2 Year Old Dragged into Water by Gator at Disney Resort

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG. How is it possible that they have gators on their property?!?! You'd think it was a man-made lagoon free of gators.

Can't prevent that. They only had a sign that said "no swimming" apparently. A sign "gators present" would have been more appropriate. It's Florida - a gator can get in quickly.

+1 - I can't believe their lawyers didn't insist on a sign warning about alligators. I live in Florida; those signs are everywhere. And, except when drunk people are involved, pretty effective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're still going in July, taking our two girls.

+1 we are still going too in July. Taking my 4yo.

I feel sorry for people who fall for the Disney hype. Take your children to a place where they can see real nature and not the fakery of Disney. .

Save your pity for yourself and other judgmental a-holes like you. My family loves Disney! We go every other year and still plan to do so.

I have no desire to judge anyone else's vacation choices.

Well, to be fair, you probably don't know enough about them to judge. Here's a tip - Japan is not next to Morocco.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How dumb are these parents? Who in the United States doesn't know that ANY body of water in FL (besides the ocean), no matter how pretty or inviting it may seem likely has gators and/or venomous things. I love that we're splitting hairs between swimming and wading, when this child shouldn't have been touching water, period. Even if the signs don't say it - why risk it?

Wonder how close the dad was to the kid - bc I would think a dad standing right there could grab the kid under the armpits end pull hard enough to pull him out. Though I guess that also depends on the gators grip.

Sad but I don't want to see Disney paying out huge sums here.

Okay, for one thing, if you believe that every single person in the US is aware of the dangers of alligators in Florida, you are a moron. Full stop.

Secondly, even if this kid was standing 12 inches away, not touching the water, the alligator still could have gotten him.

Really? I would wager that people who don't know about gators in Florida are the idiots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Man, some of you are assholes. I don't know why, but I expected more compassion and empathy from a group of people who are most likely parents. Some of these comments... I just can't.

What a horrible week for Orlando. I'm so sad.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Orlando and the seven seas lagoon isn't for swimming. Florida lakes are unsafe to swim in due to bacteria. Disney has no alligator signs posted.

I can see how alligator signs might not be very "magical" but honestly that is appalling. Especially if they are as prevalent as this thread suggests.

I stayed at the Polynesian Resort ten years ago and we were surprised how much it is set up like a beach resort. All that sand to run around on right up to the lagoon. There were signs for no swimming. There were NO signs for beware of alligators or do not walk with your feet in the water as this toddler was doing. Families are all over the beach at night watching fireworks. Disney encourages it. It looks like a beach and Disney has it set up that way even though they know alligators lurk in the waters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a toddler son. I keep thinking about how tiny his little body is compared to an alligator's strong jaws and it makes me physically ill. And the parents saw it happen and were helpless. Now they have the whole world commenting on whether it was their fault or not.

How do you ever get that image out of your head? How do you move on and not replay it every day thinking of what you wish you had done differently. How do you go back to work, back to normal life?

I am just so sad for them.

I semi-blame the parents but this would haunt me. Suicide would be my most prevalent thought and I would hope I would not give in to the temptation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Man, some of you are assholes. I don't know why, but I expected more compassion and empathy from a group of people who are most likely parents. Some of these comments... I just can't.

What a horrible week for Orlando. I'm so sad.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Florida is filled with beautiful yet very deceiving housing developments that are practically built in the middle of swampland. The alligators will show up at some point, guaranteed. I lived there for a few years. You'd be surprised where you'd find them. Crossing highways, hanging out in overflow ditches next stripmalls, right on the side of the road. Disney should have known better. Nothing wrong with leaving a "Welcome to Florida, now please stay safe" leaflet in every hotel room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How dumb are these parents? Who in the United States doesn't know that ANY body of water in FL (besides the ocean), no matter how pretty or inviting it may seem likely has gators and/or venomous things. I love that we're splitting hairs between swimming and wading, when this child shouldn't have been touching water, period. Even if the signs don't say it - why risk it?

Wonder how close the dad was to the kid - bc I would think a dad standing right there could grab the kid under the armpits end pull hard enough to pull him out. Though I guess that also depends on the gators grip.

Sad but I don't want to see Disney paying out huge sums here.

Who gives an eff what some mega corporation has to pay. I'd sue them out of existence. In America, anything is possible with a jury. I hope we hear about the first trillion dollar award.

Not going to happen. It doesn't mean it was the parent's fault. But it wasn't Disney's either. Again, would you sue a county beach for a shark attack?

This story has more details, and it looks like the child was pretty far in the water.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-disney-world-alligator-attack-toddler-20160615-story.html

The article says he was a foot into the water, which would make the water a few inches deep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How dumb are these parents? Who in the United States doesn't know that ANY body of water in FL (besides the ocean), no matter how pretty or inviting it may seem likely has gators and/or venomous things. I love that we're splitting hairs between swimming and wading, when this child shouldn't have been touching water, period. Even if the signs don't say it - why risk it?

Wonder how close the dad was to the kid - bc I would think a dad standing right there could grab the kid under the armpits end pull hard enough to pull him out. Though I guess that also depends on the gators grip.

Sad but I don't want to see Disney paying out huge sums here.

Who gives an eff what some mega corporation has to pay. I'd sue them out of existence. In America, anything is possible with a jury. I hope we hear about the first trillion dollar award.

Not going to happen. It doesn't mean it was the parent's fault. But it wasn't Disney's either. Again, would you sue a county beach for a shark attack?

This story has more details, and it looks like the child was pretty far in the water.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-disney-world-alligator-attack-toddler-20160615-story.html

He was 1-2 ft into the water?! Slightly more than wading. Disney most certainly should not pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How dumb are these parents? Who in the United States doesn't know that ANY body of water in FL (besides the ocean), no matter how pretty or inviting it may seem likely has gators and/or venomous things. I love that we're splitting hairs between swimming and wading, when this child shouldn't have been touching water, period. Even if the signs don't say it - why risk it?

Wonder how close the dad was to the kid - bc I would think a dad standing right there could grab the kid under the armpits end pull hard enough to pull him out. Though I guess that also depends on the gators grip.

Sad but I don't want to see Disney paying out huge sums here.

Who gives an eff what some mega corporation has to pay. I'd sue them out of existence. In America, anything is possible with a jury. I hope we hear about the first trillion dollar award.

Not going to happen. It doesn't mean it was the parent's fault. But it wasn't Disney's either. Again, would you sue a county beach for a shark attack?

This story has more details, and it looks like the child was pretty far in the water.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-disney-world-alligator-attack-toddler-20160615-story.html

Hmm...from the picture in that article it appears that the signs only said “Steep drop off, Deep water, no swimming.” While I agree that the parents were foolish to not follow the signs and disregard the “no swimming”, I do think Disney could have been more clear in warning that there are gators in the water. Deep water alone is not a reason to not swim, especially when they went out of their way to make it a “beach” area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Florida is filled with beautiful yet very deceiving housing developments that are practically built in the middle of swampland. The alligators will show up at some point, guaranteed. I lived there for a few years. You'd be surprised where you'd find them. Crossing highways, hanging out in overflow ditches next stripmalls, right on the side of the road. Disney should have known better. Nothing wrong with leaving a "Welcome to Florida, now please stay safe" leaflet in every hotel room.

A lot more of these alligators are going to start winding up dead, for reasons unknown other than a small caliber bullet through their heads. Bet on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG. How is it possible that they have gators on their property?!?! You'd think it was a man-made lagoon free of gators.

Can't prevent that. They only had a sign that said "no swimming" apparently. A sign "gators present" would have been more appropriate. It's Florida - a gator can get in quickly.

+1 - I can't believe their lawyers didn't insist on a sign warning about alligators. I live in Florida; those signs are everywhere. And, except when drunk people are involved, pretty effective.

In Florida, that seems pretty self-explanatory to me. Why don't people use common sense?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How dumb are these parents? Who in the United States doesn't know that ANY body of water in FL (besides the ocean), no matter how pretty or inviting it may seem likely has gators and/or venomous things. I love that we're splitting hairs between swimming and wading, when this child shouldn't have been touching water, period. Even if the signs don't say it - why risk it?

Wonder how close the dad was to the kid - bc I would think a dad standing right there could grab the kid under the armpits end pull hard enough to pull him out. Though I guess that also depends on the gators grip.

Sad but I don't want to see Disney paying out huge sums here.

Okay, for one thing, if you believe that every single person in the US is aware of the dangers of alligators in Florida, you are a moron. Full stop.

Secondly, even if this kid was standing 12 inches away, not touching the water, the alligator still could have gotten him.

Really? I would wager that people who don't know about gators in Florida are the idiots.

Yes, I know that you would wager that. Because you don't know shit about how the world works.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry, but this is negligence. In Florida, in water, AT NIGHT. A disaster waiting to happen.