This is such tragic news however I am surprised it has never happened before. Disney is on swampland. Disney cannot patrol every inch of its property. I have seen multiple gators on property throughout the years. There use to be a gator outside Beach Club Villa's and you would often see ignorant guests feeding it. You see guest feeding wild animals all over Disney and it drives me insane. From the black birds to squirrels to the gator that used to reside at the Beach Club.
When Disney spots a gator, it monitors it and MOVES it only AFTER it becomes a certain size. However, by the time the animal gets that size it's probably been feed dozens of times by ignorant people who think it's fun to feed the animal. By the time it gets to be of a dangerous size, its no longer afraid of people.
Also, I would bet the "lifeguard" mentioned in this story wasn't a lifeguard at all but a recreation cast member. Guests often think the CM's at the nightly movies are lifeguards but they are part of the recreation department and not trained to save lives. Not that I think it would have mattered in this situation.
For years, guests have been sitting outside on the beach at the Poly and GF watching the nightly water parade and fireworks and nothing like this has ever happened. I would bet Disney will soon be canceling these nightly movies, maybe even the water parade.
I would guess these guests from Nebraska never even thought about the possibility of an aligator being in the water. Its truly tragic
MsA