Worried Mom of 2

[miraged]

my two were six and 12 the first time I took them by myself to WDW. I made them customized business cards with their picture, their name, the resort phone number, and my cell phone number to put in their pocket. I made sure they knew to only approach Disney Cast Members for assistance. I also think it is a great idea to take a picture of them in their outfits for the day in the morning, that is very helpful. We have never had any problem, just the two children and I, and now that the oldest one is 16, I actually let him go off on his own to MK, MGM, and Downtown Disney, while his little sister and I re-visited AK. No problem at all, he met us back at our room exactly when we had arranged to.
Have a great trip!
Donna

 

[DisneyKevin]

Disney and Walmart both sell the engravable tags. Put your cell number on it and put it on their shoelaces, but dont just slip it in and tie it. Unlace some of the sneaker, slip it on and lace it back up. This way it wont fall off.

Make sure the kids know what it is.

 

[dimimi]

Disney and Walmart both sell the engravable tags. Put your cell number on it and put it on their shoelaces, but dont just slip it in and tie it. Unlace some of the sneaker, slip it on and lace it back up. This way it wont fall off.

Make sure the kids know what it is.

I love this idea! My kids are older now and they carry cell phones, but when they were younger, this would have been a great idea!

 

[OKW Lover]

Before you head for the park each morning, take a picture of your children with your digital camera or cell phone. If they get lost, you'll be able to give an accurate description of what they were wearing that day.

I'd also second the suggestion of telling the child to find a cast member if they get lost. I have friends that would do this every time they went into a park - they would find a CM near the entrance and show the child how to identify a CM by the type of name-tag. You would be surprised (maybe not) at how cooperative CM's are when they did this.

 

[MagikMom]

The first year we went to Disney my kids were 5 & 8. My daughter was a very tiny 8 year old (she's still tiny at 15). We rented the double strollers at Magic Kingdom because I was so afraid I would lose one of them in a crowd. It worked out great. Whenever we were on the move, I knew exactly where they were.
Also, on my last visit to Disney, I noticed a little girl walking by. She was not crying or anything but I could just tell she was lost. To this day my husband can't understand how I could tell. I told him "it's a Mommy thing". I approached her and asked her if she lost her Mom & Dad. She said yes. She was 3 years old. She gave me her name and parents name. I stayed with her while my husband got a cast member and I also stayed with her while she was brought to the child care center. The cast member was male and I could tell that she was leary of him. When a child is lost the cast members immediately radio the other cast members so they can match the hysterical parent with the child! They have a really good system. I think telling your kids to find "a Mommy" that has kids WITH her is a good idea. They may be reluctant to approach a cast member and may not always be clear on what a cast member looks like. This little girl was definately more comfortable with me because she knew I was "a mommy" (I'm also a pediatric nurse so that helps too) and she was leary of the male cast member. I don't think she would have went with him if I didn't go with her.

 

[disney[xo]sweetie]

When it is NOT raining put them in a WDW poncho and when it IS raining take the ponco off.

haha that made me laugh out loud!!
but what we did last year, is customized t-shirts,
and a plan.
they knew that th cms would tell them where to go.
and i have twins, so they knew to STICK TOGETHER even if they couldnt find me. because 2 kids in 2 different places,in the crowds. ahhh. that scares me just thinking about it!

 

[mari360]

great advice.....i'm going with my DD2 this year and she likes to run so i need to find a good way of not losing her....

 

[wwtate]

My friends had a child who tended to "disappear," when they took her to fairs, theme parks, etc. They would put duct tape on the back of her shirt and write "if lost call ###-####."

 

[BeckyScott]

I've done the Sharpie thing with our kids... but as an added touch... I write our cell number on their stomachs.

I'm also all paranoid about putting that information out in full view. (you know, the thing about strangers seeing the kid's name on their backpack) I write on their stomach and their shirt covers it, out of view but easily accessible.

The instructions are to find a Mommy and tell her you can't find your parents, and show her your stomach. My boys tend to be exhibitionists anyway. I think most anyone would recognize a phone number when they see one.

The last thing I "heard", the common wisdom, was to tell kids to find another Mommy, someone else with kids. Statistically less likely to be a wierdo, and also more likely to actually stay with the child until she knows their parents are found. I intend to show mine the CM nametags too, but probably less confusing for them to spot other kids (more at their eye level) and go to the Mommy.

 

[bopper]

Matching Neon t-shirts.

 

[unbroken chain]

I second the stroller. At this age, this is much easier, and depending on what kind you get, they may have a storage pocket which is helpful too.

Another, but expensive, option, might be one of those "firefly" type child phones that call preprogrammed numbers at the touch of a button. The 6 year old might be able to use it, though probably not the 4 year old. You can program both the "mom" and "dad" buttons to call your cell phone. Hang it around her neck and tell her to press the button if she can't see you. That would be a lot pricier than matching hats, though.

My child did get lost once, but was 10. We turned, she didn't and 30 seconds later there was no way to find her. Although as the cast member who found her said, it wasn't clear if we lost her or she ditched us A bit of an independent one, she is. But anyway, they did find her and took her to the lost child center, none the worse for wear. I reported her missing and gave the cast members my cell phone and they called not long after as I was circling around looking for her. My older one was mad that he missed his fast pass time (so concerned for his sibling), and they even gave us new fast passes. As a bonus, the 10 year old stuck VERY close to us after that.

 

[Gev]

How about the 'wrist links'? One loop goes around the child's wrist and the other link goes around the parent's wrist?

 

[wwtate]

How about the 'wrist links'? One loop goes around the child's wrist and the other link goes around the parent's wrist?

When my son was little, he was a "darter." He tended to dart away from me, but would undo the wrist thingy, so we had a harness that worked quite well. It hooked behind him and he couldn't undo it. I had a few people get upset with me because they felt I was treating him like a dog. But, as I was ready to tell them, if it was a choice between treating him like a dog and having him run over by a car I'd prefer to call him Fido.

 

[aripantaloon]

When we are there, our DDs will be 4 and 16 months old. Do CM and other park-goers know to check for a parents' cell number on a shoe fob or in one of those wrist id bracelets that one of the first posters linked to? Obviously, if there is a sharpie of a number on the back of a shirt or in a fairly obvious place on the child, that's a no-brainer. However, if the child can't or doesn't have the composure to point out where the number is, do the adults realize to look for one? I'm asking because I don't think a 16 month-old could point one out if needed. I highly doubt that we'd lose the baby since she will most likely be carried, in a stroller, or holding our hand the whole time, but you never know.

I think I'm going to take a picture of the girls each morning, teach the older one to find a CM, and figure out some way to put our cell numbers on them without actually writing on their skin or taping it to their clothes.

 

[bumbershoot]

The safety guy who wrote The Gift of Fear has mentioned (AKA strongly urged) the "find a mom" idea as being the safest thing for a kid to do. That a child is far more likely to not choose a freak to go to, vs someone approaching a child (might be someone worried, might be a freak).


I just found this site the other night: http://safetytat.com

 

[ewspy87]

Last year we gave each of our sons alittle puch that went on a lanyard around their necks. It had their names, our names, and our cell numbers. They could tuck it into their shirt, but after a while of collecting pins on them they just wore them outside of the shirt. I like the take a picture idea too. We told both of our sons to stay close to us and if we got into heavy crowds even the ten year old had to hold a hand. Our 5 year old didn't mind the hand holding. They were both really good about it and we never lost touch with them. We also had a double stroller, which was great at the end of the night when trying to get out with the herd.

 

[ms*mountaineer]

I'd go for writing your cell number on their arm (thanks for the ball-point pen vs sharpie tip! Didn't know that!).

And go for bright shirts - matching would be really helpful. Yellow stands out in a crowd more than any other color. Go for something neon like yellow, lime or orange.

 

[jlynns]

I saw these on Nancy Grace last night.
safetytat.com

 

[momsoftwins]

what i did on my last trip to the world was....i used the luggage tags that disney sent us and turned the paper the other way and put all the info on it. their name, my name, cell number and stuff and then attached it to their shorts each day. it didnt bother them or get in the way. and they also knew if they get lost to go in a store and ask a person with a disney name tag for help.