Suggestions for Preventing Lost Child

[JellyMango]

Hi all!

I am visiting Disney World with my nephew for this 5th Birthday in June. Its just myself and the little guy. I hear the parks are crowed. I'm afriad that my nephew will be so excited that he might run toward and attaraction or character and get lost in the crowd. I feel like I can't keep my eyes off of him for a second. :confused: Any suggestions on preparations for handling the possiblity to getting lost at Disney World. It might sound crazy, but I thought about pinning my name and contact information to his shirt.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Reedy Creek Buccaneer]

I believe you can get an arm band at guest relations, where you can put all pertinent information on it. I also always told my daughter if she got lost, to tell a Disney employee. You could show him how to identify them.

[mook3y]

Hi,

I just sent you a private message with a URL that will take you to a website where you can order a rubber wristband that you could put your name, his name and your cell phone.

As Reedy Creek mentioned, we too have taught our children that if they get lost to go to a cast member and tell them they are lost.

When you first get to a park, show them what the name badges look like on a cast member and tell him to look for someone that has a tag like that to ask for help.

I worked at Disneyland (in a time long ago in a place far far away) they had castmembers walk around with a child for a while in the area where they found the child. (looking for family memebers) After 20 minutes or so, we would then take them to "Lost Parents".

So in the event you get seperated, you too should contact a cast memeber right away. They will assist in helping you locate a lost child.

Disney takes this seriously and they will act quickly.

My guess is that if you are paranoid about losing him enough to ask for suggestions on here, you will keep a hawk eye on your nephew and it wont be an issue. lol

[TinkerbellsMom]

Recommend that you take digital picture of your nephew each day in his park outfit before you leave for the parks. This way if you do get separated, you will have very recent picture for the CMs. We did this when our DD was young - although she never strayed, it was a piece of mind for us.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I would also spend some time before you go taking him out and making sure he understands that he *can't* just run ahead or leave you. Even a trip to the mall can help practice this.

We also taught our DD to "hug-a-tree" when she was separated from us. Basically, it means, once you realize we're separated, don't move...the grown-up will find you.

It worked wonders for us at a local music festival. Our DD stopped to tie her shoe, we didn't realize and kept on walking. As soon as we realized she was gone, we started retracing our steps and quickly found her "hugging" a sovenier stand.

[Rekenna]

Leash. Seriously.

We have one for DS4 and one for DS2, best money I ever spent. Sometimes I get dirty looks and snarky comments (don't care) sometimes I have people asking where I got it and wondering how soon they can get one.

If he is on a leash and you are connected to that leash you WILL NOT lose him.

[Zippy 1]

You can now buy little backpacks with a leash attached. That way it is a little more comfortable for the child. They come in very cute characters.

[DisneyFr33k]

We also taught our DD to "hug-a-tree" when she was separated from us. Basically, it means, once you realize we're separated, don't move...the grown-up will find you.

That actually happened to our son. He's a scout and they taught him if he ever is lost not only in camp, but anywhere to just freeze where they are.

We were in Hollywood Studious going throught the building that has Animation, Walt Disney's museum of photos and pictures and the gift store. We looked back and didn't see our son. So we back tracked through the building back out the front and there he was, leaning against a tree with big, watery eyes. What a relief!

Our son isn't very hyper/active and pretty mello, but he did get distracted by something and missed that we moved on.

If your nephew is impulsive and high energy, you might want to take previous posters suggestions to keep him near. Otherwise, the "hug a tree" works well.

And, we taught both children how to ID cast members in case we got lost, they could help.

Good luck!

[missymouseworld]

When we were at Disney the last time, a bus driver told us to write our cell number on the small child's sneaker on the rubber in-sole. (we put it on the instep area and believe it or not, the number is still there a year later) Usually, a child knows their home phone number but not the parent's cell number; at the parks, a cell number is needed to reach the parents and would help.

Every little bit helps.

[Kerry823]

All of these are great ideas and I have used just about all of them. We just returned and witnessed 2 lost children in the parks. It was heartbreaking watching them in such a panic. In both cases, one in Epcot, the other in Animla Kingdon, the kids were practicing the "flight" response because strangers approached them to help and were running away from their original location. MY husband and I immediately grabbed the nearest Disney employee and sent them over. That seemed to calm the children immensely. I think the contact information is great but after seeing it first hand, make sure your nephew is aware of what Disney employees look like in each park and the name badge thing. I think it helped in both of these situations. Good luck and have fun!

[BrerGnat]

I feel like I can't keep my eyes off of him for a second. :confused:

You can't. Simple as that. You have to keep him in your line of vision at all times.

Kids don't get lost. Adults lose them when they become distracted by something else.

Hold his hand at all times. When you can't hold his hand, make sure you can see him.

[TheVBs]

Our youngest DD used to worry us because she would want to zoom off in all directions. We just made sure we held her hand in the parks. It was a simple solution and worked perfectly for us. When we weren't holding her hand, like when the crowds were much thinner, we made sure she was always in our line of sight. The other suggestions about helping them identify a CM, making sure they know to stay in one spot once they realize they're lost, and having contact info on them are all great too! Our DDs were pin trading, so we just slipped our contact info into the little plastic pouches you can hang from the lanyards.

[crazypoohbear]

you have gotten some great suggestions here but I would also tell the child that if they get lost to approach a mom with children.
any mom who has a kid come up and say I'm lost will help the kid and stay with him/her until the child is safe.
It may sound sexist but I had been told to have them always approach a mom, sometimes dad's can look intimidating to the child.
At age 5 and in June you might even want to use a stroller, it's hot, lots of walking and late nights.
It's great that you get to bring your nephew with you. That is so special for him, I'm sure you will be fine!

[Jim&AngieMarriner]

There are a lot of good suggestions so far. Let me add a few if I can. I have been in the army for 17 years and if there is one thing that is DRILLED into your head is "know where your people are". With that in mind, I suggest doing a "head count" something like every 75-100 feet. What I do is walk backwards for a few steps as I count heads (last trip we had 11 people). My wife laughed at me for checking so often but we didnt have a single seperation. Another tip would be to dress the child in bright colors (I recommend orange or yellow). Another idea is a balloon. Tie a balloon to thier wrist (use a slip not so it can be removed for rides) Since the child could get lost in the crowd, a balloon or some other tall object can really help pick them out of a croud. And last but not least is a cell phone. Depending on the child, a prepaid phone with your numbers programed in could really help. Either they or a CM could call you to tell you where they are. Another cell phone idea is to place a phone with GPS turned on in their little back pack or pouch or whatever they are carrying. Then if they get sepperated you can just "look" for them on your phone.

Hope these are helpful

[diz_girl]

If you unfortunately get separated from your nephew, I've heard that SafetyTats work well. It's a sticker-type tattoo where you write your contact information on it (it comes with its own permanent pen) and you stick it on the child's forearm (maybe the inside forearm would work best). It lasts for a week or two. I've bought them, but haven't had the opportunity to use them yet. You can get them online or at most local AAA stores.

I also have a backpack w/leash for DS 2 (almost 3). He doesn't like the leash very much. We just got him another one with Elmo as the backpack, maybe he'll like this more.

Losing him is my big fear, espeically since I used to 'wander' a lot myself as a child.

[Giselle]

To save time anf $, you could just write your contact info on the inside of his arm/wrist with a sharpee marker. Also they make the cutest little harness/leash things that have an animal backpack thingy on them that some kids really like to wear. Also, as a parent of a 6 yo, you may find he may need a stroller - it's a lot of walking for a little one.

[wire0monkey]

We go to PetSmart and buy engraved metal dog tags with the kids' first and last names, our cell #, and our resort abbreviation. (AKL, POP, ASM, whatever). (If Disney knows the resort and the last name, they can look up the home address and the parents' names.)

We pin those to their shirts with a safety pin. We use them in airports, too.

BTW, my 6 year old wandered off in Blizzard Beach last August. I immediately contacted a Cast Member who took me to Lost Children. The Lost Children CM radioed every area manager with a description of my son, and specifically contacted security at the front gate. They wrote his description down in a book. We found him about 30 minutes later screwing around on the other side of the park from where we were. I marched him over to Lost Children to apologize to the Cast Member for all of the extra work they had to do.

[g8rgirl29]

We use the temporary tattoo's, use a stroller, point out name badges of CM's, talk to our child about the importance of staying with us and staying put if separated. It is hard to keep up with them at all times but when she is out of the stroller her her hand has to be in mine. It is a bit more difficult in the waterparks, especially in the Tot areas. Good luck, prepare ahead and just stay vigilant.

[Wadeace]

Hey,
for a high tech solution you can take two usb keys and put a little code into it so that when its plugged into a computer a popup window comes up and tells the finder of the lost child the first name of a child a favorite treat and contact info for the chaperone or parent, the parent than has a key that they carry with a special pass code that when they put it into a computer with the lost child drive popups a special message that says the parent is here.

here is a story oh how a perent found that id worked with their 3 year old child at disney land



http://dailycupoftech.com/2007/03/22/dcot-helps-find-lost-child/
We decided to buy three 32Mb drives, which are a dime a dozen nowadays, one for each boy and one for us with the same program and ’secret phrase’ on it. We also included our cellphone numbers. Two lanyards with dangling USB drives that had a ‘I’m Lost’ label adhered to them and tucked into their shirts later, we had two boys that if got lost would be found and be reunited with us quickly.

We told the boys to cry for mom or dad if they wander off or got lost and then give the USB drive to the person that found them.

Our three year old did just what we thought he would do - Disappeared. Within 13 minutes of being ‘lost’ though, my cellphone rang. My three year old whom we thought didn’t understand what we told him about the funny thing around his neck actually did what we told him. The account from our boys ‘finder’ was humorous and panned out like this: My little redheaded boy was SCREAMING for his mom. The ‘finder’ came to help him, the boy showed the ‘finder’ the labelled USB drive, the ‘finder’ then brought him to security, security plugged the USB drive in to his computer, saw the message and called me on my cellphone. When we went to retrieve our boy the security guard asked for our USB drive with the secret phrase on it. The USB drives performed just as set up to. It had my cellphone number, my boys’ first name (first name only!) to calm him down and his favorite treat.

To say the least, D-land security was very impressed and the ‘finder’ equally impressed and my redhead boy was wearing M&M’s on his lips and chin.

There it is. Not only can you retrieve lost USB drives with this you can also find lost kids. Thank you!


here is a link to the how to
http://dailycupoftech.com/have-your-lost-usb-drive-ask-for-help/

[waymickey]

That is an excellent idea.
Years ago when my DD went to dinsey with us we put a walkie talkie on her hip and wrote her name and phone number in her sneakers. She ran from us once in AK when a dinosaur scared us. She took off and disappeared in the crowd. We found her under a table crying. I never thought she would run like that. the wlkie did not work so we put a cell phone on her the next day. But I like the USB idea a lot..