WDW Taking a Hit Over Gator and Massacre ...

[flynnibus]

Except when the bus story happened... People didn't think that could happen at Disney either. Throng how could a bike path be so close... And the people that blamed the bus driver from the start.. Etc

The coverage difference isn't because of blame... That is barely part of the coverage (the stupid mob isn't interested in legal debate). It's because of the extreme edge case that people don't think is possible. While traffic accidents are barely news.

It's the exact psychology of the 'you won't believe what happens next..' Click bait. Emotional tugging and exploiting curiousity

 

[MrHappy]

Disney did a good job by putting up new signs, but hopefully they remove the fences sooner rather than later. Disney is finding a way to make sure this will never happen again, and I applaud them. Some of the things they have done (and are rumored to do) is taking it a bit too far.

Keep the fences up. Those beaches are no longer functional for recreation (high sea grass, polluted water, wildlife), they are for scenery and the SSL is for transportation and show. Don't go to one of the monorail resorts for a beach vacation - Disney should make that clear in the marketing. There's a million and one other/better things to spend your time on at WDW.

 

[fillerup]

I agree. However, with all respect, we're not discussing what a parent might think about the tragic loss of a child.

We're discussing why the media would cover one with front page stories (which newspapers such as USA Today and AJC did) versus not mentioning the other at all.

One story is full of sensational headline grabbing aspects while the other is, sadly, "just another traffic fatality" apparently caused by a child swerving into a bus, not that bus swerving into the child.

If you've been watching the national (vs. local) media coverage, there have been many statements from those media people in effect saying, "I never thought WDW had alligators. I expected Disney to do something to get rid of them."

In fact, by not warning about alligators, a legal argument could be made that outsiders would be correct to assume that Disney had done something about them.

Interestingly enough, most coverage from a legal perspective has been along the lines of, "If Disney knew they had alligators and didn't warn the public about the problem, Disney is going to have to write a very big check."

In other words, the assumption that you are making, "dumb enough to think that alligators don't exist in Florida", is exactly why Disney should have warned about them. Legally, there is absolutely no excuse for Disney to not have posted "alligator warning" signs when it knew about the hazard.

It might be shocking but not everyone knows that WDW has alligators and not everyone reads a travel guide before visiting WDW.

I dislike the "you should just know" attitude some have. Such an attitude would not be acceptable in the case of a workplace accident. ("No need to put up a sign to warn about a wet floor. Everyone should just walk around all day assuming the floor is wet.") It's certainly not acceptable for a place that derives the majority of its revenue from out-of-state visitors.

As a business inviting customers onto its property to conduct commerce, Disney has the strongest legal obligation to warn those invitees about known hazards. This is well-established tort law. Disney failed in its legal obligation.

This case is getting so much coverage (versus the other one) in part because, in this case, Disney is to blame.

Not to mention that Disney had over 240 alligators removed over the last ten years. That's roughly one every two weeks.

That's pretty much an admission that Disney thought (knew) that these animals were a hazard. It seems to have been done almost on the QT so as not to draw attention to the matter only compounds their culpability. And yes, it's only my opinion that it was done on the QT.

 

[kelknight84]

Keep the fences up. Those beaches are no longer functional for recreation (high sea grass, polluted water, wildlife), they are for scenery and the SSL is for transportation and show. Don't go to one of the monorail resorts for a beach vacation - Disney should make that clear in the marketing. There's a million and one other/better things to spend your time on at WDW.

I'm really getting tired of people saying the lake is polluted. Here is an article from the Orlando Sentinel
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...070124_1_lake-water-florida-lakes-major-lakes

"Most of our Central Florida lakes are dark, tea colored. The water is stained brown in a manner similar to brewing tea, as it filters through leaves and organic sediments including peat and muck. If you scoop up a jar of the colored water, it is often clear with little debris or cloudiness and is said to have good clarity.

The color of the water in not an indication of the health of the lake, merely a clue of the history of the water's path to get to the lake or a hint of organic sediments collected in the lake. Dark water provides extra cover for fish and their foods. Brown water is not bad."

 

[TheOrangeBird01]

Keep the fences up. Those beaches are no longer functional for recreation (high sea grass, polluted water, wildlife), they are for scenery and the SSL is for transportation and show. Don't go to one of the monorail resorts for a beach vacation - Disney should make that clear in the marketing. There's a million and one other/better things to spend your time on at WDW.

I agree, and know that the beaches aren't functional and shouldn't be, but the fences look kind of ugly in my opinion. If only there was a different way to prevent guests from going onto the beaches without the need for fences.

 

[fillerup]

Thought I'd throw this in since it's not worthy of its own thread.

From the front page of today's print edition of the O'Sentinel by Sandra Pedicini:

Orlando tourist destinations start summer on a sour note

"Orlando's tourism industry is heading into the summer facing a number of challenges, including dealing with potential fallout from tragedies at home and turmoil overseas.

This was supposed to be a summer defined by a trio of new rides at the region's three major theme parks. But the slaying of a singer at The Plaza Live, a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub and a fatal alligator attack at Disney — all within a week — put theme park rides far from many people's minds.

Now, the industry faces a possible drop in British visitors following last week's vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. And a deep recession in Brazil — Florida's third-largest international market and Orlando's second — has slowed visits from that country.

"This summer is tainted in a lot of ways for the Orlando market," industry blogger Jim Hill said."

It's a pretty lengthy article covering the whole gamut - murder, terrorism, gators, Brazil and Brexit.

Full Article Here

 

[Donaldfan1934]

I agree. However, with all respect, we're not discussing what a parent might think about the tragic loss of a child.

We're discussing why the media would cover one with front page stories (which newspapers such as USA Today and AJC did) versus not mentioning the other at all.

One story is full of sensational headline grabbing aspects while the other is, sadly, "just another traffic fatality" apparently caused by a child swerving into a bus, not that bus swerving into the child.

If you've been watching the national (vs. local) media coverage, there have been many statements from those media people in effect saying, "I never thought WDW had alligators. I expected Disney to do something to get rid of them."

In fact, by not warning about alligators, a legal argument could be made that outsiders would be correct to assume that Disney had done something about them.

Interestingly enough, most coverage from a legal perspective has been along the lines of, "If Disney knew they had alligators and didn't warn the public about the problem, Disney is going to have to write a very big check."

In other words, the assumption that you are making, "dumb enough to think that alligators don't exist in Florida", is exactly why Disney should have warned about them. Legally, there is absolutely no excuse for Disney to not have posted "alligator warning" signs when it knew about the hazard.

It might be shocking but not everyone knows that WDW has alligators and not everyone reads a travel guide before visiting WDW.

I dislike the "you should just know" attitude some have. Such an attitude would not be acceptable in the case of a workplace accident. ("No need to put up a sign to warn about a wet floor. Everyone should just walk around all day assuming the floor is wet.") It's certainly not acceptable for a place that derives the majority of its revenue from out-of-state visitors.

As a business inviting customers onto its property to conduct commerce, Disney has the strongest legal obligation to warn those invitees about known hazards. This is well-established tort law. Disney failed in its legal obligation.

This case is getting so much coverage (versus the other one) in part because, in this case, Disney is to blame.

I agree with you that Disney should've done more to warn people of the dangers and try to lessen the possibility of it. It's the people who are in shock that a thing like this could happen in Florida just because its at a resort that has a good name that I am confused by. Just to make things clear, I'm not blaming the parents for what happened, I'm just surprised that people are shocked by any tragic accident anymore. I guess it just shows you how nice we have it in America generally speaking.

 

[Donaldfan1934]

Except when the bus story happened... People didn't think that could happen at Disney either. Throng how could a bike path be so close... And the people that blamed the bus driver from the start.. Etc

The coverage difference isn't because of blame... That is barely part of the coverage (the stupid mob isn't interested in legal debate). It's because of the extreme edge case that people don't think is possible. While traffic accidents are barely news.

It's the exact psychology of the 'you won't believe what happens next..' Click bait. Emotional tugging and exploiting curiousity

Again, I just can't fathom why grown adults would have such an unrealistic image of the place. Sure, you may immersed in a man made fantasy world, but that in no way should equate to them being able to 100% prevent every possible real world accident. Although to be fair, If you compare the amount tragedies that have happened at WDW over the past 45 years to the millions upon millions of people that come each year, Its a marvel that Disney has kept the place as safe as they have. I can't even imagine all they do to keep a resort that's the size of San Fransisco that safe.

 

[Figments Friend]

A bit surprised to see one of the main local new stations up here in Boston including a story about the gator incident at WDW on this evenings broadcast.
I was at a casual restaurant and happened to glance over at a tv they had up on a wall when the story started.
Didn't catch what the new 'news' was as it was hard to hear in that environment.

I didn't need to hear.
The fact that it is still being covered by news stations up here in the Frozen Northeast means a lot of folks in WDW's prime audience areas are still be reminded of this.
Reminded, and perhaps it may influence people to change any possible plans to visit this season.

This is going to be a tough Summer .....

-

 

[DisneyCane]

Very simple: face the real issues that contributed to this tragedy and work to eliminate risks wherever humanly possible and mitigate others.

Taking Tic Toc out of a parade isn't doing a damn thing. It's lowest common denominator dealing ...

100% agree. Putting in the fence on the beach by the water is an appropriate action that may help prevent a future accident. Removing alligator references is just pointless and stupid.

 

[asianway]

Gator signs are now up all over Frontierland and at some resorts with waterfronts but not beaches - the grassy knolls we talked about some pages back

 

[Gringrinngghost]

Records: Father of toddler attacked at Disney by alligator said two gators involved http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...y-attack-second-alligator-20160702-story.html

 

[flynnibus]

Records: Father of toddler attacked at Disney by alligator said two gators involved http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...y-attack-second-alligator-20160702-story.html

Probability that he could actually know that detail accurately or not.. Not so good

 

[dreday3]

Records: Father of toddler attacked at Disney by alligator said two gators involved http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...y-attack-second-alligator-20160702-story.html

Now all the stories will start coming out, everyone's "version", time to stop listening as now the facts will be forever muddled.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I'm really getting tired of people saying the lake is polluted. Here is an article from the Orlando Sentinel
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...070124_1_lake-water-florida-lakes-major-lakes

"Most of our Central Florida lakes are dark, tea colored. The water is stained brown in a manner similar to brewing tea, as it filters through leaves and organic sediments including peat and muck. If you scoop up a jar of the colored water, it is often clear with little debris or cloudiness and is said to have good clarity.

The color of the water in not an indication of the health of the lake, merely a clue of the history of the water's path to get to the lake or a hint of organic sediments collected in the lake. Dark water provides extra cover for fish and their foods. Brown water is not bad."

Amoebas.

 

[Gringrinngghost]

Amoebas.

http://www.yesterland.com/rivercountry.html

 

[Wikkler]

Yeah, this is definitely not helping Disney's image with consumers.

I have a story to share that happened to me recently that might be appreciated here.
If anything, it is a example of some people's perception of things.

At a retail store, I see two older ladies standing in line to purchase some 'Finding Dory' merchandise for their grandchild in tow.
They had picked out about a dozen items, and upon hearing the total price upon checkout one of them comments on how expensive the items seem to be.
In a lighthearted, fully in-jest mode, I make a comment along the lines of " Well, that's Disney licensing for you..".

What happened next was the real kicker though.
The other woman pipes up now and says " yeah, Disney needs the money to pay for that gator killing now..."
The other woman just nodded in agreement.



Uhhh...yeah.

Humorous, or disturbing..?
I'll let each decide for themselves.
I will say this - not quite what I was expecting from two sweet old ladies!

-

We all know that one tragedy has cost Disney billions. No way they can recover from this!

 

[Wikkler]

Both are extremely horrific and gruesome deaths that could happen to your child. Unless you're dumb enough to think aligators don't exist in Florida, then I don't see how one is worse than the other.

Disney's supposed to have complete and total control over everything there, even the weather.

 

[The Mom]

http://www.yesterland.com/rivercountry.html

Interesting to note the mention of drownings. I have been to River Country, and the water at the landing area of Whoop n' Holler Slide was over my head (or my nose) - I definitely had to swim at the bottom. I had to tread water while waiting for my daughter - she knew how to swim, but I was concerned that she might have a moment of panic when she realized it was way over her head. The water in that area was lake water - the typical dark brown of Florida water - so it would be hard to see anyone under the water.

I don't recall if there was a lifeguard at the bottom of the slide.

 

[kelknight84]

Amoebas.

They are in every single body of water in FL, even the beaches. It's because of the warm water temps, not pollution. It's been around as long as I can remember. Also not a unique Disney problem.