Alligator is Not a Four Letter Word
By now, you’ve likely heard of the heartbreaking death of a child who was attacked by an alligator at Walt Disney World ad nauseam. If you somehow haven’t, here are the details. I’m not going to rehash them. The death of that young child is incredibly tragic.
It should go without saying (but probably does need to be said as I’m sure someone will misconstrue this article) that my heart goes out to the family. What happened on the beach of the Grand Floridian is awful and heartbreaking. I cannot begin to fathom the pain the parents must be feeling, especially as they are unduly scrutinized and second-guessed in the aftermath of losing a child.
With that said, I see the aftermath and reaction to this tragedy as fear winning the day over logic and common sense. This presents a problem that goes far beyond alligator attacks, with troubling responses from the media and guests. Beyond that, there’s the reaction from Disney itself as it adds fencing, closes beaches, modifies marina policies, and removes all references to alligators in attractions. I view these subsequent measures and public outcry as very concerning and worthy of discussion.
Responses similar to this are something I’ve noticed quite a bit in the travel realm in the last few years as overreactions to various world events that result in people changing their behavior and entities changing policies. For example, friends and family often inquire as to whether I have any concerns about visiting X or Y destination because “they wouldn’t go there after hearing [insert world event example].” My answer is always the same: safety never crosses my mind. While terrorism is certainly awful and grisly, the fact is that it’s a highly improbable way to die.
My response is often met with some bewilderment, as if I’m reckless for not giving these dangers serious consideration. My view is the opposite: that it would be irresponsible to worry about something so unlikely. While thinking with one’s ‘heart’ is innately human and there’s no way around that, to the greatest extent possible, I try to not let emotion cloud logic. You’re more likely to die of heart disease–by orders of magnitude–than all of the improbable causes of death people tend to fear more combined.
On the scale of heart disease to lightning strikes, alligator deaths are beyond even lightning, with a total of 24 reported United States fatalities since 1928 (until 2010) due to alligators. That’s only .06 attacks per 100,000 people per year, and the vast majority of those are provoked by attempts to capture the alligator. In the improbable event of attack, the survival rate is 96%. Suffice to say, if you are not alligator wrangling, your chances of a fatal alligator attack are close to zero.
Statistically, homicide, bus accidents, heat stroke, West Nile virus, drowning, malaria, and literally hundreds of other causes of death are far more likely in Florida than alligator attacks. In terms of animals, specifically, the most feared animals (like sharks and bears) are actually the most unlikely killers. Cows, spiders, bees, and snakes are all leading killers among animals. Even a fatal whitetail deer (also found on property at Walt Disney World) encounter is more likely, either in the form of a car collision or unprovoked attack. In fact, you are far more likely to crash your vehicle into an animal than be attacked by one (excluding insects).
I can understand why this recent alligator incident has resonated so much with people. It’s a heart-wrenching story with vivid detail, ghastly imagery, and many parents can imagine themselves in the shoes of those parents. It is quite scary to envision, provokes a deeply emotional response, and plays to our fears.
This doesn’t change the objective reality that alligators do not pose a significant threat to guests of Walt Disney World. Despite their nefarious appearance and protruding teeth, they are relatively timid creatures that fear humans. We have heard countless stories of alligators at Walt Disney World over the years, and I don’t mention that here to corroborate the myriad sensationalized “Disney Was Warned!!1!!!” headlines.
I find these headlines irresponsible. Of course there have been alligators spotted in and around numerous bodies of water in Walt Disney World. There are ~1.3 million alligators in Florida. Alligators live in all 67 counties of the state and inhabit all wild areas of Florida that can support them. The mere presence of alligators doesn’t make a location dangerous. The Florida Nuisance Alligator Program does not recommend small alligators for removal, as they are not threats to even small pets (unless the alligator is handled). This should underscore the point that in the swamps of central Florida, alligators have been around forever–certainly since 1971–and this is the first time something awful happened at Walt Disney World.
I’m not writing this to dissuade anyone on the fence about canceling a Walt Disney World vacation. That’s a personal decision. I know that overriding the emotions of a situation are easier said than done. It’s upsetting to think about what happened, and if you’re going to feel unease on vacation, the vacation is worth rethinking.
However, an isolated event that is–by any logical measure–an anomaly, should not dictate how we live our lives. Walt Disney World should not be forced to take prophylactic measures to “prevent” this from occurring again, because if it is bound to happen again, these “preventative” measures aren’t going to change that. (The only thing that will is guests ceasing to feed alligators, thereby potentially causing them to associate food with people.) All references to alligators should not be vanquished from the resort, as if it’s a four-letter word not to be uttered on property.
I can’t fault Disney too much for its response to this incident, even if I do think the subsequent measures taken are unnecessary. Disney is already facing nightmarish PR and media coverage, there have been a ton of cancellations, and innumerable irate guests have contacted Disney about their “alligator issue.” Moreover, we live in a litigious society in desperate need of reform, and some of its actions might behoove Disney from a legal perspective.
That doesn’t make any of this right. This type of response is endemic to our culture, and it’s time for us to say enough is enough with knee-jerk responses to fear mongering. Rather than responding to dramatized media accounts that play into our emotional fears and elicit ill-defined outrage, we should contemplate the real danger present. What we stand to lose to fears of alligators at Walt Disney World is insignificant in isolation, but it presents a growing trend of a willingness to ‘err on the side of caution’ and make meaningless sacrifices for an ill-gotten slice of peace of mind. You simply cannot protect people from every remote danger, and in attempting to do so, too much would be ceded in the name of “safety.” We must allow for some level of acceptable risk, or else live in a constant state of irrational fear.
If you desire things to fear, you will find no shortage if look for them. In the aftermath of 9/11, it was often said that if you live in fear, the terrorists have won. I believe this can be extended to fear, itself. It’s cliché, but Franklin D. Roosevelt’s words ring true. The moment you let fears alter any facet of your life is the moment those fears are fully-realized.
Very, very well wriiten. Totally agree.
Thanks for the article and the point of view Tom. Sensationalism and knee-jerk reactions are a huge drawback of the 24-hour news cycle. I think Disney was in a no-win proposition, given that even if they tried to control the animal population (gators specifically), the “animal rights” groups would’ve jumped on them just as harshly.
Hopefully everything going on right now will only be a temporary measure, but as you wrote, legal will likely have the final say.
Long time lurker, first time poster here. Thanks for posting this. As a (I’m assuming) similarly aged attorney myself, I find myself increasing disillusioned with our society’s misconception that the legal system brings closure. All of the “Disney will pay” posts make me shake my head. As the mom of a 2 year old boy myself, this incident hits particularly close to home. I can’t even imagine how the family is coping. But I also can’t imagine that any form or measure of compensation would have any healing effect.
I love Disney, and I don’t really want to see fences or signs posted everywhere. I’d much rather see some personal responsibility and some understanding that living in this world requires acceptance of risk. But I will admit…Disney’s big sell is that it’s an escape into a world of fantasy. I’ve been to Florida countless times and when I’m visiting with family in Tampa, I am always aware of the potential to run into an alligator. I’m careful about bodies of water and time of day. But it’s honestly something I’ve never thought of at Disney. Has Disney done TOO good a job of making us feel like we are in a bubble?
I’ve seen many of these “Disney will pay” comments (elsewhere), and they sadden me. I think what many people fail to grasp is that the legal system is largely a reflection of society. We are contacted by potential clients with dollar signs in their eyes regularly, and we turn them away. To be sure, many probably do find an attorney to take on their case, but this perception that you can win a huge judgment (or secure a settlement) over anything unfortunate that befalls you is ludicrous. The vast majority of attorneys I know are not helping to perpetuate this notion–it’s driven by anecdotal reports and popular (mis)conception. I could go on about this further, but that’s probably another rant for another time and place…
Parent-shaming is simply the natural human reaction of “It couldn’t happen to ME because I wouldn’t have taken my eye off my kid/let him wade/etc.” People want to reassure themselves.
As far as removing references to alligators on attractions, that’s just basic sensitivity to the horror of the event (“too soon!”) and also a way to make sure that it’s not at the top of people’s minds.
Having said that, I think it’s ridiculous that anyone would cancel a vacation or ask for a room upgrade over this.
I totally agree with your sense and logic, Tom. However, I think something that puts Disney in a tough position is that it is an industry built on an emotional response from it’s guests, not on common sense and logic! Disney had to take immediate and aggressive action, and alligator jokes just aren’t appropriate at this time. I know I wouldn’t be able to laugh.
The removal of jokes doesn’t bother me–especially the one that would’ve been in poor taste. It’s easy enough to add those back in after a few weeks.
The big thing for me is the addition of fences and closure of beaches. I suppose those, too, could be removed. Knowing how legal departments work, a measure like that is very likely to be undone.
I’m going to qualify my statements by saying this first: I’m all for safely measures and rule followIng. I also can’t imagine what that poor family is going though. But I equate this to a boat accident. It’s not something that happens everyday, because (as Tom said) it was a freak accident. The closure of the beaches during fireworks and the water pageant, ect really bums me out. Same thing with the fences. Mostly because these measures are so obviously to protect people from themselves, not to keep gators away from people. I hope that once some of the noise quiets down or once they find a solution that suites better those things will open back up. I can see some of the deluxe resorts loosing some of their appeal & business if they don’t.
What is weekly gravy and why are their videos in all of your posts now
I don’t accept that since statistically X kills less than Y, and if nothing can be done to stop Y, then X is not a problem to be addressed. No I want to address problem X even if I can’t do anything about Y. And I don’t like the idea that if X is going to happen at some point, the odds of the X happening to someone I care about is very low, and since the odds are it is going to be someone else’s loved ones who get X’ed, it’s better just to let nature take its course on the unfortunate humans. No, I like saving humans.
That doesn’t mean I disagree with everything you have written. Ceasing jokes about alligators isn’t going to stop any future alligator attacks so I think it is not a good idea to permanently ban alligator jokes at Disney. And if someone who is old enough to know better is going to knowingly and willfully wander into the territory of, for example, a polar bear who will kill them on sight, well that’s up to them. But if Disney wants to put a rope fence around the Seven Seas Lagoon to keep the little ones out of the alligator infested water, I think that’s a good idea. It’s either that or big signs every ten feet all across the Lagoon.
This is a great article! Thank you for writing it! You always do a great job!
I agree with your sentiments. I’ve honestly found the “parent shaming” one of the worst aspects of this story. What happened to the child is unimaginable and horrific, but the reaction from others in regard to the parents is awful. I think we can all agree that before this attack they were not the first parents to allow their child to dip their toes in the water. It’s just such a ludicrous notion that we should fear an alligator attack while at WDW. The parents just experienced a tragedy most of us will never experience; there is no need to blame them and make the situation worse.
Thank You! The truth is that, while many accidents are preventable, this wasn’t an accident, it was an animal attack. Animals can be very unpredictable and, no matter what you do, stuff just happens. People shouldn’t be blaming the parents or Disney. It was just a really horrible tragedy
Tom, I agree with you so hard. Current internet/social media culture encourages us to get outraged all the time. People are eager to blame ANYTHING when horrific things happen, no matter how infinitesimal the risk. The online mob is especially eager to blame parents for not “keeping an eye” on their kids when they get into trouble (i.e. Gorillas and Alligators), and this has sweeping consequences to our culture at large, especially with regards to the amount of confidence and independence kids are discouraged to develop.
Truly, this problem is a freak-of-nature accident, but I honestly believe that Disney should do more to deter guests from interacting with (i.e. feeding, which is a crime!) wildlife on their property, as you have stated. In addition, I think it takes away nothing from the vacation experience for Disney to explicitly warn of the danger of wildlife interactions on the signs they post around the Seven Seas Lagoon/Bay Lake. This is also in light of the fact that guests from out-of-state are not as intimately familiar with alligators as is the general population in Florida.
….also… lets not forget that Alligators are actually one of the minor risks on this body of water, and that parasites, including amoeba, that naturally exist in Florida’s tepid lake waters are actually much more deadly, however rare the risk of infection. How many of Disney’s guests are aware of that?
Your first paragraph is right on the money. A formidable part of my upbringing was visiting National Parks, exploring nature, and generally being active. There are any number of freak accidents that could have occurred as a “result,” and I’m sure my parents would’ve felt awful if that were the case. That doesn’t mean they were doing the wrong thing–to the contrary, “protecting” me by keeping me in the safety of our home 24/7 would’ve probably increased my risk for childhood obesity (a far more likely and deadly proposition). They also didn’t have outrage culture to second-guess their decisions had the worst happened.
While I’m cognizant of these perils and also the times in which we live, I do not intend upon parenting any differently with regard to risks. I will likewise feel awful if the worst happens and also have to deal with outraged monday-morning parenting experts, but I’d feel even worse if I were a helicopter parent who deprived my child of a proper childhood.
I largely agree with everything you’ve written, although there’s one niggling question regarding risk prevention that I still have. I have several friends who live in Orlando, and who said something along the lines of “oh of course you never wade in lakes, especially after dusk, everyone knows there are a million alligators.” I’m not from Florida, so I had absolutely no idea about that apparently common wisdom. So when you say WDW “should not be forced to take prophylactic measures to “prevent” this from occurring again,” other than efforts to stop guests from feeding alligators, I think I would add editing the warning signs to that list. Disney already had signs up prohibiting swimming, and I wouldn’t have interpreted no swimming to also mean “no wading.” You’re right that we can’t eliminate risk, but if we presumably balance the efficacy of a preventative measure against the effort and restrictions involved, clearer signs sharing what Floridians apparently regard as obvious safety precautions seems to me to be worth it. I don’t know that the absence of such language on the signs puts Disney at fault – as you say, it’s a small risk – but I’m not sure I’d go so far as to say NO prophylactic measures should be instituted.
So I spent a considerate time as aquatics director for various places and have taken all sorts of training and certification classes. The legal definition of swimming according to the Department of Health and Human Services is putting a body part into a body of water (swimming pool, fountain, pond, lake, ocean, etc.). That includes actual swimming, wading, just standing in water, and even dipping a toe into it. So the legal requirement if you don’t want someone going into your body of water is to say “No Swimming” and there is no requirement to explain why. However, the Department of Health and Human Services doesn’t take into account that most people don’t know or fully understand that. But also, if there is a “No Swimming” sign up, then the owner of the body of water is not responsible if some is injured or killed for being in the body of water illegally. I’m sure there are some legal exceptions to that, but I’m not a lawyer and that’s what I’ve been taught in my classes. As professionals and organizations in the the aquatics field are often targets of lawsuits (I was almost sued once, and that experience is what led me to leave the field), most try to strictly adhere to the national and state health departments rules and requirements, and not deviate. From what I can tell, Disney followed the book precisely.
I take no issue with some measures (including modified signage) being taken. However, if the signs are modified from that perspective, alligators shouldn’t be the first thing mentioned, as they remain one of the lesser dangers in those waters.
As for locals not wading in water after dusk, that still strikes me as an irrational fear. Alligators look scary, but the fact remains that unprovoked alligator attacks are incredibly uncommon and the creatures pose a far lower risk than drowning, insects, parasites, etc.
I lived in Florida as a kid. Although rare, it is particularly dangerous for young children to wade in the water after dusk because they are the approximate size of a larger alligator’s prey. Locals do indeed keep their kids away after dusk, as they should.
I heard accounts of people staying @ Poly & GF the days following this witnessing guests demanding room upgrades because they felt unsafe being on floor level rooms, especially @ Poly where the rooms have patios. Not sure if those people are just plain stupid, or trying to profit off a tragedy. Either way pathetic.
Great article.
Well said Tom. If we spend our entire life worrying about everything that “could” happen then we aren’t really living. It is absolutely impossible to avoid all possible dangers in life.
Tom, I completely agree with you that we over-react to these events. Media coverage is governed by the old adage ‘if it bleeds, it leads’. I too am very sad over what happened to that family, but the reality is that we can never eliminate all possible dangers in every situation. We live life, accepting reasonable risks every day – driving, walking, bicycling (which I suspect would all have much higher statistical risk than any of these very tragic, but isolated events). We hear about traffic deaths all the time but we don’t close the roads.
Years ago (and I don’t even remember when it was) I just happened to be at Disneyland the day that a person died on Thunder Mountain. We saw the helicopters from the news channels circling overhead and shortly thereafter saw fences going up around the attraction. Did not know what had happened until we watched the news back in our hotel that night. Now, of course that was very tragic for those close to that individual, but after evaluating the risks and determining probable causes of the accident, eventually Thunder Mountain reopened. I do not recall the specifics of the cause, what changes were made to the safety features of the ride, or how long it took. The point is that they seemed to respond in a reasonable way.
All events of this type should be evaluated carefully in the context of risks and benefits. Of course, emotionally we would all agree that “if it saved one child’s life in the future, its worth it”. But at what price? I know that may sound harsh. But we seem to accept that all the time in other situations in life. For example, (not taking sides here – no flame wars) why after every school shooting is NOTHING EVER DONE? Well, we all know why. The furor dies down, legislation gets blocked, we go back to the way it was.
Maybe the response of Disney World is the correct one, I can’t judge. But the Media and the Public needs to keep it all in context and not over-react.
The “bad parents” backlash is deeply unpleasant. Families have been flocking on these beaches since the resorts opened; were they all bad parents? If you’d asked me a month ago, “Would you let your kids stick their toes in the water at the Grand Floridian’s beach?” I’d have said yes without hesitation. This family was extraordinarily unlucky, and to say they were horrible parents is nothing but 20/20 hindsight.
I agree wholeheartedly (and I hope you don’t think I’m insinuating that they are bad parents). I’ve set up my tripod in the edge of the water on more than one occasion, and while I’ve been cognizant of what’s in that water, I’ve always felt (and continue to feel) it was an incredibly low, acceptable risk.
“and I hope you don’t think I’m insinuating that they are bad parents”
Nope, not at all.
Agree. Agree. AGREE!!!!!
Co-signed. As I keep saying, this was a no-fault situation on either side. WDW can’t be expected to control their gator population in full – it’s FLORIDA. They’re just a part of the wildlife scene, sometimes annoying but mostly inconsequential, like seagulls on the beach. Conversely, this Nebraska family could hardly have been expected to take into account a wildly unlikely gator attack while seemingly innocently wading in shallow waters, especially while in the soothing embrace of the Disney bubble. And why should they? Statistically, it’s so close to impossible it may as well be so. It’s a freak accident, tragic and heart-wrenching but freak nonetheless. Neither Disney nor the parents screwed up. Reactions of empathy, yes. But there is nothing to fear here.
Well done Tom. You mirror my opinion to a T. My husband and I are annual passholders who love Disney. Actually, we were at Disney that fateful Orlando weekend that will go down in history as Orlando’s worse I’m certain. We live in Naples are are fortunate to be able to travel to Disney at least once a month. It’s a drive, but not compared to most visitors. I’m sad about the fences. I think they will deter from the beauty of the shorelines. It is what it is and DIsney will do what they feel they need to. Keep up the good work. I love your site and enjoy reading everything! Thanks for writing what many of us are thinking, much appreciated 🙂
Excellently said, Tom. Who knew that a Disney blogger would be the voice of reason in all of this? CNN, etc., should have had you on as a commentator. And yes, Disney’s unfortunate (unavoidable, due to the ever-looming lawsuit possibility looming overhead) knee-jerk reaction will have years-long effects – much the same as how we all are *still removing our shoes at airports, all these many years after the shoe bomb scare. Sad situation all around.