Darth Maul/Kid Incident - SWW '09

[Figment632]

It is not Disney's JOB to restrain the child. EVERY other person was abiding by the CMs (which ere present and just as good as a 'rope line') and staying out of the parade route. It's pretty common knowledge that you don't go into a parade route. Again, if this kid doesn't know this, then it falls to the parents to make sure he isn't out there running around wildly.

I fully agree that the CM as Darth Maul shouldn't have shoved the kid, and we can go back and forth over whether or not there should be ropes, but the simple, irrefutable, fact is that the parents did not have control of their child.

Agreed but Disney was asking for something like this to happen :shrug:

 

[Master Yoda]

Agreed but Disney was asking for something like this to happen :shrug:

Au contraire mon ami. This family was asking for something like this to happen by not restraining their child. If this kid was to dart out into traffic would it be the city's fault for not putting up ropes along the streets?

 

[drew81]

I will say Darth Maul could've handled it a little better..... Maybe by moving him to the side without him actually pushing him. However, where are the parents???? You do not let your child run out on to the parade route ever! Whether there are large floats or just characters it doesn't matter. You can't allow that to happen.

 

[Eyorefan]

Still Disney did nothing to try and stop it, if they were not going to put up the ropes they should have had a lot more CM's.

I'm sorry but, we don't know what was going on before the edited part of this video startes. We don't know weather or not CMs had previously warned these people that their son needed to stay out of the street. It looks to me like everyone else watching was doing a pretty good job of staying behind the tape line.
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I have to say that in these kinds of situations, the parents are ultimently responsible. They are the only ones who know their autistic son's limitations and how he reacts to these kind of overstimulation situations. They are the ones who should act in a way that protects their son and keeps him safe.

I agree, the Darth Maul CM over reacted and I wouldn't lose sleep if he was fired because of it. However, in my opinion, it doesn't change the fact the kid was clearly where he should not have been and the parents clearly weren't taking steps to make sure he was safe.

 

[Lauriebar]

I have to disagree with the notion that "Disney asked for this". I would imagine that if the crowd control castmember had asked the mother to keep the child back she would have either argued, ignored or perhaps control him for a short while and then let him go again.

It all comes down to this...if the child had been behaving correctly this would not have happened. Period.

 

[slappy magoo]

I'm sure having a special needs kid is pretty brutal, and you're constantly weighing what you can and expose the kid to on a daily basis. "My son will love WDW but what if he has a meltdown? What if he misbehaves and I can't get him under control? What if what if what if?" But if at the end of the day, you put your child in a situation where he or she can't be controlled, then you need to get him or her out of there. Just because you're on vacation from your job, doesn't mean your on vacation from ALL of your responsibilities, whether it's making sure you pay your utilities/rent/mortgage before you go, making sure anything you do at your job is covered in your absence, making sure any school kids with you don't fall back with their homework, AND keeping control of your kids, period. Put the video camera down and get your kid under control, or leave. If you have a special needs kid, you know things can escalate pretty fast, you have an idea what may set them off, and you've gotta have a handle on the situation. This family didn't. Didn't even try. No soup for them.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

I sympathise that the child is Autistic and has Cerebral Palsy, but I have no sympathy for letting him be out in the parade route and then walking up to the character. The character was a bit aggressive. I think he was playing the part a bit much. None of it would have happened had the kid been the appropriate distance from the parade route like everyone else was and supervised by parents who would not let him stand in the parade route, let alone walk right up to a character.


Next you'll have people who throw stones in glass houses sue the architect for building a glass house the stone-throwing family agreed to move into.

 

[Phonedave]

Still Disney did nothing to try and stop it, if they were not going to put up the ropes they should have had a lot more CM's.

What is so hard about telling a person "Do not cross this line of tape" and expecting them to LISTEN.

How come we need to have ropes, and CMs, and guard devices, and all sorts of other things when adults should be able to be responsible people and contain themselves and their kids?


-dave

 

[RNRguy]

Was anyone else expecting Star Wars music under the opening title roll?

I think this one is a draw as far as fault...bad parenting and bad reaction from Maul. But the parents over dramatizing makes them the bigger idiots.

agree too.. its tough to call but it looks like they both were at fault!

 

[Eyorefan]

What is so hard about telling a person "Do not cross this line of tape" and expecting them to LISTEN.

How come we need to have ropes, and CMs, and guard devices, and all sorts of other things when adults should be able to be responsible people and contain themselves and their kids?


-dave

Really what Disney needs is an invisible fence. Nothing leathel, just enough of an electric shock to get people's attention.

 

[joanna71985]

Yikes! I definitely agree that Darth Maul could have handled that better. But the kid should not have been that far out in the road to begin with.

 

[eddiemcgarrigle]

If anyone dares lay a hand on my son then they better expect his dad to be breaking every bone in that hand and not standing around taping it in hope of getting money out of Disney.

Let's see, the son is autistic and has cerebal palsy. Mother watches him run around, blocking the view of the kids near him, getting in the way of the parade characters and generally doing what ever he likes. The father stands about ten feet away filming everything and doing nothing to tell his son to stay at the kerb, don't block other people's view and don't interfere with the parade.

The boy then runs up to characters. Where was the security, where are the CM's? The boy runs in front of a stormtrooper before pulling a high five, stromtrooper responds but again, where are the CM's and security? Boy still running around as Darth Maul approaches but wait, Darth Maul's powers do not include mind reading. How is Darth Maul supposed to know that the kid running at him, looking like he's about to strike is actually a hyper excited autistic kid.

Looks to me like Darth reacts defensively albeit a little too much but then how is he to know that this kid isn't just a little brat trying to take a piece of him? Given that Darth is a big baddie then I'm sure there are plenty of kids (and adults) out there who would try to land a kick or punch given the opportunity just to attain the bragging rights.

Conclusion. Parents at fault for not controlling their kid. Darth Maul a little heavy handed but then he shouldn't have been in that situatio nin the first place. CM's and security at fault for not having dealt with the kid before the incident. Dad continues to film instead of confronting Darth which leads me to believe he's after some cash and if successful we can then expect barriers to line parade routes.

 

[Little Princess]

"Little Joe now takes more medications, suffers from nightmares, and has developed small stomach ulcers as a result of this incident."

... That seems a little far-fetched...

 

[Skylinecar1982]

If Darth Maul had walked to the other side of the street to avoid the child that caption would have read "Disney employee hates handicap children" This parent was looking for something. Letting him jump in the middle of the street and not saying anything. It looked like to me that the kid was going up to hit Darth Maul. He probably knew in the movie that Darth Maul was bad and he was going to teach him a lesson.

Although I feel the child was at fault, I feel the last shove at the end was unnecessary.

 

[Atta83]

yet most parents who have childern with autism control their kids quite well and do hold them back during parades. The first time he went up should of never have happened cause that allowed him to continue to do. If the storm troopers were not so spread out im sure he would of jumped in front of one of them and possibly could of hurt one of them. The mother was right there and I think she could of help him back..

 

[BigThunderMatt]

My verdict: Maul was a jerk and overreacted, but ultimately it is the job of the parents to keep their kids in line and following the rules.

Wrong. If the parents had been doing their job to begin with, Maul wouldn't have had to react.

If your kid has autism or some other kind of disability and are unpredictable like this little guy is then you are responsible for reining them in and not letting them run wild. I'm totally behind Disney and Maul on this one, the parents and kid got what was coming to them for not playing by the rules like everyone else.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

The characters, or people dress up as characters are nothing more than punching bags for some kids, I don't blame Darth at all, all he did was ferry the boy out of the way, I didn't see him knock the kid out.

Darth Maul 1
Littlejoe 0

The whole thing looks like an attempt at money, nothing more.

 

[Deadman]

I'm sure having a special needs kid is pretty brutal, and you're constantly weighing what you can and expose the kid to on a daily basis. "My son will love WDW but what if he has a meltdown? What if he misbehaves and I can't get him under control? What if what if what if?" But if at the end of the day, you put your child in a situation where he or she can't be controlled, then you need to get him or her out of there. Just because you're on vacation from your job, doesn't mean your on vacation from ALL of your responsibilities, whether it's making sure you pay your utilities/rent/mortgage before you go, making sure anything you do at your job is covered in your absence, making sure any school kids with you don't fall back with their homework, AND keeping control of your kids, period. Put the video camera down and get your kid under control, or leave. If you have a special needs kid, you know things can escalate pretty fast, you have an idea what may set them off, and you've gotta have a handle on the situation. This family didn't. Didn't even try. No soup for them.

the soup nazi strikes again

What is so hard about telling a person "Do not cross this line of tape" and expecting them to LISTEN.

How come we need to have ropes, and CMs, and guard devices, and all sorts of other things when adults should be able to be responsible people and contain themselves and their kids?


-dave

obviously the adult caught the autism in this case. its funny though that you cant post comments on the guys page. i guess he doesnt like being tld he was in the wrong for not watching his kid.

 

[Figment632]

What is so hard about telling a person "Do not cross this line of tape" and expecting them to LISTEN.

How come we need to have ropes, and CMs, and guard devices, and all sorts of other things when adults should be able to be responsible people and contain themselves and their kids?


-dave

I said that the parents are morons but Disney should put up a rope because some people are really really syupid and do stuff like this.

 

[cdunbar]

I said that the parents are morons but Disney should put up a rope because some people are really really syupid and do stuff like this.

Yeah I watched the video and was coming back in here to say why don't they do a rope like they do at MK? :shrug: