southerncat
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I'm just sick over this. It is horrifying.
Poor little guy. And his family.
(Somewhat O/T, this is the 4th time in just a couple of weeks I've read about alligator related incidents, all in Florida iirc (the huge one on the golf course, the alligators with human remains Twice, now this...)
I don't think Disney will fight this (trying to blame the parents, etc.) Jmo.
I agree completely. "No Swimming" suggests to me that there is no lifeguard, or perhaps the water quality is bad. I might still dip a toe. Also, that sign looks pretty small. Is it easily seen at night, in a crowd?
For people who are asking, swimming used to be allowed in the seven seas lagoon and the adjacent Bay Lake, which had the River Country water park in it. The Waterpark had a protective barrier to keep gators out the water park from the lake. However, I believe a change in laws in Florida due to bacteria in the lakes stopped them from being able to use it?
So perhaps measures to keep gators out of swimming areas became less important since essentially they were no longer for swimming and more for decorative purposes.
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I think it is important to remember that despite effective measures to clear an area of alligators, the gators cross roads, move through drainage tunnels. I have always heard it is a rule of thumb that swimming in any fresh or brackish water area means that you may encounter an alligator. The edges of waterways are particularly dangerous.
It's a horrible tragedy. I can't even imagine.
To be honest, I have been to Florida on many occasions and to Walt Disney World several times and stayed at some of the resorts. I can't recall seeing anything about alligators. Coming from Canada, we don't have alligator issues to even think about. When I have been to Florida in general, I do think about where I am and how to be careful. At Walt Disney World, I have a sense of safety and security. Unless it was clearly posted, it would never occur to me that alligators would be in any of the ponds at the resorts. Foolish me.
Sometimes, awful things happen and no one is to blame.
Anyone who has been to Disney is well-aware that they err on the side of caution (and avoidance of litigation) in every situation - sometimes maddeningly so, to even the mildest, remotely possible threat or danger. It is impossible to control and limit the presence of gators.
It sucks to be in Orlando this week but in this instance, I am very, very sad about a tragic attack by a wild animal, but I cannot join the blame brigade.
No one outside of livng in the south knows that ANY body of water is prone to alligators.
We don't have any alligators here, so we don't know the dangers. We jump into creeks, swim in watering holes, and walk beaches without worry. I would also suspect that people in Nebraska have no clue that there are dangers in LAKE waters in Florida.
When people see pictures of Florida, they see people enjoying beaches and waters, but obviously that is salt water, which I assume is not a body of water alligators like to live in??
This has me worried that I don't know much about alligators.
4 gators euthanized from lagoon; FWC believes they are not responsible
http://www.mynews13.com/content/new...icles/cfn/2016/6/14/sheriff_s_office_gat.html
As I posted earlier, they still have boating, fishing, jet skiing, parasailing, wake boarding, water skiing on that very body of water. Anyone who sees this during the daytime hours would think that putting toes in the water "ISN"T SWIMMING".
A sign that says "NO SWIMMING" to me means there is no lifeguard. I would not have thought twice myself to put my toes in that water. Where we live, NO SWIMMING means no lifeguard, not that there is any danger to swimming outside of that. And if there is a danger, there are DANGER signs!
WHy does Disney have bonfires and movies on their beaches (I know they have the same at the Beach Club, where we once stayed) if someone puts their toes in the waters of WDW they could be attacked by an alligator. Why have these functions ON THE BEACH?!?
When I go to some beaches, there are warnings of jellyfish or sharks in the area, why aren't there warnings of alligators in the waters at WDW. And these "NO SWIMMING" signs are in English, what if someone doesn't read English!?!
I think Disney did not put up a WARNING ALLIGATORS or any WARNING sign because then it would "scare" off some people, while they are trying to be "the happiest place on earth".