Disney's Jungle World Ride Goes Horribly Awry!

[Hydra009]

Every other comment I've read on news stories has mentioned this, blaming the parents. I think that's disgusting. Who would expect to be eaten by an alligator at Disney world? As a non-Floridian, I see "no swimming" as a warning not to jump in because of lack of lifeguard supervision, not a warning about alligators.

I agree.  But Florida being Florida (well known for its alligators), I would be cautious around bodies of water, especially lagoons.  But yeah, no parent can watch their child 24/7 and one wouldn't expect something like that so close to a resort.  So I'm not pointing out the no swimming sign to shake my finger at the parents, just to ease concerns that gators are in the wave pool or on the tilt-a-whirl.

Just pointing out that the attack took place here:



And not here:

[Munch]

Wasn't there a scare some years ago with flesh eating bacteria living in the lakes around Disney?

[Baruch]

Sorry Brits (who like Florida too much) ... avoid Florida or any other swamp-thing location.  Go to Colorado and get Rocky Mountain Tick Fever ;-)  At least the ticks are smaller than gators.

[SGOS]

Why the no swimming sign?  Alligators?  Pollution?  Environmental concerns about the surrounding marsh?  The bottom line is that the park officials have set the lagoon off limits to swimming.  The kid obviously couldn't read if he was a toddler, but his parents could.  Maybe his parents had a rare momentary lapse of parenting, or maybe they hardly ever pay attention to their kid.  Tragic events occur with or without human failures.  My reaction to the story was horror.  Yes, perhaps it could have been avoided, but there's plenty to point fingers at.  Disney built a family park that appeals mostly to little kids, and then built a lagoon in the middle of it.  Certainly they must have seen the attraction this would be to kids and alligators.  Not that anyone else noticed the danger until after it caused a tragedy.  Then it becomes obvious.  But apparently it wasn't obvious to a lot of people.   Where was the agency that oversees this kind of hindsight?  Life has risks and people die.  Some die horribly.  Living in a world without tragedy would be nice, but it's unrealistic.

Having said that, I was saddened by this story.  It's got to be a nightmare for a lot of people.

[TomFoolery]

Every other comment I've read on news stories has mentioned this, blaming the parents. I think that's disgusting. Who would expect to be eaten by an alligator at Disney world? As a non-Floridian, I see "no swimming" as a warning not to jump in because of lack of lifeguard supervision, not a warning about alligators.

I was going to mention this also. When viewing any news story of this article, don't read the comments. Seriously, don't do it to yourself.

I'll admit my first thought after I read the entire story was "five alligators had to be killed and cut open to determine if they had the remains of the body?" I guess I understand if the parents want closure and want to be able to bury their son, but it kind of seems like they were just doing what gators do, which is patrolling the shallows and looking for someone bite-sized.

I won't attack the parents because every single person who has raised a child has had scary moments where they lost their kid at the grocery store, public pool, state fair, etc. Probability demands that not all of those stories will have happy endings. 

[stromboli]

First of all a gator attack happens so fast that you could be standing right next to your kid and not be quick enough. I tend to believe the parents weren't being careless. Gators are a very successful predator with actually minimal equipment- only their ability to grab and use their body mass as an anchor, the ability to roll and also use their tail. No talons, nothing else. And they are growing in number.

And I'm pretty sure that Disney doesn't want to have a reputation of dead children, so you can blame them as well, but I think it was just bad timing and parents that trusted the resort to be safe.

[Flanker1Six]

Wasn't there a scare some years ago with flesh eating bacteria living in the lakes around Disney?

Yea........................but it was eaten by the gators and is no longer a threat!  .)

[Baruch]

Watch a nature program.  Gators are hard to see, they lie motionless in ambush.  They move incredibly fast.  Once they have you, their jaws are incredibly strong ... the father tried to free his child, but he was 10x too weak compared to the gator.  The claws aren't the thing except against other gators ... it is the jaws, and the tail is all muscle, it can kill on its own.  The goal of the gator is to drown its victim, put the body away for a snack later.  It isn't afraid of humans, just other gators.  And I can see a civil suite against Disney for not keeping gators out, or for creating the pond in the first place.  Same as if a kid was killed by a dog, because the dog got outside your front yard.  Our neighbor has chihuahuas who yap a lot, and they got a ticket from the city.  Nobody has been bit yet.

[Baruch]

Yea........................but it was eaten by the gators and is no longer a threat!  .)

The biggest new threat in Florida is all the boas and pythons who have gotten out of the pet store.  They are eating the alligators.

[Flanker1Six]

First of all a gator attack happens so fast that you could be standing right next to your kid and not be quick enough. I tend to believe the parents weren't being careless. Gators are a very successful predator with actually minimal equipment- only their ability to grab and use their body mass as an anchor, the ability to roll and also use their tail. No talons, nothing else. And they are growing in number.

And I'm pretty sure that Disney doesn't want to have a reputation of dead children, so you can blame them as well, but I think it was just bad timing and parents that trusted the resort to be safe.

Correct.  Many tend to think of gators and crocs as cold blooded (they are) slow moving (they're not!) reptiles.  I've watched numerous water and land ambush kills NatGeo etc) by both species.............they're very quick in the attack.  If I were standing at the waters edge as this kid allegedly was; I don't think I'd be able to dodge such an attack! 

Blaming the parents is BS!  It's Disney who is guilty of "lack of situational awareness".  It's their property, in a state with over a million gators, a burgeoning python problem and now.................supposedly an imported crocodile problem as well.   

http://atheistforums.com/index.php?topic=10101.0

WHATEVER their animal control program has been doing....................they obviously haven't been doing enough.  Whether via lack of resources (e.g. funding, equipment, personnel etc), or a badly written policy/procedure for gator removal.....................it didn't work.  One dead child and 5 gators removed from a heavily advertised recreational body of water----doesn't say success in my book.   

[gentle_dissident]

Disney World 'considering' putting up sign warning of alligators
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/americas/disney-world-considering-putting-up-sign-warning-of-alligators-at-beach-child-2-killed-34807800.html
Downplay much?

Disney World, you are a mechanized attraction. You should know better than to trust nature.

[Hydra009]

Florida's literred with swamps/wetlands and swamps are home to gators.  Everyone should already know this.  Plus, the resort in question was literally built on a swamp.

Imo, it'd be more effective to just put caution tape around the state's perimeter and at its airports.  Now entering Florida:  crazies, gators, and hanging chads.

[Munch]

Florida's literred with swamps/wetlands and swamps are home to gators.  Everyone should already know this.  Plus, the resort in question was literally built on a swamp.

Imo, it'd be more effective to just put caution tape around the state's perimeter and at its airports.  Now entering Florida:  crazies, gators, and hanging chads.

Whats making me laugh now, given yes a childs death is a tragedy, but its the reaction on sites like reddit, about how alligators are now EEEEVIL!

Disney built its land on their natural enviroment, and its that kind of human hubris that leads to things like this happening.

When I try to look up things like 'how many humans kill alligators', all it gives me is an endless stream of links about how many alligators have killed humans or how rare it is for them to do so, nothing on the lists of poachers that kill alligators for teeth and leather, or sold for retarded 'medicines' witchdoctors use.

Edit: Actually, when I looked more into it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator_meat

Alligator meat is the meat from alligators that is consumed by humans.[1][2] It has been used both historically and in contemporary times in various cuisines of the Southern United States. Alligator eggs are also consumed by humans. Alligator meat has been described as a healthy meat source for humans due to its high protein and low fat composition. It has been described as being mild flavored and firm in texture.

In the United States, it can only be legally sourced from alligator farms, and is available for consumer purchase in specialty food stores, some grocery stores, and can also be mail ordered.[3][4] Some U.S. companies process and market alligator meat derived only from the tail of alligators.[4]

yeah, the death of a child is tragic, but if full grown humans get killed by gators who either hunt or eat gator meat, I'm on the gators side.

[Baruch]

I have eaten alligator once.  It was good, but not like chicken.  Wild pigs on the other hand, are the real problem overrunning the South.  Pork sausage and pork chops are OK, I am not as fond of ham.  Regular hunts haven't cut their numbers ... pigs have a wider ecology than gators.  It is only a matter of time before a python or boa takes a child at Disneyland.

[Nonsensei]

Is it too late to point out that the lagoon in question had a "no swimming" sign?  From the OP, one could easily get the mistaken impression that the kid was at a disney ride and got carried off by a gator.

The sign actually says no swimming please, which is not the sort of tone you need to deliver when the reasons for not swimming are because there are carnivores in the water.