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1. Child was not swimming.
2. Child was being appropriately supervised by father.
3. The beach made it inviting for guests to spend time at the water's edge.
4. The resort held events for guests around nightfall when alligators are actively hunting.
5. Disney has a long history of actively managing the local wildlife to minimize risks.
6. No signage warning that alligators were present in the lagoon.
Result = Disney is at least partly culpable, because it was a predictable accident.
Last edited by randomparent; 06-16-2016 at 09:32 AM..
1. Child was not swimming.
2. Child was being appropriately supervised by father.
3. The beach made it inviting for guests to spend time at the water's edge.
4. The resort held events for resort guests around nightfall when alligators are actively hunting.
5. Disney has a long history of actively managing the local wildlife to minimize risks to guests.
6. No signage warning that alligators were present in the lagoon.
Result = Disney is at least partly culpable, because it was a predictable accident.
1. Child was not swimming.
2. Child was being appropriately supervised by father. 3. The beach made it inviting for guests to spend time at the water's edge. 4. The resort held events for resort guests around nightfall when alligators are actively hunting.
5. Disney has a long history of actively managing the local wildlife to minimize risks to guests.
6. No signage warning that alligators were present in the lagoon.
Result = Disney is at least partly culpable, because it was a predictable accident.
Yeah, someone at Disney REALLY dropped the ball on this one. Holding family movie nights, etc., at dusk on the beach right next to gator lagoon?
OK call me stupid - but I had no idea that you would find gators on Disney property. We live in NY - I'm learning more about the South now only because my son moved there but I honestly would not have believed or thought they had gators there except maybe in the Animal Kingdom portion and then those would be contained like at the marine parks and zoos.
...
To know this is the 1st time this has happened tho in all these years - does confirm how on top of the problem Disney has been. It doesn't excuse what happened and I do believe there should be signs.
"They're surrounded by quintessential alligator habitat," said conservationist and television personality Jeff Corwin, who hosts "Ocean Mysteries" on ABC, owned by The Walt Disney Co.
"The entire property is interconnected via canals so it is difficult to keep them out of the lakes," former Disney executive Duncan Dickson said in an email. "Gators are on all of the golf courses. The team attempts to relocate the gators to the uninhabited natural areas as best they can, but the gators don't understand the boundaries."
"Disney said it works closely with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on a comprehensive approach to alligator management, including reducing the potential for interaction with humans. Disney said its employees call in sightings from guests, and technicians from the pest management team are dispatched. Technicians encourage gators back into the water when possible and determine if they need to be caught.
"Disney relocates alligators considered a nuisance, meaning they continually show up on the banks of waterways sunning themselves, don't fear humans or have done damage. Disney can catch and release alligators 4 feet or smaller. The state handles larger ones.
"They have people constantly monitoring" the area on the lookout for gators, Corwin said.
"One employee at the Disney property 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." Visitors at Buena Vista Palace regularly feed two of them from the balconies, he said."
(My emphasis - more @ the URL)
Given the cavalier dismissal of the problem of alligators on property, I would be very surprised if this is the first fatality @ Disney from an alligator attack. Possibly it's the first one reported @ length in media - that might be true. Disney chose to build in FL because land was cheap, & I believe Disney easily dominated/dominates the local county & state governments - note the outsourcing of customer contact staff & the lack of breaks & water & bathroom time for staff in costume in FL sun & heat & humidity - noted elsewhere. Disney chose this particular den of iniquity - now they get to try to sleep in it.
Status:
"Smartened up and walked away!"
(set 23 days ago)
11,772 posts, read 5,785,673 times
Reputation: 14190
Quote:
Originally Posted by charolastra00
There are no swimming signs. Should they have warned about alligators? They probably will now, but I dunno, I have this crazy opinion that you should follow directions when not on your own property.
There is no real way to keep alligators out. They end up in pools, ditches, and back yards all over Florida. The man made lake at Disney is connected to a larger freshwater lake, and even if not, it's not like Disney is 100% fenced off all around. Disney goes through and tries to clear all alligators about 4 feet every so often, but they're often elusive and shy.
When I was in high school, I spent a summer at UMiami. Right there on campus, there were alligators in some of the clearly man-made water features. The school would clear them out as often as possible - and they were generally small - but they were there.
Do people not do an ounce of research before they visit out of town? I would have thought alligators in Florida was common knowledge.
And that's not to say that I completely blame the family. This was a freak accident - plenty of people have certainly swam in the lagoon with no ill effects, but a toddler at dusk screamed, "Dinner time!" to an alligator.
I'm sure I was one of the ones this was directed too and that's OK as I admit that this still stuns me. I've been to Vegas, Detroit, New England, Canada, Jersey and South Carolina and I research hotels, attractions, things to see and do, spots to eat and shop, the weather ect.. If I was going camping, hiking or mountain climbing then yes - I would research about the environment and what to avoid or be alert for - but we're talking about a world wide famous destination. I know about shark attacks at some of the southern beaches due to them being on the news - but I would have never considered alligators.
My son just leased a house outside Montgomery in a new development. He has an end lot with no fence that borders the woods. Would someone be so kind to tell me what might crawl out of those woods as he's moving in next week and we're visiting the beginning of next month - I definitely will now research before going anywhere.
If I was this family, Disney money would NOT shut me up. I would force a public trial even if the eventual judgement is less than a settlement would have been.
Then the wife, surviving daughter, and I would make tearful appearances on every TV show there is. That is Disney's nightmare scenario and I would make damned sure they didn't buy their way out of it.
If I was this family, Disney money would NOT shut me up. I would force a public trial even if the eventual judgement is less than a settlement would have been.
Then the wife, surviving daughter, and I would make tearful appearances on every TV show there is. That is Disney's nightmare scenario and I would make damned sure they didn't buy their way out of it.
The reason people settle out of court is because it's too emotionally draining to have to relive the ordeal over and over and over again, with defendants putting the blame on you.
You may think this is what you do, but unless you're faced with it, you really don't know.
If I was this family, Disney money would NOT shut me up. I would force a public trial even if the eventual judgement is less than a settlement would have been.
Then the wife, surviving daughter, and I would make tearful appearances on every TV show there is. That is Disney's nightmare scenario and I would make damned sure they didn't buy their way out of it.
And why would they do that? Dragging Disney through the mud isn't going to bring the kid back any more than a large sum of money. Do you really think that the top guys at Disney aren't devastated by this, and not just because it's going to cost them money? It may have been overlooked for years, and there's definitely negligence there ..but going on TV and crying ...to do what? Make people hate Disney because they do things to get 2 year olds killed? It just doesn't make sense.
Does anyone actually think about what they are saying anymore?
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