I lost my DD!!!!! (*long)!!!!

[issa]

With all the planing and preparing for our frist family trip to disney, we are finally back!!!

Loki and I will post about our experiances, the food, and the resort in the upcoming days.

But I did want to post this for those planning a trip with thier children.

Frist off ..it was an incredible, magical trip. before we left I took a recent family photo of loki, DD ( 5) and I and on the back of that wrote

My name is......
my mommy's name is.....
my daddy's name is

we are staying at ASMo may 3rd-9th
pager # is......

and this was kept in a ziplock bag in her fanny pack. she did not leave the hotel room unless that pack was on her and it did not come off till we were back in the room that night.
i did this because I wanted the cm's to know WHO they were looking to return her to.

also
apon entering the parks I introduced her to cm's ..pointed out thier name badges and told her to always look for one..they would be by rides and stores and food carts..and if she couldnt see us they would help her find us.


I NEVER THOUGHT IT ALL THIS WOULD ACTUALLY BE NEEDED!!!!!

Both loki and I are ever watching our child. we are always watching her and communicating on which of us is with her.

it was about an 1 1/2 before sat's mk fireworks. we stopped at the bridge leading into fantasy land to take a quick picture...she was in the stroller happily eating her ice. Literlly it was about as long as ..honey, the castle looks beutiful from here, please take a picture...picture is taken..we stroll on, walk to the hub entrance of future world to walk a stake out a small spot we found earlier (literally maybe, MAYBE a span of 3 mins has past) loki turns to talk to DD and says..where's _______! i say..in the stroller..pull back the hood and she was GONE!!!!!

I remember saying wheres my daughter...and I ran to the bridge...(enter 15 sec time lapse..it was literlly that close) DD is no where in sight.... I think at that moment when i scanned the area I realized how many people were there....i can tell you my heart did stop, This was the frist time ever of losing sight of my child.

Loki started to look and I remember shouting 'wheres a cm??) I ran to a cart selling somthing and by chance saw a cm walking on the sidewalk. I blurted out, "I cant find my daughter, help me (insert hysterical mother tears here)

The cm was wonderful... he remained calm as the people were filling into the hub for the firworks. Loki shouted he would continue to look. The cm guided me to city hall as I recited everything I had remembered about DD, her hair style, how many clips in her hair, her dress, the butterflies on the front, her sandles, EVERYTHING! and anything that would stand out...most important i told him about the fanny pack and the info inside. he took all this information down at city hall. as he was typing I looked out the doors..and I saw the front gates...i swear I have never had such a feeling of dread..what if someone got her out the gates???

the cm then talked over the walkie talkie, descibed her briefly before the other cm remarked she had already been found. !!! (about 10 mins have pasted since stopping to take the photo..maybe 15)

they then told me to go to the baby care center, I would meet her there. Now I am a hefty girl...i dont run.....let me tell you I dont think my feet touched the ground running up main street through that crowd. when i got there the center had already got the call and that DD was being escorted by guards to the center..it would be about 15 mins..god it took forever! DD was chatting away until i saw her and bolted to pick her up..we were both then crying..I have never known such relife!..I hugs the guards and thank them so much...I was sooo thankful of disney for having such a system inplace.


what the guards did share with me was that DD had walked over the bridge and made it to the teacups (if I had walked further when we had frist lost her I would have probly found her.... but I had soooo conditioned my self not to panick and to find a cm)
She then walked up to a cm, told them her name and that she could not find me or daddy, and then told them to look in her pouch to find me. the cm was amazed at the information on her, how calm she was, and how she intentionally looked for a cm.

all I can say is that I am soooo glad I took those extra moments to pack that picture, that extra 5 mins out to show her a cm badge.
she did it, excatly how she was suppose to.

we headed back to the bridge and met up with a very panicked daddy eventually who told a cm he had lost his fiancee while looking for his lost child..they pointed him in the right direction.

we sat down and hugged, cried and waited for tinkerbell to fly and then had a very magical moment watching the fireworks.


The reason for the rather long story is to give a glimpse of what actually happens when a child is lost. Inever ever thought it would happen to us...but being nuerotic , I planned anyways. I saw soooooo may parents not watching children..children running hither and yon. kids playing with no adults in sight.......they were not lost, My child , who is watched always, was lost. It can happen to anyone
plan plan plan....hopefully you will never have to go through this experiance,,, buts its good to know disney is prepared and will help.


by the way.... DD wanted to see if ariel was in the moat , so had gotten out of the stroller while we thought we we "alll " watching the castle.
it only takes a second!

 

[apm]

Quite a story! I'm glad everything turned out OK. Wonderful idea with the family picture and info -- I'll use it for my 4 yr old DD. Thanks!

Andy
CSR, July 2001 (57 days!)

 

[PRINCESS VIJA]

Wow, I was crying right along with you! I can't imagine the fear of losing you child. We leave in 4 days, and I have put off dealing with identification. Thank you for your post, it will now be a priority in getting done before we leave!

 

[Pooh667]

Hi,

Oh my goodness, just reading your story made my heart pound. I am glad that everything worked out.

Susan

 

[MikeBW]

I always wondered about losing a child in WDW. I'm sure it happens quite often. I am glad that everything worked out fine for you - boy it must have been a long 15 minutes without your DD. Disney comes thru again!

 

[Betsyfun]

Issa...what a heart wrenching story...Tears...goosebumps.. i have experienced them all while reading your tale. We always do similar things to identify our children...you just never think it will happen. I am so very thankful that the story ended happily ever after.....afterall this is Disney..

 

[sha_lyn]

I know how you feel. My son and a friend of his form preschool got lost when he was 5 at Zoo Atlanta. It was during a carity kids race and the rout was suppose to be well staked out to guide the kids. Well some how they and a few others were routed to where breakfast was being served instead of the finsh line (which was also the starting line). All for of us went nuts (both sets of parents). My ds had done as he had always been told (we also always pointed out employees at parks we were at). My DS had told someone they werre lost and he needed to go to the big stage. They told him to just wait, that everyone would come to breakfast after the last race. He insisted to go back to the stage. There they were, him holding her hand, not worried at all.

 

[tiggersmomof4]

So glad your daughter is safe and sound! I will definitely be taking your advice when we visit in Oct. with our 4 DDs!!

 

[Mamatipo]

Thank goodness everything went smoothly!! I know you must have been freaked out! Thank you for your good suggestions. I have a 2 year old "runner" and I will definitely heed your suggestions. He will be too young to understand "go look for a CM," but I will be extra, extra vigilant!

 

[crzy4dsny]

On a recent trip to disney I saw a child with his name,mothers name, and cell phone number written on a card and pinned to the back of his shirt.I don't think that is a good idea. Any one could walk up to him and say, hey "Joey"your mom "Sue" told me to take you with me.All of that info should not be exposed to everyone,I don't let my kids wear anything with their name on it.The idea of putting the info in a fanny pack is much better. Pointing out cm's to your children and telling them to find one of them if they get lost is something I am going to do on my next trip.

 

[KangaT]

Lord, I got chills reading your story. Thank heavens everything worked out alright.

And here I thought I was just being "such a MOM!" again (as DH puts it). I've made an info card for each of our DS's (10, 7 and 4) to carry in their hip packs. And in case the kids really freak, I've included "PopPop's" cell phone number (he'll be here at home) so they can always talk to a familiar voice.

In addition, DH and I will each have a card with physical description of each child, identifying marks, etc. on us - mine has recent pictures of each DS. BTW, one of my boys has no identifying marks at all. We're taking a permanent marker and making a mark on his body (area covered by clothes) each morning.

Thanks for helping remind us all that even the most diligent parents can't watch them every moment!

KangaT

 

[Feralpeg]

I know something of how you felt. A few years ago, my 7 year old daughter and I were waiting for the monorail to open at TTC. While we were waiting in line, I turned around to read a sign. When I turned back, I couldn't see my daughter. Several bus loads of people had entered the area and she had apparently gotten caught up in the crowd. I started yelling for her, but got no response. Although several people asked me what she looked like, we couldn't find her. I ran to the nearest CM. Of course, I was practically hysterical. He was very calm and told me that we would fine her. About that time, the gates opened to the monorail and the crowd move on through. I was desperately looking over the crowd when I felt a little tug on my arm. There she was! She had big tears in her eyes. I grabbed her in such a tight hug, I'm don't know how I kept from crushing her. By this time, I was also crying. She told me that when the crowd began to move, she hugged a trash can! The CM just stood there and smiled. He told us that DW was no place for tears and he gave my daughter a magnet that he said was only for children who had been lost at WDW.

Although everything turned out fine, I found myself close to tears the rest of the day! That evening, we called home to talk to my sister. Of course, the first thing my daughter told her aunt was that "Mommy lost me today"!

 

[Maleficent2]

I am so happy for you...but my BP must have risen 10 points reading your story and the tears have not stopped yet so I can only imagine how you felt......


My DM lost my nephew at AllStar Movies this year she was supposed to be watching him while DSis did some washing.He wanted to go outside and I am unsure about how he got lost but got lost he did.He is 5 and he somehow made his way to the main building and told a CM he was lost.When DS got back to the room DM told here he was missing and DS went hysterial call a CM and CM got on walkie talkie and Wal la they had him.

So yes their lost child system does work.


But thank God that these were real lost children and not something else......the thought send chilss up and down my spine.



Mal

 

[rbuzzotta]

I have such a lump in my throat. We go to WDW often and I will make sure we place an index card with identifying information in the pockets of my 3 DD's.

When my 5 year old was nearly 3 andI was 7 months pregnant, she wondered away from the playground at PO. When my DH and I realized she was missing I nearly gave birth. She headed out the gate and was walking down the walkway!!! It totally ruined my evening as I cried and couldn't sleep thinking what could have been

Since then I always hold onto my kids hands (my oldest, 9, stays very close), but have never thought about supplying them with identification. Thanks for the information and so happy to hear that you definetly had a magical ending.

Pixie dust was sprinkled on all of you that evening!!

 

[mom2boys]

Too scary. I too had a lump in my throat & watery eyes reading your post. My son (then 4) wondered off during the cookout at Disney's Hilton Head Resort. The child actually walked past the pool and through the gate. Then he hid in the tall grass because "no bad guys would find him, only Mommy". All I could think of was the swamp & the pool. I was actually on my way to scan the bottom of the pool when he came around the corner with a CM.
I print "business cards" on my computer before we go to DisneyWorld. I put my children's identifying info, allergies, resort & my cell phone # on it. My kids love these because I print their favorite scene on it - space, Mickey, whatever they're into at the time. At WDW, I insist that each child carry a resort ID. These are coded with the adult's name, resort, room # (& who knows what else). If there is any question that I am my kid's mom, all they have to do is compare the magnetic strips on the resort ids.

 

[Patio]

What a nightmare, but thank goodness everything worked out for you. I bought a leash and had my ds and I connected. It may look silly but you can never be too careful.

 

[rogers803]

Wow! Thank goodness she is okay. My heart pounded while reading your story. Thanks for the good advice and sharing your story.

 

[OhioDaddy]

I have only one word - GULP! This was an eyeopener, thank you for sharing your story.

 

[Pooh93]

OMG! This is a real eye opener and I scanned quickly to see the outcome before I went back and read all the details. What a smart thing to do and I'll do the same next time we take our children somewhere that is crowded.

 

[Pembo]

Wow! I never thought to make up an id card for my 5 yo son! We just went in April and also had a scary experience. My dh went to guest services at the hotel, my ds was in jammies watching TV on the bed, I went in the bathroom. I heard the room door open and close. I called out to my dh, no answer, to my ds, no answer.

To make a long story short, my ds decided to go find Daddy! I was frantically screaming for him out my door. A man down the way from us, had seen my ds(in jammies and bare feet), and helped me look for him. I was a wreck!!! We stated at PO Riverside and the building zig and zag so it was hard to see him. I kept yelling and he finally did answer and then the man brought him to me!

It was horrible. Thinking of all the scenarios!!! We had a LONG talk about stranger danger, being lost, etc. I threatened him with a leash if he disappeared again. The humor in the story is when we saw a little one a leash the next day my ds had a look of knowing horror on his face. LOL!!!

You never know what kids will do! Be prepared!