Lost Child advice

[ransam]

We all know how big and massive WDW is and it's easy to get separated from your kids. I've seen it happen more than a few times...but I wanted to tell you something that we have done.
I was at WDW with a friend and his family. the youngest child had a history of running off. One minute he's there, the next minute he's gone.
What I did was give him a couple business cards with the number of his dad and me on the back. And then we got a cast member and showed him his name tag and said if he ever got lost to find someone with that name tag, tell him he was lost and then hand him the card. Sure enough later on in the trip, we were all together and he was gone. It wasn't 2 minutes later before his dad got a call. It worked perfectly.
Just thought that is something everyone should do. Better safe than sorry.

[WDWdriver]

It happens all the time. You did the right thing by showing the child a CM name tag. Kids should know that they can approach any CM for help. Usually we can get the families reunited within about ten minutes. If necessary, we can get Security involved with their radio network, and "lost parents" don't stay lost for long.

[Katzateer]

My daughter and I were talking about how great the magic bands are to help in case your child gets lost in the crowd. They can be tracked easily by a CM I would think. Lots of kids last week were running in excitement away from their families and I found a lot of parents not paying attention to their little ones ( they were too busy with their cellphones:thedolls:).

We would keep our girls in their strollers when moving from one area of the park to another. Once we got to an area we were staying in for awhile we parked the stroller and held hands walking to each attraction. The congestion in some areas is scary with little kids.

[magicofdisney]

We made dog tags with a keychain. On the dog tag is cellphone numbers.

[1DisneyNut]

Another thing we always did and this went back to my parents back before the cell phone days, we have a set meeting point in each park that we all go to if someone gets lost. It is always the focal point of each park such as the Castle at MK, Spaceship Earth (Epcot Ball) at Epcot, Hat at HS and the Tree at Animal Kingdom. Twice we have had a child get separated from our party and both times we went to the meeting point and found each other in just a few minutes.

[SBETigg]

Another thing we always did and this went back to my parents back before the cell phone days, we have a set meeting point in each park that we all go to if someone gets lost. It is always the focal point of each park such as the Castle at MK, Spaceship Earth (Epcot Ball) at Epcot, Hat at HS and the Tree at Animal Kingdom. Twice we have had a child get separated from our party and both times we went to the meeting point and found each other in just a few minutes.

I'm glad this worked for you, but the general advice on meeting points is to not make them the big focal points. Too common for meet ups and easy to miss each other. Though, catch-22, it's probably easier for little ones to find the big focal points. The recommendation is to find a destination in each park that is more out of the way, less frequented to meet up with friends and family or lost group members.

[minnie04]

These are all great ideas!! It happened to us with my niece (5) last time we all went and she had the right mind to go to the cast member and say she was lost. We found her in a few seconds, but it felt like forever (when your heart is beating out of your chest)... very scary and all we did was move from one table to another and she got caught up in all the other people in the place and turned the wrong way. It can happen just that fast. Well since then. I have bought a “toddler tracker” and I put one part on her and carry the other. If she gets too far away it starts beeping or I can beep it myself to track her. Also someone on here mentioned before to take pictures of the kids so you can show the cast member or security what the child is wearing that day. Oh and also I learned this one way back teach your children to call you by your first name when trying to find you. There are too many mommy’s and daddy’s in the park. I have always told my kids call out my first name when looking for me even in a store. Now they just call on the phone..:mickey:

[1DisneyNut]

I'm glad this worked for you, but the general advice on meeting points is to not make them the big focal points. Too common for meet ups and easy to miss each other. Though, catch-22, it's probably easier for little ones to find the big focal points. The recommendation is to find a destination in each park that is more out of the way, less frequented to meet up with friends and family or lost group members.

I have heard people say this but I disagree. You can usually see the big focal point from most anywhere in the parks and for small children this is ideal as they may not remember what location you agreed on or where it is in the park. Nobody has to remember much or know much about where things are located in the park when it is the focal point.......You just head to the castle at MK and scan around. The courtyard isn't that big of an area and even if it is crowded it doesn't take long to find someone. We had it happen twice with kids under the age of 10 and could see them as we were walking up to the area.

[ransam]

I agree that a meeting point is a very good idea. But I would be very specific where to meet. IF you say in front of the castle, the castle is a big place and there are tons of people and it can get congested, especially when a show might be going on. So I suggest that you pick a specific spot...."if you get lost, find the castle, and then we will meet at this exact bench"