British family ‘chased’ by alligator at Disney resort just weeks ago

A BRITISH family says they were “chased” by an alligator at a Disney resort close to where a toddler was snatched overnight.

A BRITISH family has revealed they were “chased” by an alligator at a luxury Disney resort close to where a toddler was dragged into the water on Tuesday night.

Carl and Karen Davies, from Liverpool, were holidaying at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort in Florida with their two young children in April when an alligator “lurched out of the water” at them, The Mirror reports.

Mr Davies said he and his family were sitting on the beach at their resort, waiting for the nearby Magic Kingdom’s late-night fireworks display to begin, when his eight-year-old daughter heard a “jet ski” sound coming from the Seven Seas Lagoon — the same lagoon where a two-year-old boy was snatched by an alligator overnight.

“My wife, our two children and I were sitting on the edge of the beach on the walkway kerb to watch the show when my daughter said, ‘What’s that noise?’,” Mr Davies recalled.

“It sounded like a jet ski in the water.

“We sat there for a while longer and dismissed her concern. The next thing, a Canadian family sitting a little way up ran over and shouted, ‘Alligator!’

“It was directly in front of us, around 40 feet away. It lurched out of the water and we had to run. It was pitch black with no lighting on the actual beach section,” the father-of-two said.

More than 50 police and two marine officers are searching for the toddler who was dragged into the water by an alligator during a movie night at the Grand Florian Resort & Spa on Tuesday.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said a recovery operation is now underway to find the young boy’s body in the lagoon and “bring some closure to this family.” After 15 hours of searching, the attack is “certainly not survivable at this point,” Sheriff Demings said.

Authorities have taken five alligators from the lagoon and euthanised them for analysis with no trace of the child found.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings speaks at a news conference about a two-year-old boy who was dragged into the water by an alligator on the shores of Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa Tuesday night in Orlando. Picture: Christal Hayes/Orlando Sentinel

Nick Wiley, executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said during the press conference that the incident is “extremely rare” and that officers are doing everything they can to prevent another attack.

“It’s very surprising, it’s an extremely rare occurrence in anywhere you have alligators but we do ask people to be mindful that we do have alligators in the water in Florida and you have to be careful,” Wiley said. “But it’s very rare and it really is a shock to us to see this happen.”

Disney has now closed all resort beaches “out of an abundance of caution” until further notice, a Disney spokesperson said Wednesday.

Sheriff Demings said “this type of thing” has never happened before in Disney’s 45 years of operations.

Eye witnesses saw the child taken underwater and Demings says at this point, it's not survivable

— Stephanie Allen (@stephanieallenn) June 15, 2016

Disney says they've closed all resort beaches until further notice. Crews are on the Seven Seas Lagoon searching

— Stephanie Allen (@stephanieallenn) June 15, 2016

Deputies saying this is a "huge" area with multiple bodies of water. A trapper is still on scene to catch any suspect gators

— Stephanie Allen (@stephanieallenn) June 15, 2016

Disney’s five-star Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, where the family of the missing child was staying, backs onto the same lagoon as the Polynesian Village Resort where the Davies family was holidaying two months ago.

Mr Davies told The Mirrorthat he chose that particular resort as he was told it had the best view of the Magic Kingdom from the beach. He said here was a sign telling tourists not to swim in the lagoon, but no warning about alligators.

“Our daughter was screaming, she was petrified,” he said.

“[The alligator] was quite big, at least four-foot-long. It’s quite scary to think that anyone with a driving licence can pull up to the resort.”

Mr Davies said the alligator eventually slipped back into the water as the family fled the beach. The incident occurred shortly after the fireworks began at 10pm, local time.

Florida Fish and Wildlife and an Orange County Sheriffs helicopter search for the young boy. Picture: Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel

On Tuesday Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said the child, who is yet to be identified, was on holiday with his mother, father and two siblings.

The family of five from Nebraska checked into the resort on June 12 and the boy was playing at the water’s edge in about one foot of water at around 9pm when the alligator stuck, according to eyewitnesses at the scene.

Police officers search for the child who was pulled into the water by an alligator near Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Orlando, Florida. Picture: EPA/JOHN TAGGART

Sheriff Demings confirmed the father had jumped in and tried to wrestle the child from the alligator but was unable to. The toddler’s mother was believed to have been playing with him at the time and also dived into the water.

Police said witnesses described the alligator as being between four and seven feet long.

Sheriff Demings said the father suffered from minor scratches on his hands.

The couple raised the alarm with lifeguards but by that time the alligator had disappeared with the child.

A 911 call was received at 9.16pm local time.

Orange County Sheriff spokesman Jeff Williamson said the family is “very shaken up ... It is tragic, it’s just simply heartbreaking, there is no other way to say it.”

Map showing the Seven Seas Lagoon and surrounding resorts.