2 Year Old Dragged into Water by Gator at Disney Resort

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have to agree with the others about not really thinking about alligators when I visit Disney/Florida 3 years ago.

This is just heartbreaking.

I cant imagine witnessing my child being taken away and trying to fight back and not being able to get him, and knowing his fate.
I honestly could not go on.

If nothing comes of this I hope better signs are posted, and better systems are in place to warn of gators, maybe like what some places do with sharks.

+100

There should be a sign in every Florida hotel room that pretty much says please enjoy the beauty of our state and what it has to offer but be aware of local wildlife, i.e. alligators. Hotels out west all have signs asking guests to conserve water due to the climate. No reason hotels in Florida, knowing that basically every waterway-- even a swimming pool-- may contain an alligator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/tourism/os-disney-alligator-history-20160615-story.html

Another boy was bitten at disney a while back. The article also quotes a father who grabbed his kid away from an approaching gator at disney.

I also found it interesting that a guest warned staff about an alligator on that exact stretch of beach just an hour before that poor.little boy was taken.

Shame on Disney for not clesring the beach or warning the families on tue beach.

Link or it didn't happen.

Ummm...did you read the sunsentinel article linked in the exact posts you just quoted?

It is right there in the article.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I grew up in Florida and know well that gators are very dangerous. They move like lightening and are not an animal to get near. And they can lurk close to shore. But I only know that from living near the water growing up. I certainly wouldn't expect tourists visiting to know that about gators. A no swimming sign is very different than Warning- Alligators- Do not go in the water. And yes- gators drown their prey. They show no mercy. It's a tragedy and blaming the parents is pretty horrible- haven't they suffered enough?

+1 lived in Florida a long time

+2

Not a FL resident.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually beaches do tend to warn about sharks when they've been seen there. This is a private resort! They have to warn people about all kinds of known dangers. They advertise, invite and charge families with young children to come there and absolutely have a duty to warn of known dangers. If this were out in the wild I would agree with people expecting more common sense. When you are on resort property, you are less vigilant about all kinds of things-for example, being held up at knife point at night-because you feel like the resort as owner is providing security and a safe environment, so you go out after dark and feel safe, even though you might not on the street in your home town. Likewise with the resort's man made lakes. You are less vigilant because you assume the owner will remove or warn you about known dangers. That is how the law works. Sorry if you think people need to just pay for their failure to be aware of the hidden animal dangers in various geographic regions. Saying that is sort of like getting attacked by a person at Disney that the park was aware was violent but kept letting back in (or not monitoring whether they were doing so).

And who's to say that Disney had notice of alligator activity in this lake?

A man-made lake means NOTHING if it feeds into other bodies of water.

Hard to say they were on notice when there have been no issues for 45 years.

[Anonymous]

Well that child would have been eaten or drowned. It's plain irresponsible to let a 2 year old play near water unattended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually beaches do tend to warn about sharks when they've been seen there. This is a private resort! They have to warn people about all kinds of known dangers. They advertise, invite and charge families with young children to come there and absolutely have a duty to warn of known dangers. If this were out in the wild I would agree with people expecting more common sense. When you are on resort property, you are less vigilant about all kinds of things-for example, being held up at knife point at night-because you feel like the resort as owner is providing security and a safe environment, so you go out after dark and feel safe, even though you might not on the street in your home town. Likewise with the resort's man made lakes. You are less vigilant because you assume the owner will remove or warn you about known dangers. That is how the law works. Sorry if you think people need to just pay for their failure to be aware of the hidden animal dangers in various geographic regions. Saying that is sort of like getting attacked by a person at Disney that the park was aware was violent but kept letting back in (or not monitoring whether they were doing so).

And who's to say that Disney had notice of alligator activity in this lake?

A man-made lake means NOTHING if it feeds into other bodies of water.

Hard to say they were on notice when there have been no issues for 45 years.

I dont believe that. people have been coming forward with stories of alligator attacks on Disney property.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:100% Disney is responsible here.

I am a very educated person, not to mention I was born in Florida and lived there until kindergarten. We have a vacation house in Florida. We also have Disney annual passes and go there a minimum of 4-5 times per year.

And I swear to God I had no idea about alligators being prevalent in water at night. I just had no clue. I know that there are alligators in Florida, but I didn't know they hide in swimming pools like a PP posted, or in lakes, etc. Jesus at our vacation house we are a block from a lake - which is right next to the ocean too - and we walk around the lake at night all the time after dark. It is a very safe community and I never in a million years thought I'd have to worry about an ALLIGATOR!

This past summer, we attended one of those evening beachfront events after dark (it was fireworks, not a movie) while staying at the Polynesian with our 3 year old. I am a germ freak so would never have let her get in the water, but I also had NO idea that alligators could have been present. Just no clue. I would never ever ever in ten million years have been hanging out with my guard down watching fireworks with my kid two feet from the water if I had known that.

It makes me wonder about other potential concerns now with Disney. I just feel so shaken up- this really could have happened to anyone. Those poor parents.

Clearly education has nothing to do with common sense.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a landlocked state similar to Nebraska. I've also lived on both coasts. I'd never heard about gators in every body of water in Florida until I began researching travel to Florida. Disney markets itself to families all over the US and all over the world, and assuming that every guest knows that even the lakes at Disney contain alligators is ludicrous.

I'm not an attorney, but since we're all giving opinions here, I think Disney was horribly negligent. They can't keep the gators out - that much is obvious, and it's understandable. It's terrible that they don't warn guests specifically about the dangers that alligators *in their own lakes* pose. Other resorts put up "danger: alligators" signs.

Disney has constructed beaches with lifeguards and beach chairs. They designed these beaches to be nice places where you'd want to hang out. Who's going to assume that "No Swimming" means "Don't let your small child get snatched in very shallow water by an alligator?" It would have made the properties much less palatable. Disney went light on the warnings, I guess not to scare guests away. That was a terrible decision with a terrible outcome.

That poor boy and his poor family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually beaches do tend to warn about sharks when they've been seen there. This is a private resort! They have to warn people about all kinds of known dangers. They advertise, invite and charge families with young children to come there and absolutely have a duty to warn of known dangers. If this were out in the wild I would agree with people expecting more common sense. When you are on resort property, you are less vigilant about all kinds of things-for example, being held up at knife point at night-because you feel like the resort as owner is providing security and a safe environment, so you go out after dark and feel safe, even though you might not on the street in your home town. Likewise with the resort's man made lakes. You are less vigilant because you assume the owner will remove or warn you about known dangers. That is how the law works. Sorry if you think people need to just pay for their failure to be aware of the hidden animal dangers in various geographic regions. Saying that is sort of like getting attacked by a person at Disney that the park was aware was violent but kept letting back in (or not monitoring whether they were doing so).

And who's to say that Disney had notice of alligator activity in this lake?

A man-made lake means NOTHING if it feeds into other bodies of water.

Hard to say they were on notice when there have been no issues for 45 years.

I dont believe that. people have been coming forward with stories of alligator attacks on Disney property.

There is a difference between an encounter with an alligator and an alligator attack. Clearly you need to learn it. And spend some more time in the south, alligators are everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in a landlocked state similar to Nebraska. I've also lived on both coasts. I'd never heard about gators in every body of water in Florida until I began researching travel to Florida. Disney markets itself to families all over the US and all over the world, and assuming that every guest knows that even the lakes at Disney contain alligators is ludicrous.

I'm not an attorney, but since we're all giving opinions here, I think Disney was horribly negligent. They can't keep the gators out - that much is obvious, and it's understandable. It's terrible that they don't warn guests specifically about the dangers that alligators *in their own lakes* pose. Other resorts put up "danger: alligators" signs.

Disney has constructed beaches with lifeguards and beach chairs. They designed these beaches to be nice places where you'd want to hang out. Who's going to assume that "No Swimming" means "Don't let your small child get snatched in very shallow water by an alligator?" It would have made the properties much less palatable. Disney went light on the warnings, I guess not to scare guests away. That was a terrible decision with a terrible outcome.

That poor boy and his poor family.

There is no lifeguard on the beach and the water is brackish and gross. Guess you haven't actually been there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well that child would have been eaten or drowned. It's plain irresponsible to let a 2 year old play near water unattended.

He wasn't unattended, and your victim blaming is disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It blows my mind how many people apparently don't know that you shouldn't go into murky freshwater lakes in FL at night. I though was common sense you're just supposed to know like not using a hair dryer in the bath tub.

Blows my mind, too. The ignorance is quite frightening. Alligators are very popular animals and I assumed most people knew this basic shit.

Growing up in the northeast, how would I know this "shit"? Yes, I would be wary of wildlife at a park or out in nature, but everything at Disney is orchestrated down to the last second - down to what people say, and what the air smells like. It wouldn't occur to me to be cautious around their man-made lake. And no, I didn't realize that alligators show up in swimming pools, etc.

[Anonymous]

To all Florida tourists: if the water is brackish and non-transparent think carefully as to the wisdom of getting close. Besides gators were have boa constrictors and water moccasins. The latter like to sun themselves curled around the hose outside of many homes. Gators like golf courses and also to sun themselves on paved surfaces -- driveways, near front doors. When the sun gets too hot they will also crawl under parked cars. Water mocassins are a whole different story. Let us not overlook Florida cougars, coyotes, and armadillos too. If you see signs about wildlife being present, you have been forewarned. True, maybe Disney and other resort owners will have to step up the game at checkin.

[Anonymous]

The general rule of thumb is if you do not see water fowl on the surface of the lakes or ponds, there is usually a very good and big reason for that. Lots of exceptions to that...but a fairly good metric.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It blows my mind how many people apparently don't know that you shouldn't go into murky freshwater lakes in FL at night. I though was common sense you're just supposed to know like not using a hair dryer in the bath tub.

Blows my mind, too. The ignorance is quite frightening. Alligators are very popular animals and I assumed most people knew this basic shit.

Growing up in the northeast, how would I know this "shit"? Yes, I would be wary of wildlife at a park or out in nature, but everything at Disney is orchestrated down to the last second - down to what people say, and what the air smells like. It wouldn't occur to me to be cautious around their man-made lake. And no, I didn't realize that alligators show up in swimming pools, etc.

Since you never learned, don't go in any fresh water lake pond or creek that has a no swimming sign. Never swim at night or twilight in the ocean or freshwater because that is when animals feed.

Not the first pp, but people are awful uneducated about nature, it really is dumbfounding.