Disney has announced it will close all its Florida resort beaches and post new signs warning of alligators — two days after a Nebraska toddler was attacked and drowned by one of the creatures in a resort lagoon that bore no warning of their dangerous presence.
“We are also conducting a swift and thorough review of all of our processes and protocols,” Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahler told the Associated Press in a statement late Thursday night.
The absence of signage throughout the Disney theme parks, located in a state with more than a million gators across all 67 Florida counties, has drawn criticism from legal experts, among others, who say Disney could be held liable for the child’s death. Though most Floridians know that alligators live in nearly every fresh water body in the state, experts told TheWashington Post it would be reasonable to argue that vacationers coming from somewhere like Nebraska wouldn’t share the same knowledge.
The boy, Lane Graves, and his family had been at Disney for three days when they decided to spend Tuesday night relaxing on a narrow patch of beach outside the hotel.