Lost children?

[GrumpyFan]

Have you ever lost your any of your children at WDW? Embarassingly, I have to admit to having done this on our last trip (Sep 07).

There was a bunch of us who had left MK and caught the Monorail over to the Contemporary to get some coffee. After we ordered, we walked outside to the bus stop and caught a bus to Downtown Disney. The bus pulls in to the Polynesian, and is just about to pull away, when my phone rings and it's my youngest son (10yo) calling me. At first I thought he was just playing around with me, as I looked around to see where he was, then confusion set in as I answered the phone and he asks, "Dad, where are you?", and I respond, "we're on the bus, where are you?". When he answered, "in the hotel, looking for you", I almost dropped my phone! The bus was just about to pull away, and I told my wife to have the driver hold, so I could get off and go back to the Contemporary. I practically ran upstairs to the Monorail station and caught the next monorail and rode impatiently all the way back around to the Contemporary. I found our son, very close to where we had left him, and gave him a big hug. It seems he was tired, and decided to sit down in one of the comfy chairs in the hotel lobby while we were waiting on our coffee, then he didn't notice we left, and we didn't notice we left him! Needless to say, it was a little un-nerving when it all happened.

Anybody else care to share your lost children experiences?

[wedway76]

Nope! We did try several times but were unsuccessful.

[jclightchasr]

Thank the Lord this has not happened to us but we have had a few close calls its good your son knew how to get in contact with you. Someone told me the other day that the monorail doesn't stop at the contemporary only passes through??? I thought that was a little strange obviously this is not the case.

[MidnTPK]

Isn't it a 'lost parent' in Disney speak?

[Darbylew]

We were standing in front of Pizzafari when
my little granddaughter decided to walk down
the stairs to see the otters but of course we
did not know this. We were all in a panic but
qucikly found her. Thank goodness but it is a
scary time. We have told them now that if they are lost then they need to find the nearest CM
and tell them. Now that they are a little older
then some of them have cell phones which is a
blessing so they can call. That was great that
your son had a cell phone. They sure can come
in handy at a time like that.

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

Nope! We did try several times but were unsuccessful.

[mrsHerbie53]

Thankfully, no. But I always make sure he has our cell phone numbers attached to himself somewhere. He is 9 now and I still do it even though he knows them, just in case. When he was little I was careful not to put his name on the info, just the cell numbers. I also make sure he knows what the CMs look like with the name tags and all. It only takes a split second and in those crowds it must be awful....

[me...]

Thank the Lord this has not happened to us but we have had a few close calls its good your son knew how to get in contact with you. Someone told me the other day that the monorail doesn't stop at the contemporary only passes through??? I thought that was a little strange obviously this is not the case.

The Express monorail from the TTC to the MK doesn't stop at the Contemporary. But the Resort Monorail makes stops at all the hotels on the resort line along with the TTC and MK.

[conwayjohn71]

We have 2 DD's and when we went last year, we made both of them lanyards with a photo of them on the front and thier first name, hotel we were staying at, grandmothers home number in case our cell phones were not picking up and our cell phone numbers on the back.

So everytime our youngest who was 5 at the time would get mad at us for not buying this or that she would show her card to a CM and say "can you call my grandmom, she will get this for me"......

the funniest thing about that is we were in toon town tent and she did that to one of the managers and they ended up giving her the stuffed donald duck, it was funny, after that we almost could not get her to stop

[thrillme]

I did once at Tyhpoon Lagoon. He didn't want do the snorkle tank again and I did. There was no line so it wasn't that big of a deal. He was just going to wait on the bridge. Well he discovered he could see me in the submarine so he went there. ACK. I lost him for almost 2 minutes (I can panic quickly). I screamed for him and by that time he'd been watching me the whole time and was standing right behind me totally perplexed.

Not at Disney but I lost him one time at a hotel in Dallas. We had raced to the elevator (playing) and he beat me. The elevator was just getting ready to close and he got on but I didn't. I waited for the next elevator...of course by that time he realized I was farther behind than he thought...and I didn't make the elevator with him...so as I went down...he came up...we both looked around then he came down I went up...PANIC...I went back down (as he went AGAIN back up) and went to the desk clerk (I was ready to call the police...yes...for real...the police). FINALLY he came down and saw me at the front desk. Talk about an abbot and costello routine.

[jwildflower1981]

Nope! We did try several times but were unsuccessful.

Funny!

[mickey&missy]

Thank god no!

I made DD and DS ID cards for next trip with their names, our hotel, my cell, DH's cell etc

I found a lost little girl last trip. Well, she found me. Our family was walking through AK on our way to leave and a cute little girl walked right to me and said "I can't find my Mommy" I told her it would be ok and I would help her and stay with her until her mommy was found. I flagged down a group of CM's and they were going to take her away. I stopped them and said I thought that they were supposed to stay were the child was found, they kind of looked at each other funny. I was about to suggest that they call a manager or something when the Mommy walked up. She was sooooooo mad at the little girl! I mean fuming mad! She screamed at her (the little girl couldn't have been older then 4) and snatched her up and walked away. Not a word to me or the CM's. The Mom's reaction kind of took all of us back. I would have been completely panicked and so happy to see her safe and sound I proably would have cried!

[thrillme]

I found a lost little girl last trip. Well, she found me. Our family was walking through AK on our way to leave and a cute little girl walked right to me and said "I can't find my Mommy" I told her it would be ok and I would help her and stay with her until her mommy was found. I flagged down a group of CM's and they were going to take her away. I stopped them and said I thought that they were supposed to stay were the child was found, they kind of looked at each other funny. I was about to suggest that they call a manager or something when the Mommy walked up. She was sooooooo mad at the little girl! I mean fuming mad! She screamed at her (the little girl couldn't have been older then 4) and snatched her up and walked away. Not a word to me or the CM's. The Mom's reaction kind of took all of us back. I would have been completely panicked and so happy to see her safe and sound I proably would have cried!

That's so sad. My DS was a LOT older when I lost him I only lost him for a couple of minutes (as I stated earlier he was right behind me). Yes I did cry and hug him (poor kid was completly perplexed because he wasn't lost). Nobody had found him before me but they would have DEFINATELY gotten my gratitude. The elevator incident (although tremendously hilarous to me now)...had me in tears and sick in my stomach. Oh my gosh...when he was 4...I swear that kid had a cloaking device. He'd be standing right next to me and I'd overlook him. If I didn't catch site of him in 5 seconds I would scream. He'd promptly tug on my shirt...Mommy I'm right here!!!

[dolewhiplovers]

Yes, it was quite a long time ago and I am still incredibly embarassed about it. Our youngest son who is now 8 was 3 at the time. We were a party of 6 and it was our first time on Kali River Rapids. We all posed on the bridge after getting off the ride to take photos of our wet behinds and then laughing, walked away. About 2 minutes later, we realized that no one had Josh and I panicked. It seemed everyone thought that someone else had him. We found a cast member who asked all the right questions. She wanted to know where he was when we last saw him, what he was wearing (down to his shoes), his age, etc. She was so calm it was almost comforting. That dear woman got on a two-way to let the appropriate people know and the search began. She then retraced our steps with us. We had been looking in our immediate vicinity. She took us back to the ride and that smart little boy was waiting right where we had posed for out "wet" photo. I could barely see him through my tears. He was very angry when he stated that "you left me". We have always told our children that if they get seperated from us to stay right where they are and wait for a CM to come to them. He had done exactly what we had told him to do. Unfortunately, his mother in a panic, forgot. I still cry when I think of that experience. Now, everytime we walk into one of the parks (or any large gathering of people) we discuss what to do if any of us get seperated from the rest of the group. It is comforting to know If you ever need to find a lost child Disney has a plan that they put into effect immediately. It is an awful feeling to lose your child, always discuss what to do it that happens (and then remember what you discuss).

[Beast_fanatic]

I haven't lost any, but I did find a couple on our trip in October.

We were early for our dinner ADR in Epcot, so we were wondering around the countries a bit, and we got tired and sat down on a bench for a moment to relax and people watch. I saw a couple of boys - maybe 10 years old, looking around confused with tears on their faces and no adults paying any attention to them. So, I got up and went over and asked if their parents were lost and they told me that they were.

They had been watching the drummers perform and apparently the parents had gone on, but the kids didn't. I promised them it would be OK, and that their moms (mums, as they were from the UK) would come back for them as soon as they noticed they were gone, and that the best thing was to just stay put. I had my DH go find a CM to help just in case. I managed to get their names (difficult as only one would talk, and his accent was a bit hard to decipher through the tears), and found out what his mum was wearing.

Hubby came back with a female CM who thanked me and dismissed me saying she'd handle it. I was fine with her handling it, but thought we'd stick around for a few more minutes as the one boy that was talking seemed to trust me. She started trying to calm them down, and had just keyed in on her radio when there was a commotion, and the mums came running through the crowd equally tear stained, and very glad to see the boys. They also thanked me, and everything was OK in the end.

[kakn7294]

We've never lost our kids, but in December 2006, we lost FIL's wife numerous times (she's a perfectly competent adult in her mid-50's). The last straw was when she wandered away in AK and ended up all the way across the park from the rest of the group. She called FIL on her cell phone and was reaming him out but good. DH and I finally left the rest of the group by Kali and went to find her by the bridge to Camp Minnie-Mickey after we told her to name a landmark she was near and then stay put. When we got there, she wasn't there as she had wandered away again. Luckily for her, she wandered back just as DH had decided he'd had enough of her antics and was about to leave her behind. Somehow, though, we were all wrong to leave her behind whenever she wandered off.

[Disneyatic]

We almost lost our daughter and she still berates me about it today, 2 years later!

It was our very first trip to WDW and she was 6. We were at the train station in Toontown and the train had just pulled in and everyone was starting to board. Right about that time I saw Mary Poppins (my absolute most favorite character) come out and as we were going thru the gate I said "Come on, it's Mary Poppins" and I took off for her. Right as we got up to her and I was getting the camera out I heard the most awful cry of "MOMMY" and turned around and our daughter was standing in the train loading area about 15 feet away and crying! I am SO glad that she didn't get on the train.
Needless to say I felt worse than awful and we rushed over to her and she said "You left me". Oh I just wanted to crawl under a rock. We comforted her and apologized and then I got scolded by Mary Poppins
She will still tell people that her mom left her at the train station for Mary Poppins and I still apologize to her for it to this day.

[CaptainJessicaSparrow]

The term depends on which one we have. If we have the child, it's a Lost Parent. If we have the adults, then it's a Lost Child. 90% of the time, it's the adults who go off and the children are exactly where they were left (or a little from their spot since a CM has found them).

And sadly, it's a common reaction for parents to start screaming at their kids when they are reunited. I've seen it hundreds of times, and I try to explain to them that they just found their child who was scared and they should be comforting them, not yelling.

The best place to look for a lost child is Baby Care. The majority of the time, this is where they will bring the child if they can't find the parents immediately. We get calls about every 15-20 minutes there asking for Lost Children. One thing not to do, is not to run up and down Main Street screaming. There is only one or two of the family, and there are hundreds of CM's and security. If you lose your child, contact a CM and we can spread out and cover more ground for a quicker recovery. Plus if we do find the child, it's harder to reunite you guys if the parents are running around everywhere.

As you can see, I've dealt with this situation several times....in the last week alone.

[GrumpyFan]

And sadly, it's a common reaction for parents to start screaming at their kids when they are reunited. I've seen it hundreds of times, and I try to explain to them that they just found their child who was scared and they should be comforting them, not yelling.

Sad indeed! I can't imagine yelling at my kid for such a thing! It's got to be a somewhat traumatizing experience to look around and not see ANYONE you recognize...

As you can see, I've dealt with this situation several times....in the last week alone.

I would like to say a heart-felt "thank you" for the work you do! We so appreciate it!

[scootch713]

I take my two young daughters to WDW ALONE! Thankfully, have never lost one of them. I do tape my cell phone numbers in their shoes.... and they know to find a cast member to call me.