Swimming in Disney's lakes

Tiggerfanatic

Well-Known Member
I am a beach person. My wife and I moved 500 miles from Ohio to now live at the beach year-round.

The Disney beaches are all about theming. They do a good job with what they have. It gives the impression of a beach, but certainly is nothing like a real beach. To me, the beach is the sound of the water lapping and/or crashing. It's the smell of salt air. It's the looking to the horizon and seeing nothing, yet imagining an entire world out there ....

So no, when I went to Caribbean Beach Resort I wasn't expecting any of those things. But they are pretty little beaches with hammocks and lounge chairs, and the food court even sells some of the kids meals in buckets that come with little shovels. It's a nice theme, but it's not the real thing, and that's fine.

Thank goodness Disney does theming rather than exact re-creations. THink about it ....

When I went to Port Orleans French Quarter, I wasn't expecting drunks and vomit in the alleys, I wasn't expecting live jazz, and I wasn't expecting guys on the balconies to throw beads at my wife and yell, "Show us your t**s!"

Maybe I just have low expectations .... :lol:

I just blew Coke (the drink, not the powder) out my nose!!!:ROFLOL: :ROFLOL:
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
I don't think the algae can make you sick, unless you actually eat it.
Algae is not the problem it is either a bacteria or a parasite (the aforementioned amoeba) I am not sure which species of algae are the most common in Florida but I doubt it is toxic, in fact one species of algae, spirulina, has one of the highest antioxidant levels per gram of any plant on the planet and is commonly sold as a nutritional supplement. I personally take about 1200mg of it per day.

You wouldn't want to swim in Disney's Lakes (Bay Lake, Seven Seas Lagoon, the lake by the Epcot resorts, etc...) because of bacteria and pollution.

Not saying that the lakes cannot sustain life, I'm just saying that they aren't guaranteed to be the cleanest in the world.


Why does Disney have beaches near their lakes?

For one, it looks nice, and fits in with the theme (i.e. The Yacht and Beach Club). You can go to the sand and relax there. A lot of people do go to beaches just suntan or sit around for awhile and have a little bit of quiet time.

However, even though Disney has signs saying do not swim in the water, as well as when you rent a boat, they advise diving into the water, they still have water recreation activities in the lake.

The parasailing is probably done by keeping the people on the boat, and reeling them in and out.

There are no jet skis, but I do believe there is some water skiing available. You would then go into the water. It is funny how Disney does let you do that. :lol:

There is very little risk of either parasitic or bacterial infection in the deeper water. The amoeba is most commonly found in the lake bed and becomes a danger when the bottom gets stirred up like it would with people walking at swimming at the shore line.

Wasn't River Country using Bay Lake as a swimming facility? I wonder if that is why it closed?
This is one of several suspected reasons.

Ok , now I'm scared.

My husband and I were planning on renting kayaks, but now.....not so sure thats a good idea. He has diabetes and so has some skin redness. What are y'alls thoughts??

thank you
He should be fine. I would worry more about sunscreen and proper hydration than bacteria, parasites and gators.

So, if you rent one of those little motor boaty things to go around Bay Lake, you're actually going through water that has gators? What, nobody ever fell in?

It's hard to believe that WDW would risk that kind of liability.
Gators are actually not aggressive unless they are guarding a nest or have been fed by humans and have begun to associate humans with food. For the most part if you encounter one in the wild they will do their best to get away from you. Gators are ambush predators and the most common MO for a gator attacking a human is when some one is running next to the shore line especially in light colored shoes. Gators mistake the shoes for birds and will strike.
 
Gators are actually not aggressive unless they are guarding a nest or have been fed by humans and have begun to associate humans with food. For the most part if you encounter one in the wild they will do their best to get away from you. Gators are ambush predators and the most common MO for a gator attacking a human is when some one is running next to the shore line especially in light colored shoes. Gators mistake the shoes for birds and will strike.


That's interesting, thank you, buuuuuuuuuuuutttt I may rethink the boat rental now.
 

PilotWife

New Member
For theming and so you can sit on the beach. If you don't want to, don't go to the beach.[/quote]

Thanks for letting me know that if I don't want to do something not to do it.:hammer:

As a beach person I would not go to a beach and sit there unless I could go in the water. It is a tease. Other people may enjoy this but I do not.

At the Poly that have lounge chairs on the sand with canvas canopies attached to them this is not just for theming.[/quote]


Some people just like to sun bathe and the lake area is less crowded than the pool.
Also, people go out at night at the GF, Poly, CR, and WL for the fireworks and electrical water pageant.

Jennifer
 

PilotWife

New Member
I am a beach person. My wife and I moved 500 miles from Ohio to now live at the beach year-round.

The Disney beaches are all about theming. They do a good job with what they have. It gives the impression of a beach, but certainly is nothing like a real beach. To me, the beach is the sound of the water lapping and/or crashing. It's the smell of salt air. It's the looking to the horizon and seeing nothing, yet imagining an entire world out there ....

So no, when I went to Caribbean Beach Resort I wasn't expecting any of those things. But they are pretty little beaches with hammocks and lounge chairs, and the food court even sells some of the kids meals in buckets that come with little shovels. It's a nice theme, but it's not the real thing, and that's fine.

Thank goodness Disney does theming rather than exact re-creations. THink about it ....

When I went to Port Orleans French Quarter, I wasn't expecting drunks and vomit in the alleys, I wasn't expecting live jazz, and I wasn't expecting guys on the balconies to throw beads at my wife and yell, "Show us your t**s!"

Maybe I just have low expectations .... :lol:


This made me chuckle

Jenn
 

WDW Monorail

Well-Known Member
It is very rare that one was to become ill from the microbes in Floridian lakes.
However, instead of taking the risk, the government decided to prohibit activity in untreated, natural lakes lakes

There have been some gators that have popped out on the shore between Poly and TTC.
 

tigsmom

Well-Known Member
Its not an algae its an amoeba that makes you sick. It is not only in Florida, but anywhere there is warm, stagnant fresh water. It is not worth risking your life (not just health, but life) because its infection rate is very high and so is the mortality rate.

Yes you could swim at the beaches in WDW at one time, but are no longer allowed to. The sandy beaches are more for atmosphere now, sunbathing and beach games.

There have been threads about this before and a quick search should bring up those discussions. :wave:
 

beachclubbasics

New Member
There are a variety of reasons why swimming is no longer allowed in the Disney lakes. One of which is an amoeba called Naegleria fowleri. This amoeba will get into the mucous membranes causing flu like symptoms and will then quite rapidly (3 to 7 days) lead to destruction of brain tissue resulting in death. Mortality rate due to infection is 95%. Infections are very rare because the conditions for this amoeba to infect a human need to be just right. The watter needs to be warm and the soil at the bottom needs to be disturbed. The problem with the lake at Disney are that these conditions are quite common.

There are also several types of bacteria deposited in the water due to bird droppings. That I know of none of the bacteria deposited by birds are fatal but they are found far more commonly then the Naegleria fowleri.
Actually, back in the late 70's when I was a kid, a child contracted this exact amobeic infection at WDW and passed away about a week before my family visited. At the time I think it was blamed on a visit to the water park (I think it was called River Country at the time and was relatively new) instead of swimming in the lagoons/lakes. I remember reading about it in the paper.

I also think that another reason the lakes were closed because, let's face it, it's just dangerous to have boaters and swimmersso near to each other. Even though WDW used to rope off the areas where you could swim, you know that someone is just going to have to be defiant and go where they shouldn't..like out of the roped off area.
 

stalkingmickey

Active Member
Original Poster
Its not an algae its an amoeba that makes you sick. It is not only in Florida, but anywhere there is warm, stagnant fresh water. It is not worth risking your life (not just health, but life) because its infection rate is very high and so is the mortality rate.

Yes you could swim at the beaches in WDW at one time, but are no longer allowed to. The sandy beaches are more for atmosphere now, sunbathing and beach games.

There have been threads about this before and a quick search should bring up those discussions. :wave:

From the Center for Disease Control's website

How common is Naegleria infection?

Although Naegleria is commonly found in the environment, infection occurs rarely.
Only 24 infections were documented in the U.S. between 1989 and 2000.
 

Eyorefan

Active Member
If I knew there were signs would I be asking if you can swim in the lakes? Maybe you could have put that in your first post instead of the smart comments you have made.

Other posters have said they swim in the lakes. Also the Poly use to have platforms out in the water for swimming to and diving off of. So at one point it was not just a themed beach, but a beach to swim off of. See this link with the swim platforms and people swimming in the lake
http://tikiman2001.homestead.com/files/pc08.jpg

Officially you can't swim in the lake.
You can go in the lake, put your feet in it. If you are short, or a little kid I guess you can swim in it, but you can't really go that far out. For one, it's a lot deeper than you think it is, and for another there are water crafts all over the place.

I suggest you go down and look at it. It doesn't look like a place you would want to go swiming in once you are down there, sitting on the beach.
 

wdwmomof3

Well-Known Member
There are a variety of reasons why swimming is no longer allowed in the Disney lakes. One of which is an amoeba called Naegleria fowleri. This amoeba will get into the mucous membranes causing flu like symptoms and will then quite rapidly (3 to 7 days) lead to destruction of brain tissue resulting in death. Mortality rate due to infection is 95%. Infections are very rare because the conditions for this amoeba to infect a human need to be just right. The watter needs to be warm and the soil at the bottom needs to be disturbed. The problem with the lake at Disney are that these conditions are quite common.

There are also several types of bacteria deposited in the water due to bird droppings. That I know of none of the bacteria deposited by birds are fatal but they are found far more commonly then the Naegleria fowleri.

:eek::eek::eek: I will stay in the pools....
 

wdwmomof3

Well-Known Member
This was from a couple of years ago. We were waiting for my wife and daughter while they were riding Splash Mountain. Appears there was a gator hangin' out at the bottom of the hill waiting for snack.

Splash_Mountain_Gator.jpg


Splash_Mountain_Gator_2.jpg

Wow, I guess I will be looking from now on. I have a pretty good eye for gators but I have never seen one at Disney. I have heard others say that they had seen them before. I think that they are so interesting to watch but kind of scary too.
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
I grew up in the Central Florida area (don't live there now) and learned to swim in lakes at parks that were designated for swimming. We also swam in creeks where we found little swimming hole areas that were fun. Mind you, this was 15+ years ago. We knew there were gators and/or snakes. I think the gator population was lower then, also. I remember when gators were protected. Now they have a hunting season for them.

Would I swim in a lake or creek now? Nope. If I have a pool to swim in, great. I never cared for the squishy feeling of the lake/creek bottoms. My brother once gashed the bottom of his foot open on a broken bottle hidden in a soft, muddy pond bottom. He had to be stitched up in layers and on crutches for months. Nope, not me.

I always saw the pretty sandy beaches at the WDW resorts as a nice place to take a romantic sunset stroll with your sweetie. I imagine when taking in the water pageant it's a good place to hang around or maybe get your toes wet. I wouldn't swim there, though. Too many pretty pools to partake of.

If you truly want that fresh-water feeling, central Florida has some nice springs where you can swim/tube. I couldn't tell you where the heck they are now but I remember them from when I was a kid. I'm sure info can be found. I distinctly remember Blue Springs. We always laughed at the name because the water was so cold we were sure that the name came from the color your lips were when you got out. The springs were always so dang cold. I don't think any reptiles could survive there.

:)
 

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