their daughters - in the men's room, men are "doing their business" in public. It's tough to decide what to do!

 

[PaulaSB12]

THIS is exactly why DS will be 16 before he's allowed in a bathroom by himself! No really though I'm so glad more and more places are making "family" bathrooms for this reason. I know myself and I won't feel comfortable at all when DS gets to the age of not being able to come in the ladies room with me. It's disgusting that you even have to think about stuff like this especially in Disney where you are more likely to overlook it because, well it's Disney!

Don't you think keeping a male up to 16 is just a lot too old before going to the toilet alone?

 

[AuroraBeauty]

If the 'creepy old guy' was checking things out then hopefully he was prevented from doing something that day.

The following statistics should give everyone impetus to call out behavior that just doesn't seem appropriate, especially around children. And, regardless of whether the person is a complete stranger or someone we know or are acquainted with.

The statistics are frightening, which is even more reason to take the extra step when your parental instinct says something isn't right.

* 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually assaulted before the age of 18.
Source: Kiana Russell, Handbook on Sexual Abuse of Children, 1988.

* 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually assaulted by age 18
Source: Finkelhor, David, et al. Sexual Abuse in a National Survey of
Adult Men and Women: Prevalence, Characteristics , and Risk Factors,
1990.

* Persons under 18 years of age account for 67% of all sexual assault
victimizations reported to law enforcement agencies. Children under 12
years old account for 34% of those cases and children under six years
account for 14% of those cases
Source: Snyder, Howard. Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported
to Law Enforcement: Victim, Incident, and Offender Characteristics.
Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, 2000.

*The typical child sex offender molests an average of 117 children, most
of who do not report the offense.
Source: National Institute of Mental Health, 1988.

*About 95% of victims know their perpetrators.
Source: CCPCA, 1992.

*It is estimated that approximately 71% of child sex offenders are under
35 and knew the victim at least casually. About 80% of these individuals
fall within normal intelligence ranges; 59% gain sexual access to their
victims through, seduction or enticement.
Source: Burgess & Groth, 1984.

 

[anne0866]

There are too many creeps in the world. I always have a fight with my 7 year old son who I make go the ladies room with me when he needs to use the bathroom. He does not understand it and feels that he is a "big boy" and should be able to use the men's room. He is only allowed to use the men's room when Daddy is with us and take him in.
Sometimes on vacation especially at the "most magical place on earth" Disneyworld - people get a false sense of safety and security and let their kids go to the restrooms alone.

It is scary world to be raising children in.

 

[dreamscometrue101]

On my next trip to WDW it's going to be myself and my mother with 3 children. 1 girl (5), 2 boys (7 & 12). My DS(12) obviously is old enough to make a quick trip to the bathroom by himself, but I still don't go too far from the entrance.... I'm not taking that risk.

My concern this coming trip is that I'm going to have to rely on my 12 y/o to go with my nephew (7). I have already been laying ground rules for this situation and my son knows I mean business.

A couple of years ago, when he was 8, I let him go into a bathroom at a family fun center by himself. There was only one entrance so I knew no one to get out with him and I not see. I had always given him a time limit and if he wasn't out by the end I would come in. Well that day he wasn't coming out, and I waited, and waited and started to worry. I yelled out to warn any man in there that I was coming and I barged right in.

There were a lot of surprised men and a very embarassed 8 year old. They had an activity center set up in the corner and he had gotten distracted playing with it.

Luckily I had no reason to be concerned but now my son knows I mean business. And any man that objects to my walking into a mens room to check on my son can shove it. My son or any child is more important than someone's sense of privacy.

 

[Tissa]

I think gym locker rooms are different. At the gym I belong to you have to be at least 14 to join so there is no reason for male child to be in there. If they come with mom to the gym they go in the child care room.

 

[alldiz]

I really hope disney was proactive and tried to find this guy and escort him out of the park and have him banned for life.
Kerri

 

[goodferry]

Our concern was that no one would do anything. We waited about 5 minutes and at that point he went walking off into the park, but who knows if they were watching him on survelliance video or whatever. We left before anyone made any visible attempt to do anything, though, and it left me with a sick feeling all day.

 

[zackiedawg]

Well you can at least feel somewhat better about the fact that Disney has astounding video surveillance. There are extremely few places you can go within Disney World park or resort areas without having a video camera witnessing the event. Generally, they don't actually watch each camera all day - but if something is reported, they will usually call up the cameras in that area and keep an eye on it. If the person you referenced was doing anything suspicious, and you reported him to a CM, the surveillance team probably kept an eye on him from above. As with any crime, they would have to witness him doing something wrong to have him removed from the park, and maybe he stopped his suspicious behavior before the surveillance located him...but at least wherever else he wandered to, he probably had eyes on him for a while.

It is sad to have to worry about such things in the world - at least Disney is statistically much better than most other places in the world, but that doesn't mean one should completely let down their guard. The hard part is walking the line between underprotecting children and overprotecting them.