From the OS: Gator drags child into Seven Seas Lagoon

[Laura]

I agree the immaculately groomed luxury beaches look inviting and safe... but if you ever look at the water I don't know how you could ever think it was safe or inviting... for years the water in SSL has reminded me more of a semi stagnant pond than an inviting place to wade, swim or even go near.

Maybe that night was the first time they had been over near the water? If it's dark you can't tell that it's gross. Or maybe they just aren't a very wimpy family and aren't terrible bothered by a little dirt.

When I was a kid one of my favorite places to swim was this big nasty man made pond full of all sorts of creepy crawlies. One minute I would be catching tadpoles, and the next I'd be jumping off the dock into the same water.

 

[fractal]

I agree with this completely. A gator on the sign may have been bad for business.

So is getting eaten by one.

 

[betty rose]

Yeah there not much Disney or anyone can do other than the state of Florida enacting a gator species extermination program. And even that would take a long time to extinct the population of gators.

Then the place would be over run by snakes. Maybe they should cull the numbers of both.

 

[BigRedDad]

If Fish & Wildlife is called in, is there a cost to this?

Disney does not need to call them. The wildlife around Disney IS the responsibility of FL Fish and Wildlife Commission. Disney is not permitted to remove alligators. All they can do is report it FL FWC.

 

[Incomudro]

Maybe that night was the first time they had been over near the water? If it's dark you can't tell that it's gross. Or maybe they just aren't a very wimpy family and aren't terrible bothered by a little dirt.

When I was a kid one of my favorite places to swim was this big nasty man made pond full of all sorts of creepy crawlies. One minute I would be catching tadpoles, and the next I'd be jumping off the dock into the same water.

Me too.
I spent my childhood to teen years swimming in a murky neighborhood pond full of lilly pads, fish, ducks, and many very large common snapping turtles.
Water clarity in this pond never exceeded two feet.
It's cleanliness or lack thereof never bothered us.

 

[Bocabear]

That....and the fact that SSL and Bay Lake were used for swimming at one point...

 

[asianway]

Again, many of these posts really make me wonder about people.

Mom, its taken me 20 years of socializing and observing the fan community and the conclusion I reached is that 97% of them have issues.

This is a simple reasonable person test. Would a reasonable person think they are safe on the beach? Yes.

Would a person with enhanced knowledge of Florida wildlife and ecosystems think they are? No.

Answer is better education to those who dont know.

Not the parents fault, not Disneys fault, sometimes bad stuff happens.

Im the first one to dogpile on when WDW does something wrong, but this isnt one of those times.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Mom, its taken me 20 years of socializing and observing the fan community and the conclusion I reached is that 97% of them have issues.

This is a simple reasonable person test. Would a reasonable person think they are safe on the beach? Yes.

Would a person with enhanced knowledge of Florida wildlife and ecosystems think they are? No.

Answer is better education to those who dont know.

Not the parents fault, not Disneys fault, sometimes bad stuff happens.

Im the first one to dogpile on when WDW does something wrong, but this isnt one of those times.

I'd reasonable assume I'm safe on the poly beach or Grand Fla beach at night.

Of course I wouldn't go in the water because, you know, the night is dark & full of terrors.

 

[drew81]

Jeff Corwin has jumped into the debate.

 

[FrankLapidus]

Mom, its taken me 20 years of socializing and observing the fan community and the conclusion I reached is that 97% of them have issues.

This is a simple reasonable person test. Would a reasonable person think they are safe on the beach? Yes.

Would a person with enhanced knowledge of Florida wildlife and ecosystems think they are? No.

Answer is better education to those who dont know.

Not the parents fault, not Disneys fault, sometimes bad stuff happens.

Im the first one to dogpile on when WDW does something wrong, but this isnt one of those times.

This was my response to what has happened. Seemed obvious to me but I was told by another poster that it wasn't a good idea, that we already live in a society when everything is handed to people when they should just go and look it up.

I agree with everything you've said here.

 

[UofMGuy423]

Sadly, given the horrible publicity this had garnered (not to mention this family could get 8-9 figures), they will probably overreact and close all beaches off from the water.

You'd hope, though, that proper signage would alleviate anything like this from happening again.

Nine figures?! On what planet do you think Disney would pay out $100 million dollars? This whole thing is horrible, but you're beyond absurd with your legal opinions.

 

[aw14]

If you don't like the thread don't click on it.... as for the basis of closing it being that there is nothing constructive here.... Well to be honest if that were the criteria for determining when a thread should be closed you would probably have to close down 90% of the threads... Lets be honest a thread discussing anything beyond how to get to a particular destination or what to expect on a ride is about the only ones that are constructive.... Discusing what you think Disney should do, what Walt would have done, what you think about a new ride, what you miss about an old ride or why Disney World is better than Disneyland aren't constructive.

For those that like to say we need to close it when no one is forcing them to return to it, when you leave a party early do you require the rest of the people to stop partying and go home to? Think about it.... the world doesn't revolve around you, me or anyone else.

With that said, what is the point of the thread? To place blame where none is due? To assuage our egos as parents about what we would do differently?

You are right, we don't need to click on this thread, and after this point I wont. The incendiary drivel is too much for me.

You are wrong however, those other threads serve a purpose, especially for those of us that are disney lovers. However...to each their own.

 

[asianway]

Thanks for this - it's worth quoting more from this story...

Grand Floridian custodian Mike Hamilton was so concerned by alligators occasionally swimming up close to the shore of Walt Disney World's Seven Seas Lagoon, he said he warned managers they should fence off the area. "There are signs that say, 'No swimming,' but no signs that say gators and everything else in this lake," he said.

Alfred Smith of Charleston, S.C., said he alerted a Grand Floridian employee Tuesday night after seeing a gator in the lagoon. He thinks it's the same one that attacked the boy less an hour later.

One employee at the Disney property who did not want to be identified said in an email "there is such a problem on property with guests feeding the alligators thinking it's cool." Visitors at Buena Vista Palace regularly feed two of them from the balconies, he said.

Mike Hamilton should be fired.

 

[asianway]

I'd reasonable assume I'm safe on the poly beach or Grand Fla beach at night.

Of course I wouldn't go in the water because, you know, the night is dark & full of terrors.

As a kid, I used to go swimming in a freshwater lake up north. Once I was about 10, I wouldnt anymore. Just the muck, not being able to see my feet, fear of turtles....I wouldnt swim in any lake. And only in the ocean if I could see my feet, but even then, you can can stung by a beached jellyfish not even entering the water. Just me, but sometimes fear of the unknown is healthy

 

[PhotoDave219]

Mike Hamilton should be fired.

The shelf life on this story is pretty short. Couple of days before it gets buried.

 

[asianway]

The shelf life on this story is pretty short. Couple of days before it gets buried.

Im sure the dudes already on leave. There are proper channels for routing media requests and whistleblowing.

 

[ford91exploder]

That....and the fact that SSL and Bay Lake were used for swimming at one point...

But at the time when swimming was allowed in SSL and Bay Lake Gators were endangered and there were 1,500 of them mostly in the everglades now there are 1.5 Million of them and they are in every body of water in Florida except swimming pools and sometimes they are found there too.

 

[ford91exploder]

Mom, its taken me 20 years of socializing and observing the fan community and the conclusion I reached is that 97% of them have issues.

This is a simple reasonable person test. Would a reasonable person think they are safe on the beach? Yes.

Would a person with enhanced knowledge of Florida wildlife and ecosystems think they are? No.

Answer is better education to those who dont know.

Not the parents fault, not Disneys fault, sometimes bad stuff happens.

Im the first one to dogpile on when WDW does something wrong, but this isnt one of those times.

Except for not warning about the possibility of Gator's it's hard to see what Disney did wrong here if anything at all, This was just a terrible freak tragedy which if it had not happened at Disney would have sadly been a 1 news cycle story.

 

[asianway]

Except for not warning about the possibility of Gator's it's hard to see what Disney did wrong here if anything at all, This was just a terrible freak tragedy which if it had not happened at Disney would have sadly been a 1 news cycle story.

Even if they pave over the lagoon...as Ive seen suggested multiple times...a gator could still amble over from the golf course, walk in the lobby, and hole up on a couch. There is no way to alligator proof WDW.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

internet trolls.

Nahh what theyre doing isnt trawling. Its wrapping up their own weakness and insecurity in a surrogate for their personal guilt.
Or are they really saying as a parent they've been infallible, if they can have kids in the first place that is.