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“My son is missing!”…and what Disney did.

This post contains editorial samples and/or affiliate links to products I recommend. While this adds no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission on any sales made.

*This article was also published on Huffington Post in May 2016

 

After 5 wonderful days at Disney, thanks to the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, our family wasn’t ready to wait it out at the Pop Century Resort till our 7 pm home-bound flight out from the airport. We chose to spend whatever precious time we had left at Animal Kingdom.

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Trying to get to any of the parks with young children can be quite a challenge, but we were determined to make it happen. Dottie was 7 years old at the time and our son was a few weeks shy of his third birthday.

On that morning, we got to the Animal Kingdom just a few minutes before the customary opening ceremony began. Even then the place was packed.

We had to park our rental car a good ways away and take the little tram from our spot way back in the parking lot to the entrance. Yes, stroller, kiddos and all.

As soon as the shuttle stopped, we quickly got off, helped buckle our then soon-to-be-3-year-old in (or so we thought) and rushed to the entrance to walk through the stiles.

We were ready to spend an awesome morning at the park, despite the heat and the crowds.

It was going to be a great day…

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until I leaned over to pull up the shades on the stroller to ask if my son was excited to see the Lion King show.

My son was missing!

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Panic

I turned around in horror and barely whispered out the words I thought I would never have to say to my husband… ever.

“He’s not in the stroller!”

In that split second of shock and disbelief, my husband just stared at me, I guess hoping I wasn’t saying the words I really was, then quickly snapped out of the daze and bolted to the entrance to inform the park’s authorities.

I can still feel that sick feeling in my stomach as I re-live those few moments of terror.

I tried to sound calm as I asked my daughter if she saw him get out of the stroller while we were in line with our tickets or whether he had said anything to her.

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Poor baby was just as shocked and I could see fear written all over her face. (She loves her baby brother to bits.)

She said she heard him saying something but nothing specific.

My insides wanted to scream. I knew I was panicking. I needed to calm down.

I couldn’t move away because I needed to stay with my daughter.

And then I saw him.

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He was standing on top of a cement protrusion and was trying to peek over the crowds standing in line, waiting to get in.

My baby!

He was right there. Just a few steps away from us.

Safe!

I ran and grabbed him in my arms, smothered him with kisses. I then had to firmly ask him how he managed to climb out of the stroller and why he didn’t tell us he was getting out.

According to him the harness belt wasn’t snapped in tight enough when we placed him in, so it was easy for him to open the clasps.

Relief…and what Disney did.

Now that we had found our little man, we needed to find Hubs and tell him he was safe. (And of all days the telecom signals were bad and we weren’t able to call each other on our phones.) So while some kind visitors to the park agreed to keep our place in line, we ran to the front, found Hubs and shared what had happened.

Hubs immediately hurried over to the entrance and intimated the authorities who asked him to make sure it was him before they called off their search.

Yes, Disney authorities at Animal Kingdom had already begun searching for our son in that 5-7 minute time frame.

As soon as Hubs rushed to the front to tell them our soon-to-be-3-year-old was missing, they asked Hubs to show them a photograph of what he looked like and describe what he was wearing.

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Thankfully Hubs had taken a photograph of the kids just seconds before getting onto the Animal Kingdom tram. Using the photograph they were able to accurately radio out his description with clear specifics and immediately locked down the gates and put out an alert.

I’m so glad they proactively did what was necessary and had what was needed to do next in place.

Seeing it all play out made me find yet another reason to respect and love the way Disney operates.

They know how to do it right.

So yes, after all the hullabaloo, we quietly walked back to our place in line, walked into the park and had a wonderful day packed with memories.

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And even though we had a fantastic, fun-filled day, nothing will ever erase those moments filled with fear and that sickening feeling of helpless panic that overtook us when we thought our preschooler had gone missing.

Thank God he was safe and yes, I’m so grateful Disney has a policy in place to handle the eventuality of a missing child.

It was a reminder to teach our kids what to do if they ever got separated from us in a public area, have them wear identity protect wrist-bands and yes, take photographs of them just before heading into a crowded area.

 

My friend Kuleen has some excellent tips on what to do if your kids get lost at Disney. I would recommend you read her suggestions before your next trip.

Have you ever had to go through a scary parent moment?

13 Comments

  1. When my daughter was about 3 we lost her in Walmart. I had gone to the eye center to get new glasses, and in the 10ft between the sitdown desk and the register she lost sight of me. So she decided to go back to our car to find me.

    Of course at some point I tried counting my baby chicks and realized she was missing. I went racing toward the exit and asked a man standing there if he had seen her. He pointed out the exit. (REALLLY? You didn’t think a 3 year old leaving the store on her own was strange?).

    I ran out the doors and found her starting to cross into the parking lot.

    Scared me to death! And made me rather angry. I can’t believe people saw her and didn’t try to stop her. I ALWAYS stop little kids and ask where there grownup is. I just did it last week at a restaurant, and sure enough the kid had decided to walk out the front door without her Mom.

    I’m glad your little adventure turned out well. One of the first things I taught my Disney Kids was what a cast member name badge looks like. I have also heard not to waste time looking for your kid, immediately tell a cast member because they will not waste time in getting a serach started.

    1. Two friends of mine had similar experiences with Walmart…which angers me. Why have posters of missing children at your entrances when you can’t instruct employees to watch out in your own stores? So so scary. A baby crossing the road. OH GOODNESS!! Thank God you found her quickly and she was safe, Kuleen. There are so many scary stories out there. 🙁

  2. I had no idea! I’m so glad you found him quickly. When my son was 2 he followed my roommate’s boyfriend (unbeknownst to him) out our front door and wandered down the street. He had been gone a few minutes before I realized he was gone and it was a few minutes of pure terror while I tried to find him…and then I was a crazy woman running down the street after him, lol.

    1. Gosh that is scary. I think that moment of panic mixed with fear choked out my scream. Thank God your little one was safe. We have to be Mama Hawks at all times…yikes!

  3. It’s so great to know that you found your son quickly and such a relief to know that Disney cast members act quickly and swiftly! I hope you were able to enjoy your last day at WDW after such an eventful start. Thanks so much for sharing your scare and experience!

    1. We did have a great day after Leticia but that yucky feeling remained. I still feel that moment of fear. I can’t even imagine what parents feel when their kids go missing for hours. 🙁 Madeleine McCann’s story has always had such a deep impact on me 🙁

  4. How scary! I can only imagine. That is good to know that there was a plan in place on Disney’s part too.

  5. Wow Marina- That must have been scary, even for just a short time. My youngest walked out of our house once and I about freaked. He was gone for about 2 minutes and was in the front yard playing with toy trucks. Happens SO fast!

  6. Marina, I know how frightened and sick you felt when your little boy was missing. It is such a horrible experience that I experienced when my son was 3 years old. I was in a department store with him, holding his hand as I checked men’s pants on a rack. When I found my hubby’s size, I let go of his hand and told him to stay right next to me. It only took a blink of an eye when I draped the pants over my arm and looked down to take his hand again. He was not there. OMG I was so scared. I loudly called his name several times and looked all around me. I asked a saleswoman to help me to look for him. She called her manager who told security to look for him and to check all exits. The manager asked me to show him where I was when my little boy disappeared. I was shaking so badly & couldn’t stop crying.mHe called out my son’s name and out he popped from under that rack of men’s pants. I know I had looked under it when my son first went missing. What I learned is there was a bar under the pants that he had stood on which is why I did not see his little shoes and he had decided to play Hide & Seek with me. I scooped him up and hugged & kissed him as tears rolled down my cheeks. I did not take him with me whenever I shopped for a very long time after that.

  7. I have yet to take my kids to Disney since the oldest was 6yr…he’s 16 now and have no clue what I’d do with all 5 kids, let alone one wander off. Glad you had a positive outcome. Way to go Disney.

  8. I am so glad you found him safe and sound! Before we went to Disney last year, I hammered it into my children’s brains to stick with us. If by any chance we got separated, to find a Disney cast member and stay with them. Of course, my kids were 11 and 5 at the time. I love Disney and they have their act together.

  9. Every parents worse nighmare, I am SO happy to know he was found so quickly although that time frame in our minds was forever. Just reading it felt forever so I could only imagine how you felt. Thank the Good Lord for letting him be safe

  10. OH my! I could imagine how horrified you were when you couldn’t find your son. I’d be for sure. I’ve never experienced anything like this before and hopefully it won’t happen. I’m really impressed with how Disney handled the situation. they reacted fast and was very helpful. Kudos!

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