Two Year Old Dragged Into Lagoon By Alligator At Disney Resort

a reply to: luthier

and

a reply to: kosmicjack

Here is screenshot of a Google maps screenshot of the area in which the attack took place:

Do those beaches have chairs and umbrellas? Picnic tables?

Not on the beach proper, they are set back a ways. I wonder how often they have had to fish small gators out of their pools? Because, I can almost guarantee that, being that close to a large natural body of water, they have had that happen.

There are specific recreational areas near the water in which the alligator was residing. Depending on water conditions, the alligator might not have been visible, you have to remember that these animals have evolved with not be easily seen; which is why I would not get too near any such natural body of water.

These people are from Nebraska not Florida.

I promise you that if I ever go somewhere I am unfamiliar with the local habitat and what sorts of dangerous animals are in that habitat, I will make sure to become familiar with what might threaten me and mine. You don't have to be a fish and wildlife expert to have at least a basic, rudimentary knowledge of an animal such as an alligator and the danger they represent.

Re; "It's Disney, they should better police their lakes."

an average of nearly 16,000 alligator-related complaints per year.

16,000/365=43.84 complaints per day. Nearly twice an hour...

Like another poster said, it is like trying to stop the tide. Not saying that couldn't have done better or are completely blameless, but apply a little common sense too.

a reply to: Irishhaf

Disney should in no way have any fatal gator attacks. This could have been prevented with better scanning and replacing of the gators. There are detectors for this reason, they scan the waters on a schedule and when they find one that is big enough to put someone in danger, it is taken out and transported to a rescue. Many recreational parks do this, why doesn't Disney?

This is not knee-jerk reaction...this should not have happened. I hope the family sues.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

If they cannot keep their man-made beaches safe then they should not have one. Why have a man-made beach in the middle of a high-priced resort for families if it attracts gators so easily???? BC its pretty?

Also, no one reads up on local wildlife when they go on vacation, you trust the resort you pick to be safe, especially if you are paying $500/night to stay there.

You can't stop every gator, period. You can't make everywhere a safe zone in life 100% of the time forever.

Personal responsibility, and accountability.

If they sue Disney, someone should sue the Father for letting an alligator eat his kid.

a reply to: kosmicjack
Funny you should ask that. In Fort Worth, in the center of town is a place called the Water Gardens. Has a lot of water features, and all around had no Swimming Signs in it. Yet people would allow their children to go and play in the water, until one day a child was killed due to the suction from one of the features and they had to shut down the garden and then install all sorts of safety equipment, and the entire gardens were changed including the destruction of some of the features all cause one person did not read the signs.

The area was for sun bathers not for getting into the water. It is not clear, it is murky, and even though they have tried to keep it safe, the reality is that in some states there are wild life that can hurt, harm and even kill a person. So how do you stop a creature that can go through a fence or climb over a 4 to 5 foot fence? You can't.

Even along the coasts, where there are sharks that are in the water, and people tend to ignore the warnings and the authorities try to stop them, there will always be that one person who ignores the signs and then tragedy strikes, even though they take every safety percaution. Murky water is really not good to wade, walk or swim in, cause you can not see what is under there that could do a person harm.

a reply to: Psychonautics

you CAN not put a man-made beach in the middle of a resort if it attracts gators too easily...PERIOD!

The father wrestled the gator to get his child, he did all he could do, how could you say that?

originally posted by: veracity
a reply to: Psychonautics

you CAN not put a man-made beach in the middle of a resort if it attracts gators too easily...PERIOD!

The father wrestled the gator to get his child, he did all he could do, how could you say that?

Doing all he could do would have been to observe the no swimming signs, and observing the fact that no other human beings were even on the beach.

Beach is there, gator was there, sign was there.

Know what wasn't there? Brains. Sorry dad, it's a tragedy and you will need therapy, because it's your fault.

Suing Disney won't change it or bring the kid back.

Authorities have begun euthanizing alligators:

4 gators so far

They are killing gators because some idiot let his kid play in and around the water where gators are KNOWN to be.

I'm sorry, I can not, especially as a parent, believe even for a second, that the parents of this kid were not negligent in some way. I don't care if they are from Nebraska or not, they are in Florida ( KNOWN FOR GATORS ) and they are letting their 2 year old play around them .

There are posted signs warning guests against swimming in the lake, Demings said.

link to article with that quote

There were posted signs. SIGNS!!!
I'm not even going to elaborate on that, because I guarantee, it will get me banned.

I am sorry a young boy lost his life, it wasn't his fault.
I'm sorry the Alligators were just doing what they do as animals.
I'm sorry that people are killing gators for doing what gators do.
I'm sorry that the siblings of this boy have to go through this at all.

I will not feel sorry for the parents.
This was completely preventable, and should not have happened.

Per-son-al Re-spons-abil-ity

say it with me now... if you don't know what it means, go smack your parents, then google it.

a reply to: Psychonautics

The child was NOT swimming, he was 2. He had his feet in the water. You are so insensitive.

originally posted by: veracity
a reply to: johnb

or to put up "beware of gators" sign?????

Something tells me they will start doing that from here on out.

This story breaks my heart.

originally posted by: veracity
a reply to: Psychonautics

The child was NOT swimming, he was 2. He had his feet in the water. You are so insensitive.

Cry about it for a bit then, after that do yourself a favor and grow up, this is reality.

The Father got the biggest reality check of the day, for sure.

No swimming shouldn't need to be elaborated on.

" No Swimming
Just in case you were
confused about this sign
no swimming also means
no wading
no walking
no toes
sorry for the confusion"

Keep off grass
No swimming
No trespassing
2+2=4

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

I am sorry but if you built a resort on the water like that with a beach front you have to consider the lowest common denominator or Murphy's law if you will.

Alligators are not magical. You can use engineering just like everywhere else in the world if you set up a resort on the water to drastically lower your chances. Let's also not forget detection devices already available. If your business is people and kids you innovate and protect kids.

That gator could have very well been anywhere in the area he could hide including within striking distant to land.

At the very least literature and warnings about alligators.

If you honestly think human beings or Disney for that matter can not reduce alligator presence with fencing and surveillance then I dont know what to say. Would it be fool proof?
Nope.

But a whole lot better than building a tropical beach paradise near the feeding tank don't you think? If your going to risk it all for the view you need to protect the customers. That gator could certainly burst out of the shallow and grab a toddler even on land.

a reply to: veracity

Sorry bub..but they have been fishing gators out of kiddie pools, in ground pools, and above ground pools as long as they have been in florida, you cannot stop it...all you can do is mitigate it.

Sometimes the best of intentions, or the most high tech of security measures are not enough..

Once again 23 fatalities attributed to Gators since 1970 (thats what a quick google showed) this is NOT a common problem.

a reply to: Irishhaf

I know this, all of this, however, why did they decide to make a man-made beach in the middle of a high-priced resort where their main visitors are children if it attracts gators so easily?

And if they had to do it, then why wasn't it scanned often? Where were the "beware of gator" signs?

a reply to: Irishhaf

Even if it's guests dog Mr piddles you still prepare for accidents. When you cross people and wild animals things happen. They didn't even try here and were probably more concerned with scaring the guests than telling them the truth about what could happen.

If this was a remote dock or some back area of the resort I hear you. However they designed this area for customers and it is obviously not monitored very well or marked for wildlife danger.

This wasn't an nature preserve its a place customers could be drinking alcohol and easily wander towards an area with alligators. An alligator could scramble pretty quickly 10 15 ft on shore.

Has it happened? Maybe not often but you have to make considerations when you force humans into natural habitats with predators .

Of course you can't stop little Gators from slipping by but when you design the resort you consider the natural landscape and in this case the possibility of predators even scaring the crap out of guests.

originally posted by: sdcigarpig
a reply to: kosmicjack
Funny you should ask that. In Fort Worth, in the center of town is a place called the Water Gardens. Has a lot of water features, and all around had no Swimming Signs in it. Yet people would allow their children to go and play in the water, until one day a child was killed due to the suction from one of the features and they had to shut down the garden and then install all sorts of safety equipment, and the entire gardens were changed including the destruction of some of the features all cause one person did not read the signs.

The area was for sun bathers not for getting into the water. It is not clear, it is murky, and even though they have tried to keep it safe, the reality is that in some states there are wild life that can hurt, harm and even kill a person. So how do you stop a creature that can go through a fence or climb over a 4 to 5 foot fence? You can't.

Even along the coasts, where there are sharks that are in the water, and people tend to ignore the warnings and the authorities try to stop them, there will always be that one person who ignores the signs and then tragedy strikes, even though they take every safety percaution. Murky water is really not good to wade, walk or swim in, cause you can not see what is under there that could do a person harm.

I remember that incident. It's sad that people don't pay attention PERIOD.

I have been reading some of these Disney articles concerning the attack and some workers there have come out and said they always see people feeding the alligators from their balcony. WTF?!! At the very least, there should be DO NOT FEED GATORS warning signs. It only makes the gators lose their fear of people.

There will always be stupid people on this planet.

a reply to: veracity

I have found a grand total of 2 gator attacks in Disney world, including this one...

since the park has been around for 44 years... I would say that is a pretty amazing safety record since you cant stop gators from getting into water.

If you ever have a chance drive through Alligator alley in the Everglades, you will see this beautiful fence on either side of the road, and about every 6-10 feet repair jobs on the fence... when a gator wants in it will get in sooner or later.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
a reply to: veracity

Sorry bub..but they have been fishing gators out of kiddie pools, in ground pools, and above ground pools as long as they have been in florida, you cannot stop it...all you can do is mitigate it.

Sometimes the best of intentions, or the most high tech of security measures are not enough..

Once again 23 fatalities attributed to Gators since 1970 (thats what a quick google showed) this is NOT a common problem.

I agree. Heck, there is even a video out there of a gator ringing someone's doorbell last month in South Carolina! (He wanted to use their pool, LOL)

a reply to: veracity

I know this, all of this, however, why did they decide to make a man-made beach in the middle of a high-priced resort where their main visitors are children if it attracts gators so easily?

You'll need a time machine to go ask dear old uncle Walt that question.

He's the one who decided a swamp would be a good place to build a family attraction.

Also, no one reads up on local wildlife when they go on vacation, you trust the resort you pick to be safe, especially if you are paying $500/night to stay there.

You are making assumptions and have no basis in fact in with which to back up that claim.

In point of fact, I will tell you that I have done this myself specifically so I can point out the differences in flora and fauna from our local biome to my kids when we go somewhere which is unfamiliar to us. It's called constant learning, just because you aren't in a formal education program, does not mean that you stop your quest for knowledge. I try to make it a point to my children to constantly be aware of the world around you, for there are dangers around every corner; do you expect parents to warn their children of the potential for child predators when they go into an urban area? Why would it be any different to consider natural apex predators?

That's called being a responsible parent.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

it is great to be responsible and in tune with nature however, Luthier is unfortunately probably correct in that they do not put up "beware of gator" signs so as to not freak out their guests. The signs could have prevented this.

"no swimming" signs mean exactly that...no swimming...they were not swimming.

I would love to ask the @sshole who decided to put a gator feeding area in the middle of a family resort WTF they were thinking.