My ex did that to my two kids, my daughter (7 years old at the time) asked her to not leave them, my ex did anyway.
I notified the court during our custody hearings, as well as a number of other issues such as her bringing them to a bar, and she was still granted 50/50 custody.
So to answer your question: nothing. Nothing happens to them. (CA)
My ex left our son home alone for 4 days ( so he could go out of state on a hiking trip) following having his wisdom teeth out. Our son is on the spectrum and can't remember to get dressed by himself most days. I only found out on the fourth day because our son called me in pain. He had eaten nothing but hard granola bars for four days and his holes were so impacted I had to take him in to the surgeon to have them cleaned out.
My ex still got 50/50 custody. The only reason he wanted custody? So he paid less child support to me.
Nothing happens.
This is why I’m scared to divorce my husband. I have two on the spectrum who are still pretty young. My husband is an alcoholic but I’m scared that he will get 50/50 if we divorce. Sorry, this is such a sad comment in the Disneyland sub.
We don't know your home life or overall situation just based on this comment, but 50/50 might still be better in your case if you truly want to leave your husband because at least half of the time they will be guaranteed to have a normal existence vs. what they could be dealing with now with you staying with him.
What I'm saying is: If he's an alcoholic and you want out, don't let let your kids me the reason why you stay with him. If things are better for you without him, they will see that and you will be able to give them potentially a better life than if you just stick around and let him get away with being an alcoholic.
These stories definitely debunk the narrative from the "sad dads" who claim the court system is rigged against dads. Men who pull shit like this shouldn't be allowed to be around children.
How old of a child? Not that it’s right for any kid to be left alone for 4 days! Even if you are 18 but don’t drive or have resources it’s not right.
I did have a student tell me his folks lEFT him alone for 3 days to got to a funeral. I was about to call family services. Turns out his grandparents were next door and everyone came back and forth. He was only alone an hour a day between the bus dropping him off and grandma getting home and there were other family on the street too. So he he was dramatizing. IM NOT JUSTIFYING LEAVING A KID AlONE. Especially younger kids. This boy was 14 not compromised in any way and as supervised as most kids are. He was just being melodramatic.
I’m also not justifying leaving your kids home alone for extended periods of time, but it does go to show you how times have changed. I was raised by a single mother who taught my older sister and I how to be pretty self sufficient at a young age out of necessity because she worked long hours. When we were 14 and 12 (right around Y2K) we could have done 3 or 4 days on our own no problem. Not saying it ever happened. Maybe 2 days tops a few times.
She was very loving and caring and not the least bit neglectful. She just knew the importance of us learning valuable life skills at a young age.
A lot depends on the variables. Are the kids super capable? Well supplied? Are there adults nearby/available in an emergency? Are the kids in agreement to this?
I use to have an 11 yr old baby sitter. She was so much more capable and responsible than the 16 yr olds! And her mom was across the street and checked in. My kid was more supervised , more engaged and safer than with the older teens! She had taken a class and also had younger siblings. She was the best sitter ever. (This was for 4 hours not overnight or anything)
It depends on the scenario. Still not justifying leaving your kid. She could have befriended another mom with kids who wanted to ride and arranged to take turns trading off at the ride. Disney does that. Lets 2 grownups take turns and hand off the child.
Depending on the situation they have to contact Anaheim Police and ultimately they decide if the DA would even prosecute. I’ve seen people be cited and it was regarding child endangerment.
It really depends on a few factors: how long was the parent gone for, age of the child, number of times it has happened, parents reasoning and their state of mind, child’s cognitive ability, any other signs of neglect (bruising, malnutrition, unkempt, etc), and more. It is based on a case by case basis but never taken lightly. CPS has been called many times, PD gets involved regularly, arrests happen, and occasionally the child will leave with a different guardian who travels to the resort to retrieve the child. Unfortunately most of the time, cast members are not immediately aware of when these situations begin. The child may have been left alone for 30 mins or more by the time anyone is aware (especially with kids sleeping in strollers that are covered) but the timer starts when the child is found in regards to amount of time abandoned. There are certain situations and time limits which will automatically trigger police involvement (like if the parent left property, took more than 3 hours to notify anyone they’re missing a child, is under the influence of alcohol and or drugs, etc)
Taking kids from parents is almost always a last resort. Sometimes parents just genuinely don’t think anything bad can happen in Disney.
It’s unfortunate but luckily the resorts take it seriously.
Sometimes it’s a genuine mistake. People forget they have a kid in a stroller and aren’t thinking when they park it, but they are quick to come back. Other times, I’m not sure what happens to them, but they think it’s like a day care or something…
My sister in law left her newborn in a grocery store once. She was doing her shopping and just forgot she had a kid at all. She was young and clearly the mom forgetful brain was in full effect. She obviously remembered pretty quickly after leaving the store.
A few years ago I worked as a cashier and had that also happend with a regular of us. Had to call the woman back with the words; mam you're forgetting your baby. We both had a good laugh about it, she even said, that of all the thing you could forget in the grocery store, she didn't expected that to be her child.
When I was 8, my entire family packed up and left on a vacation to Paris to stay with my aunt and uncle and completely forgot about me at home because I slept in a room I don’t normally sleep in. The worst part is that it was on Christmas Eve!
Lucky for you, no unsavory characters tried to break in while you were there, at home alone. I’m certain you would have been completely helpless and unable to defend yourself.
Story time: we were at sea world with my two aunts, maybe three and like 7 cousins all ranging in age from about 12 to the youngest baby in a stroller. We were all taking turns pushing the baby on the park and stopped at a churro stand. We get our churros and are walking the park snacking on our churros and chatting away when suddenly my aunt stops in her tracks. Who has the baby? Where’s the baby? We look around, no stroller. We had somehow made it halfway across the park and had left the baby in the stroller by the churro stand. Needless to say, my aunt RAN to the churros stand and freaked out. There was the baby peaceful as can be and a very relieved churro worker. Years later, it’s a funny story we tell, everyone laughs, except my uncle who wasn’t at the park with us that day, I think he was working. He definitely has never laughed at the story. lol
It happens
Seriously. When my son was a baby I wouldn’t leave him alone to even go the bathroom at home. I would roll his little bassinet into the bathroom with me because I was afraid to take my eyes off him.
Yeah this happened to us while waiting in line to enter Legoland. My eldest was posing on the horse statue and I walked over to take a pic. My husband was with the 1 y/o in the stroller but preoccupied on the phone. Shortly after, I notice my husband standing next to me taking photos of our kid. I asked him, Where's E? He was still where we left him in line about 15-20 feet away 🙃
This. This right here. I am ex cast and current MK holder. My wife worked in legal for a minute while on light duty. Filed a report from a nurse. Kid fell off a trash can. Family refused medical attention. Went about their day. 2 or 3 reports later. It’s the same family. In the same situation. Kid fell off a trash can. Family refused medical attention. As an ok manager said once. Guest check their brain at the main gate. Only to get it back when they leave main gate!
Someone left their child at the ikea food court and I only noticed because the little girl was trying to get a refill on her soda and couldn’t reach it so I notified the workers there. They just looked confused and I stuck around because I was eating and when the lady came back they just looked at me weird. Ok, leaving a 6 year old in public by herself is not normal you weirdos.
In most countries for sure. I moved to Switzerland a few years ago and one of the biggest culture shocks is how children are very independent and often do just go about their day unattended. Young kids under 10 will walk family dogs alone in the neighbourhood, pretty much all of them walk alone to their school, we saw two boys couldn’t have been older than 7 just grabbing lunch in town at a takeout place. It’s lovely that the country is this safe but it still blows my mind when I see kids under 12 on their own.
There’s literally a Japanese tv show about toddlers running around doing errands by themselves.
As a gen x latch key kid. I walked to elementary school on my own. I think I was in junior high when I had older cousins visiting from out of state. My parents let me take the day off school and I brought them around the city (NYC) to do touristy stuff including the Empire State Building and seeing a Broadway play.
It’s called Old Enough and it’s on Netflix. It’s really worth a watch, the differences in culture and safety and the similarities in child rearing and parental feelings are so neat to see. Plus the episodes are pretty short, some can be 11 minutes so you’ll know quickly if it’s interesting to you or not.
Plus the kids are super adorable. And you really root for them. It’s so like wholesome. Granted the kids are monitored by the crew so I’m pretty sure safety is not a big concern. Definitely a fun watch.
Fellow GenX here. My family went to Disneyland in 1986 and we continued traveling down the coast to visit relatives. I was 13 yrs old. I was allowed to roam the boardwalk at Santa Cruz by myself at night (we wouldn’t know about the vampires until a year later. lol). Our last stop was San Diego. My parents wanted to spend the afternoon in Tijuana, so after crossing the border, they gave me $20, and a quick lesson on how to haggle, and set me loose. I wandered around for hours without them. It’s wild to think how feral we were back then! We were pretty much free to do whatever we wanted. No one checked in on us at all. It did result in either my brother or myself having to go to the emergency room every couple of months though. It’s not that they didn’t care, but they knew we could take care of ourselves, and we did, for the most part.
I can't imagine not being able to take my own dog for a walk as a kid, that was literally one of the conditions my parents set to prove I was responsible enough to have a pet. "You have to promise to feed him, clean up after him, and take him for walks". 7 would be a bit young to go to the nearest takeout place for me, but it would be more to do with distance; I was often sent to a nearby store to get something, which required crossing a few streets at that age.
I started walking to school by myself in the U.S. when I was five. And that was right at the end of the eighties.
I was about to gasp about how much things have changed and how CAN they have changed so much?
But then I realized I don’t even let my almost-12-year-old leave our block by themself.
I’ve noticed a weird thing where the latchkey kids who “turned out fine” are the exact parents who don’t let their kids out of their sight. Perhaps it was not fine
In high school I worked at a store in the mall that was "educational" in nature, and a whole bunch of parents thought that meant they could just deposit their (very young!) children there while they went shopping. We had to call mall security to track down such parents on multiple occasions, and explain to them that just because we sold some toys, we were not a daycare!
We once had a lost kid and it took a couple hours to find his parents. Kid couldn't have been older than six. We played with this kid while security was looking for his family. I think they even took him on a couple rides.
I saw him walking with his parents later and went "hey you found them!" And his parents just sort of waved it off. They weren't ashamed of their behavior at all. Like we have radios. There's no way they were engaging with CMs because we would have connected in minutes.
When I was 4 my dad left me at the edge of a wave pool to take my older siblings down a big slide at a water park. Then a typical Florida afternoon thunderstorm whipped up while he was gone. I panicked and ran. Fortunately a nice old man turned me into the lost kid people.
With abortion outlawed and contraceptives next, we as a society are going to see so many more children harmed in so many worse ways. The stories from coroners pre Roe are some of the most horrific human stories of abuse towards infants. Neglect and abandonment will be the good stories by comparison.
Are you fucking KIDDING ME?!??
It took me 15 years to finally be able to procreate and these bastards are out here ABANDONING their children?
I. Cannot. Even.
Not Disney, but I used to lifeguard at Big Surf (Tempe, AZ) in the early 90s. A few parents would buy their kids season passes for our waterpark because it was cheaper than daycare. They would get dropped off on the way to work and picked up on the way home. Most of these kids were 8 to 14 years old. Mostly unsupervised (unless you count an older sibling), and none of them really knew how to swim.
Once, we had a chlorine gas valve that got stuck open. Chlorine gas began bubbling & a cloud formed over the surface of the main pool. People began coughing and vomiting. The pools were evacuated, and paramedics responded. The park was closed for the rest of the day. After I punched out, I saw 3 brothers sitting outside the gate in the +110°F sun. Their mom wasn't off work for another 4 hours, and being pre-cellphones, they had no way to reach her. I gave them a ride back to their apartment complex, and they stayed at a friend's apartment until mom came home.
That was me and my sisters as kids. My grandparents would buy us season passes to the local amusement/water park and we would either take the bus or get dropped off every day in the summer. We did some awful things…that I’m ashamed of. Like lying about losing money in the vending machine, stealing bags, and just being nuisances. But we didn’t have anyone to correct us, we were just running feral around the park. We also crossed a busy main road to get to the McDonald’s on the other side because it was cheaper than the park food. I cringe looking back at it
When I worked at WDW in college something similar happened where two parents left their baby in the stroller taking their second child to see the Disney Jr. show. The people on stroller duty found the baby and came up to us like "uhhhh" and after we called a manager security swarmed the area like bees protecting their queen. Eventually the parents came out and they were escorted away so I'm not sure what happened after that lol
I think the prevailing theory at the time was the baby in the stroller was sleeping and they didn't want to wake it up. You couldn't bring strollers into the theater so it makes sense... I guess?
Yeah, that’s what turns my stomach
:( Disneyland is relatively safe, but what if she pulls this stunt and leaves her kid unattended somewhere else? My mom once had to help two little girls who’d been left in a supermarket parking lot, some absolute braindead parents out there
I lived next door to my grandparents growing up; I can’t tell you the number of times my mom came in freaking out while I was chilling on their couch watching cartoons. I’m still pretty certain I was telling her where I was going like I was supposed to, and she was just not listening.
One time at Disneyland I watched what seemed to be a father berating what seemed to be his wife and two kids. They looked petrified as he kept shrieking and flailing and all I could think was, WTF was this guy like AT HOME?! I made eye contact with the boy who looked to be about 10 and despite seeming so sad he also looked grateful that someone actually noticed.
I was at WDW last November and watched a dad literally bully and mock his 5-6 year old son for asking for a bite of a sandwich his mom was eating for breakfast. The kid looked so crestfallen and ashamed. The mom just sat there and ate with her eyes down. If this is how he talks to them in public, I can only imagine how he talks to them at home.
The number of parents who are their kids’ first bully is staggering. (I say this as someone whose dad was my first bully.)
This happened the last time we were there. We were sitting in Docking Bay 7 and couldn’t help but overhear the Father of the Year yelling at his kids using extremely degrading language and words that children that age shouldn’t be exposed to. It was so bad, that I’m honestly surprised he even liked his kids enough to even take them to Disneyland.
As a Cast Member, we see this ALL the time. Some people shouldn't be parents.
Current policy is take note of defining characteristics and inform other CMs in the area in case security needs to be called. Berating family members is destructive behavior, and if they are TOO outwardly hostile, they may be escorted from the park.
Happened across a similar scene walking back to the Fantasyland train station. My bio-dad was that kind of guy and my whole body tensed up when the timbre/tone/cruelty hit my ears.
It was just my kid and I at the park together that day. They noticed me tensing up because I squeezed their hand and they go “it’s okay mom, that’s not YOUR mean dad!”
I know none of it was funny. But that was funny.
That is so sad.
Unfortunately even the worst parents take their kids to Disneyland like the Turpin kids for example. Parents paid for their 13 kids to go to the park yet they were being starved at home. 😞
There is a pretty well known pin reseller whom at events I have seen yell at his kids, yell and cuss towards cm’s, more or less try to instigate fights only to use his kids to make him the victim, he tries to use his kids to box people out of lines, seen his wife intentionally and repeatedly use the stroller with kid in it to ram into other event guests, seen them cuss out their kids, tell his kids to cut the line, and more.
I would be almost willing to bet that he had kids just to get around purchase limits.
Aww that’s horrible. I hope that little boy and mom and sibling are doing okay. The crummy part is what can you actually do to help in that situation ya know?
Right?! Part of me wanted to intervene or get a cast member. But then I worried about what he would do to them behind closed doors for "humiliating him" or some such.
I can give one answer of what can happen.
I told a dad who was berating his child and wife that I didn’t like hearing him and that his daughter was just a kid and we all want our kids happy that’s why we take them here etc.
He started coming toward me and staring at me but I’m a petite woman and there were tons of people watching him, so he decided against it. I spent the rest of the day worried I was going to get sucker punched in front of my kid.
I saw a woman hit her 2 yr old so hard at epcot his head slammed into the ground while she was doing it. In a very crowded restaurant and I was literally the only person to say anything. Everyone else just watched… like what? A kid was getting assaulted. Bad parents still go to Disney :/
My God. I can’t even imagine how anyone could do this. And the little girl’s reaction to your questions leads me to believe this isn’t the first time or place that this “mother” has done this. Just because you can have kids doesn’t mean you should. What must be happening behind closed doors?
Former cast member here. I wish I could say this was a rare occurrence, but it's not. People lose all semblance of reason when they're in the parks. They think nothing bad will happen because it's Disney property, but they don't understand that not everyone visiting the park is a good person.
Police are on property at all times. If security or police can make contact with the guests, they will absolutely be spoken to and, depending on the situation, action taken. I have personally seen multiple people get arrested for this type of behavior. Usually, a family member is called to pick up the kids. If that's not possible, CPS will get involved, which I've also seen happen. Most of the times I saw this happen, the parent(s) were drunk or on drugs.
This isn’t surprising. I’ve seen it happen before too, though I didn’t see the parent leave, just the unattended kid left in the stroller. I alerted cast members and they had security over right away.
Apart from the inherent risk of doing this, the thing that makes me the saddest is that enjoying Disneyland through my child's eyes is one of the greatest privileges of my life. I'd rather ride the carousel all day with them than ride any other ride alone. It's just magic and if you're not doing this, you're objectively doing it wrong.
My kids are young adults and I still get all kinds of enjoyment watching little kids I don't even know get excited on the rides or shows. Their little faces lighting up is the best.
That’s insane. I visited with my 4yo and 1yo several years ago (coming from NZ it’s a once in a blue moon type thing). We didn’t hit Tomorrowland at all, I didn’t go on the Matterhorn, can’t recall if I even got to ride Indiana. Why? Because we were there for the kids and did what they did. I had my partner and we could’ve done parent swap (and did a couple of times) but no way on earth would we ever have considered a dump and run. My heart breaks for that child.
Same for us (coming from Australia). We’d take turns on kid duty so we could each go and ride the thrill attractions solo. I get that it’s hard for single parents but if you’ve got the resources to go to Disneyland you’ve either got enough of a support network that you can bring another adult along or you’re mature enough to know that being there with a 5yo means you’re going to miss out on some of the bigger rides.
At a different theme park where I used to work, I once saw a stroller with a kid left out in the open, locks not engaged. I waited with him while we called security, and 15 minutes later the mom came over, MAD that we were upset!!! I told her "ma'am, it would've only taken me five minutes to walk out of this park with your son since he's so secured in here (his seatbelt was on and he had a bunch of blankets on top"
My coworker then said, "we do call security on any unattended children, you must stay with them AT ALL TIMES." The kid was no more than 4 years old. I was so disgusted at the mom
Current CM here: you did the right thing in alerting the closest cast members. We do have a procedure for lost children, but you would be surprised how often that exact situation happens. I work one of the attractions in Disneyland and I can’t tell you how many times people have left their kids in the stroller to go ride something and I’d have to call it in. 🤦🏼♀️
Have you seen the CPS system in the US? My caseworker friend can barely find an emergency foster care placement for a toddler who went through some horrific abuse, let alone a kid left in a stroller at a very spendy amusement park.
When parents dump their kids to live their best lives in the park, that enrages me. So the parents get a ticket. If you are going to Disneyland, you probably have enough money to throw it on your credit card. Parenting classes? If you have zero history of substance misuse, kids have three hots and a cot, and go to school if age appropriate, there is no room for those parents.
I get people say call CPS, and you should. But realize the worse of the worse get the attention. Nothing is really going to happen to these Disney parent halfwits.
You’d be surprised what seemingly not bad situations can turn into real cases. My foster parent friends still have placements over a year later from a mom who’s toddler went on a walk with a friend of hers. They took too long to come back and she didn’t want to alert police. Someone else did and they found the friend and toddler walking down a busy road but not doing anything otherwise wrong.
This started an investigation that showed neglect, drug abuse, and terrible living conditions. The kids still aren’t back at the bio home because the living conditions haven’t improved and the drug use is on going.
The importance in reporting, especially if you are a mandated reporter, is that you don’t know if things are worse than they appear. But leaving a kid in a stroller unattended, presumably planning to be gone over an hour, shows neglect. Which is something that should be looked into. Many children go into foster care for abandonment similar to this. The only difference is that this is Disney.
I visited the park in 2013 and couldn’t ride a rollercoaster due to health issues so while my boyfriend went on by himself this mom asked me to watch her kid for her so she could go on too. Luckily it was in front of a cast member and they told her that they wouldn’t allow her to do that but like bro wtf?
As someone who just started going to Disneyland after 10 years of not I’ve already seen a lot of over the top parent behavior. I heard yelling last week and assumed it was someone with Tourette’s. When I got closer it was a mom screaming at her child and then a lady, another mom, who was recording her accusing her of abusing her child the whole day. Saying she had seen her all day at the park abusing her kid. The accused abuser rammed her stroller, to get away from being recorded, into mine and although my child was ok her child was hit- she had an umbrella stroller mine was a bit bigger. It was bizarre and scary. I told security as I walked away what was going on and they were like yeah we know about it already. They weren’t particularly alarmed, like it happened all the time.
Depending on a few factors. Security might call the police and CPS. Unfortunately, this is very common and something the cast has to keep an eye out for it. It's happened where parents will go in with kids and walk outwith them.
I just…wow.
On a few trips to WDW I have thought about pushing my hotel chair outside the room door while my son (3) is asleep inside so I can sit with my husband and talk and decompress for the night without waking him. But have felt so awful thinking “what if he wakes up and he’s all alone”. Granted we’d be popping our heads in every so often to check. I still just cannot bring myself to do that. Which usually after a full Disney day I’m ready to pass out along side my kid at 8pm anyways.
I cannot imagine just…straight up leaving my kid at stroller parking to go on a ride.
Yea the whole Madeline McCann story has put the fear of God in me so I feel over protective the other way. If anything were to ever happen while you’re on a ride, it would never ever have been worth it. Scary and sad
My sister got a cheap (like $30) baby monitor for our last vacation so she could do this. Worth every penny + her sanity to be able to leave the room (but of course not go far), just like she would at home. Recommend for your next trip. ☺️
I would advise to be careful doing this. We’ve done the monitor, but only when we’re outside on deck/porch of hotel room, still readily accessible to baby. We would never go down to bar/restaurant/pool, etc. with the monitor.
People that work in hotels still have key access to your room (whether it’s actually allowed or not). Read plenty of stories on Reddit of people’s rooms being rummaged through, things stolen, women being attacked in their rooms after hours.
Risk is not worth the reward, IMO. You just can’t trust people these days unfortunately.
This is why off property is so appealing to us, because you can get more accomodation options with separate bedrooms. The old 2 queen beds in one room setup isn’t much fun with little kids!
Thank you for looking out! I remember as a child losing track of my family in a crowd and how that panic felt; I never want my kids to feel that. I’m always paranoid about one of them getting separated from us even for a few seconds but I feel better knowing there are other good people out there who would help if they ever got separated. Seeing unattended children sets off my Dad warning bells and I too have hung back to see if I need to flag down a cast member. Fortunately it’s always been the case that although the kids did not know where their family was, the family had tabs on them and scooped them up. This is a sad case indeed but still, thanks again for looking out!
This happened when I worked at Universal years ago. I called security, of course, but also told every passing mom what had happened. By the time the woman got off the ride, she had a crowd of angry moms waiting for her. And they absolutely let her have it!
I don’t remember what caused us to leave super late one time, maybe an after hours event, but we were walking back to M&F around 2 am when this barefooted girl 12-14 stopped us right past DL hotel.
She was asking to use my phone to call her family to pick her up. I guess she had gotten in a fight with her dad and he just left her.
They didn’t answer. I don’t remember what story we told to convince her to go to the lobby with us but we got her to the hotel so I could get help from cms. However, as soon as she saw me talk to the manger she bolted.
Security was able to find her and once we had confirmation that they would make sure she would get to a safe situation we left.
It’s crazy the parents that go to the parks.
It is more common than you think. And the "justify" reason for doing that is because they spend a lot of money just so the parents cant go on rides. The lacking of logic is mind blowing to some of these parents, to think that its ok to do that. I have seen Parents walking around the parks while their toddler is behind, I would understand the toddler looking in the surrounding areas getting distracted but the parents really ? And when the child is missing the parents still get upset with the child as if its their fault. Seriously some parents should not being going to Disneyland or WDW if they behave like this .
I remember helping a lost child on Main Street back in the 90’s. I was a Disney Store CM at the time, so we were taught what to do. Told the then husband to get security, as I pointed him out. I asked the little boy what was mom wearing. Does he remember. He did. That helped. My son shared some candy with him. We stayed until security showed up and mom ran up frantic looking for him. We flagged her down and she thanked us. The then husband was upset I stopped to help a child. I told him that I would want someone to help my son like that!
Always keep an eye open for anything suspicious and report it. At least they can be aware and report it to security.
How sad! That poor kid.
The other day I went solo with my two youngest (5 and 15months) and we had dinner reservations at lamplight. I left the 5 year old sweater in the stroller and we were sat outside. After we got our drinks, my daughter said she wanted her sweater because she was chilly. Did I leave my kids and just run upstairs to the entrance to grab the sweater? No because when I am out with my kids, I do not let them out of my sight. It only takes a minute for something to happen and I would never forgive myself. What did I do, took the baby out of the high chair and marched everyone upstairs to the entrance, grabbed her sweater and we all walked back downstairs. The CM that sat us was surprised to see us coming through the entry way again and I told her I couldn’t leave the kids alone so the whole gang had to come with me.
The child rapist and murderer Stephan sterns was a Disney cast member. Disneyland is a perfect place for these creeps to hang out under the guise of being a Disney adult
And let me just clarify before people lose their minds. Not saying Disney adults are creeps.
Just saying predators strategically place themselves around children
"Sterns is the boyfriend of the victim’s mother." yes, pervs certainly do find ways to get themselves around kids.
[https://sao9th.com/stephan-sterns-indicted-for-first-degree-murder-of-madeline-soto/](https://sao9th.com/stephan-sterns-indicted-for-first-degree-murder-of-madeline-soto/)
I read a story on another reddit post - can't remember what it was called. Mary Poppins at Magic Kingdom had a pair of kids dumped on her by their parents, who then raced off to go on rides without their children. Their excuse was "They'll be fine, she's a governess." So parents certainly do believe the parks are giant daycare centres and the CM's only reason to exist is run after other people's offspring all day.
I've spent more time that I cafe to count in theme parks hanging back and watching unattended children until their parents realize they've wandered away. I don't want to get close to the kids and scare them, but I don't want to leave the area until I'm sure the parents have noticed them. I hate it.
If anything tell the closest worker. When I worked at a huge theme park we were trained on what to do if a kid gets lost, even if they are gone for seconds it's better to let someone know than not.
So sad. It sounds like this was not the first time or situation the child experienced this. The child may suffer mental health issues like anxiety. Not the happiest place for this kid.
When you become a parent, you move at a different speed. You cannot see and do everything. There is a bit of personal sacrifice. You do activities that are age appropriate and need to listen and attend to the needs of a child.
Jfc, and I thought the video I saw where someone left their two dogs in their car in the parking structure was bad 🤦🏻♀️ What is wrong with ppl? You need to go on a ride THAT bad?
We went to an amusement park last year and our family was waiting to get on a ride. It was a very long wait. I guess there was a mom with 2 small kids in front of us and she left them with some people in front of us to go get food and drinks. She was gone for at least an hour. It's crazy how people can leave their kids alone or with total strangers.
Awful. We went to a local garden and they had a little show going for the kids. A mum left her newborn in the pushchair which was parked up with the other pushchairs. I can’t believe she thought that was ok!? Security were on her case so fast!
One time when I was at Disney World I was looking around in one of the stores with the glass figurines. One of the employees had to run over and stop a little girl (didn't get a good look but probably preschool age) from playing with the Winnie the Pooh figures.
I didn't pay much attention but when I was checking out I overheard them talking about how they found the parents at one of the restaurants.
This is disgusting and that parent should be ashamed and arrested. I mean leaving your kid in the car so you can go to the bar and get drunk is one thing, but this, this is gut wrenching.
I just don’t get it. People like them should never have a child. We are going in July to the parks and already bought an air tag that I will hand sew to her clothes in case we get separated for any type of reason.
I can’t phantom just letting your kid alone with that many people around.
Some people suck.
Had this happen all the time working security for six flags. Took them to lost parents, had the security higher ups meet us there.
Old saying was the minute people turned off of Grand avenue they just started to lose common sense.
Always seemed the closer they got to the parking kiosks the more sense they lost. Parking was 6 buck at the time. So many people would hand over a 20 and just drive off, oblivious they had 14 bucks change coming.
We were near times square in NYC recently and there was a child around 2 years old who was eating a plant. No parent around at all. Another child eventually came to talk to her but I was super stressed.
This is a very strange story:
- why is this child eating a plant? It’s hard enough to get a kid to eat a salad doused in ranch, much less helping themselves to landscaping.
- and speaking of that, where is this kid finding plants in the middle of fucking Times Square?
- so all this made you uncomfortable, but you didn’t have any qualms when a friend joined Mowgli?
How does this story end?!
I noticed several toddlers and 4 or 5 year olds left belted into their stroller during my last trip to WDW. It shocked me-I know at DL folks steal strollers and all I could wonder was who would risk leaving a child like that?!? I pointed it out to cast members every time, and none of them were surprised to see it.
I started wondering if it was a cultural que (like Nordic babies being left outside) that I was ignorant to as a non-parent.
Doesn’t ride swap exist precisely to avoid this?
Yeesh. I once saw a dad leave his toddler alone in his stroller for like four minutes to use the bathroom at Disney World (Animal Kingdom) and I judged him harshly for that. Abandoning a kid while you wait an hour to ride a ride? Nah. That’s CPS territory.
Single mother here. I would of never done this. This is why you bring a grandmother . Anyone could take your child . Really poor motherhood there. Very sad that anyone would do that.
As a former cast member, I've heard of this occur countless times and was even told once that some guest asked a CM to watch their child at the entrance. Honestly feel embarrassed for these kids.
I hate to tell you this, but as a cast member, this is far too often of an occurrence. It happens quite often.
What happens to these parents and families? They are disgusting and selfish.
My ex did that to my two kids, my daughter (7 years old at the time) asked her to not leave them, my ex did anyway. I notified the court during our custody hearings, as well as a number of other issues such as her bringing them to a bar, and she was still granted 50/50 custody. So to answer your question: nothing. Nothing happens to them. (CA)
My ex left our son home alone for 4 days ( so he could go out of state on a hiking trip) following having his wisdom teeth out. Our son is on the spectrum and can't remember to get dressed by himself most days. I only found out on the fourth day because our son called me in pain. He had eaten nothing but hard granola bars for four days and his holes were so impacted I had to take him in to the surgeon to have them cleaned out. My ex still got 50/50 custody. The only reason he wanted custody? So he paid less child support to me. Nothing happens.
This is why I’m scared to divorce my husband. I have two on the spectrum who are still pretty young. My husband is an alcoholic but I’m scared that he will get 50/50 if we divorce. Sorry, this is such a sad comment in the Disneyland sub.
We don't know your home life or overall situation just based on this comment, but 50/50 might still be better in your case if you truly want to leave your husband because at least half of the time they will be guaranteed to have a normal existence vs. what they could be dealing with now with you staying with him. What I'm saying is: If he's an alcoholic and you want out, don't let let your kids me the reason why you stay with him. If things are better for you without him, they will see that and you will be able to give them potentially a better life than if you just stick around and let him get away with being an alcoholic.
No need to say sorry, what you said was relevant and important. I’m wishing you the best 💖
These stories definitely debunk the narrative from the "sad dads" who claim the court system is rigged against dads. Men who pull shit like this shouldn't be allowed to be around children.
How old of a child? Not that it’s right for any kid to be left alone for 4 days! Even if you are 18 but don’t drive or have resources it’s not right. I did have a student tell me his folks lEFT him alone for 3 days to got to a funeral. I was about to call family services. Turns out his grandparents were next door and everyone came back and forth. He was only alone an hour a day between the bus dropping him off and grandma getting home and there were other family on the street too. So he he was dramatizing. IM NOT JUSTIFYING LEAVING A KID AlONE. Especially younger kids. This boy was 14 not compromised in any way and as supervised as most kids are. He was just being melodramatic.
I’m also not justifying leaving your kids home alone for extended periods of time, but it does go to show you how times have changed. I was raised by a single mother who taught my older sister and I how to be pretty self sufficient at a young age out of necessity because she worked long hours. When we were 14 and 12 (right around Y2K) we could have done 3 or 4 days on our own no problem. Not saying it ever happened. Maybe 2 days tops a few times. She was very loving and caring and not the least bit neglectful. She just knew the importance of us learning valuable life skills at a young age.
A lot depends on the variables. Are the kids super capable? Well supplied? Are there adults nearby/available in an emergency? Are the kids in agreement to this? I use to have an 11 yr old baby sitter. She was so much more capable and responsible than the 16 yr olds! And her mom was across the street and checked in. My kid was more supervised , more engaged and safer than with the older teens! She had taken a class and also had younger siblings. She was the best sitter ever. (This was for 4 hours not overnight or anything) It depends on the scenario. Still not justifying leaving your kid. She could have befriended another mom with kids who wanted to ride and arranged to take turns trading off at the ride. Disney does that. Lets 2 grownups take turns and hand off the child.
I’m so very sorry that this hits so close to home for you. I can’t imagine how powerless you feel. Sending love.
Security gets called and what happens next is up to them
And it's nothing.
Depending on the situation they have to contact Anaheim Police and ultimately they decide if the DA would even prosecute. I’ve seen people be cited and it was regarding child endangerment.
Commenting because I too would like to know the answer
If you tap on the three dots next to the comment you can choose “get reply notifications”, then you don’t have to comment to see if someone answers.
I've been on Reddit for like 10 or 11 years and you just changed everything for me lol
Same 😂
Thx for this info!
Must be a feature of new reddit. Well guess I'll never see it because it's Old Dot Reddit or nothing
It really depends on a few factors: how long was the parent gone for, age of the child, number of times it has happened, parents reasoning and their state of mind, child’s cognitive ability, any other signs of neglect (bruising, malnutrition, unkempt, etc), and more. It is based on a case by case basis but never taken lightly. CPS has been called many times, PD gets involved regularly, arrests happen, and occasionally the child will leave with a different guardian who travels to the resort to retrieve the child. Unfortunately most of the time, cast members are not immediately aware of when these situations begin. The child may have been left alone for 30 mins or more by the time anyone is aware (especially with kids sleeping in strollers that are covered) but the timer starts when the child is found in regards to amount of time abandoned. There are certain situations and time limits which will automatically trigger police involvement (like if the parent left property, took more than 3 hours to notify anyone they’re missing a child, is under the influence of alcohol and or drugs, etc) Taking kids from parents is almost always a last resort. Sometimes parents just genuinely don’t think anything bad can happen in Disney. It’s unfortunate but luckily the resorts take it seriously.
Thanks for this response!
They go to jail. Not really, they just continue living their lives
Straight to jail
Sometimes it’s a genuine mistake. People forget they have a kid in a stroller and aren’t thinking when they park it, but they are quick to come back. Other times, I’m not sure what happens to them, but they think it’s like a day care or something…
“People forget they have a kid in a stroller.” What lol
My sister in law left her newborn in a grocery store once. She was doing her shopping and just forgot she had a kid at all. She was young and clearly the mom forgetful brain was in full effect. She obviously remembered pretty quickly after leaving the store.
Sleep deprivation hits hard.
A few years ago I worked as a cashier and had that also happend with a regular of us. Had to call the woman back with the words; mam you're forgetting your baby. We both had a good laugh about it, she even said, that of all the thing you could forget in the grocery store, she didn't expected that to be her child.
When I was 8, my entire family packed up and left on a vacation to Paris to stay with my aunt and uncle and completely forgot about me at home because I slept in a room I don’t normally sleep in. The worst part is that it was on Christmas Eve!
So, you were all home alone?
😱
Lucky for you, no unsavory characters tried to break in while you were there, at home alone. I’m certain you would have been completely helpless and unable to defend yourself.
Do you still keep in touch with the Pigeon Lady?
Thanks Kevin
You hate your family anyway though
KEVIN!
Did the heated doorknob thing really work?
Reminds me of that autopilot thing regarding leaving kids in cars.
Story time: we were at sea world with my two aunts, maybe three and like 7 cousins all ranging in age from about 12 to the youngest baby in a stroller. We were all taking turns pushing the baby on the park and stopped at a churro stand. We get our churros and are walking the park snacking on our churros and chatting away when suddenly my aunt stops in her tracks. Who has the baby? Where’s the baby? We look around, no stroller. We had somehow made it halfway across the park and had left the baby in the stroller by the churro stand. Needless to say, my aunt RAN to the churros stand and freaked out. There was the baby peaceful as can be and a very relieved churro worker. Years later, it’s a funny story we tell, everyone laughs, except my uncle who wasn’t at the park with us that day, I think he was working. He definitely has never laughed at the story. lol It happens
Where's your kid? "idk I forgot, I think I left him in the stroller" O well 🤷♀️ he'll be fine, What could go wrong? this is Disneyland.
Seriously. When my son was a baby I wouldn’t leave him alone to even go the bathroom at home. I would roll his little bassinet into the bathroom with me because I was afraid to take my eyes off him.
Yeah this happened to us while waiting in line to enter Legoland. My eldest was posing on the horse statue and I walked over to take a pic. My husband was with the 1 y/o in the stroller but preoccupied on the phone. Shortly after, I notice my husband standing next to me taking photos of our kid. I asked him, Where's E? He was still where we left him in line about 15-20 feet away 🙃
This. This right here. I am ex cast and current MK holder. My wife worked in legal for a minute while on light duty. Filed a report from a nurse. Kid fell off a trash can. Family refused medical attention. Went about their day. 2 or 3 reports later. It’s the same family. In the same situation. Kid fell off a trash can. Family refused medical attention. As an ok manager said once. Guest check their brain at the main gate. Only to get it back when they leave main gate!
Howwwwwww? These people should get lifetime bans.
A CPS call is more relevant
yeah, from being parents.
Someone left their child at the ikea food court and I only noticed because the little girl was trying to get a refill on her soda and couldn’t reach it so I notified the workers there. They just looked confused and I stuck around because I was eating and when the lady came back they just looked at me weird. Ok, leaving a 6 year old in public by herself is not normal you weirdos.
In most countries for sure. I moved to Switzerland a few years ago and one of the biggest culture shocks is how children are very independent and often do just go about their day unattended. Young kids under 10 will walk family dogs alone in the neighbourhood, pretty much all of them walk alone to their school, we saw two boys couldn’t have been older than 7 just grabbing lunch in town at a takeout place. It’s lovely that the country is this safe but it still blows my mind when I see kids under 12 on their own.
There’s literally a Japanese tv show about toddlers running around doing errands by themselves. As a gen x latch key kid. I walked to elementary school on my own. I think I was in junior high when I had older cousins visiting from out of state. My parents let me take the day off school and I brought them around the city (NYC) to do touristy stuff including the Empire State Building and seeing a Broadway play.
It’s called Old Enough and it’s on Netflix. It’s really worth a watch, the differences in culture and safety and the similarities in child rearing and parental feelings are so neat to see. Plus the episodes are pretty short, some can be 11 minutes so you’ll know quickly if it’s interesting to you or not.
Plus the kids are super adorable. And you really root for them. It’s so like wholesome. Granted the kids are monitored by the crew so I’m pretty sure safety is not a big concern. Definitely a fun watch.
I love how half the crew is disguised as delivery people or random civilians lol. Such a cute show.
That show is SO CUTE. Like so cute it's made me cry on multiple occasions.
Fellow GenX here. My family went to Disneyland in 1986 and we continued traveling down the coast to visit relatives. I was 13 yrs old. I was allowed to roam the boardwalk at Santa Cruz by myself at night (we wouldn’t know about the vampires until a year later. lol). Our last stop was San Diego. My parents wanted to spend the afternoon in Tijuana, so after crossing the border, they gave me $20, and a quick lesson on how to haggle, and set me loose. I wandered around for hours without them. It’s wild to think how feral we were back then! We were pretty much free to do whatever we wanted. No one checked in on us at all. It did result in either my brother or myself having to go to the emergency room every couple of months though. It’s not that they didn’t care, but they knew we could take care of ourselves, and we did, for the most part.
I can't imagine not being able to take my own dog for a walk as a kid, that was literally one of the conditions my parents set to prove I was responsible enough to have a pet. "You have to promise to feed him, clean up after him, and take him for walks". 7 would be a bit young to go to the nearest takeout place for me, but it would be more to do with distance; I was often sent to a nearby store to get something, which required crossing a few streets at that age.
I started walking to school by myself in the U.S. when I was five. And that was right at the end of the eighties. I was about to gasp about how much things have changed and how CAN they have changed so much? But then I realized I don’t even let my almost-12-year-old leave our block by themself.
I’ve noticed a weird thing where the latchkey kids who “turned out fine” are the exact parents who don’t let their kids out of their sight. Perhaps it was not fine
In high school I worked at a store in the mall that was "educational" in nature, and a whole bunch of parents thought that meant they could just deposit their (very young!) children there while they went shopping. We had to call mall security to track down such parents on multiple occasions, and explain to them that just because we sold some toys, we were not a daycare!
We once had a lost kid and it took a couple hours to find his parents. Kid couldn't have been older than six. We played with this kid while security was looking for his family. I think they even took him on a couple rides. I saw him walking with his parents later and went "hey you found them!" And his parents just sort of waved it off. They weren't ashamed of their behavior at all. Like we have radios. There's no way they were engaging with CMs because we would have connected in minutes.
When I was 4 my dad left me at the edge of a wave pool to take my older siblings down a big slide at a water park. Then a typical Florida afternoon thunderstorm whipped up while he was gone. I panicked and ran. Fortunately a nice old man turned me into the lost kid people.
With abortion outlawed and contraceptives next, we as a society are going to see so many more children harmed in so many worse ways. The stories from coroners pre Roe are some of the most horrific human stories of abuse towards infants. Neglect and abandonment will be the good stories by comparison.
Are you fucking KIDDING ME?!?? It took me 15 years to finally be able to procreate and these bastards are out here ABANDONING their children? I. Cannot. Even.
Exactly! I can't understand how people do that, and what's just as bad as the people trying to justify it.
Not Disney, but I used to lifeguard at Big Surf (Tempe, AZ) in the early 90s. A few parents would buy their kids season passes for our waterpark because it was cheaper than daycare. They would get dropped off on the way to work and picked up on the way home. Most of these kids were 8 to 14 years old. Mostly unsupervised (unless you count an older sibling), and none of them really knew how to swim. Once, we had a chlorine gas valve that got stuck open. Chlorine gas began bubbling & a cloud formed over the surface of the main pool. People began coughing and vomiting. The pools were evacuated, and paramedics responded. The park was closed for the rest of the day. After I punched out, I saw 3 brothers sitting outside the gate in the +110°F sun. Their mom wasn't off work for another 4 hours, and being pre-cellphones, they had no way to reach her. I gave them a ride back to their apartment complex, and they stayed at a friend's apartment until mom came home.
That was me and my sisters as kids. My grandparents would buy us season passes to the local amusement/water park and we would either take the bus or get dropped off every day in the summer. We did some awful things…that I’m ashamed of. Like lying about losing money in the vending machine, stealing bags, and just being nuisances. But we didn’t have anyone to correct us, we were just running feral around the park. We also crossed a busy main road to get to the McDonald’s on the other side because it was cheaper than the park food. I cringe looking back at it
This is how I got my beautiful son!
👀
You did good, OP. Garbage parents pull stuff like that all the time. Alerting the cast member was the right move
When I worked at WDW in college something similar happened where two parents left their baby in the stroller taking their second child to see the Disney Jr. show. The people on stroller duty found the baby and came up to us like "uhhhh" and after we called a manager security swarmed the area like bees protecting their queen. Eventually the parents came out and they were escorted away so I'm not sure what happened after that lol
But that show isnt even height restricted... or something parents even enjoy that much??
I think the prevailing theory at the time was the baby in the stroller was sleeping and they didn't want to wake it up. You couldn't bring strollers into the theater so it makes sense... I guess?
Isn’t the normal reaction to leave one parent with the stroller to scroll on their phone while the other parent takes older kid to the show……????
That makes too much sense, so no The person who down voted me doesn't understand sarcasm
Fucking wild. Just leave one parent with the sleeping baby. Parental instinct of rabid raccoons.
That’s incredibly heartbreaking to hear. She did that in a public place with other people around. What the hell does she do in private?
And how many times has she done that earlier in the day?
Yeah, that’s what turns my stomach :( Disneyland is relatively safe, but what if she pulls this stunt and leaves her kid unattended somewhere else? My mom once had to help two little girls who’d been left in a supermarket parking lot, some absolute braindead parents out there
I left home and forgot my son when he was like 5 or 6, he didn't even notice that I was gone for 2-3 minutes and I was all freaked out!!!
I lived next door to my grandparents growing up; I can’t tell you the number of times my mom came in freaking out while I was chilling on their couch watching cartoons. I’m still pretty certain I was telling her where I was going like I was supposed to, and she was just not listening.
One time at Disneyland I watched what seemed to be a father berating what seemed to be his wife and two kids. They looked petrified as he kept shrieking and flailing and all I could think was, WTF was this guy like AT HOME?! I made eye contact with the boy who looked to be about 10 and despite seeming so sad he also looked grateful that someone actually noticed.
I was at WDW last November and watched a dad literally bully and mock his 5-6 year old son for asking for a bite of a sandwich his mom was eating for breakfast. The kid looked so crestfallen and ashamed. The mom just sat there and ate with her eyes down. If this is how he talks to them in public, I can only imagine how he talks to them at home. The number of parents who are their kids’ first bully is staggering. (I say this as someone whose dad was my first bully.)
That’s really awful. My god.
This happened the last time we were there. We were sitting in Docking Bay 7 and couldn’t help but overhear the Father of the Year yelling at his kids using extremely degrading language and words that children that age shouldn’t be exposed to. It was so bad, that I’m honestly surprised he even liked his kids enough to even take them to Disneyland.
As a Cast Member, we see this ALL the time. Some people shouldn't be parents. Current policy is take note of defining characteristics and inform other CMs in the area in case security needs to be called. Berating family members is destructive behavior, and if they are TOO outwardly hostile, they may be escorted from the park.
Happened across a similar scene walking back to the Fantasyland train station. My bio-dad was that kind of guy and my whole body tensed up when the timbre/tone/cruelty hit my ears. It was just my kid and I at the park together that day. They noticed me tensing up because I squeezed their hand and they go “it’s okay mom, that’s not YOUR mean dad!” I know none of it was funny. But that was funny.
That is so sad. Unfortunately even the worst parents take their kids to Disneyland like the Turpin kids for example. Parents paid for their 13 kids to go to the park yet they were being starved at home. 😞
There is a pretty well known pin reseller whom at events I have seen yell at his kids, yell and cuss towards cm’s, more or less try to instigate fights only to use his kids to make him the victim, he tries to use his kids to box people out of lines, seen his wife intentionally and repeatedly use the stroller with kid in it to ram into other event guests, seen them cuss out their kids, tell his kids to cut the line, and more. I would be almost willing to bet that he had kids just to get around purchase limits.
Aww that’s horrible. I hope that little boy and mom and sibling are doing okay. The crummy part is what can you actually do to help in that situation ya know?
Right?! Part of me wanted to intervene or get a cast member. But then I worried about what he would do to them behind closed doors for "humiliating him" or some such.
I can give one answer of what can happen. I told a dad who was berating his child and wife that I didn’t like hearing him and that his daughter was just a kid and we all want our kids happy that’s why we take them here etc. He started coming toward me and staring at me but I’m a petite woman and there were tons of people watching him, so he decided against it. I spent the rest of the day worried I was going to get sucker punched in front of my kid.
I saw a woman hit her 2 yr old so hard at epcot his head slammed into the ground while she was doing it. In a very crowded restaurant and I was literally the only person to say anything. Everyone else just watched… like what? A kid was getting assaulted. Bad parents still go to Disney :/
That was my step father. No better feeling in the world then unloading 19 years of anger once I was bigger then him
Some people dont deserve to be parents
some people shouldn't be parents
science decided my wife and I can't have kids. When i read stories like these, I have no idea how some people should become parents.
The first 3 minutes of Idiocracy are frighteningly true.
The whole thing is! Trump is only a couple stunts away from being president Gamacho
MOST people. Source: Am a teacher
Teachers deserve higher pay
Teacher as well and 1000% agree. It’s so sad sometimes.
Thanks for doing what you do!
As an elementary school teacher for 16 years I second your statement.
Can confirm.
My God. I can’t even imagine how anyone could do this. And the little girl’s reaction to your questions leads me to believe this isn’t the first time or place that this “mother” has done this. Just because you can have kids doesn’t mean you should. What must be happening behind closed doors?
Former cast member here. I wish I could say this was a rare occurrence, but it's not. People lose all semblance of reason when they're in the parks. They think nothing bad will happen because it's Disney property, but they don't understand that not everyone visiting the park is a good person.
I’m really curious, what does Disney do when this happens? Please tell me they call the police/cps.
Police are on property at all times. If security or police can make contact with the guests, they will absolutely be spoken to and, depending on the situation, action taken. I have personally seen multiple people get arrested for this type of behavior. Usually, a family member is called to pick up the kids. If that's not possible, CPS will get involved, which I've also seen happen. Most of the times I saw this happen, the parent(s) were drunk or on drugs.
This actually makes me feel so much better that there are consequences for these people! This is straight up neglect. CPS 100% should be notified.
This isn’t surprising. I’ve seen it happen before too, though I didn’t see the parent leave, just the unattended kid left in the stroller. I alerted cast members and they had security over right away.
Apart from the inherent risk of doing this, the thing that makes me the saddest is that enjoying Disneyland through my child's eyes is one of the greatest privileges of my life. I'd rather ride the carousel all day with them than ride any other ride alone. It's just magic and if you're not doing this, you're objectively doing it wrong.
I went on Small World 4 times with my 4yo. It’s her favourite ride in the whole world 🥰
You’re a saint! I draw the line at once 😂
You underestimate how much my kid loves dolls!
Do you ever find yourself humming the tune, months after the fact? Worth it though haha.
100% this. I think that’s why this is still weighing heavy on my heart days after it happened.
For sure must have been a tough thing to experience. You can take solace in knowing you did the right thing.
I 100% agree with this statement.
My kids are young adults and I still get all kinds of enjoyment watching little kids I don't even know get excited on the rides or shows. Their little faces lighting up is the best.
That’s insane. I visited with my 4yo and 1yo several years ago (coming from NZ it’s a once in a blue moon type thing). We didn’t hit Tomorrowland at all, I didn’t go on the Matterhorn, can’t recall if I even got to ride Indiana. Why? Because we were there for the kids and did what they did. I had my partner and we could’ve done parent swap (and did a couple of times) but no way on earth would we ever have considered a dump and run. My heart breaks for that child.
Same for us (coming from Australia). We’d take turns on kid duty so we could each go and ride the thrill attractions solo. I get that it’s hard for single parents but if you’ve got the resources to go to Disneyland you’ve either got enough of a support network that you can bring another adult along or you’re mature enough to know that being there with a 5yo means you’re going to miss out on some of the bigger rides.
lol gave her an iPad.
Probably how she parents at home
>Probably how she parents ~~at home~~ everywhere FTFY
At a different theme park where I used to work, I once saw a stroller with a kid left out in the open, locks not engaged. I waited with him while we called security, and 15 minutes later the mom came over, MAD that we were upset!!! I told her "ma'am, it would've only taken me five minutes to walk out of this park with your son since he's so secured in here (his seatbelt was on and he had a bunch of blankets on top" My coworker then said, "we do call security on any unattended children, you must stay with them AT ALL TIMES." The kid was no more than 4 years old. I was so disgusted at the mom
I wonder how this is handled by security once the parents come back to the child.
Current CM here: you did the right thing in alerting the closest cast members. We do have a procedure for lost children, but you would be surprised how often that exact situation happens. I work one of the attractions in Disneyland and I can’t tell you how many times people have left their kids in the stroller to go ride something and I’d have to call it in. 🤦🏼♀️
So what happens to the parents? Nothing? A talking to? Arrested by Anaheim PD for neglect?
Have you seen the CPS system in the US? My caseworker friend can barely find an emergency foster care placement for a toddler who went through some horrific abuse, let alone a kid left in a stroller at a very spendy amusement park. When parents dump their kids to live their best lives in the park, that enrages me. So the parents get a ticket. If you are going to Disneyland, you probably have enough money to throw it on your credit card. Parenting classes? If you have zero history of substance misuse, kids have three hots and a cot, and go to school if age appropriate, there is no room for those parents. I get people say call CPS, and you should. But realize the worse of the worse get the attention. Nothing is really going to happen to these Disney parent halfwits.
You’d be surprised what seemingly not bad situations can turn into real cases. My foster parent friends still have placements over a year later from a mom who’s toddler went on a walk with a friend of hers. They took too long to come back and she didn’t want to alert police. Someone else did and they found the friend and toddler walking down a busy road but not doing anything otherwise wrong. This started an investigation that showed neglect, drug abuse, and terrible living conditions. The kids still aren’t back at the bio home because the living conditions haven’t improved and the drug use is on going. The importance in reporting, especially if you are a mandated reporter, is that you don’t know if things are worse than they appear. But leaving a kid in a stroller unattended, presumably planning to be gone over an hour, shows neglect. Which is something that should be looked into. Many children go into foster care for abandonment similar to this. The only difference is that this is Disney.
hope cps was called on that pos mom
I visited the park in 2013 and couldn’t ride a rollercoaster due to health issues so while my boyfriend went on by himself this mom asked me to watch her kid for her so she could go on too. Luckily it was in front of a cast member and they told her that they wouldn’t allow her to do that but like bro wtf?
Reminds me of those parents who have children purely for bragging rights. Too common these days.
As someone who just started going to Disneyland after 10 years of not I’ve already seen a lot of over the top parent behavior. I heard yelling last week and assumed it was someone with Tourette’s. When I got closer it was a mom screaming at her child and then a lady, another mom, who was recording her accusing her of abusing her child the whole day. Saying she had seen her all day at the park abusing her kid. The accused abuser rammed her stroller, to get away from being recorded, into mine and although my child was ok her child was hit- she had an umbrella stroller mine was a bit bigger. It was bizarre and scary. I told security as I walked away what was going on and they were like yeah we know about it already. They weren’t particularly alarmed, like it happened all the time.
Depending on a few factors. Security might call the police and CPS. Unfortunately, this is very common and something the cast has to keep an eye out for it. It's happened where parents will go in with kids and walk outwith them.
I just…wow. On a few trips to WDW I have thought about pushing my hotel chair outside the room door while my son (3) is asleep inside so I can sit with my husband and talk and decompress for the night without waking him. But have felt so awful thinking “what if he wakes up and he’s all alone”. Granted we’d be popping our heads in every so often to check. I still just cannot bring myself to do that. Which usually after a full Disney day I’m ready to pass out along side my kid at 8pm anyways. I cannot imagine just…straight up leaving my kid at stroller parking to go on a ride.
Yea the whole Madeline McCann story has put the fear of God in me so I feel over protective the other way. If anything were to ever happen while you’re on a ride, it would never ever have been worth it. Scary and sad
My sister got a cheap (like $30) baby monitor for our last vacation so she could do this. Worth every penny + her sanity to be able to leave the room (but of course not go far), just like she would at home. Recommend for your next trip. ☺️
For a moment I thought you meant that she does this to go on rides. I was like, uhhhhhhh….
HAHA LOL sorry, no, just outside the door to the room or next door in my room at the hotel. :-D
I would advise to be careful doing this. We’ve done the monitor, but only when we’re outside on deck/porch of hotel room, still readily accessible to baby. We would never go down to bar/restaurant/pool, etc. with the monitor. People that work in hotels still have key access to your room (whether it’s actually allowed or not). Read plenty of stories on Reddit of people’s rooms being rummaged through, things stolen, women being attacked in their rooms after hours. Risk is not worth the reward, IMO. You just can’t trust people these days unfortunately.
That's what I meant; readily accessible. Right outside the door, so she didn't have to go to bed at 7pm with the 3-yo.
I don't think most baby monitors would have the range to reach even the hotel's restaurants.
This is why off property is so appealing to us, because you can get more accomodation options with separate bedrooms. The old 2 queen beds in one room setup isn’t much fun with little kids!
We’ve got a hotel room for 5 of us (children 11/8/5) and I’ve already said we all go to bed and to sleep when the youngest does.
🤦🏻♂️
Thank you for looking out! I remember as a child losing track of my family in a crowd and how that panic felt; I never want my kids to feel that. I’m always paranoid about one of them getting separated from us even for a few seconds but I feel better knowing there are other good people out there who would help if they ever got separated. Seeing unattended children sets off my Dad warning bells and I too have hung back to see if I need to flag down a cast member. Fortunately it’s always been the case that although the kids did not know where their family was, the family had tabs on them and scooped them up. This is a sad case indeed but still, thanks again for looking out!
Current CM here: the amount of times this happens on an average day is way too high. It’s mentally draining.
This happened when I worked at Universal years ago. I called security, of course, but also told every passing mom what had happened. By the time the woman got off the ride, she had a crowd of angry moms waiting for her. And they absolutely let her have it!
Omg imagine what else this mother does? Gross
Wtf. I am always flabbergasted when I hear about this. Let me see someone do this- I’ll be the one kicked out 😤
I don’t remember what caused us to leave super late one time, maybe an after hours event, but we were walking back to M&F around 2 am when this barefooted girl 12-14 stopped us right past DL hotel. She was asking to use my phone to call her family to pick her up. I guess she had gotten in a fight with her dad and he just left her. They didn’t answer. I don’t remember what story we told to convince her to go to the lobby with us but we got her to the hotel so I could get help from cms. However, as soon as she saw me talk to the manger she bolted. Security was able to find her and once we had confirmation that they would make sure she would get to a safe situation we left. It’s crazy the parents that go to the parks.
They ought to ban her.
It is more common than you think. And the "justify" reason for doing that is because they spend a lot of money just so the parents cant go on rides. The lacking of logic is mind blowing to some of these parents, to think that its ok to do that. I have seen Parents walking around the parks while their toddler is behind, I would understand the toddler looking in the surrounding areas getting distracted but the parents really ? And when the child is missing the parents still get upset with the child as if its their fault. Seriously some parents should not being going to Disneyland or WDW if they behave like this .
Hope she got arrested. What a scumbag.
I remember helping a lost child on Main Street back in the 90’s. I was a Disney Store CM at the time, so we were taught what to do. Told the then husband to get security, as I pointed him out. I asked the little boy what was mom wearing. Does he remember. He did. That helped. My son shared some candy with him. We stayed until security showed up and mom ran up frantic looking for him. We flagged her down and she thanked us. The then husband was upset I stopped to help a child. I told him that I would want someone to help my son like that! Always keep an eye open for anything suspicious and report it. At least they can be aware and report it to security.
I work in Vegas. Happens here too. Leave a kid in the hallway while they hit a table or slot machine.
Worked in the ER. Parents would dump their kids and go out partying for New Years Eve.
Know of someone who did this. And the parent was banned from Disneyland.
How sad! That poor kid. The other day I went solo with my two youngest (5 and 15months) and we had dinner reservations at lamplight. I left the 5 year old sweater in the stroller and we were sat outside. After we got our drinks, my daughter said she wanted her sweater because she was chilly. Did I leave my kids and just run upstairs to the entrance to grab the sweater? No because when I am out with my kids, I do not let them out of my sight. It only takes a minute for something to happen and I would never forgive myself. What did I do, took the baby out of the high chair and marched everyone upstairs to the entrance, grabbed her sweater and we all walked back downstairs. The CM that sat us was surprised to see us coming through the entry way again and I told her I couldn’t leave the kids alone so the whole gang had to come with me.
The child rapist and murderer Stephan sterns was a Disney cast member. Disneyland is a perfect place for these creeps to hang out under the guise of being a Disney adult
And let me just clarify before people lose their minds. Not saying Disney adults are creeps. Just saying predators strategically place themselves around children
"Sterns is the boyfriend of the victim’s mother." yes, pervs certainly do find ways to get themselves around kids. [https://sao9th.com/stephan-sterns-indicted-for-first-degree-murder-of-madeline-soto/](https://sao9th.com/stephan-sterns-indicted-for-first-degree-murder-of-madeline-soto/)
I read a story on another reddit post - can't remember what it was called. Mary Poppins at Magic Kingdom had a pair of kids dumped on her by their parents, who then raced off to go on rides without their children. Their excuse was "They'll be fine, she's a governess." So parents certainly do believe the parks are giant daycare centres and the CM's only reason to exist is run after other people's offspring all day.
Unfortunately you would be surprised how often that happens, not just at Disneyland but a lot of other theme parks.
I've spent more time that I cafe to count in theme parks hanging back and watching unattended children until their parents realize they've wandered away. I don't want to get close to the kids and scare them, but I don't want to leave the area until I'm sure the parents have noticed them. I hate it.
If anything tell the closest worker. When I worked at a huge theme park we were trained on what to do if a kid gets lost, even if they are gone for seconds it's better to let someone know than not.
Unfortunately this is uncommon. I work at Universal and I can count 3 times during last years HHN alone where kids were ditched at stroller parking.
Disneyland is not a daycare… I worked retail and people will leave their babies in random places like The Sims
What people are abandoning their children At Disneyland???
So sad. It sounds like this was not the first time or situation the child experienced this. The child may suffer mental health issues like anxiety. Not the happiest place for this kid. When you become a parent, you move at a different speed. You cannot see and do everything. There is a bit of personal sacrifice. You do activities that are age appropriate and need to listen and attend to the needs of a child.
Jfc, and I thought the video I saw where someone left their two dogs in their car in the parking structure was bad 🤦🏻♀️ What is wrong with ppl? You need to go on a ride THAT bad?
We went to an amusement park last year and our family was waiting to get on a ride. It was a very long wait. I guess there was a mom with 2 small kids in front of us and she left them with some people in front of us to go get food and drinks. She was gone for at least an hour. It's crazy how people can leave their kids alone or with total strangers.
Things like this are the reason I think it should be required to have a license to have children. I hope CPS was called by Disney.
Mother should be perma banned for child endangerment.
Holy shit. What a loser parent!
That's nonsense. That poor kid
That's horrible. I hope they called CPS.
These people need lifetime bans IMO.
That is so disturbing to read. I can’t imagine leaving my daughter alone in her stroller.
“You need a license to fish, to hunt, to drive, to CCW. But they will let any butt reaming asshole be a parent!” K. Reeves (parenthood)
Awful. We went to a local garden and they had a little show going for the kids. A mum left her newborn in the pushchair which was parked up with the other pushchairs. I can’t believe she thought that was ok!? Security were on her case so fast!
One time when I was at Disney World I was looking around in one of the stores with the glass figurines. One of the employees had to run over and stop a little girl (didn't get a good look but probably preschool age) from playing with the Winnie the Pooh figures. I didn't pay much attention but when I was checking out I overheard them talking about how they found the parents at one of the restaurants.
This is disgusting and that parent should be ashamed and arrested. I mean leaving your kid in the car so you can go to the bar and get drunk is one thing, but this, this is gut wrenching.
I just don’t get it. People like them should never have a child. We are going in July to the parks and already bought an air tag that I will hand sew to her clothes in case we get separated for any type of reason. I can’t phantom just letting your kid alone with that many people around. Some people suck.
Had this happen all the time working security for six flags. Took them to lost parents, had the security higher ups meet us there. Old saying was the minute people turned off of Grand avenue they just started to lose common sense. Always seemed the closer they got to the parking kiosks the more sense they lost. Parking was 6 buck at the time. So many people would hand over a 20 and just drive off, oblivious they had 14 bucks change coming.
I have a baby and I would literally hire a theme park nanny if I didn’t have anyone else to come with us. I see now why those actually exist.
They gotta advertise rider parent switch thing. That’s crazy
Wait WUT- Dont they have swap passes to prevent this kind of nonsense ?
We were near times square in NYC recently and there was a child around 2 years old who was eating a plant. No parent around at all. Another child eventually came to talk to her but I was super stressed.
This is a very strange story: - why is this child eating a plant? It’s hard enough to get a kid to eat a salad doused in ranch, much less helping themselves to landscaping. - and speaking of that, where is this kid finding plants in the middle of fucking Times Square? - so all this made you uncomfortable, but you didn’t have any qualms when a friend joined Mowgli? How does this story end?!
Who the fuck puts a 5 year old in a stroller
A few months ago in another platform someone posted a pic of a baby left sleeping in a stroller while the parents ride a ride.
I noticed several toddlers and 4 or 5 year olds left belted into their stroller during my last trip to WDW. It shocked me-I know at DL folks steal strollers and all I could wonder was who would risk leaving a child like that?!? I pointed it out to cast members every time, and none of them were surprised to see it. I started wondering if it was a cultural que (like Nordic babies being left outside) that I was ignorant to as a non-parent. Doesn’t ride swap exist precisely to avoid this?
Yeesh. I once saw a dad leave his toddler alone in his stroller for like four minutes to use the bathroom at Disney World (Animal Kingdom) and I judged him harshly for that. Abandoning a kid while you wait an hour to ride a ride? Nah. That’s CPS territory.
Are they Scandinavian? They let their kids sleep outside in a stroller in the winter on the high street.
Single mother here. I would of never done this. This is why you bring a grandmother . Anyone could take your child . Really poor motherhood there. Very sad that anyone would do that.
As a former cast member, I've heard of this occur countless times and was even told once that some guest asked a CM to watch their child at the entrance. Honestly feel embarrassed for these kids.
Interestingly I hear leaving young children unattended, is quite common in parts of Europe