Deputies: Gator drags child into water near Disney's Grand Floridian

[Eugene]

Last edited Wed Jun 15, 2016, 12:58 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Deputies are searching for a young child who was dragged into the water by an alligator near Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

The 2-year-old child was dragged into the Seven Seas Lagoon about 9:30 p.m., Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Rose Silva said.

Deputies are searching the waters and put crime-scene tape around the water. Multiple emergency vehicles filled the front drive of the Victorian-style hotel.

Silva said the child has not been found.

The hotel is an upscale luxury resort owned by Disney. It is one of three hotels on the monorail line, just one stop away from the Magic Kingdom Park.

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Read more: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-child-dragged-alligator-disney-20160614-story.html

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By Christal Hayes
Orlando Sentinel

JUNE 14, 2016, 10:14 PM

___________________________________________________________________________________________

UPDATE: New headline at link: Demings: 'No question' 2-year-old boy dead after Disney gator attack (Orlando Sentinel)

[Beaverhausen]

1. Oh no

That poor baby.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

2. Yikes.

[Barack_America]

3. Oh my God.

[JI7]

4. how was this possible ?

[Barack_America]

5. Posters on the Disney boards are saying...

...that they were on a beach area, watching a movie, when the gator grabbed the baby. The father tried to fight it off, but couldn't.

Absolutely horrific.

I'm going in 2 months with my 2-year old. We won't be going within 20 feet of those lakes.

[hedda_foil]

6. Better make that 50 yards. You know how fast a 2 year old can sprint.

[Barack_America]

9. Absolutely. And not a foot in the sand after dark.

Disney does these beach movies at many resorts. Hell-to-the-no to that now. Just so thankful we never went to one in the past.

So, so tragic, and it doesn't sound like the family was particularly careless at all. Both parents right there, from what I'm hearing.

[ManiacJoe]

12. And gators can do a pretty good sprint on land when they want to.

[JohninPA]

24. Not quite accurate as things develop.

The family was wading in shallow water after the movie on the beach. This area is very dark in the evening. I often stay at the resort next door the Polynesian just for this reason. Dark, quiet, and peaceful after a crazy day in the parks. I doubt that a gator would approach a large group of people watching a film in a lighted area. A toddler splashing by himself in the water after dark is another matter entirely.

Last trip we saw an alligator inside the Magic Kingdom in Splash Mountain. He was just sunning himself in the pond after the big drop. It is Florida. I would assume that jest about every body of water has an alligator living in it. Central Florida is really just a big swamp that Walt developed after all.

[yurbud]

29. I wouldn't be going at all. That is fucking nuts.

[kimbutgar]

7. This is a major public relations scandal for Disneyworld

The Grand Floridian is where all the rich New Yorkers go for vacation. It is very ritzy.

Short DIS stock on the opening and buy back in around mid morning. You'll make a nice profit.

[Blue_Tires]

16. Ritzy?

So I guess we won't see all the usual hot takes in the news about parental competence and their personal/financial backgrounds?

[kimbutgar]

23. No they only go after black people who's 3 year old ran into a gorilla pen

And blame them for bad parenting.

The media narrative always goes against minorities.

[pettypace]

35. Not sure if you're trolling but I'll bite

The gorilla story would've been big regardless of the race of the family.

From the looks of responses on twitter/fb and blogs, the liberals were more upset about a precious gorilla being shot than the media.

Secondarily, once it is determined the parents were irresponsible in letting this 2 year old around gator infested waters, you can best believe they will receive the same amount criticism the minority family did.

[kimbutgar]

37. I was just responding to the articles I read where people criticized the parents

But I was being scacastic.

[B2G]

42. Irresponsible parents

letting their toddler in gator infested waters??

They were at a Disney resort, on a sand beach, in inches of water with the parents right there.

I need to start ignoring people. Haven't up until now, but this week is rapidly changing my mind.

[MH1]

45. I doubt the same amount of criticism will be given to the family.

1 - the gator will probably not be shot; probably no gator will be killed as a direct result of this incident
2 - even if 1 proves false, gators are not endangered
3 - gators are not primates considered to have high intelligence
4 - many people claimed "the gorilla did nothing wrong" since the child jumped into the enclosure; the same won't be said about the alligator
5 - before the incident, the gorilla was just doing its thing in a place where it was supposed to be protected. I don't think alligators are considered protected in the area where this family was.

The gorilla outrage was because an endangered animal, in a place it was supposed to be protected, had to be killed due to a human doing something they shouldn't have done. If anything at all applies to this incident, it's just the last, that someone did something they shouldn't have (or failed to do something they should have). None of the rest applies.

That said, I see some room for criticism, but not necessarily of the family. I would be VERY careful of going in any water in Florida unless I specifically verified it was considered safe from alligators. So either the family wasn't appropriately careful, or the resort did not have appropriate signage/warnings, or an alligator was allowed to be somewhere it wasn't supposed to be (probably the fault of the resort). I'm leaning toward blaming the resort for dropping the ball on one of those two things.

[pettypace]

48. I only responded when race was brought up

I agree with everything in your post wholeheartedly.

I just had to respond to the poster up-thread who stated the gorilla episode was heightened due to the family being black.

That Cincinnati family could've been white and they'd still get the same heat.

As for our story in Orlando, my initial frustration went directly to Mom and Dad, but as more details are leaking out, I obviously was rushing to judgment. I mean it's one of the worst stories I've heard.

[Gothmog]

8. I have stayed at this hotel

My son and i had dinner there a month agp

[montana_hazeleyes]

10. The poor baby and family!

Having to know this happened to your baby would be enough to make you lose your mind. The father tried but couldn't stop it. How devastatingly horrid.

[Just reading posts]

11. Horrible story. I've eaten at a restaurant at the Grand Flordian, and remember seeing the Lagoon.

[joshcryer]

13. They're doing a live conference now:

http://www.cbsnews.com/live/

Haven't quite given up on the kid (though they know it's unlikely). They're looking for him hoping the gator let him go. One new piece of info I saw was that a man jumped in the water after the kid, and tried to get him.

They have taken a few gators but none have been the culprit (they obviously gutted them to check their contents).

[kentauros]

14. Update: Search continues to find boy snatched by Alligator at Disney resort

[font size="4"]Update: Search continues to find boy snatched by Alligator at Disney resort[/font]

By AP | Posted: Wed 7:24 AM, Jun 15, 2016 | Updated: Wed 7:45 AM, Jun 15, 2016

Orlando, Florida Authorities in Orlando, Florida, are still searching for a 2-year-old boy who was dragged into the water by an alligator near Disney's upscale Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and are hoping for the best.
Orange County Sheriff's spokesman Jeff Williamson said at a Wednesday morning news conference that it's still being considered a search and rescue operation and additional deputies will be joining the search.
The boy was with his family on vacation from Nebraska. The family of five was wading in the water of the Seven Seas Lagoon on Tuesday night when the alligator came out of the water and attacked.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings says the boy's father tried to rescue him but was not able to.

Authorities search the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa after an alligator dragged a two-year-old child into the water on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 in Orlando, Fla.

WESH TV in Orlando reports Florida Fish and Wildlife has euthanized four alligators already but could not find evidence those gators took the boy. Many Michigan families vacation in Orlando and hotels have been known to warn tourists anytime you see a lake on property, it is always possible an alligator is in it.

[Blue_Tires]

15. Can I ask a really stupid question?

Last edited Wed Jun 15, 2016, 05:42 PM - Edit history (1)

Why even have alligators in relatively close proximity to guests in the first place??

EDIT: The question has been answered for me... Thanks

[snooper2]

17. I'm not even going to go there

[Blue_Tires]

40. Thanks, you're a big help

[MissB]

19. I don't think you can keep them away

Unless you have an active trapping program. If there is water there could be alligators. They don't start off as 4' long animals.

[Darb]

20. And they travel over land sometimes to new areas.

They have been tracked moving over long distances of land.

[spinbaby]

21. It's not like Disney put them there

The resort has several very large lakes connected by canals and good bits of it is a wildlife refuge. In Florida that means alligators.

[Blue_Tires]

39. Ok my mistake...

When I read "man made lagoon", I'm thinking the alligators were added for habitat scenery or whatever...

I haven't done the Disney thing since 1994, and back then I didn't remember any alligator fears or warnings...

[Nye Bevan]

22. That's like asking "why do they even have cockroaches in New York City,

in such close proximity to where so many people live?"

[jberryhill]

28. The question is driving at a relevant point, however

Disney built this lagoon and beach in a resort area.

Do you think "No Swimming" adequately communicates to guests who are attracted by intensive advertising around the world, the specific risk of walking at the water's edge? It usually means "we don't have lifeguards".

No one was "swimming". If you think of "two year old walking in ankle deep water" - picture the depth of the water in those circumstances and ask yourself if you would have thought the kid was "swimming".

[Nye Bevan]

30. No, I agree that the signs are nowhere near explicit enough.

They need to mention "alligators".

[jberryhill]

33. "Sharp drop off"

Take a look at this video at the 1:50 mark:

The beach is steps away from a freaking playground.

[yurbud]

32. cockroaches don't kill your baby

[Fumesucker]

58. It's rare but that has been known to happen

Cockroach crawls in an infant's mouth and get stuck in the air passage, choking the child.

http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9706065925/mother-baby-who-choked-death-cockroach-files-suit

[LanternWaste]

41. I imagine it's much more satisfying to imply insult than to directly inform.

I imagine it's much more satisfying to imply insult than to directly inform. I also imagine the creativity of rationalization to follow.

[QC]

27. They're all over the place here.

A few years back they found an eight footer in the retention pond behind a local Walmart.

[B2G]

43. I doubt they planned this. nt

[Adrahil]

53. It's Florida. Gators live there. It's like asking why sharks are in the Ocean. NT

[obamanut2012]

57. lololololololololololololololololol

[Sunlei]

18. I can't imagine how horrifying this must have been for the child & family.

Both parents went in and tried to get their child back.

There shouldn't even be beaches with 'natural bodies of water' on these Hotel resort properties.

[JohninPA]

25. Really?

Would you have the same opinion of a beach resort after a shark attack? It is kind of the same thing.

I live in the mountains of Pennsylvania and have a few acres behind my homes. There are several black bears that make a nuisance of themselves generally by knocking over my beehives and destroying my compost bin and bird feeders. It is just part of what you get living where I do. We take precautions but anything could happen.

[Kali]

36. yes, why should the natural world even exist?

hotels and tourists should have top priority, there should only be plastic mechanical alligators in any water bodies near humans.

[Sunlei]

46. this is disney resorts, many huge hotels. They can have their drainage systems use storm drains &

make fake lagoons for their fake beaches. There is no land for wildlife, no wildlife for gators to feed on except for birds and anything along the waters edge.

[Adrahil]

54. Ummm... these "lagoons" are artificial....

.... and a great deal of the Disneyworld property is left in a semi-wild state. There is a lot of wildlife there. It's Florida, so it's basically impossible to keep bodies of water gator free.

[apcalc]

26. When in Florida

Assume every body of fresh water has gators. It was evening , the child was in/near a restricted area ( say some reports), and alligators feed about that time and go for prey that is smallish ( fish, turtles, small dogs, cats, raccoons and the like).

[spinbaby]

38. It was hardly a restricted area

It was a recreational area on a white sand beach where they were showing movies. I've been there--kids play at the water's edge all the time and no one says anything.

[B2G]

44. My daughter was there for Spring Break

Laid out on that very beach. In a beach chair.

There were no swimming signs (and lifeguards), but none of the signs said why.

[JI7]

49. i think many just assume it's because of no lifeguards

Not alligators. Maybe people who live in florida would be aware of things.

But for many tourists they would just assume it's all safe. Especially if it's sime Disney area.

[B2G]

50. They have lifeguards there, right on that beach

In fact there was one there last night when this happened, just couldn't help in time.

[PoliticAverse]

51. Why do you need lifeguards if there's no swimming allowed? Don't you just need someone

to remind people not to go in the water?

[JI7]

52. is the no swimming for all times ?

Maybe they think it's only for when it gets dark.

Either way i just don't think they consider alligators as being one of the reasons for it.

[B2G]

56. At all times. nt

[yurbud]

31. global warming can't sink Florida soon enough

[Eugene]

34. Update - live press conference - This is now a search and recovery operation.

Last edited Wed Jun 15, 2016, 01:00 PM - Edit history (1)

Update:

Demings: 'No question' 2-year-old boy dead after Disney gator attack (Orlando Sentinel)

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-child-dragged-alligator-disney-20160614-story.html

[Blue_Tires]

47. I saw a hotel staffer quoted saying that guests

sometimes FEED the gators???

Have they lost their goddamned minds?

[Adrahil]

55. I stayed at this hotel last year...

There are sign warning guests to stay out of the water, and hotel literature warns of gators and cautions guests to not feed them. The staff member who checked us in pointed these out to us.