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Credit: DisneyVisiting Disney World can be a tough thing to do as a parent. Now, we are seeing an increase in children being left behind at the most magical place on earth.
Coming to Walt Disney World with your family means a lot of things. If guests plan to visit Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT, they must budget out what that will not only cost for one person, but multiple people. On top of that, parents must plan flights, organize time off from work, as well as decide what Disney resort they want to stay at.
Then, the actual crazy part of the vacation begins.
Thinking about going to Disney World and planning it is entirely different than navigating the “Mouse House”. Walt Disney World Resort is the size of San Francisco, meaning there is so much to explore. Guests can visit the theme parks, the water parks (Disney’s Blizzard Beach or Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon), or Disney Springs if they want to do a little shopping or eat some food. On top of that there are over 25 resorts, many of which have theming that feels like the theme parks extend far past the ticket turnstiles.
Then, when you actually enter the park, you need to decide what ride you want to go on first. Maybe your family wants Haunted Mansion, or perhaps you are more of a Pirates of the Caribbean gang. Regardless of your choice, you must navigate the tens of thousands of guests who are also looking to have a magical day to get to your desired destination.
Along the way, you may discover that Disney Genie+ can help you skip lines and join the Lightning Lane; you may smell the popcorn scents being pushed out of hidden speakers making your mouth water, and you may look at the family taking a photo with a PhotoPass photographer while on Main Street, U.S.A. with Cinderella Castle behind them.
And just when you realize you would love to get a photo like that with your family, you bump into some balloons, look back, and realize one of your kids is no longer holding your hand.
Sometimes, parents my not be the most responsible, and that is how children are lost at Disney World, but it many times, it is not entirely on purpose. Regardless of the reasoning, it is the outcome that we are focusing on, which is that more and more often, guests in the parks are noticing children get left behind.
This discussion was recently sparked online, when one parent spoke on what they noticed at Magic Kingdom on a recent vacation. Bindy0906 stated, “I went Magic Kingdom yesterday. I could not believe the amount of young kids (2-6) that were wandering alone. Parents would look back and keep moving or we didn’t know who they belonged to. One situation was by the bathroom and three boys were fighting with swords. One fell over and was tripped over. Dad was right there and never said a word. I had my 15 yr with me and she never left my side”.
The poster added, “Clarification, My daughter is allowed to walk alone. She knows the “rules” of navigation and when to get out of a situation if need be. It was just a point of how easy those crowds can absorb a small child.”
As we already noted, crowds can easily be one of the main things that engulf a child, even if the parent thinks they have a good eye on them. Bindy’s decision to bring up the topic online sparked a much larger conversation as hundreds of comments rolled in.
One guest pointed out the first spot that it is easy to leave your child behind, the turnstiles. When entering any Disney park, from Magic Kingdom to EPCOT and everything in between, guests must scan their fingerprints. Without scanning in, entry is not permitted. At times, the finger scanner can be finicky, especially if the guest cannot remember what finger they previously used to scan in, which is what likely happened to this family.
“My husband and I went there a few weeks ago, and the family entering the park in front of us accidentally left their 8-year-old daughter. They all got through the entry pads and just kept walking, but her fingerprint wouldn’t take for some reason. She started panicking and kept trying but she was clearly in distress without her parents nearby. They didn’t even realize they left her for quite a while, and we finally saw Dad come back to get her.” Others noted that in the future it would be smarter to have the parents sandwich the kids in line, so that the adult is the final one to scan.
One parent noted that they still sandwich their adult children, just to ensure everyone is all together, as it is very easy to lose each other in a Disney park, even if you are a grown-up.
Some were not as understanding, one Reddit user commented, “How selfish and horrible. Poor girl was probably so sacred she would be left behind.”
One Disney guest who was once left behind as a child recounted their tale on what happened, they said, “I was once in Hollywood studios with my aunt and uncle, sister and two cousins. They left me in Star Tours shop alone when I was around 10. Just kept on walking whilst I was looking in the shop. They didn’t realise until they met up with my parents at the Beauty and the Beast show and my dad asked where I was.”
The poster never noted how they found their family, but it seems clear that they eventually did.
Others shared stories on how they have had to help multiple lost children crying. They said, “Twice I’ve stopped for lost kids crying. The first got separated in a gift shop and left through a different door than where they entered so they got confused and didn’t know where to go, couldn’t have been more than 5, poor thing.”
They continued, “Second kid was a bit older, maybe 7, full on hyperventilating tears, kept saying ‘they’re gonna be so mad’, took everything me and the staff member at TOT had to stop them running off into the crowd whilst waiting for the supervisor to try and find contact details through the system. Took nearly 20 minutes for the dad to turn up, who immediately grabbed the back of this kid’s shirt and started dragging him away saying they’d been in line and now they have to wait even longer. Dude had gotten all the way over to Star Tours and started waiting in line before they even realized this kid wasn’t with him.”
One fantastic thing about getting lost at Disney is that cast members are trained to ensure that you are not lost for long. If a child is ever lost, cast members will ensure that the child remains calm by keeping them entertained and bringing them to a location that their parents or guardians will be directed to.
Unfortunately, sometimes parents are so stressed out with Disney vacations that they may take things out on their family when things are not going perfectly. One reader noted, “ I saw a parent scream in their kid’s face that he was fine and not hurt after he tripped in the line for Smugglers Run. Blood was oozing down the kid’s knee, and I watched his kneecap push up when he fell.”
The story continues to note that others around the child alerted a cast member who took the family to First-Aid. Although the child was not lost, it is an example of child neglect, which seems to be a common thread here.
That being said, sometimes accidents happen. One reader said, “We lost our seven-year-old for about 5 minutes in Toy Story Land once. It was the worst experience. He knew my cell phone number, went directly to a cast member and we were almost immediately reunited. Still. Scary for us.” Here, we can see that this was not intentional or careless behavior on the parent’s end, from their account of the story, but crowds can cause havoc at times.
One of the most frightful stories comes from Throwaway_ghost_122, who said “I watched the lifeguards at AKL pool pull a toddler from the bottom while his parents were at the bar. They said he wasn’t supposed to leave the splash pad.”
One ex-lifeguard replied, “this phenom exists at any pool; pulled many a diapered kid out of the water while parents were eating/drinking elsewhere, assuming their 18-24 month olds wouldn’t stray.”
Another chimed in, “We saved multiple kids per day in the wave pool, and then supervisors ALWAYS had to go track down the parents. They never even knew their kid was in distress and had to be rescued.”
From this, we can easily see that parents leaving their kids in the theme parks is a major distress, but the trend keeps up for pools and water parks, which can be a lot more life-threatening depending on the child’s age, and ability to swim.
In the end, parents should be sure to keep an eye on their kids at all times; although cast members are trained to ensure guest safety, parents can help by keeping an eye out for their children at all times.
Have you ever noticed a lost child while at Disney World?
If you are looking to visit Walt Disney World Resort for a magical vacation, the Walt Disney World Website can be a great tool to begin planning your trip! You can begin exploring their theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT. You can also take a look at their water parks where you can splash around in the chill of Disney’s Blizzard Beach (alongside new Frozen characters, Anna, Elsa, Sven, and Kristoff), or hit the waves at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon. When you get hungry or want to go shopping, Disney Springs is the place to be, especially with World of Disney there ready to help you pick up some souvenirs! You can also begin looking for your Disney World Resort! If you are looking to stay at a Deluxe monorail Resort like Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa or a Value Resort where you can hop on the Skyliner like Disney’s Pop Century Resort, it is always fun to begin looking for a room that would best suit you and your party. Plus, it has all the information you need to know on Disney Genie+ so that you will be ready to go on your My Disney Experience app once you download it! Click here to check it out today.