weird incident at WL pool--should I report this to someone?

[Rock'n Robin]

Last Monday night we took the kids to the WL main pool. It was pretty crowded for after 10 , but it was hot and we had done the quiet pool the previous night.
I saw my girls (7 and 10) talking to an older girl, looked early teens, and a boy about 11 or 12. The older girl was laughing and smiling at them. I wondered why a girl that age would want to talk to my girls. I called the older girl over and she said "the girl is going to give us $25 each for doing something, but we don't know what it is." I sent her over right away to get DH out of the hottub to get his opinion. I swam over to DD#2 who was following this girl and some other kids to another part of the pool. She repeated the story--they were going to get $$ but didn't know for what. I kept her by me. DH was furious and wanted to find the girl and talk to her parents, but she kind of blended in with everyone else and I couldn't spot her after that.
My mind was reeling! Of course it could have been totally innocent, but what if she was getting prepubescent girls for her dad, uncle, older brother???? I didn't report it because I couldn't find the girl by the time we left. I don't know if I should report it now, because that family is probably gone, and what can they do? They won't increase late night supervision, and they won't close the pool at night--nor would I want them to. Any ideas what I should do, if anything?

 

[milmore104]

You really should have reported it right then and there. i would have went right over to the girl and had a talk with her. but none of that matters now. It's over and done with. I know it seems like a hard thing to say bu thtere is little that could be done about it now.

 

[Disneydenise]

I think that it would have been a good idea to report the girl to someone but that is over now. You may want to call the WL and ask to speak to a manager and tell him the story. There really isn't much anyone can do now but it may ease your conscience a bit. Thank god you were watching your children. I know that it is difficult to keep an eye on them constantly but I said the guardian angel prayer with my kids when they were small and I bet they still say it as teens. It is sad to know that one of the happiest places on earth could be one of the dangerous places too.

 

[B3LM]

They probably can't do anything at this point, but I think I'd call the manager of WL and at least tell him/her about the incident.

 

[BabyMo]

I would have reported it. You can probably still report it, but I don't know if they can do anything about it.

I am not a parent, but I love children and don't trust teens

My mind is running non-stop trying to think of what this $25 would be for (if there even was a $25).

What kind of a kid has $50 to spend on a dare?

It certainly sounds nefarious. I am glad that nothing bad happened.

 

[Blondie]

I understand your fear and disgust, but there's really nothing that can be done at this point, even if you were to call and report it. They'll never be able to trace it back to anyone in particular unless they have security cameras running 24/7 and your girls can give a good clear description of that girl.

Even if they could, they'd still be hard to track down. And then what would they charge them with?

Chalk it up as one of those lessons we learn with our children.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I wish I had kept track of that girl. By the time I had both girls in hand and had the situation explained to DH she was lost in the crowd.
I am pretty glad I keep track of my girls. I told DH that night that I'll probably not let them go swimming alone at night at the resorts until they are 18!
Robin M.

 

[travelitis]

It's too late to report, and even if you had what could the mgmt. really have done especially since it isn't clear exactly what was going on? The responsibility would've fallen to their parents anyway not hotel mgmt. The important thing is that you're an involved parent who was on the ball and possibly stopped your kids from making a bad or even dangerous choice. Seize the opportunity to teach them how to respond should something like this ever happen again.

 

[WDW2002]

I don't think there is anything that can be done now.

This is why you don't leave children alone and unsupervised. You got your children out of the situation and that is what matters most.

 

[duck_adoo]

As a parent going to WL soon, thanks for the tip. I would still call the resort as suggested. If that girl was from off the property, they could get back and try whatever they had in mind on others. If the resort knows, they will be aware of the incident and could be extra vigilant. The important thing is your daughters are safe and knew enough not to go. That comes from great parenting.
Duck

 

[CaipiraBob]

Thank God you were there to stop what might have happened!!! After all of the horrible things I have been reading about with abductions and the seeming explosion in assaults on innocent children it's not such a stretch to imagine the worst.

I think you should report it, then management will at least know to keep an eye out for it. We would have never known about it unless you had mentioned it here, and being a parent myself, I am grateful that you posted this. I will know to keep my eyes open for this in particular. I'm saying this even though we try to be as careful as possible.

Even reporting it now would be helpful. I can only say that if I were confronted with a similar situation, my sense of disbelief that such a thing would happen would probably make me hesitate, too. This sort of thing would never occur to normal people are it's natural to be shocked when confronted with such potentially ugly realities. The things is at least you were there being a good parent and nothing happened.

Still, if you can report this perhaps you can prevent something similar from happening in the future. While Disney won't make a fuss about it publicly, the LAST thing a family oriented vacation wants to occur is a potential tragedy such as what might have happened here.

Whew!

 

[PamOKW]

I agree that someone should have been told at the time. That would have been the best chance to find out what was happening. However, I think you should still describe what occured so Disney is aware. This is such a crazy world that it might have been innocent or it might not be. There have been incidents of people coming in to the resorts who are not guests. If Disney is tipped off to something suspicious they may be able to increase their security measures.

A reminder to parents to ingrain into your children not to talk to strangers. It's funny how we think of the dirty old man in the trenchcoat but it could be the young 18-year old blonde, too. It's terrible that we've come to this but anything to keep the children safe.

 

[Disneyhappy]

Wow- Talk about scary!
I think I would still report it. What if they did the same thing to someone else while you were there and it is one child's word against another's? You could be provide confirmation for the victim(s) (I pray there isn't a victim). There wouldn't be any harm to reporting it.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

what a scary story. It makes me want to just remind people that children this age are often still very inocent and have a hard time deciding who is safe and who is not. While on vacation in a large city a few weeks ago we took a tour in which one of the teens in our group was covered with body piercing. I noticed my DS(10) kept watching him. When the tour was over, my son whispered to be that I should not worry because he kept far away for the bad guy with all the rings. Yes, the guy did look scary, but we had a long talk about the fact that people's looks, ages or sex do not indicate that they are good or bad people. I thought my son had grasped this concept but I was wrong! Just a reminder to TALK TALK TALK to you kids.

Jordans mom

 

[pwoodham]

Thanks so much for posting this. I just went over (once again) with my boys what to do if approached by strangers wanting them to do something. Like you, I'm always with my kids, but it only takes a few seconds. Thank God you were vigilant.

 

[BCV23]

I, too, would still alert the manager of WL. I've noticed much more security at WDW this year. If they know of a ruse to entice children away from a pool, I'm sure they would be on the alert for it not just at WL, but at all the resorts. Thank goodness you were so alert.

 

[Disneydenise]

RockNRobin You probably won't want to let them go at 18 either. I know of what I speak. This is the most difficult job I have ever had. It's the one I love the best. You did the best you could at the time. i would call the WL though and just let them know.

 

[eeyore0062]

Thanks for the warning, but really all you can do is let people know, like you have, so they can be on the lookout for similar incidents, and perhaps have the opportunity to report it. In the meantime, I would give the resort a call and let them know exactly what took place, at least then they can also be on the lookout for similar incidents, and it won't come as a surprise if it is reported next time.

The most important thing, is that you got your girls away... if what the girl was doing was innocent, she wouldn't have disappeared so conveniently once your kids came to get you. It is good that your kids knew to consult you, and didn't just take it upon themselves to go with that girl!

 

[pollyanna]

Although it sounds suspicious....it could have been gathering kids for an innocent game of Marco Polo,for god's sake. What is the management supposed to do in the future?...look for 14 year olds talking to 10 years olds andf question them??Sorry, I can't imagine "reporting" this to a resort mamagement when nothing occurred.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I know it would seem difficult to report, but if they just wanted to play Marco Polo would they be offering my 7 year old $25? And I think CMs down there are used to people being hyper-vigilant. We were at BWV and the CM in the gift shop was calling management to report another customer found a garbage bag outside of her room on the 4th floor and wanted it checked out. I wouldn't have done that--I would have assumed someone left there garbage!--but who knows these days? Perhaps she was right to have someone check it out.
Robin M.