Im from the Midwest, and quite surprised folks wouldnt know about gators near bodies of water in Florida. I am quite aware of it.
Florida no longer has a shortage of gators, just google “lake Jesup gators images.” Lake Jesup is less than a hour from Disney and is where most of the relocated gators end up, it is estimated to hold over 10,000.
Again I say, you don’t know Disney. Some stories get out, most take the payoff and stay quite.
Will be watching for alligator purses in the good deal of the day thread 
@carolinamom2boys we will just have to disagree. If I were on the jury, I would side with the parents. I am all for parents watching their kids, see my posts on the hot car deaths. I also get that you assume some risks when entering an amusement park, however they werent in the “amusement” side of the park. As @Ballerina016 mentioned, no swimming would make a reasonable person think, bad water quality, no lifeguard on duty, strong currents etc). Because they are in Florida, and as others have shared, there have plenty of gator sightings on disney property, it was incumbent upon them to warn guests. Just as they put up the no swimming sign, they couldve easily posted an alligator sign, but they didnt, and now they will pay.
@Silpat I had to google that monster alligator on the golf course video. Wow! It is huge and I agree that those folks were way too close. I can’t believe in the video that one guy tells the other, “Dave, get next to it for perspective.” Nuts.
I think it’s really premature to assume there will be a lawsuit.
If there is no lawsuit, it will be because things are handled out of court. Without a doubt, there will be a payment of some sort.
I just read a very interesting article about the closing of the River Country waterpark.
One of the quotes from the article: “Kids can play with floating mock alligators in the water,”
from the midwest and we have neighbors visiting orlando next week; just texted them to stay away from nightclubs and lakes. Orlando is taking a hit; it all makes me feel incredibly sad.
I think there is little doubt that Disney will pay to make it go away and stay out of the headlines. This family lost a 2 yr old child while outside watching a hotel sponsored movie… They will pay.
As uncomfortable as it makes me to raise this possibility – and as much as I doubt that it’s true – I haven’t seen any stories indicating that there were any witnesses other than the parents. Because of this, there has been quite a bit of speculation that this might be a “the dingo ate my baby” situation.
[Edited to add: someone has now posted a story indicating that in fact there was another witness. It’s a tragedy regardless, but I guess that’s good, because I hate to think anyone would make up that kind of story.]
There were witnesses:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-disney-gator-attack-witnes-story.html
@partyof5 …but if it’s something you aren’t accustomed to, I can easily see it slipping from people’s mind.
There are at least two canals that feed into the Seven Seas Lagoon/Bay Lake water bodies. One is Bonnet “Creek” which goes all the way out past I-4 to an undeveloped area and empties just east of Fort Wilderness. The other, unnamed one, is smaller but has its mouth immediately adjacent to the Grand Floridian and runs back to a small lake just above the golf course. A gator could easily make its way into the park and right up to the Grand Floridian from either. But my bet is on the smaller, closer one.
Also, Florida overall is a Hell-swamp, and unfit for human habitation.
Florida is a wonderful state in many respects. I haven’t regretted living here for the last 16 years and wouldn’t trade it for much.
I just wish that WDW had had signs specifically warning people of gators, if in fact gators have been known to get into their lagoons.
You really don’t expect to fend off an alligator at the ‘happiest place on earth.’
I remember going to the beaches in Hawaii. They all had warning signs for various things. Many, many signs with hilarious graphics (imagine a giant wave with an evil eyebrow lifted…).
WDW should do that, with graphics, so there is no language barrier.
@SyrAlum the guy in the video you posted, didnt see anything, he just saw the commotion afterwards.
@SouthFloridaMom9 I lived there for 12 years and regretted almost every minute. So we’ll have to agree to disagree. 
Millions and millions of visitors and residents (including my parents) are on your side though, so I admit to having the minority view.
Also, I worked at the Magic Kingdom for two summers in college. We spotted wildlife all the time, but I don’t recall any gator sightings. Certainly no major incidents.
It truly surprises me that anyone is unaware that there are alligators in Florida.