From the OS: Gator drags child into Seven Seas Lagoon

[Disneyhead'71]

Shades of Green, I believe.

Yep. And Disney has brought out craft services (snacks, coffee, OJ, water, etc).

 

[JennSmith]

This is awful. So, so sad.

 

[G00fyDad]

If nothing else changes from this tragedy, this needs to change. I see too many moron kids, and moron parents allowing moron kids, or their moron selves, doing this. If I was in charge of WDW security, I would make this the policy, If you or your child are caught feeding any animal at any time on Disney property, you are banned. That's it. No second chances, no promises not to do it again, none of that. Banned. I wish I had some way of reaching out to TDO and pushing hard for this policy. These idiot kids and parents feed animals, abuse animals, and just generally have no respect for wild life. It needs to stop. The only way to stop it is to actually enact a policy with real consequences. My last trip to Animal Kingdom I had to go out of my way to yell at some moron, jerk kids throwing rocks at turtles. CMs seem scared to do anything, and their parents are selfish a-holes who a. don't watch their kids, or B. Don't care that their kids are savages.

Disney needs to enable their CMs to confront morons feeding/abusing wildlife, and ban these people.

Okay, please do not flip out if I am reading your post wrong, but are you calling the child that has apparently died an alligator feeding moron? Please clarify.

 

[BigRedDad]

This is absolutely a horrific tragedy. One the mother and father will never forgive themselves for. My prayers to family.

There are so many sides of opinion going on. It is a tragedy. It was preventable. Safety signs are not suggestions.

 

[tribbleorlfl]

Okay, please do not flip out if I am reading your post wrong, but are you calling the child that has apparently died an alligator feeding moron? Please clarify.

I believe they were referring to the speculation that people had fed this animal in the past, thereby enabling this tragedy to occur.

 

[Gringrinngghost]

If nothing else changes from this tragedy, this needs to change. I see too many moron kids, and moron parents allowing moron kids, or their moron selves, doing this. If I was in charge of WDW security, I would make this the policy, If you or your child are caught feeding any animal at any time on Disney property, you are banned. That's it. No second chances, no promises not to do it again, none of that. Banned. I wish I had some way of reaching out to TDO and pushing hard for this policy. These idiot kids and parents feed animals, abuse animals, and just generally have no respect for wild life. It needs to stop. The only way to stop it is to actually enact a policy with real consequences. My last trip to Animal Kingdom I had to go out of my way to yell at some moron, jerk kids throwing rocks at turtles. CMs seem scared to do anything, and their parents are selfish a-holes who a. don't watch their kids, or B. Don't care that their kids are savages.

Disney needs to enable their CMs to confront morons feeding/abusing wildlife, and ban these people.

Rest in peace those who accidently drop food for inadvertently feeding the wildlife. I'll be honest with you, it would be laughed out, plain and simple. Do you know how many people they would ban, well to keep their current profits tickets would go up big time.

 

[tribbleorlfl]

I was really hoping to wake to news of resolution to this horrific incident. I hope they can find the boy soon so that the family can begin their grieving process

 

[G00fyDad]

I believe they were referring to the speculation that people had fed this animal in the past, thereby enabling this tragedy to occur.

Ahhh. Ok. It just didn't read that way.

 

[xdan0920]

Okay, please do not flip out if I am reading your post wrong, but are you calling the child that has apparently died an alligator feeding moron? Please clarify.

I thought it was clear, but I'll edit to add so that no one else misunderstands.

I believe they were referring to the speculation that people had fed this animal in the past, thereby enabling this tragedy to occur.

Yes, this.

Rest in peace those who accidently drop food for inadvertently feeding the wildlife. I'll be honest with you, it would be laughed out, plain and simple. Do you know how many people they would ban, well to keep their current profits tickets would go up big time.

Good. The less idiots on property, the better.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

Absolutely horrible and heartbreaking. But WHY......would those parents let their son enter the water with those "no swimming" signs posted all over the place? Why not relax with their children at the pool, which is much safer? I can only imagine the horror of the parents who watched it happen, tried to save the child, and couldn't. So sad.

 

[JohnD]

Just woke up to the news. Horrible. The Orlando area is definitely reeling. I don't think they can take much more this week. Prayers for the child's safety.

 

[G00fyDad]

I thought it was clear, but I'll edit to add so that no one else misunderstands.


Yes, this.


Good. The less idiots on property, the better.

You don't need to edit it. Maybe I just read it wrong.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Rest in peace those who accidently drop food for inadvertently feeding the wildlife. I'll be honest with you, it would be laughed out, plain and simple. Do you know how many people they would ban, well to keep their current profits tickets would go up big time.

There's a difference between accidentally feeding the wildlife versus people who throw chicken to alligators. I've seen it firsthand at animal Kingdom behind Flametree and immediately got a manager… keep in mind this was 2006 or so.

The idea that people would be feeding the alligator from the bungalows is merely a theory. It's possible.

 

[Gringrinngghost]

There's a difference between accidentally feeding the wildlife versus people who throw chicken to alligators. I've seen it firsthand at animal Kingdom behind Flametree and immediately got a manager… keep in mind this was 2006 or so.

The idea that people would be feeding the alligator from the bungalows is merely a theory. It's possible.

The bungalows were a stupid idea to begin with, but it is TDO. While I didn't address those willing to, certain users here appear to like a ban hammer to anyone who feeds any animal.

 

[beertiki]

I am the Senior Aquarist at a major Florida tourist attraction. We have 3 alligators that I care for. My daughter is in the DCP, we are AP holders for 6 years. I would be very nervous being in one foot of water any where at Disney, at night, no way. This is Florida, any body of water could have gators, crocs, or sharks. From what I know about alligators, I would suspect that this gator had previous contact with humans. It was most likely fed. This feeding conditioned the gator to associate humans with food, and diminished the natural fear that the gator should have of a large noisy animal, possibly a predator at the waters edge. People need to realize, when you enter a wild area, water, forest, desert, mountain, ect, you enter the food chain.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Yep. And Disney has brought out craft services (snacks, coffee, OJ, water, etc).

That's surreal....

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Ok, the father was approx. 6 feet from the child. The kid was about a foot into the water (less than 3" deep) wading. The signs say "No Swimming". He wasn't swimming. The father wrestled the gator and suffered lacerations on his arms and was transported the hospital. It was movie night on the beach. The 2 year old lost interest and started playing at the waters edge. The father was watching his kid play. This is not a case of bad parenting and this line of discussion is not appropriate.

 

[TeriofTerror]

Just to play devil's advocate: if I didn't know about the gators, snakes, amoeba, et cetera, I would assume the "No Swimming" signs were because of boat activity. Perhaps someone should consider rewording those signs.

 

[Hula Popper]

Good to see the narrow-minded, narcissistic, self-absorbed rush to judgment crowd are out in full force to squash out compassion for a family who just lost a child to a horrific freak occurrence while on vacation at the "Happiest Place on Earth." It's obviously most critically important to make sure blame is handed out as soon as possible in instances like these.

 

[DrummerAlly]

Absolutely horrible and heartbreaking. But WHY......would those parents let their son enter the water with those "no swimming" signs posted all over the place? Why not relax with their children at the pool, which is much safer? I can only imagine the horror of the parents who watched it happen, tried to save the child, and couldn't. So sad.

We stayed at the YC several years back and saw kids playing in the beach splashing in 6" of water, building sand castles, etc., and it never phased me. Entering the water and "no swimming" are different to a lot of people, myself included, and I feel like its a bit of a gray area of where putting toes in the water starts to become swimming. I understand that the child was in about 1' of water which would cross my gray line of "no swimming" but I can't say the same for another family. For those of us from the North, gators might not cross your mind. This is unbelievably terrible and will definitely be on my mind when I'm at Disney with my almost 2 and 4 year old girls this summer.

Does anyone know if there's a environmentally friendly way for Disney to keep the gators away from the resort shorelines if they wanted to? Someone earlier mentioned that they'd be killing the gators which is terrible and also doesn't seem like the right solution.