I posted this on r/letsnotmeet, I think. Redditors sperged when they figured out I was telling fibbies because they're ungrateful for the entertainment I provided them.
Anyway. I found this on my old hard drive that I'm restoring. Something to read while you jelq:
Disney wasn't super big in either my or my wife's houses when we were growing up. Out of curiosity, we downloaded some of the classics to watch with our daughter (well, my step-daughter,) who recently asked why her friends saw all the Disney movies and she didn't. To no one's surprise, she adored the ones we put on, watching five of the old 2D hand-animated ones. I gotta admit that I found the animation and especially the music quite impressive. As a dog family, 101 Dalmatians was naturally her favorite.
We go to Florida twice a year to see my wife's parents, so we figured we would do four days around Disneyworld before we went up to Jacksonville to stay another four with my in-laws. My daughter and I took a plane there and would meet my wife in a couple days. She would be held up in Milwaukee finalizing her divorce from her creepy narcissist ex-husband.
We left in early July. By the time we finally got to the resort (the Bay Lake Tower) it was already 5:30 and I figured we could get dinner then see Disneyworld next day, but my 7-year-old wasn't having any of that. She begged to see what we could of the park even though it would be closing in a couple hours, and of course I caved. Some high-priced day passes and hot sticky line waits later, we were going to find whatever rides they had relating to 101 Dalmatians. We got ice cream to eat beforehand and, surprisingly on an 88 degree Florida day, mines dribbled all over my shorts. I was gonna run to the bathroom really quick and she's been too old to follow me into the me men's room for a while now. I gave her the textbook talk of staying put right outside the bathroom hut but didn't stress it too hard as there was quite the crowd around and we already had several "stranger" talks before.
After using the bathroom and a humiliating dance of trying to scrub strawberry ice cream off my crotch in front of a bathroom sink, I came out maybe two minutes later, but she wasn't waiting by the door. I've heard of parents' terror of losing children before, but I had that false "it can't happen to me" sense of invulnerability. Needless to say, it's an indescribable feeling of your heart sinking into your knees, at least after a few seconds of bewildered denial. I called her name even though I knew that probably wouldn't do much good in the loudness of the crowds, but my heart immediately resumed its place when I saw her maybe 15 feet from the bathroom hut to the left. She was talking to some guy in his 60s at the earliest. I did a jog over to them and got a good look at the guy as I fast-walked. He was extremely overweight, so I have no idea how he got on his knee to talk to her. He had a strange ethnically ambiguous look about him, my guess would be some sort of Middle Eastern maybe, a crusty-looking unkempt goatee, and a big fat bloated potato of a head. As if he already didn't look out of place enough, he wore a wool beanie on his head like maybe he thought it'd make him look 40 years younger. It didn't. The thing that reassured me a bit is that he was holding a Minnie Mouse doll; a cheap one like one you'd win at one of the games, so I figured he was carrying it for his granddaughter or whomever.
He looks up and says "is this your daddy?" and my daughter replied "yeah." I was so relieved to find her I didn't bother asking questions. I felt like a horrible parent, blaming myself for not watching her even though I told the man she wasn't supposed to wander off. I thanked him for "finding" her, even though she didn't go more than 20 feet, and he gave the usual "no problem" replies as he grunted back onto his feet. He was walking away in quite a hurry, and I remember him saying "she's very cute, very cute" as he walked away. He met up with another man standing peculiarly like another 15 feet away standing at the intersection of a walkway. He had the same overall swarthiness about him but he was much shorter than the first guy. If the fat man was about 6, 6'1", then the second guy was like 5'2" tops. His hair was an absolute rat's nest and I could tell even at that distance that he had huge facial scars like pores all over.
I gave her the "what did I tell you?!" lecture before she started getting sheepish and obviously sorry. I hate to admit but I'm a bit of a softie when it comes to kids and dogs. My wife would have had a lot more to say to her. When we kept walking, I asked her why she ran off. As an young girl of only so many words, this is the most comprehensive explanation I pieced together: She told me that that guy approached her outside the bathroom and asked if her mom was around. When she said no (as she knew she was back home,) he asked her if she wanted the Minnie Mouse doll. She said okay when the man said in order to get it, she'd have to do something kind of funny. When she asked what, he said **she would have to spit in his mouth.** She started laughing because she thought it was a joke, but he kept asking her to do it. She told him it was icky, and that's about when I came over. The guy pretended to be a caring adult and hastily retreated with his cohort.
I was equal parts confused and disgusted, but it sounded like some awful predatory shit to me, what with the bribery and all, so I asked a couple park workers who I could report these guys too. Eventually I got directed to a security officer who was having plain fries at one of the stand tables. Though he was on break, he would be happy to hear my report. I described the guy's appearance as best I could and told him about the doll and the strange request. He wrote some of it down but who knows if he planned to do anything. It wasn't the most damning evidence, the account of an 8-year-old's account. I asked him in a low tone, honestly, if they see a lot of child abductions around the park. He claimed there are rare attempts but there are more reports of creepy guys like this than he'd care to admit.
We saw what we could and got on the less crowded rides and it was already 9:00 before I knew it. Thankfully my daughter was a lot more accepting of leaving than some of the other kids her age who had to be towed out crying.
We did the McDonald's drive-thru for dinner because I'm a bad father and got to the hotel around 9:45. My daughter was on my laptop while I figured I'd run into the shower real quick. Unfortunately, the only room we could get at our dates was on the first floor, which technically was the second floor, but still didn't have the view the higher floors had.
When I got out of the shower, I saw my daughter was looking over the balcony with her chin between the railing bars. I figured I'd sit outside with her and let my hair dry in the Florida heat. I put my bathing suit on and came outside.
I asked her how she liked being on a balcony, since we didn't have any at home, and she immediately told me that that guy from Disneyworld came back. I asked her what she was talking about, and she said that he and his brother were below our balcony. The short man had his phone flashlight on and called up to her, showing her an iPad box and asking her if she wanted it. She said okay but she'd have to ask her dad before she came down. The man, she said, kept telling her that it was okay, to come down because I already told them it was okay. Thankfully she was smart enough to infer that I'd never talk to them and she kept saying to just wait for her dad. A few tries later the men left.
By my first questions into this story I was already really upset and freaked out. I kept asking if she was sure it was them, because I had no idea how they could have followed us out of crowded Disney to McDonald's to the hotel. I got dressed and told her to come with me as I looked for someone at the resort to tell.
The front desk said that their security is more of an observe and report type and that for any real matters I should call the police. My daughter was already really tired and I debated putting it off until the next day, but at the same time I was too freaked out that these weirdos knew out fucking room. I called the police and, even though they said for me to come to their station, I told them about my daughter I had to watch and they were nice enough to send a local officer over to take the report.
(Continued in comments because of gay wordcount restriction)
Anyway. I found this on my old hard drive that I'm restoring. Something to read while you jelq:
Disney wasn't super big in either my or my wife's houses when we were growing up. Out of curiosity, we downloaded some of the classics to watch with our daughter (well, my step-daughter,) who recently asked why her friends saw all the Disney movies and she didn't. To no one's surprise, she adored the ones we put on, watching five of the old 2D hand-animated ones. I gotta admit that I found the animation and especially the music quite impressive. As a dog family, 101 Dalmatians was naturally her favorite.
We go to Florida twice a year to see my wife's parents, so we figured we would do four days around Disneyworld before we went up to Jacksonville to stay another four with my in-laws. My daughter and I took a plane there and would meet my wife in a couple days. She would be held up in Milwaukee finalizing her divorce from her creepy narcissist ex-husband.
We left in early July. By the time we finally got to the resort (the Bay Lake Tower) it was already 5:30 and I figured we could get dinner then see Disneyworld next day, but my 7-year-old wasn't having any of that. She begged to see what we could of the park even though it would be closing in a couple hours, and of course I caved. Some high-priced day passes and hot sticky line waits later, we were going to find whatever rides they had relating to 101 Dalmatians. We got ice cream to eat beforehand and, surprisingly on an 88 degree Florida day, mines dribbled all over my shorts. I was gonna run to the bathroom really quick and she's been too old to follow me into the me men's room for a while now. I gave her the textbook talk of staying put right outside the bathroom hut but didn't stress it too hard as there was quite the crowd around and we already had several "stranger" talks before.
After using the bathroom and a humiliating dance of trying to scrub strawberry ice cream off my crotch in front of a bathroom sink, I came out maybe two minutes later, but she wasn't waiting by the door. I've heard of parents' terror of losing children before, but I had that false "it can't happen to me" sense of invulnerability. Needless to say, it's an indescribable feeling of your heart sinking into your knees, at least after a few seconds of bewildered denial. I called her name even though I knew that probably wouldn't do much good in the loudness of the crowds, but my heart immediately resumed its place when I saw her maybe 15 feet from the bathroom hut to the left. She was talking to some guy in his 60s at the earliest. I did a jog over to them and got a good look at the guy as I fast-walked. He was extremely overweight, so I have no idea how he got on his knee to talk to her. He had a strange ethnically ambiguous look about him, my guess would be some sort of Middle Eastern maybe, a crusty-looking unkempt goatee, and a big fat bloated potato of a head. As if he already didn't look out of place enough, he wore a wool beanie on his head like maybe he thought it'd make him look 40 years younger. It didn't. The thing that reassured me a bit is that he was holding a Minnie Mouse doll; a cheap one like one you'd win at one of the games, so I figured he was carrying it for his granddaughter or whomever.
He looks up and says "is this your daddy?" and my daughter replied "yeah." I was so relieved to find her I didn't bother asking questions. I felt like a horrible parent, blaming myself for not watching her even though I told the man she wasn't supposed to wander off. I thanked him for "finding" her, even though she didn't go more than 20 feet, and he gave the usual "no problem" replies as he grunted back onto his feet. He was walking away in quite a hurry, and I remember him saying "she's very cute, very cute" as he walked away. He met up with another man standing peculiarly like another 15 feet away standing at the intersection of a walkway. He had the same overall swarthiness about him but he was much shorter than the first guy. If the fat man was about 6, 6'1", then the second guy was like 5'2" tops. His hair was an absolute rat's nest and I could tell even at that distance that he had huge facial scars like pores all over.
I gave her the "what did I tell you?!" lecture before she started getting sheepish and obviously sorry. I hate to admit but I'm a bit of a softie when it comes to kids and dogs. My wife would have had a lot more to say to her. When we kept walking, I asked her why she ran off. As an young girl of only so many words, this is the most comprehensive explanation I pieced together: She told me that that guy approached her outside the bathroom and asked if her mom was around. When she said no (as she knew she was back home,) he asked her if she wanted the Minnie Mouse doll. She said okay when the man said in order to get it, she'd have to do something kind of funny. When she asked what, he said **she would have to spit in his mouth.** She started laughing because she thought it was a joke, but he kept asking her to do it. She told him it was icky, and that's about when I came over. The guy pretended to be a caring adult and hastily retreated with his cohort.
I was equal parts confused and disgusted, but it sounded like some awful predatory shit to me, what with the bribery and all, so I asked a couple park workers who I could report these guys too. Eventually I got directed to a security officer who was having plain fries at one of the stand tables. Though he was on break, he would be happy to hear my report. I described the guy's appearance as best I could and told him about the doll and the strange request. He wrote some of it down but who knows if he planned to do anything. It wasn't the most damning evidence, the account of an 8-year-old's account. I asked him in a low tone, honestly, if they see a lot of child abductions around the park. He claimed there are rare attempts but there are more reports of creepy guys like this than he'd care to admit.
We saw what we could and got on the less crowded rides and it was already 9:00 before I knew it. Thankfully my daughter was a lot more accepting of leaving than some of the other kids her age who had to be towed out crying.
We did the McDonald's drive-thru for dinner because I'm a bad father and got to the hotel around 9:45. My daughter was on my laptop while I figured I'd run into the shower real quick. Unfortunately, the only room we could get at our dates was on the first floor, which technically was the second floor, but still didn't have the view the higher floors had.
When I got out of the shower, I saw my daughter was looking over the balcony with her chin between the railing bars. I figured I'd sit outside with her and let my hair dry in the Florida heat. I put my bathing suit on and came outside.
I asked her how she liked being on a balcony, since we didn't have any at home, and she immediately told me that that guy from Disneyworld came back. I asked her what she was talking about, and she said that he and his brother were below our balcony. The short man had his phone flashlight on and called up to her, showing her an iPad box and asking her if she wanted it. She said okay but she'd have to ask her dad before she came down. The man, she said, kept telling her that it was okay, to come down because I already told them it was okay. Thankfully she was smart enough to infer that I'd never talk to them and she kept saying to just wait for her dad. A few tries later the men left.
By my first questions into this story I was already really upset and freaked out. I kept asking if she was sure it was them, because I had no idea how they could have followed us out of crowded Disney to McDonald's to the hotel. I got dressed and told her to come with me as I looked for someone at the resort to tell.
The front desk said that their security is more of an observe and report type and that for any real matters I should call the police. My daughter was already really tired and I debated putting it off until the next day, but at the same time I was too freaked out that these weirdos knew out fucking room. I called the police and, even though they said for me to come to their station, I told them about my daughter I had to watch and they were nice enough to send a local officer over to take the report.
(Continued in comments because of gay wordcount restriction)
