Aligators in Disney Lakes?

[boltjames]

My friend was down here last week and said he spotted two 6 foot gators sunning themselves by one of the water hazards on the Disney operated Palm/Magnolia golf courses.

Question: Have there been reported cases of aligator spottings within Disney's lakes and hotel areas?

I'm staying off the CBR beaches until someone tells me otherwise. I can live with ducks in the pool, but gators? Gulp.

BJ

 

[Tina26]

Y'all are not going to believe this but I saw one at Magic Kingdom swimming through the water at the bottom of splash mountain. I was waiting for my dh and two ds on the bridge down at the bottom of the ride and a man comes over to me and points it out. I said "what is that an otter or something?" He said, "nope, a gator". When I looked closer (it was getting dark) I could see it was an alligator swimming right under the bridge where we were standing. He swam out into the little river or stream that lead away from splash mountain.

I couldn't wait to tell my husband when he finally came down from the ride!! Unbelievable! Right there in the middle of all those people!

Tina

 

[gabylin]

Hi there,
When we were there in August my brother and I spotted one on our way to one of the parks. We were on the Disney Bus and as we were passing a golf course we saw it swimming in a man-made lake. I didn't believe it til I saw it!!! But again folks this IS Florida!!!!!!!!

 

[ducklite]

They're all over the place. The best place to be guaranteed a look at a gator is the pond by the entrance to Shades of Green. There are a few there all the time, sometimes in the water and all you can see are those yellow eyes, other times sunning themselves on the lawn.

Disney relocates them to non-populated areas on the property when they either get very large or show even the faintest hint of inclination to get near a human, such as in the parks or some of the resort areas.

They had a problem with a large gator who liked to visit River Country. He was relocated many times, each time further back into the property. He kept coming back. Finally they decided for everyones protection that he needed to be moved into a secure area, and kept "captive". I can't recall where he lives now, perhaps in the captive areas on Discovery Island.

Anne

 

[rugrat]

Last Aug, we were told by a CM that wading or swimming was not allowed at the beach at WL because of possible alligators. That was a bummer. Do you know if the rule is the same is true for the Poly lagoon (or is it the same lake?) I booked conc. LV for the purpose of having easy access to the beach. I'm not sure it's worth it though if you can't go in the water!

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by rugrat
Last Aug, we were told by a CM that wading or swimming was not allowed at the beach at WL because of possible alligators. That was a bummer. Do you know if the rule is the same is true for the Poly lagoon (or is it the same lake?) I booked conc. LV for the purpose of having easy access to the beach. I'm not sure it's worth it though if you can't go in the water!

You are not allowed to swim in the water at the GF/Poly Beach. If you look at the map, you'll see that it really is the same body of water as the lake at the WL.

Anne

 

[ubetiski]

Several years ago we saw at least a half dozen at CBR. I don't recall seeing any others but then again I was never really looking. But trust me...they are all over the place.

 

[Mickymark]

When I was there last August I saw one in a ditch that ran in front of one of the resorts. At first i didnt think it was an aligator, then when it moved, there was no mistaking it. Then my brother and my wife saw it too.. It was probably only about three feet long but a 'gator nontheless.

 

[WebmasterPenny]

I saw a 'gator on the grass by a small lake right in the middle of CSR a couple of years ago..plain as day! They can be anywhere, so I wouldn't go in any water unless it was a pool or water park.

Penny

 

[DawnCt]

A few years ago we were water skiing in Bay Lake. The kids were knee boarding. When we finished we had lunch at Narcooses, came out to the marina again and noticed that the ski boat was still there. When we inquired, we were told that an alligator was spotted just after the last party finished skiing, so they had shut down for a while. We were the last party!

Two years ago we were exiting Shades of Green and noticed a big old 8 ft long alligator sunning himself on the grass. We stopped the car along the edge of the drive and just watched. A couple of minutes later a car load of teenage girls pulled up behind us, jumped out and started running to him! I couldn't believe it. I don't know if they thought he was tame or an animatronic figure. Luckily, he slithered back into the water and didn't jump out to greet them.

 

[skoba-nelson]

We didn't see any alligators on our recent trip but we enjoyed talking to one of the bus drivers about all the gators, panthers (or is it pumas), deers and everything else he has seen or encountered.

 

[MICOL]

I saw two very small gators, about 3 feet long at the Palm/Magnolia golf courses Sunday, One at each. Plus every kind of bird, a lizard and a few snakes. Nothing at all that ever came near you or bothered you. Great Golf courses.

 

[eeyore0062]

Yes, there are Alligators in Disney lakes, but you will see them in Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon, more than anywhere else. That is why there are no swimming signs posted around all of the WDW waterways. You can never be too careful. WDW has beautiful pools, so you won't need to swim in the lakes.

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

Its Florida!!!!

You have a fair chance of seeing a gator in any body of fresh water that has other aquatic life to dine on. PS are not required

 

[opal]

A few years back, we saw one in the body of water on the entryway into the CBR before you get to the Custom House. The Bus driver slowed down and pointed it out everyone on the bus.

 

[w8ting4pooh]

I asked my kids if they thought we would see alligators in Alligator Bayou. My 10 year old said "Oh, is that why it's called Alligator By you because there are alligators by you?!" I thought it was so cute. I never thought there really MIGHT be some. yikes.

 

[connor69]

While we were at DW last October a CM at Magic Kingdom told us that they had recently taken an alligator out of the jungle cruise ride waterway.

 

[kylara]

When I was there a couple of years ago with my nieces, we went over to Tom Sawyer Island. At one area where you could feed the ducklings, they was a CM standing there not allowing feeding cause of a gator in the water. They did not want the ducklings brought near the gator in search of food. The CM stated that they were waiting for the trapper to come to catch and relocate the gator. She stated that they usually did not relocate a gator as small as this one (about 4 feet) but to protect the ducklings they would. She also stated that trapped gators were relocated out to Disney's nature and animal preserve down in Kissimmee. She also stated that they usually only relocate gators that are over 8 feet long or are overly aggressive. She seemed to know a lot about the relocation...when asked, she said that she often saw gators relocated from TS Island so they did not disturb the ducklings.

 

[olena]

They're all over WDW....but I think they avoid humans. Nows snakes are a little different. They can be sneaky and have been spotted at resorts and in the parks.

 

[8caliace]

Each time we have stayed at SOG, one thing we looked forward to each morning was walking to the monorail at the Poly, at counting how many alligators there were each time. Usually we would see at least 1, but sometimes we saw 7-8.