I never said that there should be fences round all the water. I haven’t argued for that. And for the record, I don’t particularly care if the signs say alligators specifically, or just dangerous wildlife as they do now. Any company has a responsibility to point out dangers to its customers. Once they’ve done that, yes then it’s up to the individual to decide what to do about it. People may have chosen not to evacuate. But they were warned that they should. It’s the warning that is relevant. You can’t make a decision without the facts.
I’m a non-litigious rule follower and I generally am not super sympathetic to those who don’t take personal responsibility for their actions. Prior to that tragedy (if I didn’t have the knowledge from these boards) I’m not sure I would make the leap from “no swimming” to “it’s unsafe to walk near the edge of this water because there might be a big old alligator in here.” The current signage is much more useful.
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Totally agree.
Beyond just the signage and the accessibility to these beaches at the resorts, no one’s mentioned the fact that they all looked like inviting beaches. Why would you make a beach going into waters where you don’t intend patrons to swim? And if it’s just for looks, then the beaches should have been inaccessible to guests. If they hadn’t built a beach, they wouldn’t have had people questioning the ‘no swimming’ rule.
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I’m sorry - my response wasn’t to you particularly but rather the topic itself - sorry if I responded incorrectly and / or sorry you have internalized it
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100 per cent I agree. Why build a beach in front of water frequented by alligators in the first place??
It’s totally nonsensical
Would any of you consider it safe for your young children to be playing on those beaches near the water (not in the water) without the fences or Rocks being in place?
Is it entirely safe for young children to play close to the water on the beach with the rocks and fences in place ?
Forget about swimming or even paddling is it safe for young children on a beach next to water with alligators in it?
Would any of you have allowed your kids on the beach near the water at night?
Because a no swimming sign suggests to me the water isn’t safe but the beach is?
Can’t the alligators walk on land in Florida?
Are they too slow or too noisy to approach a child from behind who was making sand castle on the beach near to the waters edge?
Do they only attack in deep water normally or by the waters edge?
How does one leave a topic - this has gotten completely ridiculous.
I did think you were replying to me specifically, but no problem, nothing to apologise for.
Years ago when these resorts were built they did have swimming in the lakes, that was part of the draw. Certainly at Poly and GF. You can still see photos of guests in the water all over the web. They even tried a wave machine in 7 seas lagoon, until they realised it was destroying the beaches. River County, the original water park, linked directly to Bay Lake. Don’t know that this is the case at Crescent Lake though.
No idea how they kept the alligators out of the swimming zones though. I assume they had some kind of barriers/ nets …??
I agree that the new signage is a good move though.
I must admit to having a few misgivings about the watercraft hire now. I would be somewhat nervous if my boys decided they wanted to hire one of the sea racers, but I wouldn’t stop them (they’re 18 and 21 so couldn’t really anyway). But that concern is a general one, not just because of the wildlife.
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Now that it’s mentioned, I think I do remember myself & my children wading/swimming in the lagoon in front of the Poly when we stayed there in the 80s. So the alligators arriving must have occurred later.
Also, hadn’t realized the tragedy happened with just staying at edge of water, that some folks wouldn’t think “no swimming” didn’t apply to just the shore wading. Good point.
I’m glad that disney has made the signs more specific to alligators, now. Sometimes those of us who have visited for a long time, or have spent/lived in Florida for years, can forget that people from other areas of the country & the world might not understand the wildlife around Florida.
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The beaches are going to be safe during the day. Alligators tend to feed at night where they will attack in the water or at water’s edge where they can easily drag the prey into the water and subdue it. In broad daylight gators are going to be relatively easy to spot and they aren’t going to be interested in joining a crowded beach. So the beaches were quite safe during the day.
And frankly, there were always gators in Seven Seas Lagoon - it is Florida. It would have only been dangerous if wading/swimming after dark and even then if it was done in a crowd that likely would scare off a gator as well. There is a reason DIS went 45 years before having an attack like this and it is because it is an incredibly rare occurrence…
I’m glad they updated signs. I interpret no swmming signs as not to go out into the water because life guards aren’t on duty. Until this tragedy, I was completely unaware alligators were inside the Disney bubble. Guests were allowed to actually swim in the lake when I was a kid. I take precautions and learn about wildlife when I am in national park or SCUBA diving. It’s never occurred to me learn about dangerous wildlife when visiting a theme park. Besides the tragedy, I was disappointed to learn that they captured several large gators making me believe Disney was a bit too relaxed with their relationship with gators.
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I also know of the bugs in Florida. Nice to visit but not to stay.
There was an intern at disney who lost their job for posting an image of an internal notice for disney cast staff asking them to deny any knowledge of alligators in disney lagoons if a guest asked the question. The notice stated it would spoil the image of disney if the guests thought there were alligators in their waters
The intern was vociferous that Disney staff were being asked to mislead guests about possible danger.
The Disney Vice President then had to re-instate the intern and apologise etc
The notice was taken down
disney intern alligator - Bing
Above is the staff notice that that intern put on twitter after the incident
And IMO it is for the same reasons that many of the beaches only had “no swimming” signs on them before the incident
Disney didn’t want to have guests walking on the beaches feeling scared by the signs
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Wow, that’s a big misstep on Disney’s part. I’m sorry to see that happened. I’m retired from a very large utility. Kookoo things went on behind the scenes, sometimes w/i the office, sometimes much higher up. Crazy things do happen. Unfortunately, this one developed into a tragedy (though an occurence that almost really never happens in Florida).
We displace animals and build on their land that they live then we moan about them and either have them killed or moved away from their land.
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When I visit places that are not Disney world, especially outside of areas I’m familiar with, I do a small amount or extensive research in what exactly I can expect from where I’m going. I know not everyone is like that, but as much as we want to believe Disney is this perfect bubble, it’s not. I’m from Louisiana, we have swamp animals (sometimes crossing the interstate especially during mating season) and I know they migrate to areas without people knowing - like this gator who wanted to see if anyone was home:
With that said, I would NEVER step foot in those waters (or let my child) just by what the water looks like, let alone with a perfectly good, clean pool just feet away. I’m not blaming the parents, but I don’t understand the desire to touch or get into what I view as very icky water.
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That “sign” was not authorized. It’s also obvious that is printed on an 8 X 11 piece of paper that doesn’t appear to be on their a bulletin board. Not saying it isn’t their policy, but it’s something posted on the internet that was never really confirmed by anyone to be an official Disney memo.
The intern also took her job back which makes me tend to believe it was someone who shouldn’t have posted this on the wall did in order to cause offense during an already emotional time due to the circumstances.
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Everyone - I think this thread has gotten interesting.
PLEASE just take precautions on any vacation you take. NO ONE is going to be as vigilant for your kids as you are. I remember YEARS ago going to WDW and we stayed outside (only POLY and CONTEMPORARY at the time). We stayed at a Sheraton Lake Side - they had - obviously a little lake, with gators and a paddle boat - yup - we went out in the paddle boat.
KNOW where you are going!!!
We are in the US but were fortunate to be able to go to London for a week this year. First off LONDON is a spectacular city with wonderful people. However we went in the midst of the horrible terrorist activities. We PLANNED. Everyone kept their own TUBE card, everyone had special ID and small map that outlined where our Apartment was and where the US embassy was. It also had everyone’s name and a list of phone numbers.
We had a PLAN in case something (although remote) would happen.
We also were very cautious and I was looking around instead of at the tourist attractions at some places.
My point is - when you are on vacation - YOU have to be aware - YOU have to do research - YOU need to know what may be a potential danger.
Things may still happen - but don’t away all your guards.
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