Alligators at Shades of Green/Polynesian?

It’s a good idea to be aware of your surroundings for numerous reasons. If you’re being vigilant (as one should be walking ANYWHERE at night), you’ll be fine. :)
 
OP you’ll be on a lighted well traveled path. Stay on it and you’ll be fine.


lakes. you mean to tell me that when i was swimming at river country back in the day there could of been gators.

Not could have. Were. If my grandma regularly had them in her back yard in Port Orange across from the river, Disney with its big lakes etc has and had them.
 
Where there is water in FL, there are gators.

I grew up near Tampa. My subdivision was filled with ponds and they all held their resident gator(s). When they got too big, or became a nuisance (rare), they were removed. They are lazy, scared, creatures. They really don’t want to go after anything on land because they don't have the upper hand. Stay out of the water and away from the water’s edge and all will be fine :)
 


There’s six species of poisonous snakes here. I’ve seen one once, on our property. If you’ve accidentally cornered the snake, slowly back off so it can escape. Otherwise just keep your distance. Again, snakes don’t normally chase people down and only attack if they feel threatened...so don’t be a threat.
I know I would panic in that situation so thank you for the useful info. I wasn't sure if they normally go into attack mode if they see you!
 
Never kid yourself though.....WDW was built in the FL swamps.....if there is a body of water...there are alligators and snakes nearby. Ask anyone who has lived there. You must use caution when you are near bodies of water, shrubbery, etc. ALWAYS stay on paved pathways and do not allow your children to wander off them. Several years ago there was an incident, I believe at Caribbean Beach Resort, where a young child dropped a toy which rolled off the paved walkway into some grass/shrubs. When he reached to get it.....he was bitten numerous times by a venomous snake which was under the shrub. The child suffered extensive injury, was hospitalized for several weeks and left with medical issues caused by the venomous bites. And, there was the terrible tragedy two years ago in the beach area of the Grand Floridian where the child was pulled into the water and killed by an alligator. I have seen both snakes and alligators on property over the years..... one alligator actually inside Magic Kingdom, at the bottom of Splash Mountain, sunning itself right on the shoreline near the bridge next to the Rivers of America. And, I've seen snakes on the walkway from Saratoga Springs going to Disney Springs. As others have said, in most cases, if you leave them alone and skirt around them, they will not bother you, however, you still need to use common sense and be cautious.
To temper the fear mongering, that young child was not "pulled into the water" by an alligator. He was already in the water.
 
In Aug 2015 there was a gator right next to the walking path between the Poly and GF. It was dark out but not late (def before 10 pm). I was with my friend who is a FL native and has lots of alligators in the pond/ lake/ whatever it is behind her house, so she just pointed it out to me and acted like it was nothing and we just kept walking. It wasn't large, but wasn't small, either. I probably would have freaked out if she had not been so nonchalant; that said, I also didn't even see it until she pointed it out.
 


We are going to be staying at Shades of Green this summer & I had planned to take the walking path to the Polynesian for transportation to/from Magic Kingdom & Epcot. Then I had a thought. How often are gators seen on/near the trail between the two and how far away is any water and/or shrubbery? How lit is the path at night? How heavy is the foot traffic between the two (particularly after dark)? Would you feel safe to walk between them after a park day or are there too many hiding spots for gators to jump out. I know it's probably an irrational fear but they are way scarier than sharks to me (the don't run, they don't let go, they will drown you and/or eat you). If we had flashlights, would that be enough or do we just need to plan to take the bus back in the evenings (not ideal with 3x kids & a double stroller)?
We've walked this path quite a bit during stays in late evenings. Never encountered anything on the sidewalk or right next to it. Yes, there is some water but just a wild guess on distance I'd say 50 ft. away, there is some shrubbery on sidewalk a bit closer. Stay on sidewalk a good general rule anyway. Sometimes we've been the only ones walking on it, so it's something I think about but I'm naturally always thinking about my surroundings no matter where I am. But, the sidewalk path does get quite a bit of use. Yes, I still feel safe on the path. You also walk past the guard shack and someone's in there. The sidewalk path is lit, but subdued at least to me but that's factored by my night vision.
 
From our experience, you are much more likely to see deer than snakes or gators. Lots of deer out these days, especially behind Grand Floridian. Maybe a live action remake of Bambi?
 
We are going to be staying at Shades of Green this summer & I had planned to take the walking path to the Polynesian for transportation to/from Magic Kingdom & Epcot. Then I had a thought. How often are gators seen on/near the trail between the two and how far away is any water and/or shrubbery? How lit is the path at night? How heavy is the foot traffic between the two (particularly after dark)? Would you feel safe to walk between them after a park day or are there too many hiding spots for gators to jump out. I know it's probably an irrational fear but they are way scarier than sharks to me (the don't run, they don't let go, they will drown you and/or eat you). If we had flashlights, would that be enough or do we just need to plan to take the bus back in the evenings (not ideal with 3x kids & a double stroller)?

Here is the general Florida rule of thumb, If you can't clearly see the bottom of any body of water (including puddles) assume there is a gator in it.

That said... I've never actually seen a gator in Disney waters. From what the herpetologist at the zoo tour we took says (second or third hand gator advice ... ) they don't generally come after people at all and especially not people 20+ feet from the water's edge.

Myself, personally... stay on the pavement and I'll feel fine.
 
Never kid yourself though.....WDW was built in the FL swamps.....if there is a body of water...there are alligators and snakes nearby. Ask anyone who has lived there. You must use caution when you are near bodies of water, shrubbery, etc. ALWAYS stay on paved pathways and do not allow your children to wander off them. Several years ago there was an incident, I believe at Caribbean Beach Resort, where a young child dropped a toy which rolled off the paved walkway into some grass/shrubs. When he reached to get it.....he was bitten numerous times by a venomous snake which was under the shrub. The child suffered extensive injury, was hospitalized for several weeks and left with medical issues caused by the venomous bites. And, there was the terrible tragedy two years ago in the beach area of the Grand Floridian where the child was pulled into the water and killed by an alligator. I have seen both snakes and alligators on property over the years..... one alligator actually inside Magic Kingdom, at the bottom of Splash Mountain, sunning itself right on the shoreline near the bridge next to the Rivers of America. And, I've seen snakes on the walkway from Saratoga Springs going to Disney Springs. As others have said, in most cases, if you leave them alone and skirt around them, they will not bother you, however, you still need to use common sense and be cautious.
Yes, being aware is probably the best prevention.

For most incidents that happen, the people involved were caught unaware. No need to dwell on fact that there are dangerous critters on property but knowing they exist and how to avoid them makes us less vulnerable.
 
I've been going to Disney since I was a baby and I've never seen an alligator there. But I am a Florida native and rule of thumb is any body of water probably has an alligator in it. Never swim in any lakes in Florida or walk close to a lake and run zig zag if one chases you. If you stay on a well lit path that will definitely have other people walking on it since that's a popular route, it's highly unlikely you'll see an alligator.
 
I've been going to Disney since I was a baby and I've never seen an alligator there. But I am a Florida native and rule of thumb is any body of water probably has an alligator in it. Never swim in any lakes in Florida or walk close to a lake and run zig zag if one chases you. If you stay on a well lit path that will definitely have other people walking on it since that's a popular route, it's highly unlikely you'll see an alligator.
How to swim,
Zig zag run,
Stingray Shuffle...

The first things every FL kid learns :rotfl:
 
I've never seen a gator in all the years I've been going to Walt Disney World, rats however I see on the regular especially walking the path from Contemporary to Magic Kingdom
 
When everyone here refers to bodies of water, are you taking about lakes and not beaches? I've assumed alligators live in fresh water.

We are coming from Aus, and we were looking at more nature based activities after WDW so we are also interested in some of the manatee snorkel activities, going to the Everglades, going on a few walks. Should we be worried about alligators? Not really worried about snakes.

As we have saltwater crocodiles in some parts of the country, even swimming on the beach is not advised where there could be crocodiles.

Reading through the materials on tubing and swimming in blue holes it doesn't mention any warnings? Reading through this thread though, we shouldn't look at those activities?
 
We play golf at Disney on each trip and see gators at the Palm, the course that begins at SOG. The little pond that sits right at the first tee usually has one or two decent sized gators sitting on the edges, though this summer we didn’t see any. We also saw a ‘baby’ - maybe two foot long one once out on the course near a water ditch. The course always warns against gators and even more so since the incident at the GF.
 
Well. You can always run faster than they can walk. Lol.
Yes, if one gets you. You are not in a good situation. Personally. I have never seen one at WDW.
For the record a gator can out sprint most people. If you're ever chased you run in a zig zag as they tend to try to follow your exact path when running on land
 
When everyone here refers to bodies of water, are you taking about lakes and not beaches? I've assumed alligators live in fresh water.

We are coming from Aus, and we were looking at more nature based activities after WDW so we are also interested in some of the manatee snorkel activities, going to the Everglades, going on a few walks. Should we be worried about alligators? Not really worried about snakes.

As we have saltwater crocodiles in some parts of the country, even swimming on the beach is not advised where there could be crocodiles.

Reading through the materials on tubing and swimming in blue holes it doesn't mention any warnings? Reading through this thread though, we shouldn't look at those activities?
So our gators aren't like your crocs. They aren't really fans of salt water or too much moving water. They rather float in still water trying to ambush something or sunning on the shore. The blue holes sound like where we went scuba diving and that water is far too cold for gators to live it in so they will stay away. You'll see a ton in the Everglades though and some big ones so stay out of the water. If they think they can bring you down they try to but for a grown human it is only the really big ones that try.
 
We have been going to Disney every year for 10 years. I always look for them, but never have seen one.
 

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