Remember the story about one of my kids having a sensory meltdown at Hollywood Studios?
That same child is also a wanderer. We have another story of them wandering away from us into the queue for Dumbo The Flying Elephant as my wife was parking a stroller. She thought I had the kids, I thought she had one and I had one. My mom was with us and didn’t notice the missing kid until I went into full panic mode, spinning around scanning the entire Storybook Circus area. I ran up to a cast member working outside Dumbo, and started relaying everything I could think of – what they were wearing, what their hair looked like, the bright green stuffed animal backpack they were wearing – while my wife took off to the queue, calling their name. Thankfully, another guest in line for the ride told my wife this kid was wiggling their way through the line, and my wife was able to get them, bring them back out of the queue and everything was okay. They told us they knew we were going to the ride and didn’t realize we weren’t with them.
More recently, at our local mall, they were walking with my wife and our other two kids, and they kept walking straight after the rest of the group headed into a store (I was there with my mother-in-law). I had thought initially that they had stayed with my sister-in-law who was also with us, but I had the sense to ask where they were, and my wife spun around and walked right back into the mall, and the missing kid started walking past the store as I was coming out to help. Turns out they had gotten distracted by the nearby carousel around the corner from the store and didn’t realize that everyone else had turned in.
This most recent experience led me to the realization that I needed to go over a plan in case this happened again at Disney World. I’m hopeful that we can avoid a repeat, BUT here’s what I’ve come up with.
- Take Photos of All Your Kids Before You Get into the Park
Not only can you add these photos to a scrapbook or other memory keeping project, they’ll come in handy if someone goes missing. When your panicking, it can be hard to remember exactly what your kid was wearing or how they styled their hair that morning. Having a photo you can pull up and show exactly what they look like that day will make it easier to locate them. - Backpack Leashes
Love them or hate them, if you’ve got a younger kid who will take off, these can prevent them from getting lost in the first place. We’ve used them for all our kids. I used to be one of those moms who would say “I’d NEVER put my kid on a leash, they’re not a dog.” My oldest cured me of that attitude in a parking lot one day. Team “keep them safe” whether people judge you or not”. - Immediately Report a Missing Child to the nearest Cast Member
Missing kids are an everyday occurrence at the Most Magical Place on Earth. Cast Members are trained on how to handle these situations, and they have eyes everywhere. The faster you report a missing kid to a cast member, the sooner you have word put out over walkie talkies for all the cast members in the area to be on the lookout. This is where that first-thing-when-your-leave-the-hotel-room photo comes in handy. They’ll know exactly what information to relay to the other cast members. - Look Loudly for a Missing Child
I learned this technique from @jesmartini on TikTok. You can watch her whole video here, she has some other good tips too. But the idea for this is to be yelling that you are missing a child, give the child’s description, NOT THEIR NAME, and keep repeating it loudly until your child is located. This gets the attention of all the other people in the area and you’ll have more eyes looking for your child. Do NOT yell their name, because potential abductors can use their name to get them to feel comfortable with them. - Write a Phone Number and Parent’s Name to Contact a Parent Somewhere it can be Accessed in an Emergency
One idea that I’ve seen in various iterations is to write your phone number in sharpie on your kids arms, and then seal it with a liquid bandage type adhesive. Other people have put their phone numbers on the inside of a magic band or a bracelet, or on the tag of their kids shirts. I am looking at doing lanyards with my emergency contact info printed on a card for my kids. Again, don’t put your kids’ names anywhere visible. - Cell Phones and AirTags
The other ideas that I had for my kids are either a lanyard or fanny pack with a flip phone in it (for the older kids) that way they could call me in an emergency if we were to get seperated, or AirTags (for the younger kids) attached to a shoelace, belt loop, or necklace, so I can find them myself without having to rely on them using a phone. - Go Over a Plan with Your Kids Before You Leave for the Parks AND Reiterate it on Arrival
The best of plans don’t work if the kids don’t know what to do. Make sure your kids understand that if they get separated from their adults to stay where they’re at and to look for a cast member (make sure to point out what the cast member name badges look like so they know what to look for – the uniforms are different in different areas of the parks). If you use a bracelet or lanyard or some other technique to keep your emergency contact info, teach them to show that information to someone who is wearing the cast member name badge. If you give them a cell phone, make sure to go over how to make and answer calls with them and let them practice.
Access the Mouse 