2 year old boy snatched by alligator at Disney World

[PepsiFree]

I'm all for the idea that you can't (and shouldn't) protect everyone from everything.

That being true, if you have a resort and part of the property carries a risk of death or dismemberment just by being near it, you damn well better make it impossible for kids to go near.

If people aren't meant to swim in the water (which apparent signs suggested) then what value is having access to that water?

I don't think the resort is directly to blame but people (once again) calling on negligent parents in this situation are just deeply disturbed individuals.

It's horrifying, really. Lesson learned for everyone else. So sad a two year old died for that reminder.

[Joe Nieuwendyk]

The fact is, the parents put the children in more danger when they travelled from the airport to the resort. If they had been hit by a semi and the 2 year old died, we wouldn't have heard about it. Instead, they suffered the far less likely event of having their child killed by an alligator in a heavily monitored (mind you, not perfectly) body of water at a luxury resort. Now they're labelled bad parents.

[Sliver]

Disneyland has been the go-to vacation spot for my family since my kids were young. Been there four or five times in the past seven years. If you haven't been there you may not know, but you drop your guard there big time. It feels like nothing bad could ever happen. I wouldn't have worried about playing by that lagoon in a million years.

[afc wimbledon]

The resort might as well put out a Black Forest gateau full of razor blades on the buffet table as create a beach next to a lagoon of alligators.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by monkeyman

So you were unsure enough of the danger that you had to keep asking people if there was a danger?

I knew they were there everywhere in Florida, so whenever I went somewhere new I always asked the locals about them and where I should avoid when walking. Seems like common sense to me.

I get that this was a bad accident, and I'm not going to sit there and call the parents complete morons, I just don't understand the amount of people in this thread that say alligators wouldn't even be on their mind when going to Florida. They are everywhere there, unless you are in a pool/ocean, you stay the hell out of the water. You don't have to be a local to know that, and if you aren't a local, seems like common sense would be to ask about it before diving in. This kid was with his parents, they were all in water they weren't supposed to be in.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Disneyland has been the go-to vacation spot for my family since my kids were young. Been there four or five times in the past seven years. If you haven't been there you may not know, but you drop your guard there big time. It feels like nothing bad could ever happen. I wouldn't have worried about playing by that lagoon in a million years.

I would agree within the walls of the theme park, but with a lagoon like that in the part of the world you are in, there's no way my guard is down there, but maybe i'm overly risk adverse.

[JiriHrdina]

Did the sign say no swimming or stay out of the water?

[nik-]

You'd think if there were alligators in the water they'd go with something more forceful than stay out of the water or no swimming.

Something like "There are alligators in this water"

[Dion]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Are you kidding??? The parents are totally to blame here. I feel bad for them but they are morons for letting their two year old go into that area when anyone with half a brain can read the signs or just common damn sense tells you how dangerous that is. This was something that never should have happened and it pisses me off that a 2 year old lost his life because his parents are morons.

I ask that you read the below statement and reconsider what you have said.....

Officials said Disney World has never experienced an incident like the one involving the boy.

The park has a full-time team that monitors the complex, and if they spot a potentially threatening animal they call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which then responds.

"The story here is this is a tragedy and terrible, but it's a rare occurrence," Wiley said. "And fortunately it doesn't happen that often and we are doing everything we can to make sure it doesn't ever happen again."

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/all...isney-florida/

[Dion]

Nick Wiley, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which spearheaded the search, said the American alligator was feeding and likely confused the small child for a dog or a raccoon. The gators do not typically feed on humans.

“People – even small people – are not their typical prey,” he said.

Wildlife officials count around a dozen alligator bites a year in Florida, but fatalities from the reptiles are far less common. There have been only 23 fatalities caused by alligators in Florida since the 1940s, Wiley said.

Tuesday's incident is the first known alligator attack at the Seven Seas Lagoon, he said.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2...-fla/85905266/

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Joe Nieuwendyk

The fact is, the parents put the children in more danger when they travelled from the airport to the resort. If they had been hit by a semi and the 2 year old died, we wouldn't have heard about it. Instead, they suffered the far less likely event of having their child killed by an alligator in a heavily monitored (mind you, not perfectly) body of water at a luxury resort. Now they're labelled bad parents.

They are being labelled bad parents because they were in the water that was clearly marked "no swimming" with their 2 year old at 9:30 at night. We can sit here and argue all night about whether you should or shouldn't expect there to be alligators in that water, but there's no arguing the fact that if they had simply followed the rules/signage, this doesn't happen. I'm not going to sit here and call them idiots over and over again though, because it's pointless and i'm sure they don't need to be reminded about what went wrong as they will likely play it over and over again for the rest of their life.

This incident aside, I travel quite a lot and I find this attitude of "The rules don't apply to me while i'm on vacation" seems to becoming more and more apparent, especially among people in the 25-40 range. Even more so among US travellers in my opinion. We seem to be hearing a lot more about these vacation tragedies/accidents lately and I wonder if the two are related? Maybe some of these places don't have adequate security because in the past, people respected the rules more and it wasn't an issue. At what point to we start barricading things up so no one can enjoy themselves to prevent the few who break the rules from injuring themselves or others?

[JiriHrdina]

If the sign said no swimming is it unreasonable to think wading in the water is ok?

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

If the sign said no swimming is it unreasonable to think wading in the water is ok?

Not in my opinion, but that's just my opinion. If it says no swimming, there is no reason to be in that water. There is a reason there are multiple pools on the property.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Did the sign say no swimming or stay out of the water?

On the news they showed a little white sign that simply said "no swimming". If that's all they had, it wasn't enough.

In response to another poster, people "break the rules" all the time. Doesn't mean the rule-makers aren't also at fault. Hell, if there are alligators in that water, couldn't one just snatch a two year old off the beach? They can't read signs either.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

Not in my opinion, but that's just my opinion. If it says no swimming, there is no reason to be in that water. There is a reason there are multiple pools on the property.

So people should simply know by no swimming they mean stay out of the water altogether? Why? Walking ankle deep in the water is not swimming. If they meant stay out of the water completely the sign should have said that

[Slava]

It's hilarious to me that one of the most vehement posters saying that they knew this was likely has a name (oracle) that implies they can predict the future...only to post time after time so much clear cut hindsight bias.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Yeah, in this situation a "no swimming" sign isn't enough. Would it be a tremendous expense for one of the richest corporations in the world to invest in some god damn "danger-alligators may be in the water" signs?

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

Yeah, in this situation a "no swimming" sign isn't enough. Would it be a tremendous expense for one of the richest corporations in the world to invest in some god damn "danger-alligators may be in the water" signs?

This was the first attack ever at the resort. Besides Gators are not like Crocs that view humans as food.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Dion

This was the first attack ever at the resort. Besides Gators are not like Crocs that view humans as food.

Didn't realize that. Really didn't want to open the thread at all, just kind of skimmed it. I feel so bad for these people, we have a two year old and I don't think I could go on if we lost her.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Dion

This was the first attack ever at the resort. Besides Gators are not like Crocs that view humans as food.

There may not be many alligator attacks but there seem to be one or two a year, enough that the resort either shouldn't have had a beach or should have had fencing and signage that would make this impossible.