"Attractive hazard" [Orlando Gator attack]

[Danke]

I think parents going to Florida should be required to attend a Gator Wrestling Course.

 

[Danke]

I see you made it out alive, too.

I don't go looking for trouble and flaunting my wares...like some.

 

[susano]

So sad. I agree. Disney should do more to warn guests about the gators. I used to go a lot when my kids were little and it never occurred to me to look out for gators around a theme park. I had a too close for comfort encounter with them a few times visiting my brother. He lives on a canal and I would take my coffee outside in the wee hours of the morning so I didn't wake anyone else up and decided to take a walk around the yard when I heard something going into the water about 10 ft from me - it was a frickin' gator. I didn't even notice it. I was too busy watching the neighbors across the canal getting ready for work. It was still a bit dark outside and I could see right into their house.

There's no way in hell I would live near any fresh water in Florida. I'm always amazed at of the communities on lakes. Who wants to live on a lake full of alligators? Not me! Then again, I live in Michigan with lots of lakes, including the Great Lakes and I see water and it means swimming to me. I guess millions of people are content to be by water that's full of dangerous prehistoric reptiles.

 

[susano]

Look I know it's a horrible situation. This one little boy's death haunts me so much more so than all of the people killed in the nightclub. The innocence of him is heartbreaking. The helplessness I feel is real.

But let's not get all emotional and start blaming people that are not responsible. Disney didn't put the gators in the lakes. It is pretty common knowledge that the gators are everywhere in Florida. There are over a million in Florida, despite being listed as endangered for some reason. They go where they please and are opportunistic eaters.

This kid was a tasty treat for a hungry gator. Disney has no liability because they didn't make the kid get in the water at 9:20pm. I don't want to blame the parents but ultimately that's where the responsibility is.

My heart goes out to them

I'm not emotional and hell yes Disney is responsible. It's their property, they put in that lagoon which connects to a bigger, natural lake, full of gators, and then put a pretty beach to entice the guests to the water's edge without warning people what lives in there. While a lot of people are aware that all fresh water down there is gator habitat, a lot of other people have no clue. The parents must have been right there because as soon as the gator snatched the boy the dad tried to wrestle it to free his son.

 

[susano]

Jeez. I feel for them, but at what point does common sense come into play? How many signs are needed?

Warning: All non-saltwater areas large enough to hold an alligator in Florida may contain an alligator (including chlorinated water). By the way, this is the season they are usually nesting. Oh and they tend to feed during the dark hours.
Warning: Leeches, snakes, snapping turtles, mosquitoes, ticks, geese, ducks, raccoons, spiders, frogs, lizards, and any number of other wild creatures are also going to be there. They're not friendly, either.
Warning: Do not drink the lagoon water.
Warning: Do not set up toddler play pens close to the water.
Warning: Since we actively advertise bass fishing as an option, consider that there might be both creatures the bass eat, and that eat the bass.

Can we also make sure this is translated in multiple languages, since there are numerous international tourists?

This can go right up next to the warnings about areas around the pool being wet, which do exist.

It's sad that these people didn't know, and yeah Disney is going to pay out the nose, but it's interesting that plenty on these boards have griped about how no one exercises common sense and that there has to be a warning for absolutely everything.

ETA: You can Google Earth that "attractive" beach, with the murky swampwater walled in by rocks. It looks like the edge of any of those lakes at Sea World, Epcot, Disney, etc. where they set up fireworks and boat shows --- which is precisely what the hotel cautions you the water is for. I guess they need to put THAT warning outside and in plain view as well.

I don't know what the term is for when someone responds by replying with an extreme and absurd exaggeration, generalizing the original and singular issue to EVERYTHING but you just did that.

They put a man made beach, with chairs to invite the guests to lounge there, on a man made lagoon and didn't bother to inform the guests that alligators live in that water. It is not nanny state type hysteria to warn the unsuspecting, especially with little kids all over the place. There were no rocks or barrier where he waded to the waters edge.

 

[oyarde]

I can see that beach is gonna be a problem with tourists .

 

[TheTexan]

where the boy was killed.

I think we need more signage.

With more signs, this awful tragedy could have been averted.

I will write my congressmen immediately.

 

[TheTexan]

I don't know what the term is for when someone responds by replying with an extreme and absurd exaggeration, generalizing the original and singular issue to EVERYTHING but you just did that.

They put a man made beach, with chairs to invite the guests to lounge there, on a man made lagoon and didn't bother to inform the guests that alligators live in that water. It is not nanny state type hysteria to warn the unsuspecting, especially with little kids all over the place. There were no rocks or barrier where he waded to the waters edge.

Yes,

who could possibly guess

that there would be alligators

in Florida,,

they need to be sued

 

[susano]

Yes,

who could possibly guess

that there would be alligators

in Florida,,

they need to be sued

A family from Nebraska which doesn't have alligators and didn't realize that they're all over the place in Florida, apparently.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Yes,

who could possibly guess

that there would be alligators

in Florida,,

they need to be sued

Indeed! Make the beaches Safe and Great(TM) again!

 

[TheTexan]

A family from Nebraska which doesn't have alligators and didn't realize that they're all over the place in Florida, apparently.

I think

they know now

 

[susano]

I think

they know now

I never knew Texas had alligators until I made a friend in Texas. Until I found this distribution map (just now) I sure never thought they were in Arkansas!

 

[susano]

At a golf course in Florida...

 

[MelissaWV]

Yes, there are terrible awful alligators all over the place. They kill very few people. Half the things I posted about are far more dangerous than alligators, though admittedly the snake issue is going to be more of a daylight hours problem.

I hate to tell you this, but there are sharks in the ocean, too, though there are more often problems with jellyfish or pollution or rip currents.

There are mosquitoes and ticks that carry diseases --- a way more common problem than being carried off by an alligator.

If that murky, grass-filled water looks appealing to you, even after the hotels mention the lake is for fireworks and boat shows, then nothing I say is going to make you think otherwise. How many people died in Michigan due to snow-related issues last year? Would someone from Florida know about how dangerous the roads are there? At what point do you say "but it's OBVIOUS it's going to snow..."? If I visit them in Nebraska, and the sky gets dark, and I start hearing sirens, whose fault is it when I don't realize there's a tornado headed straight for me? The sirens should be someone's voice yelling "HEY! TORNADO COMING! GET INDOORS/UNDERGROUND AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS!" because the siren is not specific enough, right?

As for the videos, yeah, big gators are wandering around throughout May and June in particular. The smaller ones (like the one that killed this child) are more of a problem. The big ones are established and usually have a comfortable territory with females available. The smaller ones are still fighting to establish theirs. It's usually these smaller ones that harm people or wind up in swimming pools.

Here's another video for you:



That's what that "beautiful" water looks like up close. This family did not mention this to Disney, btw.

Dozens people die from digging holes at the beach (I've yet to see a warning about that, either).

 

[PaulConventionWV]

I'm in travel and tourism. It is impossible to put up enough warnings to make people have common sense. A two year-old can't read. Who was holding the child's hand? What were the parents doing? I would be willing to lay odds that one parent was taking pictures or video of the child. Just like the kid who fell in the bear thing in Cincinnatti. At what point do walls and encosures not mean something to a four year-old?

My job has a safety component. I can't count the times I have had to ask a parent to stop their child from doing something that is totally unsafe. We ask people do to something for a reason. We don't get our jollies bossing people around. We want to entertain them, but they really make it hard.

This past week we were visiting our kiddo and grandkiddos. We went to a place where there are valuable collections. There are alarms and instructions not to touch or sit on the furniture. We didn't. It was on a bay. The sign said, "No Wading or Collecting." So guess what? We didn't do it. The two year-old was in a stroller, then held by her dad. I had the 7 year-old. Husband had the 4 year old, and dd had the 9 year-old. That's how you keep your kids under control.

Take one picture, then enjoy the attraction. How many pictures of the child do you need? Parents miss a lot of face time with their kids when they interact with them through the lens of a camera. In the time it takes to snap a picture and post it on FB, the child can die. Save the free ranging for home.

Forgive my brashness, but what in the hell? That sounds utterly idiotic. I don't care how jaded you are from being in the tourism industry, I'm sure signs save lives at least some of the time for those with a lick of sense. You can't always avoid it, but damn it, you can try. A sign saying "Danger! Alligator!" Would have been a real help here, as I'm sure no parent would let a two year old near the water if they knew there were alligators in there. Even if not, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt here because Disney set up a freaking beach right on an alligator infested pond. Is Disney serious with this shit?

And as for missing "face time" with their kids when they're taking pictures, that, too, sounds pretty stupid. I don't know how long it takes you to snap some pictures, but it really shouldn't take that long and it's been bein' done for a long freaking time now. Snapping pictures has been a favorite pastime the world over since cameras were invented, and I don't see the effect you're apparently seeing that it's apparently having on childrens' psyches. Sounds like a pretty lame addendum to a story about a kid getting eaten by an alligator at a Disney club.

 

[luctor-et-emergo]

My earliest childhood memory includes alligators. No bad feelings. Only my moms sunglasses were lost.

I wouldn't mind living in a place where alligators are common. It's the kind of thing you learn to live with. I try to be careful, not scared. Being scared won't do you any good. Being careful will.

Snakes are very much scarier imo. Even though I've handled some, I would rather have alligators around than (lethal) snakes.

 

[euphemia]

[MENTION=29995]PaulConventionWV[/MENTION]: indeed. You would be surprised at how many parents don't know how to look their kids in the eye and have a conversation. All day long I watch people take picture after picture and waste their whole tour posting to social media. It's more the norm for it to be that way.

A two year old can't read. If the sign says no swimming, then stay on shore.

 

[tod evans]

I'm sure signs save lives at least some of the time for those with a lick of sense. You can't always avoid it, but damn it, you can try. A sign saying "Danger! Alligator!" Would have been a real help here, as I'm sure no parent would let a two year old near the water if they knew there were alligators in there..

Maybe at some point, before the plethora of lawyers and litigation a sign might possibly, maybe, have been both read and its warning heeded...

In today's world there are warning signs on everything from pantyhose to Big-Macs and nobody reads them, for good reason, signs are intended to absolve the poster of responsibility.

In this particular instance posting a sign before some kid was eaten would have acknowledged the danger associated with letting guests get close to the water putting Disney in even more financial jeopardy...

 

[PaulConventionWV]

Maybe at some point, before the plethora of lawyers and litigation a sign might possibly, maybe, have been both read and its warning heeded...

In today's world there are warning signs on everything from pantyhose to Big-Macs and nobody reads them, for good reason, signs are intended to absolve the poster of responsibility.

In this particular instance posting a sign before some kid was eaten would have acknowledged the danger associated with letting guests get close to the water putting Disney in even more financial jeopardy...

As it should have.

 

[PaulConventionWV]

[MENTION=29995]PaulConventionWV[/MENTION]: indeed. You would be surprised at how many parents don't know how to look their kids in the eye and have a conversation. All day long I watch people take picture after picture and waste their whole tour posting to social media. It's more the norm for it to be that way.

A two year old can't read. If the sign says no swimming, then stay on shore.

I never said I was surprised. It's unsettlingly common these days, but I'm just surprised more people tend to blame the parents whose child got snatched out of the blue than Disney who held a party on croc-infested waters and didn't try to warn anyone. You all just assume signs wouldn't have done any good and I can't figure out for the life of me how you can be so callous. Put up a tape, attach a recording to a loudspeaker in a perimeter around the lake. Do whatever you have to, but a sign that says no swimming seems awfully light in terms of security. You'd think a company like Disney would be a little better prepared to prevent tragedies like this, especially considering their reputation.