They're putting fences up on the beaches

[CPanther95]

Kinda ruins the whole "vacation" feel doesn't it?
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It ruins the vacation feel much more than just a simple "Stay away from the Water" sign which accomplishes the same thing.

... and much less than a bunch of search & rescue vehicles scrambling around through the night.

 

[North of Mouse]

That water looks/is so nasty in the lake - just can't understand 'any' parent letting their children even wade in that - not to mention that most small children splash it in their faces/mouths. This has nothing to do with gators. Grew up on a river, and even then didn't like to get in water that 'looked' dirty. Am I that unusual a parent?
Can already see children being allowed to climb on the fences.

 

[Disney Doll]

I'm wondering if they're going to do the permanent fix with foliage rather than a barrier.

 

[asta]

I'm wondering if they're going to do the permanent fix with foliage rather than a barrier.

Someone on the other thread (on the Resorts board) said they were putting up a boardwalk. I don't think that will solve the problem. It will encourage people to still walk up to the water. And honestly a gator could even climb onto a boardwalk to sun itself.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Someone on the other thread (on the Resorts board) said they were putting up a boardwalk. I don't think that will solve the problem. It will encourage people to still walk up to the water. And honestly a gator could even climb onto a boardwalk to sun itself.

And I'll just point out the Yellowstone visitor that "fell" into the hot spring just "stepped off the boardwalk". A boardwalk won't stop those who want to "just put my feet in the water".

 

[Colleen27]

But why are you fairly certain? It appears that CM's and lifeguards don't tell guests to get out of the water. People are assuming WDW didn't allow guests to put their feet in the water, but there isn't much to indicate that. It's pretty obvious that Disney didn't anticipate an alligator attacking a child.

Actually, I've heard quite a few CM reports of asking/telling people to stay out of the water, including one from a friend of a friend who was working at the GF that specific evening. But Disney's non-confrontational approach to dealing with guests means that those "requests" are often ignored and guests simply resume what they were doing without consequence. I've seen it myself with kids playing on the rails/fences of docks on the lagoon - the same CM politely asking the same kid/family to stop climbing several times in the space of the wait for the next boat - so I find it quite believable that the same would be true of enforcing the "no swimming" policy. But I'm sure if a kid fell in and drowned or sustained a head injury we'd see widespread changes to the docks' configuration rather than actual enforcement of posted rules. That's just the Disney way, and it is part of what makes this incident so frustrating to some fans - because we know that what will inevitably come of this is a diminished guest experience (ugly view-obstructing fences and an end to lounging or playing on the sand) when the whole thing could have been avoided if CMs were simply empowered to enforce the rules already in place.