A lot of guests gathered around the Journey Into Imagination fountain at Epcot on Saturday, and it wasn’t to watch the waters jump. They were there to see a young boy swimming through it. Earlier in the afternoon, crowds began to flock to the fountain/pond stationed next to the Imagination pavilion and not far from The Land and Innoventions, as a child had slipped away from his parents and had jumped into the water. Seeing as how this is 2017, there were many camera phones ready to capture the moment.
Walt Disney World has no shortage of devices that can capture any event and put it onto social media at any given point. On Saturday, there were many of them being used to film a moment that still hasn’t had a full explanation as to what exactly happened at Epcot.
A video posted by YouTube user Zachary Kiteley is making the social media rounds and it shows something not usually seen at Epcot. A child, who looks to be around 8-to-10-years-old, jumped into a fountain near the Journey Into Imagination attraction and ended up swimming across it.
Throughout the day, a number of posts started appearing on Twitter in regard to the situation, and by Saturday night, it was going viral.
Friend at Epcot just posted that a kid was swimming in the fountain???????? pic.twitter.com/2pxKd3irGc
— Patty (@thepitterpatty) September 16, 2017
The pictures from the situation at Epcot begin landing in different Disney-oriented groups on Facebook, with a couple of different versions of the story. On I’m So Disney, three pics were posted and it was said that the child wanted to go for a swim to cool down , as many Twitter reports also stated.
On Mousejunkies, the pictures were also posted, and a few people commented that the child in the fountain actually has autism . There has been no official word from the family, as they have not publicly said anything, and Disney has not commented either.
As the video shows, the boy began swimming in the fountain and going all the way across to the grass on the other side. Numerous Disney security guards were around to help, and the man in the University of Michigan T-shirt is said to be the boy’s father, per many of the online reports in the groups.
The child does make it to the other side and is helped out by a security guard before he gets free again and jumps back into the fountain. Eventually, the man in the Michigan shirt goes into the fountain and is able to help the boy all the way out.
To all the Epcot CMs who assisted the swimming boy at the imagination pavilion today, great job. Way to keep that first key. #castcompliment
— Andler Sekel (@AndlerSekel) September 16, 2017
Some kid decided it was a good idea to hop in the lake by the Imagination pavilion #epcot #disneytoday pic.twitter.com/qq3Ip8uMMG
— Holly (@holllywood13) September 16, 2017
There are thousands of people who visit the Walt Disney World theme parks every single day, and many of the happenings go unnoticed. On Saturday, a lot of guests at Epcot happened to be around the fountain at Journey Into Imagination, as the young boy slipped away from his parents and went for a swim. It’s not known exactly what the situation is at this time, but the good thing is that the child appeared to get out of the incident unharmed and that would be the best-case scenario.
[Featured Image by Danny Cox]