The child could have been killed in a traffic accident driving to the Disney park. Driving is a much bigger hazard than a random gator attack. Gators average 10 bites a year in the the entire state.
Really?
Even though I don’t agree with those who hold the parents of the kid at the zoo at fault, the differences are obvious. The kid in the zoo climbed through a fence and into a clearly marked area that contained gorillas. The kid at Disney was at a beach on a lake designed for the use of hotel guests, with no indication that there were alligators in the area. Yes there were signs that said “No swimming”, but he was not swimming - he was wading in what could only have been a foot or 2 of water.
Plus of course, while gorillas are endangered, Florida alligators are apparently as common as cockroaches.
It sounds like they need “re-homed” to alligator heaven instead of going to the expense of moving them and have them come straight back.
I am usually not very plaintiff-friendly in these kinds of cases, but you have Disney, a multi-national corporation that makes oodles of money, has a park in the middle of a swamp in fucking Florida, you know that little kids come there in droves, and you build a hotel right next to the swamp (sorry “lagoon”) that is teeming with alligators that you have tried and failed to relocate, and all you do is put up a “no swimming” sign?!?
I lived in Florida for five years, and I knew to keep children and pets away from any body of water, but I can’t say that I would have had the same fear staying at the nicest hotel in Disney. I would have been almost sure that Disney would have monitored this shit to keep gators away from the park area. And they’ve killed FOUR more of them?
This is negligence, almost recklessness. I see a YUUUUGE verdict/settlement here.
I live near there. First time I visited, I saw a gator lunge for a Pomeranian on a leash. But mostly they’re not aggressive. A mother alligator didn’t even flinch once when a toddler tripped on the bank right next to a dozen baby gators. I wonder if TX gators are somehow less aggressive than FL gators.
Martin Dies Jr State Park and Huntsville State Park in TX have designated swimming areas in lakes. The gators are mostly in the swamps, but there are some in the lakes. The ranger says the gators avoid the swimming areas because there’s too much human activity.
So, gorilla vs alligator; who do you bet on in a no-holds-barred fight to the death?
Depends. Are they in a swamp or in a tree?
OK, I’ll be politically incorrect here. While I feel for the parents and believe that this is horrific and cannot imagine their pain, having a 2 year-old child in foot deep water where signs clearly say no swimming is a teeny tiny bit irresponsible. So blame goes to: 1% parents, 9% Disney, 90% gator. I am sure Disney will pay out a huge amount of money to avoid publicity; that seems to be their MO.
I’m surprised you bothered double posting just to finish such an idiotic post. There is nothing at all similar between the two events.
It’s a man made lake, not an existing swamp. Should they have connected it to canals? Maybe not, but I’m not a civil engineer so I don’t know. Should there have been warning signs that there were gators in the lake? Perhaps, but then you have guests freaking out over safety. It’s not like attacks like this are common at Disney parks. You’re more likely (as mentioned upthread) to get into a car accident.
I think this is a horrible story all the way around and it wouldn’t surprise me if Disney settled with the parents for a sum of money, but bottom line, these people were on vacation with their kids and are going back to Nebraska minus one. I doubt they’ll be visiting a Disney park ever again, or stepping foot in Florida.
And the death total of the gators is up to nine, according to my co-worker’s husband.
Can’t have that.
Hmmmm…maybe I was wrong about this not being a common occurrence.
Jimmy, Disney (and Universal and Sea World) are all about creating an image. I’ve been to our local theme parks several times and there’s an atmosphere once you step into the park, that you’re in a magical place. One of the rides at Universal has a metal detector once you get to the top of it, but there are two employees stationed at the bottom warning guests to put their phones and keys in lockers, otherwise they’d be sent down from the top after failing to pass the metal detector. I asked why there wasn’t a sign at the bottom of the ride, and they said that would “distract” from the experience, so these poor high school kids have to repeat the same thing over and over for hours.
A resort employee who didn’t want to be identified said that guests feeding alligators is a problem at the resort. There are two that regularly hang around under the balcony at the Buena Vista Palace looking for handouts. It’s possible that the alligator that attacked the boy could have become habituated to human beings as a result of being fed in the past.
The Dragon coaster at WWoHP? They told me they couldn’t have the metal detectors at the main entrance right next to the lockers because having a metal detector in plain view would violate their agreement with JK Rowling. ISTR there being a sign though.
Yep, that’s the one. In any event, no metal detectors at the foot of the ride. I didn’t see a sign, and I remember asking the employees wouldn’t it be easier to have a sign.
Myrtle Beach is one of my favorite vacation spots in the world. Much as I love the ocean, I always get a bit paranoid about sharks when I’m swimming in it. Are you saying that now I have to worry about alligators there, too?
I tried Googling for images (though no telling how old they are) and did see one with a sign that seems to say (smaller pic, blurry when zoomed in) “stow all ____ cameras and video equipment in the ___ provided or ____” - though it doesn’t mention metal detectors that I can tell. Is on bottom of the “don’t ride this if you have a heart condition” sign.
Still, a lot of people think it’s perfectly fine to ignore signs or to take instructions/rules as recommendations and then be upset when they are required to obey them.
So yes, I think there needs to be a sign “no headphones” and if customer found to have headphones when they get to front of line, it’s fine to say “nope.” I don’t know what this particular sign at the ride said, though, of course.
Plenty of alligators here in Alabama, too.
Nah, the alligators chase away the sharks.
I read somewhere this is called the “dazzle effect.” Basically, guests are so overwhelmed by the sights and sounds and smells and the excitement of being there they don’t notice something right in front of their nose.