From the OS: Gator drags child into Seven Seas Lagoon

[BigRedDad]

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

Alligators are extremely quiet and stealthy, especially at night. You would not even know one was there unless you shined a light into their eyes directly. People do not know that alligators are one of the fastest creatures in the water and land. People have no clue that an alligator is 2-3x faster on land than humans for a short distance. The speed, acceleration, and force they have means this ended extremely quickly. I am not sure if this is comforting this early though.

 

[21stamps]

My heart is absolutely breaking for this family. I can't even imagine. The past few days have been an acute reminder that everyday could be your last, and that life can change in the blink of an eye.

 

[GhostHost1000]

beach access will be closed - lots of changing coming to the world security wise

 

[Seanual757]

look for the end of any beach, and fences and railings along the water coming soon... it would the the only way to deal with this...

The other option is lot's of rocks like they have by the other building along the shore.

 

[ULPO46]

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.

Sadly no there are no "humane" ways of taking out gators. There are underwater fences ect. But sadly even that would not be able to deter an animal that can adapt. The only way to change it is draining every last canal and lake but then what would we be left with? Gators would still find a way. This is Florida and it's impossible to stop wildlife

 

[Gringrinngghost]

Question: How long has disney been doing catch and release fishing?

 

[21stamps]

I hope this doesn't turn into a blame game. Sometimes horrible things happen.
Alligators are in Florida, no one would ever expect their child to be attacked by one at seven seas lagoon. I know my child has sat right at the waters edge there. It's just a terrible freak occurrence.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Question: How long has disney been doing catch and release fishing?

At least ten years. Why?

 

[PhotoDave219]

Alligators are extremely quiet and stealthy, especially at night. You would not even know one was there unless you shined a light into their eyes directly. People do not know that alligators are one of the fastest creatures in the water and land. People have no clue that an alligator is 2-3x faster on land than humans for a short distance. The speed, acceleration, and force they have means this ended extremely quickly. I am not sure if this is comforting this early though.

Hopefully the family can have closure soon. This is rather unfathomable

 

[Gringrinngghost]

At least ten years. Why?

just a wonder, I know some people are blaming the catch and release for this, whereas I blame the bungaloos

 

[Laura]

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.

Took the words right out of my mouth. I haven't let my kids actually touch the water but I've let them play next to the edge. Never once did I think about alligators.

Well now it will be the only thing I think of...

I was hoping I'd wake up this morning and find out it was just a bad dream I had.

 

[botrnewmusic]

I remember when I was at the GF the pool area/splash park and beach/lounge chairs come RIGHT up to the water. I never a million years would ever guess alligators were live and active on the beach.

the biggest news out of this is that alligators have been in the seven seas lagoon for who knows how long. the family should NOT have been in the water but it was only 930pm (still light out in florida now) on a movie night and I think its fair to say that there is always a chance a family walks over to the beach during a movie night like this at the resort.

Regardless of the fact it had a "no swimming" sign, that sign was NOT put there because of alligators. The media needs to realize how small of a distance is between the beach/lagoon and how its almost supposed to be "for show" and how much of a problem Disney now has on their hands at their 3 biggest resorts in my opinion from a safety and PR standpoint.

Looks like I will be taking myself to the Wilderness Lodge in the near future

 

[21stamps]

Alligators are extremely quiet and stealthy, especially at night. You would not even know one was there unless you shined a light into their eyes directly. People do not know that alligators are one of the fastest creatures in the water and land. People have no clue that an alligator is 2-3x faster on land than humans for a short distance. The speed, acceleration, and force they have means this ended extremely quickly. I am not sure if this is comforting this early though.

Several years ago a girl was killed by an alligator while jogging in a park in South Florida.

These attacks are rare, but they happen. If there are canals around there will be gators, there's no way to prevent that. The same way that you can't prevent a shark attack.

 

[Laura]

Hopefully the family can have closure soon. This is rather unfathomable

I don't think closure is possible in this situation. They have a lifetime of suffering ahead.

 

[alphac2005]

It's a little disappointing to see some comments on this thread that like so many others online have jumped to wild speculation, conspiracy-esque statements, and claims without notion. I'm well aware of the rumor theme on the board, but... If the reporting pans out, it looks like a tragic incident where the family did follow the signs.

When I used to golf in Florida when living there, I had many alligator encounters. Once in JAX, I was on the course by our home, took the cart out, and was roadblocked by no less than a dozen rather large gators. A tad bit terrifying to say the least. If there's water in Florida, there are gators. I've always been shocked by people swimming in lakes and other waterways in the state.

 

[21stamps]

just a wonder, I know some people are blaming the catch and release for this, whereas I blame the bungaloos

Please don't blame. There really isn't anything to place blame on- unless you want to blame Florida wildlife. I know that people have a need to try to rationalize something, but sometimes there is nothing to rationalize. Just pray or send good thoughts to the family, and hold your loved ones a little extra tight during the next hug.

 

[PhotoDave219]

just a wonder, I know some people are blaming the catch and release for this, whereas I blame the bungaloos

while I want to blame this on ..... Something, I really can't come up with anything that should be blamed. The parents were right there with their child. Disney traps and moves gators constantly. Sure we an Monday morning quarterback this to death but I really can't think of anyone who is at fault.

It's just so absolutely random, much like a Russian satellite falling out of the sky and hitting the car in front of you.

 

[RKSteel]

I could not believe this story when I saw it this morning. As a parent with three daughters, losing a child is one of the most horrific things imaginable. My prays go out to this family.

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

I don't think closure is possible in this situation. They have a lifetime of suffering ahead.

I think he was referring more to having more answers/finding the child/finding which gator.

 

[Gringrinngghost]

Please don't blame. There really isn't anything to place blame on- unless you want to blame Florida wildlife. I know that people have a need to try to rationalize something, but sometimes there is nothing to rationalize. Just pray or send good thoughts to the family, and hold your loved ones a little extra tight during the next hug.

My definition of "blame" in this is the underlying cause. Someone most likely had to have fed that gator and it is one of the easiest spots to do such and go undetected. That's just my 2 cents. Because with the Catch and release program, since that's been around for 10+ years and had no incidents that can cause that. While I know that time will tell, I think the Bungaloos had a significant contributing factor.