Wished I Could Have Done Something

[Luv Bunnies]

Several years ago, we were in line for the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. A little boy in front of us, maybe 5, was screaming and pleading with his mother to turn around and leave. She kept blowing him off and telling him it was going to be fun. They got up to the place where a CM assigns you a row and he was still crying. The CM asked him if he wanted to go on the ride. He responded with an emphatic, "No!" The CM told the mom she could not allow him to board when he was that upset. She handed the mom a rider swap pass and said she could come back through the exit and ride when the rest of her party was done. The mom took him out the chicken exit. She didn't look happy, but oh well. I was glad the CM stepped in because the poor guy was really scared!

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

Several years ago, we were in line for the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. A little boy in front of us, maybe 5, was screaming and pleading with his mother to turn around and leave. She kept blowing him off and telling him it was going to be fun. They got up to the place where a CM assigns you a row and he was still crying. The CM asked him if he wanted to go on the ride. He responded with an emphatic, "No!" The CM told the mom she could not allow him to board when he was that upset. She handed the mom a rider swap pass and said she could come back through the exit and ride when the rest of her party was done. The mom took him out the chicken exit. She didn't look happy, but oh well. I was glad the CM stepped in because the poor guy was really scared!

that is wonderful that the cm stepped up. There was no way that boy on rnrc was going to get off that ride unless a cm stepped in. The mom physically held him down and pulled the restraint over him. Shoot I would have offered to stay with the boy . I'm upset that all of those adults blew that kid off before the ride and after the ride teasing him to the point where I considered it abuse.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

he wasn't I saw him later he was with other people drinking

Still no grounds to assume he is a pedofile. My DH would have watched to make sure nothing bad happened to the child. Sad that in our society that only women are supposed to approach lost children.

 

[maxiesmom]

Still no grounds to assume he is a pedofile. My DH would have watched to make sure nothing bad happened to the child. Sad that in our society that only women are supposed to approach lost children.

 

[Bronxgirl]

How horrifying. How disturbed does someone have to be to purposefully traumatize their child for pleasure. If they're doing in the in the middle of WDW, I can't even imagine what goes on behind closed doors.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Still no grounds to assume he is a pedofile. My DH would have watched to make sure nothing bad happened to the child. Sad that in our society that only women are supposed to approach lost children.

My DH would have done the same thing.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

Still no grounds to assume he is a pedofile. My DH would have watched to make sure nothing bad happened to the child. Sad that in our society that only women are supposed to approach lost children.

This is true but with kids I always want to error on the side of caution. And if my husband was watching / following to make sure a child was safe he would have said something to the mom like "just making sure she wasn't lost" as soon as mom was noticed he would not have turned and practically run away. I'm really hoping he was a concerned citizen but what I and another family witnessed was odd behavior that we weren't going to ignore.

 

[Oakenshield]

Still no grounds to assume he is a pedofile. My DH would have watched to make sure nothing bad happened to the child. Sad that in our society that only women are supposed to approach lost children.

ALL of this. My husband would have hung around/hovered the kid, looking around to see if he could see security, their mom, or something to indicate where this child belongs. He definitely wouldn't have gone in to pick the kid up unless there were an emergency, but if he didn't see anyone around he probably would have knelt down to talk to the child, taken their hand and tried to find security ASAP.

It makes me sad as well that today only a woman can approach a child to help. If a man does it, then there is just something wrong with them.

Also, just because he took off quickly, and you saw him drinking later with people, it means absolutely nothing. Maybe he took off quickly because he was absolutely disgusted with the mother once he saw the situation.

 

[Oakenshield]

I'm really hoping he was a concerned citizen but what I and another family witnessed was odd behavior that we weren't going to ignore.

If you didn't bring your concerns to security, then you did ignore it.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

If you didn't bring your concerns to security, then you did ignore it.

if mom wasn't discovered I would have. The other concerned mom was planning on waiting while I went but mom appeared. No reason to go to security since mom was discovered.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

ALL of this. My husband would have hung around/hovered the kid, looking around to see if he could see security, their mom, or something to indicate where this child belongs. He definitely wouldn't have gone in to pick the kid up unless there were an emergency, but if he didn't see anyone around he probably would have knelt down to talk to the child, taken their hand and tried to find security ASAP. It makes me sad as well that today only a woman can approach a child to help. If a man does it, then there is just something wrong with them. Also, just because he took off quickly, and you saw him drinking later with people, it means absolutely nothing. Maybe he took off quickly because he was absolutely disgusted with the mother once he saw the situation.

I hope you are right about the stranger. The actions that you described you husband would do are very very different than the actions witnessed at wdw. I pointed out that I saw him drinking later because another poster thought he might be security I was just pointing out he was a guest. And as far as kids go I would rather not be so pc if it saves a child. You can always apologize to an adult later.

 

[aaarcher86]

This is true but with kids I always want to error on the side of caution. And if my husband was watching / following to make sure a child was safe he would have said something to the mom like "just making sure she wasn't lost" as soon as mom was noticed he would not have turned and practically run away. I'm really hoping he was a concerned citizen but what I and another family witnessed was odd behavior that we weren't going to ignore.

Maybe he darted off because he knew some stranger would peg him as a pedophile unnecessarily.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

Maybe he darted off because he knew some stranger would peg him as a pedophile unnecessarily.

Or late in meeting up with his friends. Lots of good reasons why he may rushed off.

 

[aaarcher86]

Or late in meeting up with his friends. Lots of good reasons why he may rushed off.

Or saw mom was filming and didn't want to ruin it (even if it was stupid) or be filmed.

Agreed - lots of perfectly normal reasons.

 

[maxiesmom]

I hope you are right about the stranger. The actions that you described you husband would do are very very different than the actions witnessed at wdw. I pointed out that I saw him drinking later because another poster thought he might be security I was just pointing out he was a guest. And as far as kids go I would rather not be so pc if it saves a child. You can always apologize to an adult later.

I really don't understand why it is ok for a woman to approach or keep an eye on a lost child, but not a man. It is pretty sad that people assume the worst of others so easily.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I really don't understand why it is ok for a woman to approach or keep an eye on a lost child, but not a man. It is pretty sad that people assume the worst of others so easily.

no where did I say it was ok for a woman and not a man. If I noticed a suspicious woman I would have posted it . I'm just shocked we are more concerned about being politically correct that helping a child. I don't care if he was trying to help his actions made me worried and I won't apologize for that

 

[Disneybuckeye]

If she was being followed by a woman who ran off would that have bothered you? Yes, what the mom did is upsetting and wrong, but jumping to the conclusion that a man watching to perhaps make sure she was ok is a pedofle is also upsetting and wrong. Just because someone says something to the parent does not make them less likely to be a pedofile. Just because they don't does not make them one either.

I agree what you saw in both instances was bad behavior by parents but that is no reason to unnecessarily scare parents and make them think Disney World is overrun with people who will hurt their children. It has nothing to do with being PC. It is about not jumping to conclusions.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

If she was being followed by a woman who ran off would that have bothered you? Yes, what the mom did is upsetting and wrong, but jumping to the conclusion that a man watching to perhaps make sure she was ok is a pedofle is also upsetting and wrong. Just because someone says something to the parent does not make them less likely to be a pedofile. Just because they don't does not make them one either. I agree what you saw in both instances was bad behavior by parents but that is no reason to unnecessarily scare parents and make them think Disney World is overrun with people who will hurt their children. It has nothing to do with being PC. It is about not jumping to conclusions.

I'm sorry to upset anyone but there is no such thing as a 100% safe place. If a woman was doing the suspicious behavior that man was doing then yes I would have thought exactly the same thing. Btw I never once said the man was a pedophile. I said he was acting suspicious. The other family and I thought he was probably grandpa at first but his actions made us think otherwise.

 

[Gracie09]

I'm sorry to upset anyone but there is no such thing as a 100% safe place. If a woman was doing the suspicious behavior that man was doing then yes I would have thought exactly the same thing. Btw I never once said the man was a pedophile. I said he was acting suspicious. The other family and I thought he was probably grandpa at first but his actions made us think otherwise.

I still don't see where you said what he did was suspicious. He followed the girl (like you did) and when it was apparent her family had her he left. There are a million and one reasons why he could have left in a hurry- he had a fp expiring, he had a ADR, he had to pee, he was late meeting someone etc etc. if you didn't think he was acting like a pedafile then what exactly did you suspect him of doing.
And you're right no place is 100% safe but you should be much more afraid of a coach, neighbor, friend or family member than a random stranger in a theme park. They are the ones much more likely to harm a child, not the stranger

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I still don't see where you said what he did was suspicious. He followed the girl (like you did) and when it was apparent her family had her he left. There are a million and one reasons why he could have left in a hurry- he had a fp expiring, he had a ADR, he had to pee, he was late meeting someone etc etc. if you didn't think he was acting like a pedafile then what exactly did you suspect him of doing. And you're right no place is 100% safe but you should be much more afraid of a coach, neighbor, friend or family member than a random stranger in a theme park. They are the ones much more likely to harm a child, not the stranger

Nevermind the girl is safe