Reason to be fearful?

[maxiesmom]

I have no answers just ditto the confusion. When the alligator thing happened I was like wait a minute isn't that the same water they do water skiing in??? Confused.

From what I understand the boats scare the alligators away. They are afraid of getting hit.

 

[ton80]

I'd be more concerned with splash over or falling in the water with the flesh/brain eating amoebas that lurk..

 

[Tallent]

Why not ask them directly?

407-939-0754
reservations@sammyduvall.com
http://sammyduvall.com/#contact

Thanks! On my list to do today

 

[wilkeliza]

I would do it. I use to go to a lake that was full of gators in Texas. Of course we thought about it time to time but never once did we get hurt and I don't know if anyone got hurt. I believe they had gator feeders that kept their attention on the other side of the lake so it wasn't often we even got one on the camping side.

There are many reasons I would 1 being that gators don't really attack in deep open water which is where you would be tubing. Two is the brain eating bacteria everyone is bringing up isn't just a FL waters thing. Yes there is a risk but that risk has been there for a long time and I figure if it is my time so be it. I grew up on lakes in hot summers and maybe it is just ingrained in me. There are many more risks to tubing then just gators and amebas. IF you fall off you could break your neck, hurt yourself, get tangled in the line. All sorts of stuff. So different people are going to have different risk vs reward levels on any water activity.

Now if since you are already thinking about the dangers then it probably isn't great to do it because you wouldn't enjoy it. You'd be a nervous wreck the whole time.

 

[DVC_Dad_Canada]

We have lived in FL since '84' and have been tubing, skiing, swimming, canoeing etc. in lakes, rivers and oceans. Is it 100% safe? No, but you have a far greater chance of getting injured or killed in a car crash then you do by a gator attack.
Yes, if there is a body of water in FL then there is a good chance that a gator is in it. The "rare" gator attacks happen by the edge of the water and not in the middle of a lake. Thousands of Floridians are in the lakes daily during spring and summer and if it was so dangerous you would be reading about it all the time. I have been canoeing on rivers that have gators, I have been golfing and seen gators, so I guess I should not do that either.

Nothing in life is risk free. Unfortunately, people tend to overestimate extremely rare but dramatic risks and underestimate more common but routine risks. Yes, one child died by a gator at WDW. Statistically that's one out of the hundreds of millions of visitors since the park opened. Compare that to the number of people killed driving to WDW, which would be significantly higher.

If this is a paid for activity, talk to the people running it about your concerns. The odds of being hurt by a gator at 100 million to one are beyond extremely rare, so as long as the company providing the service does even basic safety procedures, you'll be fine.

 

[WEDWDW]

I'm still surprised considering Disney's non-reaction to the Fort Wilderness attack years ago and their HUGE reaction to the recent tragedy with a complete "lockdown" with fences and rocks of the WDW beaches,that they didn't go ahead and eliminate any Sammy Duvall activities with "Guest entry" possibilities into the lake.

 

[DVC_Dad_Canada]

I'm still surprised considering Disney's non-reaction to the Fort Wilderness attack years ago and their HUGE reaction to the recent tragedy with a complete "lockdown" with fences and rocks of the WDW beaches,that they didn't go ahead and eliminate any Sammy Duvall activities with "Guest entry" possibilities into the lake.

Wasn't that in 1986? The big difference is social media. In 1986, they dealt with the situation appropriately for the ACTUAL amonut of risk. Today, they have to respond with not just the REAL risk, but the loss of visitors because of the PERCEIVED risk. As social media grows, perceived risks increase, as the public sees every extremely rare tragedy instantaneously. In fact, the ACTUAL risk of a gun assault at WDW has dramatically lowered since 1986, but the perceived risk has gone up dramatically, therefore the unneeded increased bag checks.

 

[Lisann]

You have to decide how much risk you are willing to take.

It's Florida. There are gators in all of the bodies of water at Disney.

It's Florida. The water is warm and bacteria can flourish.

It's up to you.

 

[KT0191]

I was born and raised in SW Florida and nope, no way would I do it. I know Disney takes many precautions and what not but still..nope.

 

[Minnesota!]

If you want to do this, come to Minnesota. A bajillion lakes, no gators.

 

[crazymomof4]

We have lived in FL since '84' and have been tubing, skiing, swimming, canoeing etc. in lakes, rivers and oceans. Is it 100% safe? No, but you have a far greater chance of getting injured or killed in a car crash then you do by a gator attack.
Yes, if there is a body of water in FL then there is a good chance that a gator is in it. The "rare" gator attacks happen by the edge of the water and not in the middle of a lake. Thousands of Floridians are in the lakes daily during spring and summer and if it was so dangerous you would be reading about it all the time. I have been canoeing on rivers that have gators, I have been golfing and seen gators, so I guess I should not do that either.

This.
The tragedy of the little boy was a number of factors coming together: night, shallow water, quiet shoreline, small human (closer to the sz of gator's natural prey). Outside of these factors I believe the risk to be relatively small. Like you said, otherwise we'd be hearing about attacks more often bc gators DO share with us many public/private places in the south.
Agree with all who posted that deep water is not gator's natural hunting territory. Nor r they aggressive enough to attack for the sake of attacking. Hunting, yes. Unprovoked attack, no.
While staying at a rurally situated inn in north Charleston, SC we literally walked and biked among gators. On the actual grounds were smaller ones. On the bike path that encircled a marsh.... They were huge! Easily six-8 ft tail to nose! Sunning themslves across the bike path! We found them to be timid and wanting to avoid us 100%. It was difficult to get a pix bc as soon as they heard us they took off into the swamp.
My husband has also seen gators while golfing in Myrtle Beach.

 

[pjhootch]

If you're going to be worried about the risk- don't do it. Everyone else is giving you their opinion of what they would do. You decide if your desire outweighs your worries- well then you have your answer. No one can give you good odds or predictions about what will happen. And only you can gauge just how much the thought of alligators or brain bugs bothers you.

 

[KimBean]

From what I understand the boats scare the alligators away. They are afraid of getting hit.

That's what my husband said. I'm still a big pass. But I'm a chicken.

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

Hasn't Disney been offering the tubing/jet ski opportunity for years and years with no issues? We did the jet ski lite things they offer at Yacht Club last trip. Seen a few gators in our trips to Disney but never a large one, though there certainly could be a few of those in the lagoon/lake in the Contemporary area.

 

[KimBean]

If you're going to be worried about the risk- don't do it. Everyone else is giving you their opinion of what they would do. You decide if your desire outweighs your worries- well then you have your answer. No one can give you good odds or predictions about what will happen. And only you can gauge just how much the thought of alligators or brain bugs bothers you.

So true. This reminds me of the time I convinced my scaredy cat MIL to go parasailing with me. We were in grand cayman. It was gorgeous. I had never done it but thought what is the worse that can happen fall in the water? So I got brave ( I won't ride ToT or RnRC) and we did it. And for the first 5 minutes it was glorious. It was the prettiest thing I had ever seen, quiet, amazing. My MIL is glowing it was wonderful. Then she looked down and says OMG do you think there are sharks in that water? She then trembled and screamed for the rest of it while I tried to calm her down.

If you think you will wig out don't do it. Lol!!!

 

[bdcp]

There's a reason besides alligators that they don't let people swim in that water and it's the risk of illness. No way I'd go tubing. Boating, yes, tubing, no. There are too many other places in the US to go tubing that are much safer.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The brain eating amoeba enters through mucous membranes. A few people here in Louisiana died from getting water in their noses while in their showers. The amoeba showed up in their municipal water systems. Every water system in Louisiana had to do a system chemical burn over several days to kill any possible amoeba in the water system. There was also a young girl in Arkansas who got it in her nose, but was able to be saved through the use of an experimental drug.

The flesh eating bacteria was found in fresh water in Charlotte County in Florida maybe last year or the year before.

 

[MrsDuck]

I'm chuckling to myself over here at some of these responses. Every body of water can be dangerous... whether it's animals, bacteria, or you as the swimmer (drowning, medical emergency, rip currents, etc).

Both DH and I were born and reared in Florida... we've done our fair share of swimming in Florida springs and lakes. Heck, one 4th of July in college when I was at UF we tubed right past an alligator in Ginnie Springs. I'm alive and have all my limbs! The gator didn't even move.

I'm certainly not advocating that you jump into any body of water but well frequented, popular "swimming holes" are probably not going to present as many dangers as you'd expect. What happened to that little boy at the Grand Floridian is heartbreaking but is more uncommon than not.

 

[helenm29]

I've been in that water before and to tell you the truth I was naive enough to not think about Alligators or bacteria! I HAVE however seen lots of water snakes (sorry, one more thing to think about) but they have never bothered me. I actually have talked to people who can verify the bacteria in the warmer still water surrounding the islands in the middle of the lake. I guess you will have to take your chances and good luck to you!

 

[FortForever]

We live in Florida and, although just about every body of water contains alligators, it's not an issue if you swim during the day. I grew up swimming at the beach of the Contemporary and playing at River Country.

Living right on the Ichetucknee, I can tell tell you that thousands of people tube down it every week with no incidents. And I don't mean tubing as being pulled by a boat, I mean just tube floating. Yes, you sometimes pass by alligators. They just sit there and don't bother anyone.

For the most part, the only time alligators are dangerous is from dusk to dawn and near the shoreline. I've never heard of any alligator encounter out in deep water where boats go.

And, for people that think oceans are alligator-free, nope! We have personally witnessed several alligators in the Atlantic. Both times it was on Amelia Island, which is near a river. But just goes to show that you may have been swimming with gators in the past and not even aware.