There's a rumor that they move them to UniversalI did read somewhere, perhaps in the Sentinel, that gators removed from the parks and resorts areas are moved over to the nature conservancy wilderness preserve.
lakes. you mean to tell me that when i was swimming at river country back in the day there could of been gators.
I know I would panic in that situation so thank you for the useful info. I wasn't sure if they normally go into attack mode if they see you!There’s six species of poisonous snakes here. I’ve seen one once, on our property. If you’ve accidentally cornered the snake, slowly back off so it can escape. Otherwise just keep your distance. Again, snakes don’t normally chase people down and only attack if they feel threatened...so don’t be a threat.
To temper the fear mongering, that young child was not "pulled into the water" by an alligator. He was already in the water.Never kid yourself though.....WDW was built in the FL swamps.....if there is a body of water...there are alligators and snakes nearby. Ask anyone who has lived there. You must use caution when you are near bodies of water, shrubbery, etc. ALWAYS stay on paved pathways and do not allow your children to wander off them. Several years ago there was an incident, I believe at Caribbean Beach Resort, where a young child dropped a toy which rolled off the paved walkway into some grass/shrubs. When he reached to get it.....he was bitten numerous times by a venomous snake which was under the shrub. The child suffered extensive injury, was hospitalized for several weeks and left with medical issues caused by the venomous bites. And, there was the terrible tragedy two years ago in the beach area of the Grand Floridian where the child was pulled into the water and killed by an alligator. I have seen both snakes and alligators on property over the years..... one alligator actually inside Magic Kingdom, at the bottom of Splash Mountain, sunning itself right on the shoreline near the bridge next to the Rivers of America. And, I've seen snakes on the walkway from Saratoga Springs going to Disney Springs. As others have said, in most cases, if you leave them alone and skirt around them, they will not bother you, however, you still need to use common sense and be cautious.
We've walked this path quite a bit during stays in late evenings. Never encountered anything on the sidewalk or right next to it. Yes, there is some water but just a wild guess on distance I'd say 50 ft. away, there is some shrubbery on sidewalk a bit closer. Stay on sidewalk a good general rule anyway. Sometimes we've been the only ones walking on it, so it's something I think about but I'm naturally always thinking about my surroundings no matter where I am. But, the sidewalk path does get quite a bit of use. Yes, I still feel safe on the path. You also walk past the guard shack and someone's in there. The sidewalk path is lit, but subdued at least to me but that's factored by my night vision.We are going to be staying at Shades of Green this summer & I had planned to take the walking path to the Polynesian for transportation to/from Magic Kingdom & Epcot. Then I had a thought. How often are gators seen on/near the trail between the two and how far away is any water and/or shrubbery? How lit is the path at night? How heavy is the foot traffic between the two (particularly after dark)? Would you feel safe to walk between them after a park day or are there too many hiding spots for gators to jump out. I know it's probably an irrational fear but they are way scarier than sharks to me (the don't run, they don't let go, they will drown you and/or eat you). If we had flashlights, would that be enough or do we just need to plan to take the bus back in the evenings (not ideal with 3x kids & a double stroller)?
We are going to be staying at Shades of Green this summer & I had planned to take the walking path to the Polynesian for transportation to/from Magic Kingdom & Epcot. Then I had a thought. How often are gators seen on/near the trail between the two and how far away is any water and/or shrubbery? How lit is the path at night? How heavy is the foot traffic between the two (particularly after dark)? Would you feel safe to walk between them after a park day or are there too many hiding spots for gators to jump out. I know it's probably an irrational fear but they are way scarier than sharks to me (the don't run, they don't let go, they will drown you and/or eat you). If we had flashlights, would that be enough or do we just need to plan to take the bus back in the evenings (not ideal with 3x kids & a double stroller)?
Yes, being aware is probably the best prevention.Never kid yourself though.....WDW was built in the FL swamps.....if there is a body of water...there are alligators and snakes nearby. Ask anyone who has lived there. You must use caution when you are near bodies of water, shrubbery, etc. ALWAYS stay on paved pathways and do not allow your children to wander off them. Several years ago there was an incident, I believe at Caribbean Beach Resort, where a young child dropped a toy which rolled off the paved walkway into some grass/shrubs. When he reached to get it.....he was bitten numerous times by a venomous snake which was under the shrub. The child suffered extensive injury, was hospitalized for several weeks and left with medical issues caused by the venomous bites. And, there was the terrible tragedy two years ago in the beach area of the Grand Floridian where the child was pulled into the water and killed by an alligator. I have seen both snakes and alligators on property over the years..... one alligator actually inside Magic Kingdom, at the bottom of Splash Mountain, sunning itself right on the shoreline near the bridge next to the Rivers of America. And, I've seen snakes on the walkway from Saratoga Springs going to Disney Springs. As others have said, in most cases, if you leave them alone and skirt around them, they will not bother you, however, you still need to use common sense and be cautious.
How to swim,I've been going to Disney since I was a baby and I've never seen an alligator there. But I am a Florida native and rule of thumb is any body of water probably has an alligator in it. Never swim in any lakes in Florida or walk close to a lake and run zig zag if one chases you. If you stay on a well lit path that will definitely have other people walking on it since that's a popular route, it's highly unlikely you'll see an alligator.
For the record a gator can out sprint most people. If you're ever chased you run in a zig zag as they tend to try to follow your exact path when running on landWell. You can always run faster than they can walk. Lol.
Yes, if one gets you. You are not in a good situation. Personally. I have never seen one at WDW.
So our gators aren't like your crocs. They aren't really fans of salt water or too much moving water. They rather float in still water trying to ambush something or sunning on the shore. The blue holes sound like where we went scuba diving and that water is far too cold for gators to live it in so they will stay away. You'll see a ton in the Everglades though and some big ones so stay out of the water. If they think they can bring you down they try to but for a grown human it is only the really big ones that try.When everyone here refers to bodies of water, are you taking about lakes and not beaches? I've assumed alligators live in fresh water.
We are coming from Aus, and we were looking at more nature based activities after WDW so we are also interested in some of the manatee snorkel activities, going to the Everglades, going on a few walks. Should we be worried about alligators? Not really worried about snakes.
As we have saltwater crocodiles in some parts of the country, even swimming on the beach is not advised where there could be crocodiles.
Reading through the materials on tubing and swimming in blue holes it doesn't mention any warnings? Reading through this thread though, we shouldn't look at those activities?