The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (214 page)

Child Safety Tips

From the author’s many trips to
Disneyland
, and background in child care, some suggestions:


                     
Model safe behavior
.  Listen to, read, and follow all safety instructions and make sure the children in your care do the same.  It’s not necessary to engage in unsafe behavior to have fun at the resort.  Even when it doesn’t seem like they are,
your kids are paying attention to you
.  If you drag your hand in the water, they’ll drag their hands in the water–and guess where a lot of lights, wires, and pumps are located?  Nobody loves fun more than
Disney
.  They wouldn’t prohibit actions unless those actions could result in serious harm.


                     
Watch your kids
.  It’s a phrase you’ll hear a lot in the verbal safety instructions at attractions:  “Watch your kids.”  You’ll hear it so much you might start to tune it out, but please don’t.  Particularly if you have a curious, fearless little one that might stand up during a ride and take a spill, but even if you have a normally quiet, obedient, rule-following child, watch your kids at key moments.  Even normally prudent and obedient kids get boisterous in the hyper-stimulating, hyper-sugared atmosphere of the resort, and do uncharacteristically unsafe things.


                     
Tutor your kids’ caretaker
.  If Aunt Rita or Gramma or Cousin Sam is going to spend time with the kids, and they usually don’t, make sure to provide a crash course on your little one.


                     
Does your child have allergies or need medication under certain circumstances, or at a certain time?  Tell their caretaker and provide the medicine and a dosage schedule
in writing
(don’t rely on someone’s memory), or make arrangements so you can administer the meds at a specific time and location.


                     
Does your child have specific needs or fears that their caretaker should know about?  Speak up, so the caretaker doesn’t take your child on
Space Mountain
if they’re afraid of the dark, or the
Tower of Terror
if they’re terrified of heights, or the
Mad Tea Party
if they have a queasy stomach.  Kids can be very shy with relatives they don’t see often or know well, and might not speak up on their own about their fears or concerns.


                     
Let the caretaker know the kids’ favorite and least favorite foods and drinks, and anything they should or shouldn’t eat.


                     
Show the caretaker how to operate any strollers or other conveyances or equipment they’ll need. 
Insist that they keep children safely secured when riding in strollers
.


                     
Provide the caretaker with the extra clothes, diapers, wipes, sippy-cups, bottles, formula, snacks, toys, change of clothes, etc. that they’ll need.


                     
If your children are infants or toddlers, tell the caretaker where to find the
Baby Care Stations
in
Disneyland
and
Disney California Adventure
. 
Baby Care Stations
have amenities perfect for toddlers, and sell baby food, formula, diapers, and wipes. The
Disneyland Baby Care
Station
is near
First Aid
, behind the
Main Street Photo Supply Co.
near the
Plaza Inn
and
Little Red Wagon
.  In
DCA
it’s in
Pacific Wharf
near the
Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop
(formerly the
Mission Tortilla
Factory
).


                     
Tell the temporary caretaker how to defuse your children’s tears or tantrums (e.g., “If Vikram starts crying, he’s probably hungry, just give him some of these crackers.  If he’s still crying, give him Fluffy Bear; that usually calms him.”)


                     
Make sure you and the caretaker have each others’ cell phone numbers so you can check in periodically and they can reach you with questions or in the event of an emergency.


                     
If in doubt, don’t let Aunt Rita or Cousin Sam take charge of your kids.  If you have any reservations about their ability to safely care for your little ones, find a polite way to decline.  Suggest a dinner or activity all together instead.  Be diplomatic, but even if you have to be rude, it’s your kids’ safety, and that comes first.


                     
Pay attention.
  This can’t be emphasized strongly enough.  Have a great time at the resort, but be alert at key moments for warnings, instructions, and potential hazards, from a spilled soda to a gap between a vehicle and a platform.  Keep your small children in your line of sight, and even if you have older children and you’re giving them space and independence (it’s quite safe for teens—even young teens—to roam
Disneyland
on their own), know where they are and how to contact them.


                     
Carry a First
-
Aid kit
.  A simple kit with small bandages, aspirin, allergy pills, alcohol swabs, antibacterial cream, burn cream, tweezers (for splinters), etc. can fit in your hip-pack or belly-pack.  You can pick up a basic first-aid kit at your local drug store for about $2 and then add the allergy pills, tweezers, etc., however you want to customize it for your kids’ needs.  Include a paper with your children’s doctors’ names and phone numbers clearly written in dark marker.  Also, program your pediatrician’s numbers into your cell phones.


                     
Know where First
Aid is available
.  If your child (or you) suffers an injury beyond the healing power of your basic First Aid kit,
Disneyland
and
Disney California Adventure
both have park
First Aid
facilities.  Study the park map and be sure you, your kids, and anyone caring for your kids know where the
First Aid
centers are located.  In
Disneyland
,
First Aid
is behind the
Main Street Photo Supply Co.
, near the
Plaza Inn
and the
Little Red Wagon
.  In
Disney California Adventure
, it’s in the
Buena Vista Street
district, near the
Chamber of Commerce
.  In the event that a child is seriously injured or ill,
First Aid
won’t suffice; Cast Members will contact 911 and other resources as needed so that care and treatment can be escalated.


                     
Know what to do if you get separated
.  In
Disneyland
’s fun and diverting atmosphere, getting separated from your kids is easier than you might think.


                     
Before you head into the park, make sure you and your children have park maps and a plan for what to do if you should become separated or lost.  Maps are available at the
main turnstiles
,
City Hall
and the
Chamber of Commerce
, and at other locations throughout the parks, and custodial CMs (they wear white uniforms) always carry park maps to give to Guests.


                     
Assure your kids that even if you do become separated, it will only be temporary and that you will find them.  Advise them to remain calm, stay where they are, and hail a Cast Member.


                     
Program your cell number into your kids’ cell phones.  Make sure you have their numbers too!  Fully charge
all
your phones before entering the parks; having all the numbers won’t help if your batteries go dead.  If someone’s battery runs out,
Disneyland
now offers “charging lockers” where you can stow your cell phone for an hour or two to recharge the battery.  There’s a small fee for the service.


                     
If your kids are too small to have cell phones of their own, perhaps even to know their names, your names, or your cell phone numbers, place a paper with your name and cell number in their pockets or pin it inside their jackets.  Then the Guest or Cast Member who finds them can easily contact you.


                     
Both parks have
Lost Children
centers; know where they are and be sure your kids do too.  Cast Members who encounter lost children 10 years old or younger will have them brought to the
Lost Children
center.  In
Disneyland
, it’s at the
Baby Care Station
behind the
Main Street Photo Supply Co
.  In
Disney California Adventure
it’s at the
Baby Care Station
near the
Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop
(the former
Mission Tortilla Factory
) in
Pacific Wharf
.  Children 11 and older can leave messages at
City Hall
or the
Chamber of Commerce
.


                     
Establish code names
.  No child has ever been kidnapped from
Disneyland
.  This is one of many
Disneyland
urban legends that don’t have a basis in fact.  The kidnap stories—urban legends. With its bag search checkpoints, the difficulty of entering the parks, and the constant and pervasive security,
Disneyland
is one of the
safest
places on the planet.  [For more on the supposed kidnappings and other
Disneyland
urban legends, read David Koenig’s interesting “Mouse Tales” books.]  If you want to play it incredibly safe, however, don’t go shouting your children’s names when you’re in the park, so that anyone can hear them.  Pick code names or nicknames for the duration of your visit; if you need to call to one of the kids, use their code name.  If you decide to do this, why not choose
Disney
-themed code names (
Aladdin
,
Jafar
,
Jasmine
,
Ariel
,
Aurora
,
Maleficent
,
Belle
,
Giselle
,
Jack
(as in
Skellington
or
Sparrow
), or
Elizabeth
(as in
Swann
) are just a few suggestions).  Even if you have no safety concerns, using
Disney
code names or nick names during your trip can be fun for the kids and the whole family, especially if you have a trip theme (e.g., pirates,
Disney princesses
,
Star Wars
, etc.).


                     
Respect the laws of physics
. 
Disneyland Resort
truly is a
magical
place–it’s not just hype.  The fun you’ll have there, the memories you’ll forge, will stay with you for the rest of your life.  It’s astounding how the
Imagineers
craft the illusions that they do.  The clouds in the
Pirates of the Caribbean
attraction look like real clouds.  The stars in
Space Mountain
look like real stars.  It looks and feels and even smells like you’re hang-gliding through California when you experience
Soarin’ Over California
.  And when little
Dumbo
floats above the castle during the
Magical Fireworks
, you’d swear that an elephant really can fly.  Lights sparkle in the tree boughs at night, like fairy lights.  At
Disneyland
, even rubbish is
magical
!  A custodial crew suddenly starts drumming on trashcans–they’re really a band of street performers!  A trash container in
Grizzly Peak
suddenly starts dancing and then rolls away on its own!  At
Disneyland
, nothing is quite what it seems, and it’s all amazing.  But you must remember, in the midst of your amazement, that it’s all artistry and engineering.  You’re still in the real world and the real rules of physics apply.  If you don’t fasten your child’s stroller seat belt, she can tumble out of the stroller when you stop abruptly.  If you let your children put their hand in the water at an attraction, their fingers can be caught in the machinery.  If you don’t properly secure your child on a roller coaster, they can fall out.  The most loving parents and caretakers can still engage in lax safety behavior that puts their children in harm’s way.  This seems to be caused by the adults’ enchantment with their
magical
surroundings.  Consciously parents know they’re at a theme park, but the enchanting environment operates at a subconscious level and without their realizing it parents seem to be lulled into a state of feeling that somehow everything is
magically
safe and all right.  Would that it were so!