Alligator Drags Toddler Into Lake At Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort

[Logan0327]

A two-year-old boy was dragged into a lagoon by an alligator on the grounds of Walt Disney World’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa in Orlando, Florida. The accident occurred at the Resort’s Seven Seas Lagoon water park at around 9:30 pm ET. A desperate search for the child is underway and will continue throughout the night.

“We are hoping for the best,” Orange Country Fla. Sheriff Jerry Demings said at a press conference held at around 1 AM ET. It was carried live by CNN, which broke into its regular programming after 12:30 AM ET to cover the incident.

Demings said that the missing boy was vacationing with his family — mother, father and two siblings — visiting from Nebraska. The boy was playing on the shoreline by the shallow part of the lagoon when the alligator emerged from the water and grabbed the child. The boy’s father tried unsuccessfully to fight the alligator as it dragged the boy into the lagoon.

“Everyone here at the Walt Disney World Resort is devastated by this tragic accident. Our thoughts are with the family, we are helping with the family and doing everything we can to assist law enforcement,” a spokeswoman for Disney World said at the press conference.

A dive team is on standby at the resort.

Demings, a 35-year veteran of the department, acknowledged the challenges ahead in locating the two-year-old. “The sad reality of it is it’s been several hours and we’re not likely going to recover a live body,” he said. Demings said he was unaware of any similar incidents at the resort in the past.

The news comes as Orlando reels from the worst mass shooting in U.S. history Sunday, and the murder of The Voice contestant Christina Grimmie Friday night.

http://deadline.com/2016/06/alligator-drags-toddler-lake-disney-grand-floridian-1201772995/

good lord Florida is having a terrible week

 

[chamber-music]

Man, this must of been a horrific thing to witness.

 

[Marvolo]

That kid is dead. My heart goes out to the family.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Sad and terrible story.

 

[Reek]

good lord... no

 

[Knightfall]

Oh my... I have no words. My heart goes out to the child and the family and anyone that had to witness such a thing.

 

[Greens]

That's ****ing scary. I wonder if Disney can be held responsible? They hate bad press.

 

[Marvolo]

That poor father is going to have an especially hard time. He's probably going to beat himself up over not being able to save his child. I hope the mother and the father have a strong support group and dependable family to help them. They are going to need it.

 

[titansupes]

Horrific and gut-wrenching... That poor little boy. Really feel for him and of course, his family.

 

[Reek]

There is a kiddie pool/water slide 100 feet away from the lake... not sure how that lake wasn't secured better and why the **** a gator came on a populated beach like that... crazy...

beyond sad for the parents... I can't even begin to imagine... they said the toddler was in a play pen... so the gator just walked up to it and took the kid? like how?! that's some scary scary ****.

 

[Greens]

so the gator just walked up to it and took the kid? like how?! that's some scary scary ****.

He was probably right beside the lagoon. Alligators rarely walk big distances on land to catch something. Gator pops out, takes the kid, gone.

 

[Reek]

But in a play pen, on a populated beach... it is not common for a alligator to run up on a beach with a bunch of people around... and I assume the pen wasn't 3 feet from the lake.

The fact that the kiddie pool is that close to a lake that they clearly don't know if alligators are in or not is pretty goddamn scary and negligent.

edit: the video i watched on Yahoo! said the kid was in a play pen... the article above said the kid was playing by the shoreline... pen or no?

either way

 

[Greens]

I can only guess that the lake was supposed to be gator free but wasn't. Either way, Disney dropped the ball.

 

[Marvolo]

There is a kiddie pool/water slide 100 feet away from the lake... not sure how that lake wasn't secured better and why the **** a gator came on a populated beach like that... crazy...

beyond sad for the parents... I can't even begin to imagine... they said the toddler was in a play pen... so the gator just walked up to it and took the kid? like how?! that's some scary scary ****.

Gators are naturally timid of humans, but due to humans moving in on their territory and people feeding them, gators, especially those around golf courses, parks, and places like this Disney resort, have lost that timid nature. And to the gator the baby would have looked like defenseless small prey. Gators are some primal Jurassic mother****ers. If they think they can kill it and eat it they will go for it.

 

[Reek]

thats no excuse for a disney resort beach 100 feet from a kiddie waterslide to not have insured the area is clear of gators... sorry but no. theres no excuse.

 

[Knightfall]

thats no excuse for a disney resort beach 100 feet from a kiddie waterslide to not have insured the area is clear of gators... sorry but no. theres no excuse.

In no way shape or form can that be Disney's fault. Gators are everywhere down there and slip into every crevice that they possibly can. Countless times they've been in pools and backyards ect. Fact is Disney is not liable here and in all honesty the parents probably weren't watching their child closely. Sad but more than likely true, either way it's tragic.

 

[Marvolo]

thats no excuse for a disney resort beach 100 feet from a kiddie waterslide to not have insured the area is clear of gators... sorry but no. theres no excuse.

Wasn't trying to make excuses. Was just explaining why it's not shocking that an Aligator would go after a 2 year old with people around.

But Disney could be excused if Disney wasn't aware of the alligator and there had never been alligators around the resort before. Even if they knew about the aligator(s) I doubt they will be held responsible. Gators are all over Florida and routinely invade areas where people are. Most places don't put barriers up to stop the gators. When you're outside in Florida near bodies of water you've got to keep an eye out for gators.

 

[Reek]

i find it really shocking an alligator was able to go into what is essentially a water park and take a kid.. sue me

 

[Marvolo]

i find it really shocking an alligator was able to go into what is essentially a water park and take a kid.. sue me

I thought the kid was at a lake at the resort. An alligator in a lake in Florida isn't shocking.

 

[Greens]

An alligator in a lake isn't shocking, but you'd think Disney would take precautions.

We'll see how this ends pretty soon.

 

[Knightfall]

The way I look at is this, Rhode Island beaches are known to be very safe and hardly if ever have had a shark problem. Now beaches that don't have shark history don't put out signs warning beach goers of sharks, but let's say hypothetically that one day a surfer got attacked by a shark on a Rhode Island beach(let's hope not) but would the surfer be just to sue the city of the beach he got attacked on? ... No

 

[Marvolo]

An alligator in a lake isn't shocking, but you'd think Disney would take precautions.

We'll see how this ends pretty soon.

There isn't really any middle solution if the resort is on a waterfront. They either allow the guests access the water and the guests and the resort accept the possibility that gators could attack a guest at some point or the resort puts up a fence around the resort and doesn't allow any guests to go near the water.

Same with a golf course. If I go to a golf course on a waterfront that has gators I can't sue the golf course if a gator attacks me.

 

[Reek]

I mean... I guess you guys are right. But damn...

 

[Reek]

this isn't the same as a golf course... this is more like on a putt putt course.

 

[Reek]

The attack happened in an area of the Seven Seas Lagoon where "no swimming" signs were posted, Demings said. The alligator was estimated to be 4 to 7 feet long, but its exact size was not known, Demings said.

Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahaler said everyone at the resort was devastated by what happened and Disney is helping the family.

When asked if Disney was aware of alligators on the property, Wahaler advised there were signs that said "no swimming."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/authorities-search-boy-dragged-water-gator-072710825.html

as for the "parents weren't watching the kid closely enough" comment... jesus.