WDW resorts surrounded by least amount of water

TD1516

Earning My Ears
Joined
Apr 15, 2018
My husband is terrified about alligators snatching our daughter.

Yes I know the odds are practically zero....but he has asked me to figure out which resorts are surrounded by the least amount of water.

Staying on site is a must for us. From looking at the map it looks like Animal Kingdom Lodge is our best bet. But are there any other Resorts that have very little water surrounding them?
Thanks:)
 
Going to the other end of the price bracket, the All-Star resorts do not have any water near them. In all the times I have been at WDW the only time I saw an alligator in water was when we were eating lunch in AK at Flame Tree BBQ. It was a baby alligator and it was on the other side of a fence and about 6 feet below us.

Even if your resort is on a body of water it's easy to stay away from it and any potential danger.
 
Going to the other end of the price bracket, the All-Star resorts do not have any water near them. In all the times I have been at WDW the only time I saw an alligator in water was when we were eating lunch in AK at Flame Tree BBQ. It was a baby alligator and it was on the other side of a fence and about 6 feet below us.

Even if your resort is on a body of water it's easy to stay away from it and any potential danger.
This isn’t entirely true about the All-Stars. I was walking with my daughters around Sports, and there is a very gator-friendly creek running along the back. There isn’t any fence or barrier back there.
 


Yes. But we don't want to take that long of a plane ride with a very impatient little girl.

I just sat there and really study the map and I just noticed something. If we stayed in Bay Lake Tower it looks like there's some sort of walkthrough maybe enclosed above ground to take you to the Contemporary Resort. Does anyone know if this is true?



I think his paranoia comes from early morning and when it's dark walking outside around one of the Resort's.

Thanks
 
It's Florida... in swamp country... so gator country. If you stick to the walkways your chances of an encounter are minimal. Don't go in or near the water and there won't be any problems. The largest gator I've seen that had "access" to public space was about 3 feet long and that's over 10 years of travels to Disney.
 
Yes. But we don't want to take that long of a plane ride with a very impatient little girl.

I just sat there and really study the map and I just noticed something. If we stayed in Bay Lake Tower it looks like there's some sort of walkthrough maybe enclosed above ground to take you to the Contemporary Resort. Does anyone know if this is true?



I think his paranoia comes from early morning and when it's dark walking outside around one of the Resort's.

Thanks

Yes, there is a walkway, but it is overlooking the one lake where someone was actually killed by an alligator, and is then facing another, larger lake. You don't have to go by the water, but the pool is right on the lake.
 


Out of all the resorts we stayed in, I would agree with you and suggest AKL as a good choice.

But like others have said, Florida has a lot of alligators. It wouldn't be much fun for your husband to always worry about being close to water.
 
Yeah, I'd say AKL. ANd there they are probably very good at keeping unwanted critters away since they have birds and other animals they don't want to get eaten.
 
WDW is smack dab in the middle of thousands of acres of wetlands. Wetlands are the alligator's (and crocodile's) natural habitat and they have been living there for many more years than we ever started building condos and theme parks ;)

Nature is to be respected ; but Disney DOES patrol very very very frequently and remove gators when they become too habituated to the guests.

The only feature of water that you, your husband or your kid should be going near is the resort pool. Do NOT go over and take a look at anything else unless you are on the transportation boat docks. The lovely water features (like where the toddler was attacked) are JUST TO LOOK AT. Don't play in them by them, near them, don't jog through the waters, no sand castles, stay away!

Gators only come out of the water for two reasons : 1) you look like an easy tasty snack or 2) they have new babies

Since Disney patrols and removes nuisance gators, that would definitely include those of the breeding age ;)
 
Unless you’re in the water at night splashing around you should be fine. Gators hunt in the water. Most resorts around MK used to play their movies on the beach. It was very pleasant. No gator ever came on the beach to snatch up small children sitting on the sand or lounge chair watching a movie. Ever.

I know explaining to your husband not to worry is prob not going to help much, but I’ve never seen a gator in WDW lying on a beach or path, when people would be out walking around. You can’t avoid water areas at wdw just don’t go in the water.
 
We have seen alligators at the mini-put too, and you will want to be careful around Splash mountain.
 
Also know that since that little boy's tragic death, Disney put up fences around all of their lagoons to help ensure that alligators cannot come up, and people cannot get too close to the water.
 
thank you for all of the replies everyone. I will let him know that the alligators don't just go wandering around the resorts at all hours.

Yes, not by any means. I have been there over 10 times throughout my life and have stayed at 6 different resorts, visiting almost all of the others. I have never once seen an alligator at any time of day. Snakes, yes, but never an alligator. This despite looking closely to see if I could spot one over the course of a week staying on a low balcony at Bay slake Tower. Those alligators that are there are only on property because they are smart enough to avoid people.
 
Yes, not by any means. I have been there over 10 times throughout my life and have stayed at 6 different resorts, visiting almost all of the others. I have never once seen an alligator at any time of day. Snakes, yes, but never an alligator. This despite looking closely to see if I could spot one over the course of a week staying on a low balcony at Bay slake Tower. Those alligators that are there are only on property because they are smart enough to avoid people.
I saw one at Flametree in AK but in the water. I think another poster commented too. Guess he hung out there because people must have been throwing food to him :sad2: But I’ve never seen any out of the water at wdw.
 
The only alligators I saw were in the water at CSR and they were small (about 2 feet ling). My daughters loved seeing different animals at CSR. Many geckos, turtle and the small alligators. At MK we also came across wild rabbits and ducks.
 

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