Orlando is Having a Bad Week. Gator Grabs 2-Year Old

[Rickster71]

This has been a very sad week for all involved in the tragedies in Orlando:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-child-dragged-alligator-disney-20160614-story.html

2-year-old boy who was attacked and dragged into the water by an alligator on the shores of Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa Tuesday night was still missing early Wednesday morning.

 

[Alex2507]

I think I remember a similar incident in the 90's at Lake Ida in Delray Beach. I feel bad for those poor parents. A little girl had brought her mom a flower from a lily pad. The mom was so delighted that the girl went to get another and ... gone.

 

[j_garcia]

Wow, sad. A friend of mine just moved to Florida.

 

[Midwesthonky]

I remember from when I lived in Orlando, a news article about a pond with ducks in it. The people in the office buildings around it would go and feed the ducks during lunch. They were disappointed when the ducks started moving on. Only later, when officials pulled a gator out of the pond did they realize the ducks hadn't moved on.

My cousins still live in Orlando. When their son was little, they taught him at a young age to not go near the edge of ponds without the parents there. Just too easy to get grabbed by a gator. Heck, as an adult, I was leery around the edge of ponds if I couldn't see into the water.

It is tragic and I really feel for the parents. But even at Disney, you only swim where they say you can. It's just to hard for them to patrol and guarantee a gator won't move in. They try and do a great job, but there is no way to guarantee it 100%. Hence, the no swimming signs they post.

 

[markw]

My sympathies go out to the parents but I understand that it was almost fully dark when they went swimming. Between that and the signs Disney posts, they have to shoulder some of the blame.

 

[j_garcia]

Child's body was recovered in tact. It was unfortunately unlikely that after that much time passed that he would be found alive. Condolences to the family.

 

[Swerd]

What a dreadful story… my sympathies for the family.

What follows is not a snarky attempt at some bad-taste jokes – please be forewarned not to mistake it for that.

I had a particularly bad day at work today, and I'm trying get myself to recognize that any problems I faced today are nothing compared to being the Police Chief in Orlando. What a bad week he and his department have had.

Now imagine that you work at the public relations department at Disney World. What do you do with the Peter Pan ride?

 

[Chu Gai]

Were there any signs posted indicating that alligators may be present?

 

[j_garcia]

Were there any signs posted indicating that alligators may be present?

No, there were not. It is Florida, that is pretty much a given. That's exactly what the Fish & Wildlife spokesperson said. Any moderate body of water can potentially have aligators in it. Not uncommon in backyard pools. While that may be the case, that does not mean people at a resort who are visiting are going to know that. These people were from out of state. Disney obviously would not want to put something like that up because nobody would use their beach then...so it is on them somewhat (not legally). I am sure somewhere in all their literature it states as much though.

 

[speakerman39]

No, there were not. It is Florida, that is pretty much a given. That's exactly what the Fish & Wildlife spokesperson said. Any moderate body of water can potentially have aligators in it. Not uncommon in backyard pools. While that may be the case, that does not mean people at a resort who are visiting are going to know that. These people were from out of state. Disney obviously would not want to put something like that up because nobody would use their beach then...so it is on them somewhat (not legally). I am sure somewhere in all their literature it states as much though.

John, I just heard on the news that the folks were from Nebraska! Very sad indeed. Heartfelt condolences to the family for their loss. Prayers going up!

Phil

 

[Midwesthonky]

It's a tough loss no matter how you look at it and who is to blame. Unfortunately, the Disney goal of making the place magical to the point of not even seeing garbage disposal, can result in preventing anyone from thinking of potential dangers.

A woman in Australia was killed recently by a Croc. Similarly, she and a female friend were splashing in water at dusk/dark. The main difference was they were doing it in a area where tour boats go to show off crocs and they have signs posted warning of the crocs. An authority there basically said "What did you think was going happen when you go swimming at dusk in an area by croc tours and posted with signs warning of crocs?"

I expect Disney will need to update their signs to make people more aware of the potential risks. Just saying "No Swimming" probably won't cut it anymore. They have too many guests that have no concept of gators. They don't have gators just swimming around in Canada or North Dakota or Minnesota, etc. As my wife said the first time she saw a gator sunning itself on the side of the road "We don't have animals that will kill you in North Dakota just sunning themselves by the side of the road." If you have never been exposed to it, would you even think of it?