Alligator drags child into water at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort

[iceberg]

That is a good point. I lived in south FL for a few years and was always cautions while around bodies of water for this very reason. However, we're talking people coming from all over the world who aren't aware of such dangers. They're in vacation mode in the pristine confines of Disney World. What I'm saying is that I don't think it makes sense at all for Disney to have amenities for their guests that carry such a risk. Gators are very stealthy, their entire hunting style is based on ambush and surprise......why have a beach for families with children to meander on where these things could be lurking only a foot or two away.

i moved to florida from texas and learned quick as we had a marsh in our backyard.

when i went to alaska i was out on the side of the highway taking pics at 1am about 20 miles north of fairbanks. i thought to myself - gosh - i wonder if there are bears on the woods near me.

now if there were (and there are) should alaska put up signs for their inherent "normal" dangers? and warn me at the "rest stop" i was at that there is wild life around me, or is it my responsibility to know where i am?

my general feeling is these days people are FAR TOO QUICK to assign blame and shame when those doing it have zero responsibility for such actions and would want, if they were in that position, some compassion.

it's horrible what they went through but when tragedy hits you in life, it's not the lottery saying hello. it's life.

 

[iceberg]

This is reasonable. I mean, Disney should know that it's a risk. As I posted earlier, if they are going to get sued, I believe it will be for not posting sufficient warnings. I don't believe it will be because they didn't remove the Gators over 4 feet. I also lived in Florida for a while and know the dangers of Gators. I think the point of people coming in from all over the world is reasonable. I don't think that anybody from the U.S., even Nebraska, should be ignorant of the fact that Gators are a risk in that part of the country. That's a pretty well known fact for anybody who has lived in the U.S. for any length of time IMO.

Doesn't really matter, those parents will have to deal with this for the rest of their lives. That's not something I would wish on anybody.

and that's true and that's the saddest part of it. i know in emotional times we want to blame someone but in life, we die. we just do the best we can until then.

when my mom passed away my father wanted to sue the hospital for not finding her cancer sooner. not treating it better. not sending to a specialist. he spent every penny he had on her to try and save her from round 2 of cancer and lost everything. of course you are emotional and want someone to blame.

when my father passed away last year - there was "slight" talk of going back to the VA hospital and while yes they made their mistakes, i can't see it being the final reason an 82 year old man passed away. i miss him every day and i do wonder if they got just 1 more thing right would we have celebrated one more xmas together but we lost him and our family, like all families, has to move on.

again - if this had happened before and disney didn't react, didn't try, didn't work with people to improve - then i could see it. but in the entire history of disney world this has never EVER happened. but suddenly it's blamegame time.

i get off the ride at this point and just go back to doing the best i can with what i have around me.

 

[bounce]

C'mon, people.

A two-year old got snatched by an alligator in a seemingly innocent place in an absolute freak incident. Millions of people go through Disney every year, to that lagoon, and do the exact same thing this kid did - and we're sitting here blaming the parents for what's essentially a lightning strike? If there are signs up that said "danger...alligators everywhere, do NOT go in the water..." then yeah, they were probably negligent. But, if it's as simple as what is essentially a "keep off the grass" sign, then no - there's no reason to think that a danger like that was possible.

Kids do kid things. They're curious. You loosen the leash in what you think is a safe situation. There are a million ways that kid could have gotten hurt, and the parents probably use every precaution to avoid those. They just didn't happen to think of "alligator attack at a theme park."

Everyone wants to find blame on the parent as a way of detaching themselves, so they can have comfort that "well, THIS would never happen to ME, because I would have done THIS..." Everyone is so quick to Monday morning parent in tragic situations - but you can't predict EVERYthing as a parent.

 

[joseephuss]

i moved to florida from texas and learned quick as we had a marsh in our backyard.

when i went to alaska i was out on the side of the highway taking pics at 1am about 20 miles north of fairbanks. i thought to myself - gosh - i wonder if there are bears on the woods near me.

now if there were (and there are) should alaska put up signs for their inherent "normal" dangers? and warn me at the "rest stop" i was at that there is wild life around me, or is it my responsibility to know where i am?

my general feeling is these days people are FAR TOO QUICK to assign blame and shame when those doing it have zero responsibility for such actions and would want, if they were in that position, some compassion.

it's horrible what they went through but when tragedy hits you in life, it's not the lottery saying hello. it's life.

What if you were at Disney Alaska when you get attacked by a bear? The expectation may be a little different in that situation compared to some random rest stop.

I think this is a fluke incident. I doubt it would happen again even if Disney did nothing.

 

[iceberg]

What if you were at Disney Alaska when you get attacked by a bear? The expectation may be a little different in that situation compared to some random rest stop.

I think this is a fluke incident. I doubt it would happen again even if Disney did nothing.

no - i get the reasons why people are upset. i understand where they were. we all seem to. but we all seem to understand where they were except them.

again - if this were a huge issue, or something that should draw DANGER DANGER than at any time in the last 40 years someone would have at least had a gator burp on them but no. hindsight is all it is.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Guilt of what?

Wow.

 

[JackOfNoTrades]

no - i get the reasons why people are upset. i understand where they were. we all seem to. but we all seem to understand where they were except them.

again - if this were a huge issue, or something that should draw DANGER DANGER than at any time in the last 40 years someone would have at least had a gator burp on them but no. hindsight is all it is.

If true, this is a very damning for Disney

Disney repeatedly warned about ongoing alligator issues before attack, reports say

A Walt Disney World resort near where a 2-year-old was snatched out of the water by an alligator this week was made aware that guests were feeding the reptiles, but ignored repeated requests from staff members to put up a protective fence around the lagoon, according to a published report.

An insider told The Wrap Wednesday that several employees of Disney’s Polynesian Resort Village became concerned about guests feeding alligators over the past 14 months.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/1...s-before-attack-reports-say.html?intcmp=hpbt3

 

[joseephuss]

no - i get the reasons why people are upset. i understand where they were. we all seem to. but we all seem to understand where they were except them.

again - if this were a huge issue, or something that should draw DANGER DANGER than at any time in the last 40 years someone would have at least had a gator burp on them but no. hindsight is all it is.

http://www.people.com/article/man-attacked-alligator-disney-world-1986

Man Attacked by Alligator at Disney World in 1986 Recalls Trauma After 2-Year-Old's Death: 'I Was Lucky'

For Paul Santamaria, Wednesday's tragic alligator attack at a Walt Disney World resort is a stark reminder of what could have been.

In 1985, then-8-year-old Santamaria was attacked by an alligator at a Disney World's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, according to an Associated Press report from that year. While Santamaria wasn't seriously injured, the gator was able to inflict four or five superficial lacerations on his thigh, knee and lower left leg, the AP said. He was hospitalized for a week.

 

[iceberg]

This is so ignorant that it's almost unbelievable. You should be ashamed and apologize to the parents. They're at Disney you ignoramous. The safest place to be.

so i see you buy into the "it's a small world after all" hype. that's your fault.

 

[DFWJC]

Come on people, surely it should be clear that both Disney and the parents share at least some blame here.

Disney is going to settle though. They have to.

You wonder if the parents can recover from this--especially if by chance one of them was supposed to be watching the 2 year old at 9-10pm at night....and the kid drifted pretty far away from the crowd watching an outdoor movie to go wading in alligator-infested water. I don't give a crap how "family friendly" Disney is, that is just plain irresponsible. And yes, I also do think ALL patrons staying at that place should have been made aware that the water surrounding their little beach had alligators in it.

As for the parents; Not the same thing ...but when I was very young, while at a family BBQ, my 2 year old cousin climbed a fence and drowned in neighbors pool. The trauma was insurmountable for the couple (maybe one blamed the other) and they divorced a year later. It's very common.

My heart breaks for that family, in any case.

 

[Rockport]

so i see you buy into the "it's a small world after all" hype. that's your fault.

I don't buy into anything including blaming these parents for their child getting mauled by a bear.

 

[SilverStarCowboy]

This is a tragedy for everyone involved, a two year old baby life was lost, almost unthinkable and a very sad circumstance that none would have wanted to live through.

 

[iceberg]

I don't buy into anything including blaming these parents for their child getting mauled by a bear.

or buy into the need to keep the minor details of any given tragedy correct from post to post, i see.

 

[Rockport]

or buy into the need to keep the minor details of any given tragedy correct from post to post, i see.

I guess you didn't get the twist in facts.

 

[iceberg]

I guess you didn't get the twist in facts.

well it was you. caring about what you say isn't the easiest thing in the world for me.

 

[paladin]

When I was a about 2 years old, my family was having a picnic by a lake. I apparently wandered off and decided to lay down in the pond. A random stranger, walking by, noticed this lil body floating facedown, jumped in a pulled me out. He started yellling "Hey whose kid this!!!". My Mom shouted "Oh he's ours, can you bring him over here?" and went back to eating fried chicken.
There's a difference between real life and The Waltons

 

[TellerMorrow34]

C'mon, people.

A two-year old got snatched by an alligator in a seemingly innocent place in an absolute freak incident. Millions of people go through Disney every year, to that lagoon, and do the exact same thing this kid did - and we're sitting here blaming the parents for what's essentially a lightning strike? If there are signs up that said "danger...alligators everywhere, do NOT go in the water..." then yeah, they were probably negligent. But, if it's as simple as what is essentially a "keep off the grass" sign, then no - there's no reason to think that a danger like that was possible.

Kids do kid things. They're curious. You loosen the leash in what you think is a safe situation. There are a million ways that kid could have gotten hurt, and the parents probably use every precaution to avoid those. They just didn't happen to think of "alligator attack at a theme park."

Everyone wants to find blame on the parent as a way of detaching themselves, so they can have comfort that "well, THIS would never happen to ME, because I would have done THIS..." Everyone is so quick to Monday morning parent in tragic situations - but you can't predict EVERYthing as a parent.

Well said.

Sadly it's not surprising, in the least, that we're seeing these types of reactions to these situations. The whole world is full of people who think they're superman or wonder woman and that they'll be able to foresee and stop absolutely everything. My only hope is that most of the people who think like that are not parents.