Lost children contingency planning!

[Perthite]

None of us have ever been anywhere the scale of WDW before, and we obviously plan to keep a very close eye on our children (9 and 7) at all times, but what is the best instruction to give them on what to do if for any reason we become separated in a park?

Find a cast member? Stay where you are and wait? Meet at a prearranged prominent place in the park?

I would think it would also be wise to furnish them with my mobile number so we can be contacted - but how would you write it down, do you start with 44 and drop the zero?

Just planning for all eventualities!

[Gryff]

Take a picture of them each morning easier to show than trying to remember when you are in a panic Tell them to stay where they are and seek out the nearest cast member even if it's just someone sweeping up and yes your phone number

[loola30]

We had a 4-point plan of action.

1. Do your best not to get lost in the first place. Don't wander away where you can't see us!
2. If you can't see us and are close to a bench, stand on it and yell Mummy / Daddy at the top of your lungs;
3. If nobody comes to your aid, find a cast member (show them a picture of what a cast member's badge looks like) and tell them you are lost;
4. They wore temporary tattoos with both mine and DH's mobile on. +44 7... was the layout we used.

We also took a picture of them each morning to remember what they were wearing.

Fingers crossed it never comes to that but I wanted to know they had a plan of action if we were ever separated.

[Guest]

We told DS to stand on a bench where he was, if a cast or janitoral member of staff was nearby to shout for them. Most children don't,t wander too far and standing on a bench makes them more visible in a crowd.

[yellowrose78]

We got bead bracelets for our kids with our mobile numbers on them and they wore them at all times, even in water parks. They cost about £2 online, and told them if they ever got separated go to a cast member and get them to call us immediately.

[Guest]

Caution your child not to exit the park (go past security) with anyone, even someone they think is a Cast Member. Also, warn them never to go anywhere alone with anyone even a Cast Member. Disney trains its’ employees to stay in the open around other people when escorting a lost child.

What happens the moment you or your child reports they’re lost to a Cast Member?

1. As soon as a parent or child reports being lost to a Cast Member, a call is made to “Lost Child,” the centralized security system designed to reunite parents and kids who are lost. The Cast Member checks to see if the child has turned up. If not, a report is filed with the child’s description.

2. Then a call is made to a central location spreading the word throughout the area where the child was last seen.

3. Every ride operator and all available employees then begin looking for the missing child.

4. If a Cast Member is approached by your child who is lost, the Cast Member stays with the child until you are both reunited. Cast Members are trained to calm lost children and retrace their steps to attempt to find parents quickly.

5. If parents cannot be found in the immediate area, the child is then escorted by original Cast Member to the “Lost Child Room” which is an inviting, fun place staffed with professional child care workers and stocked with Disney movies.

6. Once you’ve received notice as a parent from your particular Cast Member that your child has been found, you can be reunited with them at the Lost Child area. This is where identification containing your and your child’s information can come in handy to help prove that you are your child’s parent.

[jonsgirl80]

We taught our son to stay where he was, if possible try to stand on a bench and shout for us (our real names not mummy and daddy as there's 10,000+ mummy's and daddy's in the park but very few people with our names) failing that grab the nearest cm and tell them you are lost. We always put our phone number on him somewhere too and make sure he knows where it is.

We remind him every day and make him tell us what he'd do if he got lost. He sighs and rolls his eyes but it's important he doesn't forget.

We put all this in place after losing him on our first trip. We were in sea world stroking the dolphins and he decided to take himself off to the toilet without saying anything and then couldn't find us. He was only 5. It was only maybe 2-3 minutes but it felt like an eternity- my heart stopped. Luckily a lady saw him wandering around aimlessly looking for us and got him to stand still with her until we found him otherwise we never would have with all the crowds.

[2littleboys]

Oh goodness, it really is a parents worst nightmare.

This is a good post with handy tips, I am going to have a good chat with my two boys tonight about an action plan if it were to happen.

[JellyEllieBean]

The first time we went I introduced my kids to a cast member showing them the badge explaining they could tell a cast member if they were lost, and pointing out where cast members were. I also had two ID bracelets made up with our mobile number on.

[ely3857]

DD's have wrist bands with our telephone numbers on the inside on.

DD2, age 6 didn't exactly get lost but as we were walking in Hogsmeade I sensed she wasn't beside me any more. I had taken perhaps ten steps and she hadn't. My husband is really tall and could see her stood five yards back from us as she was slightly uphill but being shorter I couldn't see her and her me. Must have been 10 seconds at the most but I'll never forget the feeling. She had stopped to look at test seats for Forbidden Journey. We gave her lots of praise for standing still and remaining in the same place. Despite the minimal timescale, when we were reunited the look on my face scared her and she realised we had being separated for a few moments. Had she moved from where we had walked it would have been a lot harder to find her again.