Orlando - Tragedy After Tragedy

[Joe Bagadonuts]

I thought the article made some good points - but I guess because in part when I first heard about this story and how the alligators were being killed, I thought of the gorilla at the zoo and was a little surprised that there was no outrage for the killing of the alligators like there had been for the gorilla in Cincinnati

another thing I found interesting (I don't recall that it was mentioned in this article) was that when I heard the first reports of this incident, they mentioned that the toddler was wading in shallow water along the shore when the alligator got him - - but then in later reports it was implied that the alligator came up out of the water and snatched the child from the beach area.



...and where there's blame, there's lawyers. I'm sure the settlement from Disney will not be made public.

and I'm not sure what the answer is for those poor souls who just need to be saved from themselves.

To me there's as much difference in hierarchy between a gator and a gorilla as a gorilla and a child.
To me there's a massive difference between an animal killing a child and an animal curious about a child.
To me it's completely different to climb in with a caged animal v.s. being ambushed by an animal.
To me it's shocking that a monster would have the opportunity to eat unsuspecting children at The Happiest Place on Earth while it's not even slightly surprising that a zoo animal would be curious about a child falling into its enclosure.

 

[Gameface]

I never watched the gorilla video and was pretty shocked that people wanted to blame the parents. I didn't realize until this alligator incident and the article posted above that the family involved in the gorilla incident were black. Still don't understand the outrage for the parents in the gorilla incident. As far as I understand the story the kid climbed into the exhibit. The parents didn't throw him in. They didn't drop the kid off at the zoo and go out clubbing. The kid got away from them for a split second and climbed into a place he shouldn't have gone.

The outrage, I think, has a lot to do with the fact that the gorilla was an endangered species, was caged, and didn't seem to intentionally harm the child.

An alligator snatching a kid from a semi-wild place is just a freak occurrence. I think people are hung-up on the fact that the property is owned by Disney and they think any property Disney owns should be 100% safe or something.

 

[Joe Bagadonuts]

I never watched the gorilla video and was pretty shocked that people wanted to blame the parents. I didn't realize until this alligator incident and the article posted above that the family involved in the gorilla incident were black. Still don't understand the outrage for the parents in the gorilla incident. As far as I understand the story the kid climbed into the exhibit. The parents didn't throw him in. They didn't drop the kid off at the zoo and go out clubbing. The kid got away from them for a split second and climbed into a place he shouldn't have gone.

The outrage, I think, has a lot to do with the fact that the gorilla was an endangered species, was caged, and didn't seem to intentionally harm the child.

An alligator snatching a kid from a semi-wild place is just a freak occurrence. I think people are hung-up on the fact that the property is owned by Disney and they think any property Disney owns should be 100% safe or something.

I don't think people perceive a beach at a Disney top end hotel as a "semi-wild place." It seems like a pretty big oversight not to have alligator warnings there, because while that might be an obvious danger to people living in Florida, I think there's a good chance that it never even occurred to this family from Kansas. And a sandy beach leading into the water seems like a pretty obvious invitation to wade, despite "no swimming" signs.

 

[moevillini]

To me there's as much difference in hierarchy between a gator and a gorilla as a gorilla and a child.
To me there's a massive difference between an animal killing a child and an animal curious about a child.
To me it's completely different to climb in with a caged animal v.s. being ambushed by an animal.
To me it's shocking that a monster would have the opportunity to eat unsuspecting children at The Happiest Place on Earth while it's not even slightly surprising that a zoo animal would be curious about a child falling into its enclosure.

I pretty much agree with all these comments. I was just surprised though, that there was nobody expressing outrage about the alligator - I figured there'd be somebody bemoaning the "slaughter" of these creatures

Also, the fact that the story seemed to changed (from a kid wading in the water to a kid playing on the shore) seemed a little murky to me.

I never watched the gorilla video and was pretty shocked that people wanted to blame the parents. I didn't realize until this alligator incident and the article posted above that the family involved in the gorilla incident were black. Still don't understand the outrage for the parents in the gorilla incident. As far as I understand the story the kid climbed into the exhibit. The parents didn't throw him in. They didn't drop the kid off at the zoo and go out clubbing. The kid got away from them for a split second and climbed into a place he shouldn't have gone.

The outrage, I think, has a lot to do with the fact that the gorilla was an endangered species, was caged, and didn't seem to intentionally harm the child.

An alligator snatching a kid from a semi-wild place is just a freak occurrence. I think people are hung-up on the fact that the property is owned by Disney and they think any property Disney owns should be 100% safe or something.

True. And again, no matter how hard they may try, there are just some people who can't be protected from themselves. That certainly isn't the case in this instance, but having seen people do stupid things at Disney World or the zoo (and other places) and then getting all indignant when they're told not to, it's easy to understand that accidents and injuries occur.

 

[Joe Bagadonuts]

Also, the fact that the story seemed to changed (from a kid wading in the water to a kid playing on the shore) seemed a little murky to me.

I've never heard anyone say the boy was on the shore (other than you). I thought he was wading. Do you have a source for this? Hopefully the investigators are building a clear picture of what really happened.

 

[moevillini]

I've never heard anyone say the boy was on the shore (other than you). I thought he was wading. Do you have a source for this? Hopefully the investigators are building a clear picture of what really happened.

No, just basing it on what I heard on the radio, I didn't read any of the news reports. But the later reports that I heard used phrases like "playing along the shore" (which is not as clear as saying he was wading in the water) and "was dragged into the water" (again, perhaps a little misleading) - - I googled some news articles and they were pretty clear that the boy was in the water, but some of the headlines and radio reports were not quite as clear.

I was talking to a friend who lives on Hilton Head - they routinely have alligators on the golf courses there - and she was saying it boggles her mind how folks (who don't know any better) act like they're just part of the scenery and will try to get pictures of them, or with them, that kind of stuff.

The first time we went to Disney World (in 1986) we were able to play on the beach and swim in the lagoon at the Polynesian Resort. When we were back 3 years later, the beaches were closed - but it was due to bacteria counts in the water and some sort of beach rehabilitation that was taking place. They didn't even have any water rentals or anything at that time. We were back again a few years later and the beaches were open - but no swimming was allowed - and jet skis and other rental water craft were again available.

It is such a truly magical place and I know my kids have great memories from our visits. I think that's what makes this an even bigger tragedy for this family, and especially the 4 year old sister. And so close to Father's Day too. Hopefully it wasn't to celebrate a birthday or anything like that.