From the OS: Gator drags child into Seven Seas Lagoon

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Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

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DrummerAlly said:
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.
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No, the kid was about a foot from the edge of the water in about 3 inches of water. About up to his ankles.
 
DisneyPrincess5

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member
What an absolute nightmare.

No matter the circumstances, as @BigRedDad stated, this is something they will never forgive themselves for and they will live with this forever.

I hope that the family can find some sort of peace eventually and I hope what we learn from this tragic event leads to this never happening again.
 
Seanual757

Seanual757

Well-Known Member
Very sad I feel for that family to watch this happen in front of your eyes is even worse to be so helpless. I will say the area is dark at night so you would never see a gator coming until it happens. I will not speculate on why, what, or how but never in a million years would I let my child be in the water especially at night when you cannot see what’s in it.

When we stayed over Spring break I could not tell you how many times we saw cast members telling folks to not be in the water and to not feed the fish/animals in the water.

My heart goes out to this family I hope by a miracle that somehow the little toddler is found on the banks somewhere and is alive this is something no parent should ever have to go through just very said.

This is how dark it is at night on the beach you cannot see anything in the water.

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Mickey1984

Mickey1984

Active Member
Forget all this blame rubbish, changing signs etc - this is about a 2 year old who has potentially (i guess the longer time goes on...) lost his life, really upsetting, I'm feeling for the families, I can not even begin to know what they must be feeling and thinking now. But to go on about blame/why is absolutely ridiculous, take a look at yourselves!! Absolutely tragic accident :-(
 
MOM2FOUR

MOM2FOUR

Member
My family is currently here at Disney, have been here all week through all these tragedies. I have four small children, including a two year old son, and I'm sick about the loss of this baby. We were at the Polynesian beach on Saturday, looking at the bungalows. Of course, I'd never let my kids swim in the water, or even splash about near it (I'm a cop and highly overprotective), but Disney has built a beach around the water. For folks not from Florida and not familiar with the dangers of even being near the water in Florida, the beach is very inviting to walk along. I mean heck, Disney has movies screenings on it. If there are alligators in the lagoon large enough to harm people, why build a beach and invite guests down to water's edge? Not saying Disney is responsible here, just kind of seems like a conundrum. We have two days left at the parks, and I must say as a parent, it's hard to muster up a lot of joy knowing so many people are suffering here in Orlando.
 
MOM2FOUR

MOM2FOUR

Member
beertiki said:
People need to realize, when you enter a wild area, water, forest, desert, mountain, ect, you enter the food chain.
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It sounds like you are well educated about gators. However, I would venture to guess that most Disney guests from outside Florida, staying at the properties around the man made lagoon, would not consider the waters edge at the Grand Floridian a wild area.
 
The Mom

The Mom

Moderator
Premium Member
MOM2FOUR said:
My family is currently here at Disney, have been here all week through all these tragedies. I have four small children, including a two year old son, and I'm sick about the loss of this baby. We were at the Polynesian beach on Saturday, looking at the bungalows. Of course, I'd never let my kids swim in the water, or even splash about near it (I'm a cop and highly overprotective), but Disney has built a beach around the water. For folks not from Florida and not familiar with the dangers of even being near the water in Florida, the beach is very inviting to walk along. I mean heck, Disney has movies screenings on it. If there are alligators in the lagoon large enough to harm people, why build a beach and invite guests down to water's edge? Not saying Disney is responsible here, just kind of seems like a conundrum. We have two days left at the parks, and I must say as a parent, it's hard to muster up a lot of joy knowing so many people are suffering here in Orlando.
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When the resorts were built, the alligators were not a problem. I am old enough to remember when swimming was allowed at all of the beaches on property. The loss of habitat in the surrounding areas, among other things, has led to the proliferation of gators on developed property - not just WDW, but all over the state. The beaches were built before there was a problem.

As others have mentioned, the gators avoid people -unless people have been feeding them.
 
DisneyDreamer08

DisneyDreamer08

Well-Known Member
I agree that if I was at a man made lake in the back yard of a Disney resort, I would not be thinking, I bet this water is filled with gators. Just being honest, I would assume the no swimming sign would be because no life guard was on duty, there are boats in the area, or perhaps the water isn't clean enough to swim. While I realize it may not be realistically possible for Disney to keep gators out of every body of water, I'll admit, I would assume there wouldn't be any along the shoreline of one of their resorts.
 
Nastory4

Nastory4

Active Member
beertiki said:
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.
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Great advice.
 
ULPO46

ULPO46

Well-Known Member
mouse_luv said:
Signs from Shades of Green eh? (the picture with the post)
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It's an example I've seen them around seven seas too but they weren't availble for quick pics off the internet. There are signs warning people not to be too close to water.
 
MOM2FOUR

MOM2FOUR

Member
GhostHost1000 said:
so a question for everyone... what do you think Disney will change in light of this tragedy?
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I would imagine the beaches will be shut down. If there's an indication that these gators have been fed by guests, making them more dangerous as a previous poster indicated, I can't imagine Disney would allow folks to come to the water's edge. At the very minimum the signs will be changed to indicate gators are present in and around the water, as I believe a previous poster mentioned the current signage indicates no swimming with no specificity as to why.
 
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