General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Last year, this man specifically warned Disney about alligators after his son [View all]Butterbean
(1,014 posts)Disney gave the image of false security and safety. Why would Disney host a beach party by a body of water that was dangerous, after all? That is the conclusion I would think most people would come to, myself included.
Yes, alligators are dangerous animals, and yes, they are ubiquitous in Florida, but I confess that even though I *know* such facts, my brain may have disconnected somehow inside the "Disney bubble" and thought the way a lot of people tend to think: bad things like alligators don't happen at Disney. Yes, it's a pipe dream and ignorant and call it what you will, but it's how a lot of people think, and Disney is absolutely one of the experts at lulling people into a sense of security and being in "another world" where everything is safe, perfect, and magical. It's easy to forget the dangers.
Even living where I do in the south, my spouse, born and raised here, didn't know the true dangers of alligator snapping turtles and was about to try to pick one up and move it before I intervened and told him not to touch the animal, lest he lose a finger (or hand, or wrist....). I see people on the beaches all the time letting their children dig deep sand pits unsupervised without a care in the world. I see people trying to "thaw" their windshields by pouring warm or hot water on them in the winter. The point here is, not everybody knows everything about everything. Some knowledge is regional, even with the advent of google and the internet, and some people simply do. not. know. about the dangers around them without giant warning signs and captain obvious yelling and pointing them out.
This is even more true in the Disney bubble. Regardless of who is at fault here, at the end of the day, a 2 year old child suffered a horrific death, and his father witnessed his demise. His parents have to go home with their 4 year old daughter and try to continue on with their life and marriage in the wake of everything that's happened, with the death of their child being in the very public eye. That, IMO, is what is most horrifying about this whole story.