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

[EpcotMark]

Once Upon a Time the Poly beach, before they sold it off for that trashy trailer park on poles,

LMAO

 

[deeevo]

That's incorrect. Hunting alligators was banned nationwide in 1962, the species was listed on the precursor to the ESA in 1967, was included on the ESA when enacted in 1973 and was removed from the ESA in 1987. ANY hunting of alligator between 1962 and 1987 were have been severely limited....and licensed by the FWS. Whatever hunting of alligators was happening in 1971 would have been illegal and in violation of federal law.

Pretty sure I just said that the limited hunting now has caused over population. I never said anything about hunting laws in the 70's and 80's. Of course hunting from the 60's to the 80's was limited. They were an EDS hence why I could swim in lakes at night in West Central Florida in the 80's with not a gator in sight. And today hunting is still very limited causing the over population. They are EVERYWHERE now... including Bay Lake still

 

[deeevo]

That's incorrect. Hunting alligators was banned nationwide in 1962, the species was listed on the precursor to the ESA in 1967, was included on the ESA when enacted in 1973 and was removed from the ESA in 1987. ANY hunting of alligator between 1962 and 1987 were have been severely limited....and licensed by the FWS. Whatever hunting of alligators was happening in 1971 would have been illegal and in violation of federal law.

Also... little Googling because I honestly didn't know the facts "American alligator was listed as an endangered species by the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Subsequent conservation efforts have allowed their numbers to increase and the species was removed from the list in 1987. "

 

[Tom P.]

A few random thoughts on this:

1. Humans often think that we can control other parts of nature, whether it's trying to save an endangered species or trying to keep wild animals out of our living spaces. And oftentimes we can, to a point. Several endangered species have been brought back from the brink and most folks aren't worried about lions running through their bedrooms. But there are limits to what we can do, and our actions always have unintended consequences. You're never going to create artificial barriers to keep all alligators out of Florida lakes, and our efforts on behalf of alligators have had the unintended consequence of them being more of a threat to humans.

2. Humans also often forget that we are a part of nature, not separate from it. We also happen to the most intelligent creatures in nature and at the top of the food chain. We should not apologize nor feel guilty about that. And there is nothing more unnatural about us using our ability to keep animals out, or trap them, or even kill them than there is about any other animal in nature using its abilities. That said, there is also no reason for us to be callous or cavalier about destroying other animals and if Disney can, for example, handle alligators by removing them rather than killing them, I'm all for that.

3. Regardless of the alligator situation, the waters of the lakes at Walt Disney World would not be safe to swim in anyway, because of the amoeba that is a problem for all freshwater lakes in Florida. Some people may minimize that or say that they would swim anyway, but I guarantee you that if there was not a single alligator left on WDW property, Disney would still not allow swimming in the lakes for that reason. So the alligator discussion is a bit of a moot point.

 

[kelknight84]

Let's clear up some myths about how "dangerous" Florida water is:

http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/polkco/2017/05/05/brain-eating-amoeba/

http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/managed/alligator/data/

https://www.news-press.com/story/news/2018/07/27/tannin-stained-waters-florida/822402002/

https://www.bustle.com/articles/167...fe-theres-one-important-rule-you-should-go-by

 

[MickeyCB]

Just a little Disney alligator story (and no it's not a tall tale)!
We were staying at the Wilderness lodge somewhere in the 7-8 years ago range, can not remember exactly, and we got off the boat at the back of the resort that brings you over from magic kindgom. My family went on to our room but I wanted to do a little exploring and at the time there was a path that went to the right, back towards the water and the side of the hotel that faces MK.
I don't remember the details clearly but I think there were rooms there with the first floor rooms exiting to a patio. And to the right a little pond. There was a little girl between the patios and the pond (all by her self), and she said to me, "look at the baby alligator"! I slowly look to my right and see, yep 2 eyeballs about 3-4 feet out into the water. Being brilliant (spell idiot), and thinking "aww that's awesome", I take a picture on my old cell phone, the alligator disappears, her parents come out and get her, and I leave to go show my family my 2 eyeball picture.
They, 1-made fun of me cause they couldn't see the eyeballs in my crappy phone picture, but with that said, 2-thought I was a moron to not understand that was a real alligator and why would I think the Disney bubble would keep me safe?!
So, moral of the story is ALL the beautiful Disney (natural or man made) water features can have all manor of creature and who the heck would want to recreate in them?!

 

[Mr Ferret 75]

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.

exactly what an extremist would say

 

[LittleBuford]

exactly what an extremist would say

(I don’t know who comes up with these memes, but I’m eternally grateful to them.)

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Sure. You can swim there. - There will be other things "swimming" right along side of you. Just hope they aren't hungry, angry, or feelin' frisky.

 

[LAKid53]

Let's clear up some myths about how "dangerous" Florida water is:

http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/polkco/2017/05/05/brain-eating-amoeba/

http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/managed/alligator/data/

https://www.news-press.com/story/news/2018/07/27/tannin-stained-waters-florida/822402002/

https://www.bustle.com/articles/167...fe-theres-one-important-rule-you-should-go-by

I worry more about the quality of the water I swim in as opposed to what fish may be in it. I won't swim in the yuck that's either the Lagoon or Bay Lake any more than I would swim in Lake Okeechobee. We have a lake in my town in NW Florida which waters are brown from the tannin from the cypress trees....and there are gators. I'm not concerned about the gators. Water moccasins are another story....

 

[Mr Ferret 75]

 

[LAKid53]

View attachment 318759

 

[Tom P.]

 

[gorilla1964]

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?

He was not in the water he was next to the water, they had movie on the beach but it was cancelled due to weather but they were still on the beach.

 

[Parrain]

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.

Gators prefer dead things. Gators will grab you and attempt to kill/drown you, then store you somewhere under the water until you begin to rot. Then they eat you.

 

[Driver]

He was not in the water he was next to the water, they had movie on the beach but it was cancelled due to weather but they were still on the beach.

He was in the water.

 

[Bpmorley]

In the 70s we stayed at the Polynesian, we swam in that lagoon. I know it was years later where they discovered that they were killing something(maybe and algae or bacteria) by chlorinating(or some kind of treatment) the water. So they had to stop and that made it no good for people to go in. I think the old River country water park used the lake water for some of it's slides/pools. I was there as a kid

 

[KimAnnFran]

He was in the water.

I'm pretty sure he was wading in the water, not just on the beach.....there was a lot of talk about the sign that said "no swimming."

 

[Lensman]

I'm pretty sure he was wading in the water, not just on the beach.....there was a lot of talk about the sign that said "no swimming."

Yeah, and to back up @Driver on this, I'll cite the final investigative report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, that says "Lane was ankle deep or less in the water". No need to repeat any of the 159 page thread on the incident or the 26 page thread on the resort changes implemented after the attack.

And while I was searching, I found a River Country thread that talks about the amoeba.

BTW, I read the other day that the NJ man who contracted primary amebic meningoencephalitis (most likely in a wave pool in Waco, TX) recently died.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/12/health/tx-brain-eating-amoeba-confirmed-bn/index.html