Rescuers frantically searching the area. This does not look good.

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-child-dragged-alligator-disney-20160614-story.html

Omg.

No words. Prayers for that family.

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http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/21/us/nile-crocodiles-florida-irpt/

Alittle reading on Alligator behavior.

That is terrible, prayers for the family.

I can't stand all the sad, horrible news lately.   The pain that the family must be experiencing right now is numbing to imagine. The odds seem overwhelming, but I'm hoping/praying for a happier ending that is so evident given the facts.

This has turned into a horrible week for Orlando...

Just heartbreaking.... The news just said they have euthanized 4 alligators so far with no evidence of the child. I had no idea the lake had that many alligators. I guess it's time Disney reconsiders some of the lake beaches.

Yeah I had read that Disney monitors them for size and aggression and when they get to big or aggressive they will capture and send them out.

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http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/alligator-attacks-child-disney-florida/

A bit more info:

Earlier that night there was a movie screening on the beach but it would have been over by this time

Childs 4 year old sister was in a play pen on the beach

Child was splashing and either walking or playing in the water (water is marked to not swim)

Dad wrestled with alligator to try and get son back

Mom had entered the water but was not able to locate 2 year old boy

No incident like this before

*************** opinion coming *****

This is heart breaking. Why was the kid allowed in the water by his parents.

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This is very sad new and tragic for the family.

 

Just a few thoughts.  Florida has about a 10 to 1, Human to Alligator ratio.  Meaning they are everywhere, especially Central Florida.  Hard to eradicate a problem with that kind of population.  Not too be funny think of them as cockroaches with teeth.  

Disney has cameras everywhere, I imagine this or a portion of these events have been captured on film, which will more than likely shed more light on this event.  I will reserve further judgement until more details come out.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/alligator-attacks-child-disney-florida/

This is heart breaking. Why was the kid allowed in the water by his parents.

 

Wow.  Just an insane event.  I feel just sick to my stomach just thinking about it.

 

I can understand why the child was allowed in the water, even with the no swimming signs posted.

 

For me: I am from the Northeastern US.  When I have visited WDW, I never thought of gators unless I saw one- which I did when taking a pontoon boat from our resort to Downtown Disney.  If I saw the no swimming sign, I would have thought no swimming means entering the water above my knees.  If my child was simply wading, I would never (until now) thought it would be an issue.  Now if a "do not enter the water" sign was posted, or "don't get near the water sign" was posted, then I would never enter the water.

 

This is the violence of nature.  Most of us experience it where we live (weather, wild animals etc.).  In hindsight-It absolutely could have been prevented, but I cannot blame anyone.

 

Things like this just SU@&.

 

I can understand why the child was allowed in the water, even with the no swimming signs posted.

 

You can? Why?

Is Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon the same? Didn't one of them allow swimming in the past? Ain't there also a forbbiden island?

I can understand why the child was allowed in the water, even with the no swimming signs posted.

 

You can? Why?

For me: I am from the Northeastern US. When I have visited WDW, I never thought of gators unless I saw one- which I did when taking a pontoon boat from our resort to Downtown Disney. If I saw the no swimming sign, I would have thought no swimming means entering the water above my knees. If my child was simply wading, I would never (until now) thought it would be an issue. Now if a "do not enter the water" sign was posted, or "don't get near the water sign" was posted, then I would never enter the water.

They are connected. From what I have read over the years is that swimming was allowed but over time swimming may have became banned due to some of the following reasons:

Increase in boat traffic

Bacteria in the water

Increase in gators

So I can see if you have been to the park many times over the years you would let little ones into the water a bit.

But my open water life guarding instinct tells me that it's never a good idea to swim where you can't see the bottom or where you have a clear line of sight for the area around where you are swimming. The dad could have been right next to the kid and the gator could still have got him.

Gorilla mom is very lucky this didn't happen to her boy.

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Awful. Just awful. Prayers for the family

 

SNIP 

 

All nonsense. Florida is gator heaven. That's like living in Oklahoma, being hit by a tornado, and going "well, I never thought of tornadoes unless I saw one, which I did every other week in the Spring". It's tornado alley. Duh!

Let's not forget that this is the same water that allows you to water ski in. At one time you could swim and canoe. The dad and son were in (according to some reports) about 1 foot of water. The dad was holding the kids hand.

It's a man made lake that they wanted you to fish in.

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SNIP

 

All nonsense. Florida is gator heaven. That's like living in Oklahoma, being hit by a tornado, and going "well, I never thought of tornadoes unless I saw one, which I did every other week in the Spring". It's tornado alley. Duh!

 

Excellent analogy!

 

The family is from Nebraska......  

 

Even in this updated article an anonymous Disney employee made a comment on how guests, most likely from another state, will feed the gators:

One employee at the resort who did not want to be identified said in an email "There is such a problem on property with guests feeding the alligators thinking it's cool." There are two at the Buena Vista Palace that people regularly feed from balconies, he said.

If there is one thing I have learned from my ventures to Florida, it's this: Never go into the lagoons during or after the evening. 

Ah I just hate reading news like this!  However, it never ceases to amaze me how many people completely disregard posted signs and warnings, or don't consider the dangers of some things.

 

My wife and I just went up to Michigan this past weekend for a mini-vacation.  We went to this one beach that had signs posted that said "Swimming not advised because of strong currents and undertow."  These warnings were even written up in local brochures and travel guides that we had read before we got there.  Guess what we saw when we arrived? Tons of people swimming.  Not only that, parents sitting on the beach allowing their kids to swim out in the deeper parts.  While sitting on the beach, I saw three young girls getting pulled sideways while trying to swim back to shore.  Where were the parents? I have no idea, but I watched them closely to make sure nothing bad happened.  I also saw some people swimming out past the roped off sections, completely disregarding all rules and warnings.

 

I think too many people, especially people on vacation, have this feeling that rules don't apply to them because they're paying good money for this trip and they'll do what they want.  Or perhaps they have the mindset that something like that could never happen to them.  Regardless of what it is, I wish people would take signs and warnings more seriously.  It's sad to hear of all these tragedies that could've been prevented had someone just followed the rules.

 

With all that being said, I do feel horrible for this family.  What an awful thing to have happen on a trip that should've been one the most happy experiences of their lives.  Instead of good memories, now they'll just remember this.  I do hope that officials can recover the young boy's body so that the parents can at least have closure.

 

Prayers for everyone affected by this.

Is Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon the same? Didn't one of them allow swimming in the past? Ain't there also a forbbiden island?

They are the same body of water. Yes in the past you could swim in the lake. Discovery Island closed when Animal Kingdom open. Disney moved all the animals to the new park. It's now a bird sanctuarie.Just sad what happened.

If there is one thing I have learned from my ventures to Florida, it's this: Never go into the lagoons during or after the evening. 

 

Or... at all, as it turns out!

Beyond horrified to see this news. I can't imagine what the family is going through right now. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.

As a side note, I had no idea that alligators lived in the Seven Seas Lagoon. I knew there were gators in the Rivers of America, but not in the Lagoon.

Beyond horrified to see this news. I can't imagine what the family is going through right now. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.

As a side note, I had no idea that alligators lived in the Seven Seas Lagoon. I knew there were gators in the Rivers of America, but not in the Lagoon.

 

 

There is actually a decent sized water way which leads from the Seven Seas Lagoon to the Rivers of America.

boys body has been found

Beyond horrified to see this news. I can't imagine what the family is going through right now. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.

As a side note, I had no idea that alligators lived in the Seven Seas Lagoon. I knew there were gators in the Rivers of America, but not in the Lagoon.

 

It's Florida. Every house has a gator in the basement, and a pink flamingo in the front yard.

If there is one thing I have learned from my ventures to Florida, it's this: Never go into the lagoons during or after the evening.

I stayed in a resort on Lake Cecile in Kissimmee once and the desk attendant said we were lucky we arrived after alligator mating season. I asked why and he said they like to mate in the resort swimming pool. The alligators kind of explain why we never saw stray animals the entire time during our stay.

Beyond horrified to see this news. I can't imagine what the family is going through right now. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.

As a side note, I had no idea that alligators lived in the Seven Seas Lagoon. I knew there were gators in the Rivers of America, but not in the Lagoon.

It's Florida. Beings that I used to live there gators will go in literally any body of water, including but not limited to swimming pools. A lagoon like that is perfect for one.

So much happening in Florida at once. Hopefully they will get a break soon. This sure has been a very sad few days.