An unthinkable tragedy at WDW tonight child death UPDATE

wow the only thing worse would have been Peter Pan and Captain Hook

I'm not a fan of Rainbow's but this time I think that's a fair question. I wouldn't think for a moment that it was possible to be within easy reach of an alligator on WDW property which is a place for relaxing and enjoyment, especially with children! I didn't know that it was a given that if there's water, there's alligators....especially somewhere like that, rather than a natural body of water. I would also wonder how a child came to be somewhere that an alligator could get to it so easily and that maybe the child had wandered off.

An absolutely horrific tragedy for that family 

It is absolutely horrifying for this family. My heart breaks for them.

I live in south west Florida, so I am very aware that ANY body of water can have gators. They came and removed a 10 foot alligator from the man made pond behind my house that sits on the golf course. It had lost all fear of people, and had unfortunately come up to the back yard of a neighbor and snatched a small dog. Alligators are very real and dangerous predators. People who don't live here and don't have to deal with this every day would probably not suspect that an alligator could take a child from them while on vacation at the most magical place on earth.

So sad!

If you read the Disboards there have been threads showing pictures of alligators in the lagoons/lakes on the property. I think if you look on youtube there is a video of a smaller alligator that was in some water VERY near Splash Mountain.

Yup.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1ZqrnJkQuQ

Same here...I didn't read her post as accusatory - I read it as just a mere question,,,,wondering where they were, how close by, did they witness this, etc.

How tragic!!  I cannot imagine something like that..how awful.   Gators are everywhere in FL and I am sure WDW does its best to keep an eye out and get rid of them but they are pretty fast animals and not always easy to see, especially in the water.  Like everyone here though, I would not even be thinking about seeing an alligator at a WDW resort...it just feels like such a safe place, that it wouldn't have occurred to me...even though I have seen many gators in FL. 

Also, The lagoon at WDW is man-made but it is just like any other lake, man-made or natural...a lake is a lake and the same creatures (gators, snakes, etc) can get in there...fish will only get in there if the lake is stocked (at least once)

They have also posted pics of water moccasins in the waters. I think they are very common at Caribbean Beach resort and even come up onto land. Those are nasty bites and if you survive, it can cost about 100k in medical bills.

When we stayed at the Polynesian resort which is next to Grand Floridian and also on the Seven Seas Lagoon, there were signs saying to not go in the water and at night when we went down for fireworks viewing, they did not allow anyone closer than about 20 feet from the edge of the water.  There were employees manning the beach and if anyone went to dip their toes they were immediately told to back up.

I am sick for these parents. Apparently the mom was with the 2yo and wading in the water and the dad did everything to try to save his son. It actually hurts to write those words.

There were posted "no swimming" signs, but like many other non-Floridians, I would never ever have thought that there were alligators in a Disney resort. NEVER. Disney knows they are there, removes them once they hit around 4 feet long (this one was supposedly bigger), but won't post "There are alligators in these waters" to make visitors be aware?

While I wouldn't swim where it says not to, I probably would wade just like these parents did unless a sign said to not even touch the water.

ITA!

Yes. Also, if you ride the monorail around that area and look down, you can often see alligators below if you have a sharp eye.

There is simply no way for Disney (or any other landowner) to create a barrier to keep out wildlife. We have many relatives who live in Florida in retirement or gated communities and they ALL have wildlife, including gators.  My uncle was sitting in his home office one day, for example, and his Westie went nuts. He looked out the window and there was a bobcat out there. Another relation's neighbor lost her small dog to a gator when she walked it by the man-made lake in their gated community.


  

very very sad. Maybe they should put pictures of alligators on the no swimming signs! Just add a decal!!

They definitely have no swimming signs, and at Caribbean Beach Resort I believe it says don't go in the water at all.

So heartbreaking. I can't imagine what those parents are going through.

Alligators are super fast. I was once driving along the turnpike south of Miami and there was an alligator running along the paved shoulder. That sucker was moving at an astounding speed, it looked like it was running on its tiptoes. They are part of Florida life and of course where here first, but they truly sleeve me out and I am cautious around any body of water.

How absolutely awful. 

It is true though, if there is a body of fresh water there will be wildlife. In Florida, that means alligators and snakes. It doesn't matter if it is a huge natural lake or a small canal on the side of the road, there will be alligators. One of the big problems is that in places with a lot of people, the alligators learn to associate people with food because there are always yahoos who think that it is cool to feed them. Over time the alligators lose their fear of people, and then tragedy happens. 

There is no way to keep an alligator out of a body of water. There should be signs that not only say no swimming, but also don't feed them, and to stay out of the shallows too.