Can you swim on the beaches of the Seven Seas Lagoon?

[Walt Disney1955]

Two years ago when the little boy was killed by an alligator was he actually swimming or allowed to be in the water? I swear that I have seen pictures from friends of ours where their kids are playing on the beach at the Polynesian and the Castle is in the background. It seems as if they could swim in there at the time. Now there is no swimming anywhere on the Lagoon. Or was it always like that? Just the beach, but swimming not permitted?

 

[roj2323]

swimming hasn't been permitted since the 90's

 

[sxeensweet]

Swimming was stopped over 20 years ago. They did though before the tragic incident allow people to be close to the water/walk in the water right at the edge. Couldn’t go fully go in just your feet etc. Really were not supposed to do that either, but it was rarely enforced.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Once Upon a Time the Poly beach, before they sold it off for that trashy trailer park on poles, served as, well, a beach. For decades you could swim here. There was even a wave machine but that was killed off almost immediately.

 

[AndyS2992]

I'm not sure why you would want to swim in swamp water, but to each their own

Swamp water with gators, not my idea of a good time. How no one got attacked sooner I don’t know.

 

[thomas998]

Two years ago when the little boy was killed by an alligator was he actually swimming or allowed to be in the water? I swear that I have seen pictures from friends of ours where their kids are playing on the beach at the Polynesian and the Castle is in the background. It seems as if they could swim in there at the time. Now there is no swimming anywhere on the Lagoon. Or was it always like that? Just the beach, but swimming not permitted?

When WDW opened in 1971 hunting alligators was allowed and Disney was able to keep the waters safe. Then in 1973 alligators were put on the endangered species list and hunting was banned, but because the number of gators was already so low from the decades of hunting them before, they weren't a problem. That is the reason you could swim in the seven seas before, remember the whole lake was man made so it was made with swimming in mind to begin with.

Of course when you can't kill gators and when they start showing up in your swimming hole well you really don't want to be in the water anymore unless you have a death wish. I vaguely remember going there in the 70's and seeing people swimming in the water, I know there used to be quite a bit of boating on the lake as well... Of course I also remember lawn darts as a kid, but times change and when you live in a world where no one is supposed to ever get hurt and animals have more rights than people... well some things like keeping a huge swimming hole you made for swimming open for swimming isn't going to be allowed.

 

[Minnie Mum]

Pretty sure it was the brain eating amoebas in the lake water that ended swimming in the lagoon. Same reason that they closed River Country

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Blame @winstongator

 

[winstongator]

Blame @winstongator

I'm a stuffed gator

 

[LittleBuford]

When WDW opened in 1971 hunting alligators was allowed and Disney was able to keep the waters safe. Then in 1973 alligators were put on the endangered species list and hunting was banned, but because the number of gators was already so low from the decades of hunting them before, they weren't a problem. That is the reason you could swim in the seven seas before, remember the whole lake was man made so it was made with swimming in mind to begin with.

Of course when you can't kill gators and when they start showing up in your swimming hole well you really don't want to be in the water anymore unless you have a death wish. I vaguely remember going there in the 70's and seeing people swimming in the water, I know there used to be quite a bit of boating on the lake as well... Of course I also remember lawn darts as a kid, but times change and when you live in a world where no one is supposed to ever get hurt and animals have more rights than people... well some things like keeping a huge swimming hole you made for swimming open for swimming isn't going to be allowed.

It’s a shame Disney never thought of building swimming pools for those poor people who lack rights.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I don't live in Florida, but as I understand it, gator attacks are fairly rare. While WDW doesn't allow swimmers, a number of Florida lakes do have regular swimmers and water skiers. Also attacks are more common at night. The toddler who was killed in 2016, was playing in the water after dark.

According to Wikipedia, there have been 9 fatal attacks in the US in the past ten years. Five of those 9 were in FL, 2 in SC, 1, NC, and 1 in Texas. Between 2003-2008 there were 10 fatal attacks in the US. Nine of those were in FL, 1 was in GA, and one of those deaths was technically caused by an infection acquired from being in the water with an open wound. Many of incidents listed as fatal alligator attacks are also a bit inconclusive as the bodies were found days later. It may be that a number of these cases were cases of scavenging, not actually a fatal attack.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

For want of actual insight, I blame millenials, my default position.

People are wimps now. Back in the day we used to lure gators with pizza then lasso them and whip them all across Seven Seas Lagoon as we waterskied behind them to avoid the monorail line.

 

[thomas998]

I don't live in Florida, but as I understand it, gator attacks are fairly rare. While WDW doesn't allow swimmers, a number of Florida lakes do have regular swimmers and water skiers. Also attacks are more common at night. The toddler who was killed in 2016, was playing in the water after dark.

According to Wikipedia, there have been 9 fatal attacks in the US in the past ten years. Five of those 9 were in FL, 2 in SC, 1, NC, and 1 in Texas. Between 2003-2008 there were 10 fatal attacks in the US. Nine of those were in FL, 1 was in GA, and one of those deaths was technically caused by an infection acquired from being in the water with an open wound. Many of incidents listed as fatal alligator attacks are also a bit inconclusive as the bodies were found days later. It may be that a number of these cases were cases of scavenging, not actually a fatal attack.

Reality is gators like to grab their prey, drown it and wedge it in the water to soften up a bit before they actually eat it so the water can help tenderize the body because their digestive system isn't as good as other animals. So a lot of those you say are inconclusive are likely just the ones where they saw the definitive bite marks of a gator and found the person wedged in some brush the way an alligator would be expected to do. So probably not really inconclusive unless you only want to chalk one up to the gator when they find the remains inside its stomach.

 

[thomas998]

It’s a shame Disney never thought of building swimming pools for those poor people who lack rights.

You miss my point. The Seven Seas Lagoon was never a natural body of water it is entirely man made, you know like a backyard swimming pool only much much larger. Disney should have been allowed to keep the Seven Seas Lagoon safe by killing any alligator that happened to get on their property. Or do you think people should be forced to allow alligator or snakes to freely wander into their yards and swimming pools and the property owner should just wait until they leave to go back to their yard... I simply put the value of a human life above that of an animal - any animal endangered or not. But we all have our preferences and if you want to join the extremists that think humans are a nuisance that is killing mother earth and deserve less protection than a roach then that's your choice.

 

[LittleBuford]

You miss my point. The Seven Seas Lagoon was never a natural body of water it is entirely man made, you know like a backyard swimming pool only much much larger. Disney should have been allowed to keep the Seven Seas Lagoon safe by killing any alligator that happened to get on their property. Or do you think people should be forced to allow alligator or snakes to freely wander into their yards and swimming pools and the property owner should just wait until they leave to go back to their yard... I simply put the value of a human life above that of an animal - any animal endangered or not. But we all have our preferences and if you want to join the extremists that think humans are a nuisance that is killing mother earth and deserve less protection than a roach then that's your choice.

I didn't miss your point. Yes, the lake is artificial, but it was always going to attract wildlife--the site used to be a a swamp, after all. I don't think it's an extremist position to suggest that the humans stick to the swimming pools and leave the lake to the animals that have inevitably come to populate it.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Or do you think people should be forced to allow alligator or snakes to freely wander into their yards and swimming pools and the property owner should just wait until they leave to go back to their yard... I simply put the value of a human life above that of an animal - any animal endangered or not. But we all have our preferences and if you want to join the extremists that think humans are a nuisance that is killing mother earth and deserve less protection than a roach then that's your choice.

Well yeah, kinda. I mean that's basically what I generally do if I see any critter in my yard while I'm eating breakfast or something. I mostly ignore the sparrows, slugs and toads. I watch the more exciting critters when I see them, but they aren't usually in my yard for very long. Oh, except the spiders. We always get a few spiders on our back windows. I have to admit, I get a kick out of sometimes watching them eat and grow all season long.

I don't quite see how that connects to your last two sentences though.

I mean just in practical terms, I'm not really sure what else you could do. If I happen to go outside, they generally all run, fly, hop, or slither away.

Do your backyard critters behave differently?

 

[thomas998]

I didn't miss your point. Yes, the lake is artificial, but it was always going to attract wildlife--the site used to be a a swamp, after all. I don't think it's an extremist position to suggest that the humans stick to the swimming pools and leave the lake to the animals that have inevitably come to populate it.

You keep missing the key fact... the LAKE is nothing more than a HUGE pool. It was and is completely artificial. Or do you think that because Typhoon Lagoon has landscaping to make it look rustic that Disney should welcome alligators and snakes to use it at their leisure.

 

[thomas998]

Well yeah, kinda. I mean that's basically what I generally do if I see any critter in my yard while I'm eating breakfast or something. I mostly ignore the sparrows, slugs and toads. I watch the more exciting critters when I see them, but they aren't usually in my yard for very long. Oh, except the spiders. We always get a few spiders on our back windows. I have to admit, I get a kick out of sometimes watching them eat and grow all season long.

I don't quite see how that connects to your last two sentences though.

I mean just in practical terms, I'm not really sure what else you could do. If I happen to go outside, they generally all run, fly, hop, or slither away.

Do your backyard critters behave differently?

Well some of the snake that make it into my backyard don't run away they coil up and if you get close enough will bite you which is why I don't watch them gleefully being snakes, I promptly get a hoe and lop them into pieces. They are free to be snakes anywhere they want - except in on my property. Fortunately I don't have to deal with alligators or I would promptly shoot them and have them for dinner.

 

[LittleBuford]

You keep missing the key fact... the LAKE is nothing more than a HUGE pool. It was and is completely artificial. Or do you think that because Typhoon Lagoon has landscaping to make it look rustic that Disney should welcome alligators and snakes to use it at their leisure.

Typhoon Lagoon has treated water. We all know the difference between a swimming pool and an artificial lake.

 

[ToTBellHop]

While Seven Seas Lagoon is man-made, it is not "artificial" and it certainly isn't a pool. It is now a living body of water and has been for a long time since it was basically an expansion of Bay Lake, an actual lake. I won't venture into the remainder of the discussion but I will say that I'm happy the company now invests in highly-themed pool areas for me to recreate in.