Although Louis the Alligator is not the only gator in Walt Disney World, he should be the only one you meet at Tiana’s Place.  It is something of a cliché for people to say that you should assume any body of water in Florida has an alligator in it. While that may be something of an exaggeration, with almost 1.3 million American Alligators living in Florida, it is not necessarily an incorrect assumption to make. Alligators are apex predators and Florida’s state reptile.  They can grow to be up to 15 feet long and are found throughout the fresh water lakes, rivers, and canals in Florida.  They occasionally venture into the brackish water along the coasts and even into coastal open waters. Overall, their range in the southeastern United States stretches as far north as North Carolina and as far west as Texas.

Given their population throughout the state of Florida, it should not surprise anyone that alligators do exist on Disney property. We once saw one that was about 10 feet long in Bay Lake near the Wilderness Lodge and we saw a smaller one in the retaining pond outside the Magic Kingdom behind Space Mountain.  We have also seen a few alligators in other bodies of water on Disney property over the years.

An alligator was responsible for the death of a two-year old boy in June 2016 when it grabbed him from the shoreline of Seven Seas Lagoon at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa and dragged him into the water.  After that horrific incident, Disney posted signs around Disney World warning guests of the potential presence of alligators (and snakes) in the water.  According to multiple media sources, since June 2016, over 400 nuisance alligators have been removed from Disney property under the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission’s Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program, or SNAP. Generally, alligators longer than four feet are considered to be a potential nuisance and once removed are relocated to zoos, licensed alligator farms, or private hunting preserves. They are not simply released into the wild because experts claim they often attempt to return to where they were captured.

In August 2017, Disney erected a small lighthouse at the Grand Floridian in honor of young Lane Graves, the little boy who was killed and as a tribute to the Lane Thomas Foundation, an organization established by his parents to help families of children needing organ transplants.

Although the June 2016 events were tragic, and you should ALWAYS be careful when near the water and absolutely keep a respectful distance if you see an alligator, these animals do not present a persistent threat to guests at Walt Disney World. In Disney World’s almost 55 years of existence, there have been a total of two documented incidents and one fatality involving alligators with the other incident taking place in 1986 at Fort Wilderness Campground. This is in comparison to seven drownings, five of which occurred in swimming pools according to media reports. Additionally, according to a study by the University of Florida, in almost 500 attacks by alligators in Florida from 1948 onwards (with approximately 30 fatalities), 96% of the incidents were the result of risky human behavior, mostly humans wading or swimming in waters where alligators were known to be present. The fact is, like most wild animals, alligators are more afraid of us than we are of them and are generally looking to avoid a confrontation with humans.

If you see an alligator, be respectful, admire it from a distance, and do not approach it or feed it. They are magnificent animals that have been on this planet for tens of millions of years and are part of a highly successful line of evolution that has survived mass extinctions including the KT Event, the devastating asteroid impact from 65 million years ago. That fact alone makes these living fossils worthy of our respect and admiration.

 If you see an alligator, you believe could be a threat, call the SNAP hotline at 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286). For more facts on interactions between humans and Alligators, please see the linked fact sheet. If you want a guaranteed sighting of an alligator at Disney World then go to the Magic Kingdom and ride Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and laugh along with Louis the Alligator.