Aren't those lagoons open for swimming?

We stayed at the beach club a few years back and the pool was closing for renovations. I swear there were people.swimming on the sandy beach area and certainly there were families wading and walking along the sand.

That poor family!

Most of you have no idea what Florida is like. Florida is fairly well inhabited by alligators and the occasional crocodile. They are pretty common throughout the state, although they tend to shy away from highly inhabited areas. They do gravitate towards the many natural and manmade bodies of water. You can't eliminate all of them. Disney property is 43 sq miles. in an irregular pattern. It would be virtually impossible to cordone off the entire property and maintain a perimeter. To put things in perspective, Bethesda is 13.2 sq miles. So DisneyWorld is over 3 times the size of Bethesda. Arlington is 26 sq miles. Washington DC is 61 sq miles, so Disney is about 3/4 the size of DC. That's a pretty darn big area to maintain a perimeter and even if you did build a huge fence, it could take you months to try and sweep the area to clear the area of alligators.

This normally doesn't happen because alligators tend to stay away from groups of humans.

2 year old boy. Parents tried to save him. Search to recover

I think gators are common on Disney Property. We stayed at Disney's Coronado Springs this past Dec and saw two small alligators on the property lake.

This is horrible but yes I would expect Alligators to get in. Disney is the size of Washington, DC. We overestimate the extent it is possible to control nature.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not just this lagoon. People on disboards have spotted them at Magic Kingdom, at nearly every body of water on every property, golf course, wilderness trails, waiting for the ferry, etc.

How is this possible? Empty the bodies of water, kill the gators, and secure the perimeter.

Alligators aren't like koi fish. They don't just go where you put them. They go everywhere.

+1, they are land and water animals. They slither along roads, etc. kind of like snakes do. I thought Disney kept them out with fences, though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it that so many awful things keep happening in Orlando. This is too sad for words. I can't begin to imagine what the poor parents are going through right now. No one expects this to happen on Disney property.

I'd like to hold out hope, but how could such a small child survive this?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-child-dragged-alligator-disney-20160614-story.html

"Some witnesses said they saw the toddler along the beach near the water, but no eye-witnesses to him being dragged into the water by an alligator were available for comment Tuesday night."

Makes me wonder if this is more hysteria then actually what happened. I guess time will tell.

On tripadvisor the hotel -Grand Floridian has a review where a person mentions you can see an alligator from their veranda.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g34515-d120303-Reviews-Disney_s_Grand_Floridian_Resort_Spa-Orlando_Florida.html
This is a hotel where one night costs a minimum before taxes of $595.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it that so many awful things keep happening in Orlando. This is too sad for words. I can't begin to imagine what the poor parents are going through right now. No one expects this to happen on Disney property.

I'd like to hold out hope, but how could such a small child survive this?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-child-dragged-alligator-disney-20160614-story.html

"Some witnesses said they saw the toddler along the beach near the water, but no eye-witnesses to him being dragged into the water by an alligator were available for comment Tuesday night."

Makes me wonder if this is more hysteria then actually what happened. I guess time will tell.

The parents who tried to save their child are not available to comment. THOSE are the eyewitnesses.

It's a direct quote from the article. How do you know the parents were eye witnesses? They could have been distracted watching the movie or fireworks.

that's it - I am boycotting florida forever

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it that so many awful things keep happening in Orlando. This is too sad for words. I can't begin to imagine what the poor parents are going through right now. No one expects this to happen on Disney property.

I'd like to hold out hope, but how could such a small child survive this?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-child-dragged-alligator-disney-20160614-story.html

"Some witnesses said they saw the toddler along the beach near the water, but no eye-witnesses to him being dragged into the water by an alligator were available for comment Tuesday night."

Makes me wonder if this is more hysteria then actually what happened. I guess time will tell.

On Twitter, posts say the father was wrestling alligator. The families were in the beach for fireworks and movie night. Absolutely horrifying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is it that so many awful things keep happening in Orlando. This is too sad for words. I can't begin to imagine what the poor parents are going through right now. No one expects this to happen on Disney property.

I'd like to hold out hope, but how could such a small child survive this?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-child-dragged-alligator-disney-20160614-story.html

"Some witnesses said they saw the toddler along the beach near the water, but no eye-witnesses to him being dragged into the water by an alligator were available for comment Tuesday night."

Makes me wonder if this is more hysteria then actually what happened. I guess time will tell.

The parents who tried to save their child are not available to comment. THOSE are the eyewitnesses.

Awful, just awful. That poor child!

Anonymous wrote:How is it that so many awful things keep happening in Orlando. This is too sad for words. I can't begin to imagine what the poor parents are going through right now. No one expects this to happen on Disney property.

I'd like to hold out hope, but how could such a small child survive this?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-child-dragged-alligator-disney-20160614-story.html

"Some witnesses said they saw the toddler along the beach near the water, but no eye-witnesses to him being dragged into the water by an alligator were available for comment Tuesday night."

Makes me wonder if this is more hysteria then actually what happened. I guess time will tell.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not just this lagoon. People on disboards have spotted them at Magic Kingdom, at nearly every body of water on every property, golf course, wilderness trails, waiting for the ferry, etc.

How is this possible? Empty the bodies of water, kill the gators, and secure the perimeter.

+1,000. Disney a corporation that only cares about revenue and investors. Such B.S. This poor family.

No families should be going to disney anymore

http://www.boycottdisneynow.com/

“The program has created a highly lucrative business model of bringing in cheaper H-1B workers to substitute for Americans,” said Ronil Hira, a professor of public policy at Howard University who studies visa programs and has testified before Congress about H-1B visas.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/us/last-task-after-layoff-at-disney-train-foreign-replacements.html?_r=0

Anonymous wrote:It's not just this lagoon. People on disboards have spotted them at Magic Kingdom, at nearly every body of water on every property, golf course, wilderness trails, waiting for the ferry, etc.

How is this possible? Empty the bodies of water, kill the gators, and secure the perimeter.

Alligators aren't like koi fish. They don't just go where you put them. They go everywhere.