Heartbreaking news...a big reminder to be aware of wildlife on property

[lampshadehead]

This reminded me of a review I read recently on Tripadvisor when considering Coronado springs. Person listed this under the "cons" of the resort:
"- There is an alligator in the middle lake, and the staff was watching people feeding it in the mornings. This is against Florida Law."
They also posted a picture:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUse..._Coronado_Springs_Resort-Orlando_Florida.html

Now I don't know how true that is, and its not GF, but still it was the first thing I thought of when I heard this story and didn't know what resort it was yet.

 

[jhaig]

If they cannot be 100 percent sure there are no gators there should be fencing.

Just wait, that's coming next. Barriers around Bay Lake.

 

[yulilin3]

CNN just reported WDW is closing all the beaches on property. I assume at least temporary fencing will go up

It would have to be a strong fence, they can smash and cut through a lot if they wanted to

 

[Jetta8300]

Just wait, that's coming next. Barriers around Bay Lake.

Well either they get barriers or those "beaches" will be empty anyway. Nobody is going to get near that water anymore.

 

[chicagogrl]

I am people heartbroken over this. So sad.
When we sat at the Polynesian on the beach at night I cringed when I saw children near the lake.
I hope a fence will help or better signs.
Just so sad. I can't imagine.

 

[sophy1996]

Last year we went with friends with kids and I told them, assume that any body of water in Florida has an alligator in it. They kind of laughed, and I laughed a bit too, but then I emphasized that I was serious. This is absolutely the worst way in the world to be proved not to be silly.

 

[ArwenMarie]

We live in south Louisiana. A friend was walking his dog when a gator lunged from a ditch and grabbed the dog. Basically, in a lot of the southern states, including Florida, if there is a natural body of water, there is about a 100% chance that there are gators might be living in it. If a pool is unfenced, there's a good chance a gator will find its way into the water. Fenced pools might have a small gator. We always check our fenced pool before we get into it. In early posts, people were saying they couldn't believe there were gators in water because it is Disney World. People Fantasyland is just that-a fantasy. Do you think gators sense a Disney "No Gators allowed." invisible fence? It's nature. Guess what? Hurricanes blow through sometimes and snakes are also all over Disney World-roaches and spiders too.

Do you know all of the intricacies of living safely in moose country? It doesn't mean people are stupid for not knowing details about living with gators, it just means they aren't from gator areas.

 

[Shoshana]

I think the lack of empathy and finger pointing are a defense mechanism for most.

If they can find blame then it's easier for them to process- ie. this happened b/c the parents did xyz so it won't happen to me.

To feel compassion and/or know it could happen to them is a bit too much for them to emotionally handle or even try to handle.

I think it's default human nature to blame others for their own misfortune. As soon as people start assigning blame and judgment and analyzing the minute details of exactly where when and how so-and-so screwed up and caused/allowed the tragedy/accident to happen, they feel better and are reassured because they possess superior intellect/common sense/judgment which proves this would surely never happen to them. The tired and worn path of judging and blaming others leads exactly nowhere. The family suffered an unmitigated horror. The terrified child died painfully in the clutches of an alligator. Still, people talk about the mistakes the family made and the meaning of the word IS; how Disney is blameless and how they'd block a jury award in the case of a law suit. In this case, assigning blame changes nothing and is absolutely gross.

 

[dolphindan1]

yes..which leads me to believe that at some point guests have feed that gator, or it never would have been that close to shore...so sad that others actions resulted in someone elses tragedy

not 100% true...although I don't doubt that someone has fed any gator at Disney. That being said a 2 year old is perfect size for a gator, especially for a reported 7 foot gator. A toddler that was already in its territory at feeding time with no one else in the water. The gator probably stalked that child for a while. they are ambush predators...I promise you if mom or dad had been wading with the kid the gator would have left the kid alone. the fact that people do not swim in Bay lake made the gator unafraid of being near the shore and the fact that something was splashing in a area its probably been a million times attracted the gator.

It is tragic but we cant blame a gator for being a gator.

its sad it truly is.

 

[tonyhb12]

We should not sit around and think of all the ways we could have done better.

I agree, there is no use in saying "should have/could have." But isn't it important to take tragedies such as this and learn from them so that you can possibly adapt practices in the hopes of minimizing their possibility of recurrence? Previous posters are correct, you can never fully protect mortality, but certain measures can be implemented for safety.

 

[yulilin3]

I just got back from WDW and was at Caribbean beach. I'd seen a family who went into the water. terrifying. I know that you shouldn't go into the water. I listen to the podcast. I know that there are gators, snakes,amoebas. but because I saw that family there, i wanted to see how clear the signs were that you shouldn't go into the water. when i walked along the beach, i barely saw one sign. it was tiny. it was easy to miss. I totally get how someone wouldn't know that you shouldn't go into the water.

common sense? If you don't see anyone else in the water, if you don't see lifeguards, if you can tell just by looking at the water that this is not treated...

 

[cel_disney]

We are staying at Poly in October with our kids. I will be very disappointed if there is fencing or if the beach is closed. I am sure that there are MANY other things that can be done besides a kid height fence to block off the water. We live in New England and always associate gators with Florida.

This is a VERY tragic accident none the less. That poor father will never un-see his child being taken by an alligator.

 

[Tara8595]

This sign from the Grand Cypress is exactly what they need.

 

[IrishNYC]

"No swimming" to this NYC-born, lived my entire life, girl, means "don't go in the water." The East River, Hudson River, at accessible shorelines usually says "no swimming" and I have never even considered putting a toe in them. Looking at the lake water in WDW, without even seeing wildlife, tells me "Ew! That water is too gross to go in!" it doesn't even look inviting to me.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

Why? That is our #1, very safe, public transportation system.

There is probably more crime that occurs on the subways than gator attacks at WDW.

 

[mbrown572097]

A no swimming sign isn't enough to warn of the wildlife threat IMO. I'm just thankful that I read a few posts on DIS about the wildlife threat before going down. It certainly changed my attentiveness.

 

[yaya74]

It would have to be a strong fence, they can smash and cut through a lot if they wanted to

I think about the same thing exactly... It would have to be a metal gate or huge barricade because that forceful jaw can chop through many things... You can build a fence and people will jump... Fence is only a bandaid to the problem. People need to be told how dangerous the water is and they go at their own risks!!!

 

[capegirl]

Such a tragedy. We stay at Shades of Green which is directly across from the Polynesian.. We have seen many alligators there. There are 3 in the pond in the middle of the 2 wings of the hotel that live there. There are signs everywhere over there, as well as the path leading from the Poly to Shades that warns you of them as well as other wildlife. I am surprised that the GF does not have them as it is so close. On one of our trips to Shades, we walked the path to the Poly and there was a rather large alligator sunning itself on the golf course grass..

Yes, we have seen many
gators on SOG property, and I give them credit for all of the signs. I do think that Disney is reluctant to post gator warnings because they do not want to spoil the magical image, and frighten guests. After this horrible incident I think the warning signs will go up, and there will be CMs monitoring the beaches to keep guests away from the water. Decades ago a Disney CM told us that they patrol the waterways at night to look for gators and they remove the larger ones.
Disney's waterways are vast. It would be impossible to keep all dangerous wildlife out of the water, but I do think that at the very least, Disney needs to better inform their guests of the danger that exists. Many people
are totally unaware that there are gators on Disney property.

 

[monkistan]

This sign is much larger and clearer than what I saw at Caribbean Beach 2 weeks ago.

This sign from the Grand Cypress is exactly what they need.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I haven't read all the posts in here, and from the last few responses I don't think I want to. This is a tragedy and you can't really lay blame at the feet of the parents. Anyone who is should be ashamed of themselves.

All I have to add (and maybe this has been mentioned) is that we saw gators in the water in the MK on our last two trips. Not around MK, IN MK, in the river that surrounds Tom Sawyer's Island. They were both small, but were definitely there. It was shocking to me that they weren't trapped and relocated immediately. Allowing even a small gator to live amongst tourists and so many small kids seemed irresponsible to me, but no one working at the MK seemed to care at all.