Alligators in the Parks?? About This Page:

[angelina]

I've always wondered how Disney has managed to keep the parks and resorts alligator free. Well after reading another post, it turns out the parks are not devoid of alligators. One person spoke of seeing an alligator while riding on the monorail and another saw one at the MK near Tom Sawyer's Island. (I'm sorry, I don't remeber who posted these items but I think it was about 1 week ago)
So that got me to thinking, has anyone else had an encounter with an alligator? It makes me really nervous when I think about some of the resorts we've stayed in like POFQ and CB where there is a lot of water.
Maybe we could get Steve "The Crocodile Hunter" Irwin to kindly relocate these alligators to AK, where they would be more comfortable. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
This may seem a little paranoid, but keep in mind I'm from MN. we don't have many alligator experiences up here. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[LilMarcieMouse]

Just remeber if you see an alligator stay away and it will leave you alone. They are not as agressive as Crocs.I for one would love a distant encounter with one. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Lotta D'Olwipz]

Yup-I posted the bit about seeing a gator in the water below the wooden walkway from Liberty Square going towards frontierland! He wasn't doing much except hanging in the water. And he wasn't huge either. No more than a 4 or 5 footer I think.
A friend of a friend saw one at the CBR, and it was being surrounded by a few Disney personnel.
Someone explained to her that they allow to gators to reach a certain size, and then when they see them get too big, they "relocate" them off property. Or at least away from the resort or park in question. [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[buzzNwoodyfan]

I guess they measure the alligator such that if the alligator is too small to eat a child, its ok to leave it on property. When the thing grows big enough to eat a guest, its "relocated." Hee!! Geez, come on! I'd die if I saw one of these things about in the parks!! I wonder if they have APs..... [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[WDW1102]

My brother-in-law and nephew saw one a few years ago. I think they were at the Wide WOrld of Sports complex.

[DVC_Don]

I've read of one hanging around in a canal by the BCV's too. We did a ToN cruise a few years ago. The boat Captain took us up to MGM first and pointed out some areas, but none were to be seen. He said WDW hires folks that relocate them to remote areas of WDW.

[jmewin]

Angelina,
I remember seeing an alligator in the water at DTD years ago. [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]
What's the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]
Joanie

[Cinderbrella]

We saw an alligator out on The Palm golf course one morning. It was quite a shocker. [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[DrDolphin]

There are quite a few gators on WDW property. I saw at least 3 last year during the marathon -- just laying in the water, minding their own business. I am sure that WDW keeps an eye on them, and if they become nuisance gators, they are either relocated or are exterminated.

[Tom's Widow80802]

We had a gator sighting about five years ago when we stayed at Corando springs my two children went on the lake in thode water sprites and had the time of their lives but later in the day while on the bus everyone shouted lookat that gator over ther under the tree needless to say if you could have seen my childrens faces [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] when they saw it it was a sight they said they would never go in the lakes again.

[coffeechef]

Yep I have seen one in the MK, in the Water on the boardwalk that leads to Splash Mountain.( NO Not in Splash Mountain)
Too Cool, but I don't think you have to really worry about them meeting up with humans by accident in WDW. They find their way in theu the Waterways like any other animal, but DIsney is not going to let them hang around for long or start swimming in the Pools. ( I doubt they like the clorine much less the noisy Company.)

[Janet 46]

We saw a couple of them when we stayed at Shades of Green a couple of years ago. They were sunning themselves just a few feet off the walking path that leads to the Poly. We took pictures and they never moved.

[dduck]

We just got back from the Beach Club Villas (June 10-16) and spotted a fairly good size alligator in the canal area. My kids would go down and watch him and the turtles every morning. Many people would feed him and the turtles. It was actually an interesting addition to our vacation. [img]graemlins/usa.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/usa.gif[/img]

[angelina]

Wow! Lots of alligator sightings [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] I'll definitely be a lot more observant around the water on our next trip.

[CU Tigger]

Gators are a natural and normal part of life in the coastal areas and marsh lands of the South. Being a Yankee, born and bred, when we moved to Charleston, SC, I stopped golfing for a while due to the gators sunning themselves on the banks of the ponds. Incidentally, that golf course, was also in our neighborhood. That, by way of illustrating that gators and people live side by side mostly without incident. In our neighborhood, the gators mostly eat fish, ducks, birds, etc. so I was told if you see ducks in a pond, it is likely there are no gators in it. At the point when they eat a dog, the EPA usually comes out for a visit.

I don't know how true it is that they are more frightened of us [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] , but they generally wouldn't be in areas with a great deal of traffic.

In regard to the difference between alligators and crocodiles, I believe that crocodiles are more brown than green, have a more squared snout than gators and aside from being more aggressive also grow to be considerably larger than a gator would.

Keep "The Lion King" in mind when you think about gators on your trip, "it's the Circle of Life." [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]