WDW Taking a Hit Over Gator and Massacre ...

[kelknight84]

Something tells me they may need to update that, since apparently it was a small gator that was involved - the supposedly "safe" 4' who won't attack was the lower end of the estimate scale of the one that attacked. Unless they expect folks to go up to it with a measuring stick, they best think about that dismissive wording.

Did you read the report? The father in his witness statement estimated 5-6 feet but unsure because most of it was underwater. The 2 closest gators were females and both 7 feet long, and one of those 2 are believed to be the one. Gators are known to stay near their prey, these 2 had empty stomachs so they were probably hungry, and the boy died from a crushing bite which could only come from a large gator.

 

[jaklgreen]

No, its a contributing factor. It attracted alligators to that side of the lagoon. There's not any one thing that caused this to occur and there's not any one thing you can do to fix it.

Although.... there's three easy things that can be done immediately. 1- Stop feeding the gators (you idiots). 2 - Hotel management & staff taking reports of alligators very seriously and calling in pest management. 3 - Stop feeding the gators, you bloody simple peasant idiots!

I am not sure that is necessarily true. I am no gator expert but all of the wildlife shows I have seen, shows gators just below the surface near the edge of the water lying in wait for something to come near. They are opportunists and that is what this one did. It took advantage of small prey to come to the edge of the water. I don't think anyone can say it did this because it had been fed by humans. It looks like normal behavior. But I totally agree that people should not be feeding gators. I honestly can not fathom how that even pops into someone's head. " Hey, an alligator, lets feed it". My brain goes the other direction. "Hey, an alligator, lets move quickly in the other direction".

 

[GoofGoof]

I am not sure that is necessarily true. I am no gator expert but all of the wildlife shows I have seen, shows gators just below the surface near the edge of the water lying in wait for something to come near. They are opportunists and that is what this one did. It took advantage of small prey to come to the edge of the water. I don't think anyone can say it did this because it had been fed by humans. It looks like normal behavior. But I totally agree that people should not be feeding gators. I honestly can not fathom how that even pops into someone's head. " Hey, an alligator, lets feed it". My brain goes the other direction. "Hey, an alligator, lets move quickly in the other direction".

The gator's behavior was based on thousands or even millions of years of instincts. They have been doing this since the time of dinosaurs. The feeding by humans attracts the gators to areas they otherwise would avoid. Their natural instinct is to avoid humans until people started feeding them and now they equate humans to a food source. Their brain is the size of a walnut, not too much deductive reasoning going on there.

 

[asianway]

I'm a card-carrying member of PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals) and I look forward to the addition of gator on some of the WDW menus. Good stuff! Love to get me some deep fried gator-on-a-stick

Pueblo Room used to serve up some mean gator fritters.

 

[MotherOfBirds]

"EVERYTHING! THEY EAT EVERYTHING!

....and fear is their bacon bits."

Seriously though, even making small efforts to keep guests physically separated from an apex predator that survived the K-T extinction is something that should have been done decades ago. A half ton of cold-blooded fury with the bite force of 20,000 Newtons, and stomach acid so strong it can dissolve bones and hoofs is not something you let guests mess with.

 

[Bairstow]

"EVERYTHING! THEY EAT EVERYTHING!

....and fear is their bacon bits."

Seriously though, even making small efforts to keep guests physically separated from an apex predator that survived the K-T extinction is something that should have been done decades ago. A half ton of cold-blooded fury with the bite force of 20,000 Newtons, and stomach acid so strong it can dissolve bones and hoofs is not something you let guests mess with.

Meanwhile, at FunSpot...

 

[betty rose]

I'm voting that's in the same league as those that would blame the parents on a podcast.

I can't believe someone would have the audacity to blame the parents. So sad all the way around!

 

[Matt_Black]

I can't believe someone would have the audacity to blame the parents. So sad all the way around!

I don't necessarily blame the parents, but I think many can agree that poor judgment was shown. Allowing your child in the water at night in an area that's clearly marked "No Swimming" with no life guard present?

 

[rob0519]

I'm not so sure. I don't want to visit the Grand Floridian. Too many bad memories for me. I will for ever see the sweet face of this innocent little boy, for ever. I'm a grandmother of two boy's and we watched the fireworks on the sand when they were little. We didn't let them in the water, but I would not be able to go there without that memory.

While I can understand your feelings that should also mean that you would not want to take the monorail to the MK which goes right through the GF and from which you can see the beach. Additionally, you should stay off the ferry as well, because you can see the GF, unless you stay on the side facing the Contemporary.

It was a horrible and tragic accident, but you cant always avoid those locations. There is a spot on a road I have to drive every day where a teenager lost control of his car and ran it into a tree killing himself and 2 girls. I saw the wreckage and the memorials that were there for weeks afterwards. I have children and can only imagine the grief that caused 6 parents, but me going out of my way to avoid that spot will not change what happened. I hope you can come to some sort of peace with what happened the next time you're at WDW.

 

[betty rose]

While I can understand your feelings that should also mean that you would not want to take the monorail to the MK which goes right through the GF and from which you can see the beach. Additionally, you should stay off the ferry as well, because you can see the GF, unless you stay on the side facing the Contemporary.

It was a horrible and tragic accident, but you cant always avoid those locations. There is a spot on a road I have to drive every day where a teenager lost control of his car and ran it into a tree killing himself and 2 girls. I saw the wreckage and the memorials that were there for weeks afterwards. I have children and can only imagine the grief that caused 6 parents, but me going out of my way to avoid that spot will not change what happened. I hope you can come to some sort of peace with what happened the next time you're at WDW.

Thank you, that will be in October. I'll do my best to avoid GF.

 

[Bocabear]

I'm not so sure. I don't want to visit the Grand Floridian. Too many bad memories for me. I will for ever see the sweet face of this innocent little boy, for ever. I'm a grandmother of two boy's and we watched the fireworks on the sand when they were little. We didn't let them in the water, but I would not be able to go there without that memory.

You can't avoid every place where something bad once happened... Bad things happen everywhere...
If you are determined to avoid all these spots, remember they are all around you...and actually a 4 year old drowned in the moat at Cinderella's Castle back in 1977...What happened in both cases was sad and tragic, but to avoid the Grand Floridian because Nature ahppened or the Magic Kingdom because of an accident seems even sadder....

 

[PhotoDave219]

I don't necessarily blame the parents, but I think many can agree that poor judgment was shown. Allowing your child in the water at night in an area that's clearly marked "No Swimming" with no life guard present?

Yes but to go on a podcast and rip the father? The kid had his head chomped on by an alligator and dragging him to his death while someone sits in air conditioned comfort, behind a microphone. He criticizes the actions of a man who tried to pry his child from the jaws of an apex predator only to watch his child disappear before his eyes? How repugnant. What a reprehensible human being. I'm thoroughly disgusted beyond belief.

(Not you, Matt)

 

[asianway]

Yes but to go on a podcast and rip the father? The kid had his head chomped on by an alligator and dragging him to his death while someone sits in air conditioned comfort, behind a microphone. He criticizes the actions of a man who tried to pry his child from the jaws of an apex predator only to watch his child disappear before his eyes? How repugnant. What a reprehensible human being. I'm thoroughly disgusted beyond belief.

(Not you, Matt)

Remember when Travis Munson got in that car wreck?

Whatever happened to that dude?

 

[Bairstow]

I don't necessarily blame the parents, but I think many can agree that poor judgment was shown. Allowing your child in the water at night in an area that's clearly marked "No Swimming" with no life guard present?

In terms of informing people about actual or particularised dangers, "No Swimming" signs are completely meaningless.

 

[Matt_Black]

In terms of informing people about actual or particularised dangers, "No Swimming" signs are completely meaningless.

"No swimming" means "no swimming". Like "No Trespassing" signs- it doesn't matter if you're not supposed to trespass because the owner doesn't want people on the property or because Graboids come up out of the ground randomly to eat people. Stay off the darn property!

And again, that also doesn't take into account that this was at night with no lifeguard on duty.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Remember when Travis Munson got in that car wreck?

Whatever happened to that dude?

I can barely remember that. Talk about the way back machine of WDWMagic....

I have no idea what became of him.

 

[Bairstow]

"No swimming" means "no swimming". Like "No Trespassing" signs- it doesn't matter if you're not supposed to trespass because the owner doesn't want people on the property or because Graboids come up out of the ground randomly to eat people. Stay off the darn property!

And again, that also doesn't take into account that this was at night with no lifeguard on duty.

Why do you need a lifeguard to build a sandcastle?

 

[Matt_Black]

Why do you need a lifeguard to build a sandcastle?

They weren't building a sandcastle. Why are you even talking about that? They were in the flipping water. And yes, before you mention it, ankle-deep water. It's possible to drown in water that deep.

 

[DisneyJeff]

They weren't building a sandcastle. Why are you even talking about that? They were in the flipping water. And yes, before you mention it, ankle-deep water. It's possible to drown in water that deep.

The official police report said the boy and his father were building a sand castle on the beach. The boy went to the water to fill a bucket when the attack happened.

In my opinion "No Swimming" means that you aren't allowed to swim, not that you aren't allowed in the water at all. To me, swimming means that you are in the water and not touching land. Obviously, the meaning of these "No Swimming" signs was not completely clear and leaved room for interpretation. Thankfully, this has been resolved with the new signage, rope fences and rock barriers. I'm pretty sure they don't want you in the water now.

 

[Bairstow]

They weren't building a sandcastle. Why are you even talking about that?

Because I actually read the report.