The good news is there are no alligators in the River Thames!
So pack your swimming kit!
2 Likes
The first time I went to London, I had to get off the underground due to a bomb on the track. IRA was in action then.
Iâve lived here almost two years. I have seen many alligators since we moved here. Most of them are quite small but I have witnessed them attacking other wildlife. The locals, for the most part, are very smart about them. They know where they lurk, what time of day they lurk, and they, generally, stay away. Iâve even seen a huge dead alligator as road kill on the side of the road.
The saying that goes here, if thereâs water, thereâs an alligator. We know how to keep our eyes out for them and unless a person is one of those who thinks they are invincible, and prone to risky behaviors anyway, they largely stay away from doing activities in the water that would put them at risk.
And really, that doesnât exclude us from swimming, boating, kayaking, canoeing, or even tubing. It just means you stay away from where they lurk, donât go out alone, and know how to poke them in the nostrils or punch them in the eyeballs if they get near. You rarely hear of such encounters unless someone has gone into known infested waters, ignoring posted warnings.
If a local had seen the poor family at the beach at Disney at the Floridian, I would venture to say they would have told them it was time to go inside.
Your fencing suggestion, while a good idea, wouldnât ever happen because no one, in my estimation, would feel it is right to fence the alligators in. They move across land from waterway to waterway freely, even as tiny creatures that are hard to see, and there would be animal rights people who would strongly fight against. It is virtually impossible to keep any body of water free from them. They crawl out of their eggs as very tiny creatures and move from waterway to waterway.
When my kids were little and we werenât Florida residents, and we would come down here for vacation, we had already had the common sense to keep our eyes open for them. We did see them, and we didnât venture into any wild waters. I think most people have that common sense. Granted their are some that donât understand how pervasive they are, but from my observation even most visitors have that understanding.
What I donât think people understand is that alligators can run 30 mph for 15 feet. They donât generally seek out to attack humans, however.
Also, weâve had more personal encounters with poisonous snakes even sunning on the asphalt on the middle of the street, and people really should be more worried about them on grassy banks in Florida than the alligators.
No, we donât think of them as dogs, but we know where to go and where not to go. You really donât see many people in the canals and waterways of Disney for that reason and if a cast member seea you near youâll be shooed away.
Your concern is definitely valid, but the signs or warning that have since been put up should suffice for those with common sense. It is a travesty that those signs werenât up at the Floridian in the first place. I believe they would have prevented what happened.
2 Likes
Amen!! Well said.
I totally agree.
1 Like
I live here, and I have suffered greatly from the bugs here. Six wasp stings in ten months. Iâm far more afraid of the bugs than I am the wildlife.
3 Likes
Again I think itâs the beach that to a non US resident would suggest the water or being close to the water would be safe to paddle in
Thatâs what people do in Europe. We have a few man made beaches inside the interior of the UK - normally in parks.
Again the beach would only be made in front of water that was safe to go in and certainly safe to lie down on the beach or play on the beach next to the water
I agree with what you say above but it really doesnât seem right to create a beach area where itâs not safe to be basically
Itâs inviting problems IMO
3 Likes
For sure if the signs they put up after were there before it would have helped warn people away
Disney showed the signs werenât up to the job of communicating the danger by replacing many of them the very next day
My reason for starting this thread was that those new signs at Grand Floridian arenât throughout the parks and still arenât consistent from what I saw in July
The ones I saw didnât show an image of alligators or mention alligators
They just told people to beware of wildlife
To me itâs still way too nice a message and doesnât make it clear to guests who donât know the area that itâs not safe near the edge of the water due to alligators
It strikes me that there is too much thought going in to not scaring people when they actually do need a little scaring to understand the dangers
Wish I had taken a photo of the signs
They were near the dolphin pool area and boardwalk area I seem to recall
These were the signs I had to educate my kids about what they meant because my kids didnât believe there could be alligators in there
It worries me that itâs still not made clear from all of the warning signs. Plenty of kids wonât have parents telling them what the dangers are. And you canât expect young kids to research those dangers.
And Iâm really surprised there isnât a consistent signage message tbh after an incident like last year
Ps I donât wnat to fence alligators in amongst their natural habitats - but I would certainly want to prevent them getting access to these man made beaches for sure (which are so enticing to unsuspecting families)
There are sun beds on the beaches for example. You canât expect families to think there would be sun beds on beaches where alligators can gain access straight from the water
IMO
2 Likes
Maybe part of the problem is that the signs were designed by people who live in Florida with alligators around all the time. Maybe it just never occurred to anyone that people from other parts of the world would NOT know that alligators (and poisonous snakes) are the natural wildlife of Florida.
1 Like
Totally agree
I can only speak as someone from UK
I know full well you can find alligators in Florida and also snakes
As for alligators though I honestly believed I would have to pay for excursions to the Everglades or Gatorland to find them
I wouldnât dream of thinking they were in Disney lagoons
And I wouldnât dream of thinking they would build beaches in Disney lagoons that faced water where it was possible to get alligators
Just would not imagine it would ever happen
I know Iâm one of many and not the minority from the UK and probably other countries outside of the US to be totally stunned and shocked when I heard that an alligator took a child from the beach at one of the Disney resorts
Itâs something you just couldnât imagine could ever happen.
Disney bosses must have nightmares about this to this day. Itâs so wrong to happen at Disney.
I guess US citizens have different expectations of beach areas and their safety
Thatâs why Iâve said a few times above it must be a cultural thing that make us different and view signage as being adequate or not
Signage can be used to educate. I donât think Disney use it enough even now. Let alone last year when clearly they knew they needed to use different signs from then on
But still not everywhere in Disney? That makes no sense to me?
For cast members either officially or unofficially to be asked to deny seeing any alligators in Disney waters shows me that back then and even now that Disney donât take the risks seriously enough
Like I say its my one complaint about Disney and it worries me still