2 Year Old Dragged into Water by Gator at Disney Resort

[Anonymous]

Who goes to Florida and doesn't know there are alligators everywhere? There's ar eason the Gators are our State U. mascot. Pretty cool one too.

We've built our homes, resorts, etc. in their habitat and they've adapted to co-existence. Alligator attacks on humans are very very rare. Sorry that this happened, but people can be so ignorant?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disney will have to spend millions in public relations to restore its name as the 'safest place on earth.' I, personally, will never think of Disney the same way again.

And as far as some of you blaming the parents, I'll say it for them....kiss my ass.

Nobody ever calles Disney the safest place on earth, what are you smoking?

Try googling. Do people like you ever check anything out before opening your mouth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:In addition to signs, there should be a fence around the lake.

Oh like we fence off oceans and forests?

Right? People are such idiots. Who needs common sense when someone can build a fence and think for you.

This is private property! Big difference. If you step in quicksand in a forest and die, too bad. If your neighbor has you over for a party and doesn't tell you there is quicksand in the backyard in a place that it looks pretty reasonable to walk near, then your neighbor will be liable if you get sucked in and die. You don't assume the risk in the same way. This concept has developed over centuries and makes a lot of sense.

What if your neighbor had a sign up that said "don't play in the sand" and you did anyway? Because that's what happened here.

I'm assuming they'd argue that they were just dipping their toes in the sand. Playing means rolling around and making sand castles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disney will have to spend millions in public relations to restore its name as the 'safest place on earth.' I, personally, will never think of Disney the same way again.

And as far as some of you blaming the parents, I'll say it for them....kiss my ass.

Nobody ever calles Disney the safest place on earth, what are you smoking?

Maybe PP is thinking of "happiest place on earth"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disney will have to spend millions in public relations to restore its name as the 'safest place on earth.' I, personally, will never think of Disney the same way again.

And as far as some of you blaming the parents, I'll say it for them....kiss my ass.

Nobody ever calles Disney the safest place on earth, what are you smoking?

Try googling. Do people like you ever check anything out before opening your mouth?

It's called the happiest place on earth. Nobody has ever made claims that nothing bad can happen to you there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disney will have to spend millions in public relations to restore its name as the 'safest place on earth.' I, personally, will never think of Disney the same way again.

And as far as some of you blaming the parents, I'll say it for them....kiss my ass.

Nobody ever calles Disney the safest place on earth, what are you smoking?

One of MANY. Not necessarily true, but it's advertising this for decades.

http://www.independenttraveler.com/trip-reviews/disneyland-the-safest-place-on-earth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so the child was wading in a few inches of water which could be said to conflict with the "no swimming" sign although I would strenuously argue that those of us from other parts of the country don't think gator when we see those words.

But, what if the child wasn't even wading, but was filling up a bucket with water right at the water's edge to build a sand castle? Would you know not to let your child do that? If the water is so unsafe that a child shouldn't come in contact with it in any way it does seem to me to be an attractive nuisance to build a pretty fake beach and encourage activities on that beach, including at nighttime!!!

Perhaps I'm a different sort of person. Wildlife danger or not, nighttime means the beach is CLOSED. I am cautious around large bodies of water at night.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I still don't blame the parents at all, but every time I see that water I'm just amazed people could look at it and think it was safe to play in. Snakes, gators, bugs, etc. Maybe Disney also assumed that everyone understood you don't go in brackish freshwater ponds in Florida, particularly at night? I accept now that many people don't know this but until so many of you said you didn't I thought it was common knowledge, like don't stand under a tree or hold metal in a lightning storm. The no swimming signs if they're updated at all will need to list many reasons besides just gators why you shouldn't be in that water and I just have to think Disney until now held all those to be self evident.

Nope. It was a calculated decision by disney to forego posting warning signs.

I posted earlier a link to disney's signs on the beaches at their private island in castaway cay/bahamas. The signs are big, and they include a laundry list of dangerous sea life (sharks, sea lice, etc.). They are posted by every entrance/path to the beach.

If they are warning people about sharks---which is common knowledge---then why not gators? Particularly since nobody would expect to see a gator in a man made resort area or amusement park.

An island in the Bahamas is not the same as a brackish trash pond in Florida. Give me a break. You're trying to compare two disparate environments.

But Disney created that lagoon to appear to be a beach in the bahamas or some other resort destination. They carted in white sand and palm trees. They put cabanas and lounge areas and volleyball nets on the beach next to the water. They did not leave it natural native swampland. They created this illusion and led people to believe it as a marketing ploy.

I'm going to disagree with this slightly. The Grand Floridian is not designed to look like it's in the Bahamas. It's Victorian-era Florida, in the age of the state's early development, with Henry Flagler taking his fortune from Standard Oil and bringing the railroad down to the sea.

[Anonymous]

So is Disney liable? I would think so - a simple "no swimming" sign is not enough to stave off liability, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disney will have to spend millions in public relations to restore its name as the 'safest place on earth.' I, personally, will never think of Disney the same way again.

And as far as some of you blaming the parents, I'll say it for them....kiss my ass.

Nobody ever calles Disney the safest place on earth, what are you smoking?

Maybe PP is thinking of "happiest place on earth"?

Well, definitely not that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So is Disney liable? I would think so - a simple "no swimming" sign is not enough to stave off liability, right?

They will probably settle. Its the wise thing to do in this case. Less publicity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In addition to signs, there should be a fence around the lake.

Oh like we fence off oceans and forests?

Right? People are such idiots. Who needs common sense when someone can build a fence and think for you.

This is private property! Big difference. If you step in quicksand in a forest and die, too bad. If your neighbor has you over for a party and doesn't tell you there is quicksand in the backyard in a place that it looks pretty reasonable to walk near, then your neighbor will be liable if you get sucked in and die. You don't assume the risk in the same way. This concept has developed over centuries and makes a lot of sense.

What if your neighbor had a sign up that said "don't play in the sand" and you did anyway? Because that's what happened here.

"No swimming" often means "no life guard on duty" and not "alligators may eat you if you put your toe in." Also, presumably Disney employees are at the beach for these movie events, so they see kids at the edge of the water at night. Do they not say anything? Putting up an ambiguous sign and then failing to warn when people are ignoring it is doubly bad.

No swimming means no swimming. For a variety of reasons (one of which might be no life guard on duty).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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.

The alligator isn't a perp, it's an animal. Leaving a child in or near water with being right there is a dangerous situation.

Disney created the danger with an illusion of a safe little man made beach.

It's a murky-ass lake in the dark in FL. It's not like we're in another reality once we enter Disney. But, if it makes you feel any better, I'd bet my entire life savings that this family will get an incredibly handsome payment from Disney.

Let me guess.

A) you do not have kids

And

B) you have never stayed at an upscale Disney resort property.

I have a child and have stayed at many upscale resorts throughout the world. All regions have their challenges; it's my job to be aware of them. I would never assume any corporation in any country is going to watch out for my child more than I will.

But not the upscale Disney property resorts?

Because you sound like you have not and you do not know what you are talking about when you are blaming the parents.

What they did that night is exactly what hundreds, if not thousands of parents do every day at those Disney resorts as a direct result of the "magic" Disney works so hard to create at their resorts. That is why their signs were spread apart, did not indicate dangerous, aggressive gators in the water next to the shore line, and why they created beautiful beachfront recreation areas right on the water right around those lagoons, not at just the Polynesian but at all the lagoon front resorts. Dangerous animal signs interfere with the Disney created illusion and do not make everything feel like glitter and pixie dust.

Disney scheduled the nightime events on that waterfront area. Disney placed the chairs and cabanas near water they knew contained gators. Disney employees do not redirect guests away from that water, not the hundreds of guests letting their kids play at the edge or wading in the water, not during the day and not at night. Disney presents those beachfront sections as exactpy that, beaches, and they present them as safe by their actions, scheduled activities and lack of action when their many guests relax along that water area.

Disney does this because it is part of the very carefully crafted storyline they fill guests with from the momement they step on the Magic express bus to their hotel greeters, mouse shaped towles on the pillow at night, and their beautiful hotels with beautifully relaxing white sand beaches and beachfront cabanas.

People.posting who are from Florida all keep saying EVERYONE in Florida knows basic gator safety. Well, since they fire so many Americans in recent years, many Disney employees are NOT from Florida. They might not know the danger the gators pose. They might not be from countries where gator habits and gator safety are even a blip on the radar. They might see gators as intersting oddities, and might not have any understanding of their risks because they are also not from Florida.

Disney deserves blame for this. They should have posted gator signs along their waterways. They should have instructed their employees to redirect guests who come from all over the world away from being at the waters edge instesd of instructing them to look the other way so as not to disturb the "magic." And they should have been running PSAs every ten minutes or so in that damn Disney infomercial that runs around the clock on their hotel room TVs.

Having stayed at those waterfront resorts, I never in a million years would have thougt those Disney beaches and waterfront are unsafe and filled with gators. I am aware they are there in Flroda but my assumption was that disney has some sort of barrier in the water not far from shore at those specific beaches which Disney presents as being so safe and perfect for evening relaxing.

They create the illusion as being the ultimate and safest place to vacation with children, the most magic place on earth, where everyone can relax, let their guard down and just be a kid. Everything they do, every minute detail they work so hard to create, is centered on that image of "magic" for guests staying on property and especially in the upscale resorts.

They knew those waters had alligators. They scheduled night events on the water at all of those beaches, knowing there were alligators feeding at night. And they did not post signs letting people.know they might encounter alligators in that exact water and on that beach they scheduled nightly events on.


I guess gator infested water and alligator warning to guests just interfered too much with the Disney resort magic.

Dang you wrote a book! Nutty. How are you saying you stayed in Florida a LOT of times and you were never saw or were aware of all the reptiles wandering around? A story comes out EVERY DAY about an alligator found in a Florida swimming pool, backyard, eating a dog, or even found in a bathtub or toilet! EVERY DAY. I have witnessed a LOT of parents being negligent towards their kids. The last one was when I was exiting a restaurant and a little girl of about 3 or 4 yrs old ran out with me. THe mom was chatting away in the restaurant so the little girl goes to the curb of the street and wants to pass the street. The mom is still in the restaurant. I tell the dumb ass mom and it is only then she SLOWLY walks out to get her kid. Disney has been operating how many years? and a similar incident to this has not happened in a lagoon they had. Why? Because people may actually pay attention to the "no swimming sign" and not allow their baby to dip in the water.

Sorry. You are dead wrong.

Every single thing you keep writing about shows you have never been to Disney, absolutely have never stayed in one of these upscale Disney resorts on their water system, do not understand how orchestrated and controlled the Disney experience (particularly the Disney resorts) are, and that what they did that night is the exact same thing large numbers of parents at these resorts do every single day of the year, with Disney looking the other way because scary alligator signs at their beachfront events don't fit the illusion they work so hard to create.

Without a doubt tye lack of alligator signs was a conscious, deliberate decision based ultimately on money and keeping people paying top dollar for these waterfront resorts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disney will have to spend millions in public relations to restore its name as the 'safest place on earth.' I, personally, will never think of Disney the same way again.

And as far as some of you blaming the parents, I'll say it for them....kiss my ass.

Nobody ever calles Disney the safest place on earth, what are you smoking?

One of MANY. Not necessarily true, but it's advertising this for decades.

http://www.independenttraveler.com/trip-reviews/disneyland-the-safest-place-on-earth

Disney does not call themselves this. Some mom who had a fun trip there did. Big difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disney will have to spend millions in public relations to restore its name as the 'safest place on earth.' I, personally, will never think of Disney the same way again.

And as far as some of you blaming the parents, I'll say it for them....kiss my ass.

I doubt it. Disney fanatics will still come. And those hotels will still be booked. And folks will still go in that water. People have very short memories.