Un-Magical Question About This Page:

[DreamFinderLives]

I was wondering what WDW's track record is with missing children and abductions? How often, if ever, do they have reporded cases of abductions, and what is done about it? I know this isn't a very magical question, but I'm hoping for some magically reassuring information to give to my friend who was wondering.

[Jolin]

WDW is a very secure place, they have a special alert, once it goes out all cms have to be on the lookout. Security is also very good.

[MichaelF]

I believe it is a fairly secure environment but I always keep a close on my kids and they are always with me. I never let them go off alone. I always suprises me when people let their young children run all over the place unsupervised.

[PixieMichele]

There are very inexpensive plastic tags that you can purchase at the hardware store, they have a chain on them and a place for your information (they're like tiny luggage tags). I take these and put our vacation contact information on them and attach them to my son's belt loop so if he gets lost and is nervous and can't remember our phone numbers, all he has to do is show someone the tag.

[yalibrarian]

Disney security is very, very good. Along with those who look like security, there are many plain clothes security people roaming the parks. Even some characters may be security people. I had what could have been a bad experience with my son when he was younger; he was in the men's room screaming (he has autism) while I was in the ladies. When I came out, two Disney security guys were waiting for me. Someone had told a CM that a boy was screaming in the restroom and they were there in less than a minute. They were aware of autism and had not attempted to interfer with him, but just waited until I came out. They told me about Companion Restrooms, which have made our lives much easier! Their main concern was that he was okay.

Because of the high cost of entry to the parks, I don't worry about random strangers there as much as I do at the mall--or library. (I am stunned by the number of people who think our public library is a safe place to leave young children!) There will always be lost children in WDW, but based on the speed with which security responded in our case, I would say they are on top of it. I would teach my young children that they must stay in sight of me in any crowded situation. Tag your kids (we use Who's Shoes? ID) and tell them to go to a CM, like at a ride, if they get lost. Lost children are usually taken to the Baby Care Center in each park, so notify a nearby CM if your child is missing. They can help watch for them, or may even know that they have been taken by security to await the "lost" parent.

I know your friend worries, like all parents do, but WDW is one place where I feel I can ease off on my fears a little and enjoy just being there with my son.

[Teresa]

We lost my daughter at WDW once. She says she was not lost, she knew where she was! It was a bit of a different story, as she was 11 or so at the time, BUT - she in also a quadriplegic and can't defend herself at all. WDW security was all over, and they contacted transportation to see if anyone had seen her. She was not in a park, but taking a class at Disney Institute, and instead of sending a bus for her like they said, the bus depot dropped the ball.
she was found (at DTD, trying to get a bus to our resort - she had left DI on the first wheelchair equipped bus that came by, and it went to DTD.). She was returned to us, and it was a day or so before every CM we saw said "weren't you lost yesterday?"

I have never worried about it. Child abduction by strangers is VERY low anyway. Now, did I let my toddlers roam about without someone being right there? No. Was I worried they'd get snatched? No. Was I worried they'd get lost? You bet. Did I know that WDW would find them if they did get lost? yes.

[Kynna]

We recently had a situation where a friends son age 9 was missing for about 5 minutes and there were 6 different CM's on radios giving out a description of him and several others looking. I was really impressed. Take a picture of your child and what they are wearing every morning before hitting the parks.

[JoanneS]

I've never heard of any child abuctions from WDW. But I have had experience with a few lost children. When you report a child as lost, the CM's get on their radios and an alert goes out right away. If the child has some kind of identification on them, they will call the parents' cell phone if the child has the parents number on them. The biggest problem I found with that, is that parents don't always have their cell phones turned on or in a place where they can hear them when they ring. Twice now, I've found a lost child in WDW, called the cell phone number, and got no response.

[tkm1005]

I kind of find it fascinating how much people worry about abducted children at Walt Disney World, but really I think more people should be concerned in other public places - grocery stores, libraries, malls etc. There people can come and go quickly. At Disney there are tons of security - as other have mentioned. All cm's are there and available for lost children, but also if a person were to take a child, just think about how many people they would come in contact with before actually leaving the gate of the park. If a child was screaming or trying to get away from a person it would be pretty obvious to a whole lot of people including the cast members at the entrance and exits of the park.

I wouldn't be more worried about abductions at Disney. Just make sure your kids know that cm's are the best people to go to if they should get lost - oh and keep an eye on your children...just like you should at home.

[disney_duke]

We've taught our kids to always look for a CM - look for the white name tag - if they get separated somehow. That's the first thing we talk about each and every day before entering a park - don't talk to anyone unless they have that white nametag. We also got the Who's shoes ID, but I've never been worried about abductions really. But ours are still pretty young (8,6, and 4) so we never lose sight of them.

[Starbright]

A friend of mines father worked at an Airport. That is the place to really really watch your children. She told me some stories and I am on double alert there.

[Sue M.]

Disney can be a place children can get easily lost in because of the crowds. They don't seem to care whether they are seperating people traveling together when trying to get to where they are going. So I'd recommend holding hands in some instances, like trying to walk to Lion King, TSMM, and places like that where everyone is rushing to.

Also don't know the ages, but I wouldn't let my kids wander around the resorts alone either. Even when my dd was 14 or 15, I wouldn't let her go to the pool alone at night. It amazes me the number of un-accompanied kids I see roaming around resorts.

[DreamFinderLives]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions, this will ease my friends mind about his children. He readily admits that he is a little paraniod about this issue, and being able to tell him all the details about security and such will make him feel so much better.

[WDWJAMBA]

I don't think it hurts to be proactive in preparing your child if possible as to what you do if you're lost. We had three situations where I lost sight of my child even though we were "right there". The number of people in one area sometimes make you miss who you're with.

1. Staying at BC- Younger DS was enjoying the ship slide. After walking him to the entrance of the slide, we walked back to the area the slide dumps out at. We waited what we thought was too long based on the line we saw and immediately went back over. No DS. : I walked back to the pool area and began searching. After about 5 minutes, I began to panic. I approached a CM who then radioed to everyone in the proximity. Many other CM's were out visibly searching after I gave the description.

Long story short, (and several years off my life) I walked back over to the entrance of the slide to find my son standing there mesmerized by the ants in the cracks of the sidewalk in front of the entrance. It seems he DID get in line, but had to use the restroom. He got out of line, ran to the restroom, and on his way bumped into the ants and stooped over in the pathway to investigate.

2. Osbourne Lights- We were enjoying the lights with friends and the very same DS lost us in a crowd near where we were viewing. All we had to do was look around right there, so he wasn't missing for but a minute, but it does speak to the fact that you can miss your family that is standing right in front of you if there are enough other people around to make a larger crowd. Thanks to Cheryl's DH Mark and my DH for spotting him straightaway!

3. Typhoon Lagoon- The very same DS (notice a pattern here?) got out of the Lazy River and headed over to the wave pool separating our party. This is a fairly common thing and something the CM at TL see probably on a daily basis. Despite your best efforts, there are just too many other variables that can separate a party here. Now, we take one spin around by walking the park FIRST. If we get in to the LR, we discuss ahead of time what happens if we get separated, where to get off and STAY there.

We're taking two 14 year olds and the infamous younger DS is now older and wiser since those experiences. He was 7-8. I'm not comfortable letting the older boys (DS will have a friend along this year.) go off by themselves on our June trip either. :

I guess you have to know your child, but I'm just not comfortable letting them do it alone. We'll talk about it ahead of time, so they understand why.

[Sue M.]

Claudine, I think you need to attach a GPS to that son,