Little boy lost at Magic Kingdom picks new parents while he waits to find his original ones

One of the most terrifying things you’ll ever go through as a parent (or someone in charge of looking after a little one) is looking down in a crowded place and realizing that little one is no longer where he or she was only seconds before.

It’s also probably the single most terrifying thing that can happen with a little one at a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. My oldest daughter can be a bit headstrong. It’s true now, and it was true when she was 8 and disappeared from us at Disney World.

Credit: Becky Burkett

As we made our way down a chaotic Main Street, U.S.A. at Magic Kingdom, just as the afternoon parade crowds were disbanding, one minute she was with us, the next minute, she had wandered off.

We were panic-stricken. Thankfully, the seemingly endless amount of time we spent calling out her name and praying to find her–all while our minds ran away with us–was only about 3 minutes, and our headstrong little girl had ultimately listened to us and immediately found a Cast Member who kept her in one spot until we were reunited.

Credit: Disney

Perhaps that panic is what another family felt when they visited the Most Magical Place on Earth recently, only to find themselves “lost parents” (it’s Disney; there’s no such thing as a missing child; only missing parents) when their young son decided the need to hold on to the baby stroller like he was told to do was overrated.

Recently, in a Reddit thread, Disney Parks Cast Members (and a few non-Cast Members) shared their stories of similar scenarios of missing children or parents, however you want to look at it. But one story is particularly interesting because while this young boy was “lost,” it seems he chose surrogate parents to keep him company.

Reddit user dinosaregaylikeme posted his account of a visit to Disney World during which a little boy with “lost parents” approached him and asked him if he was his father. The Reddit user went on to share the story of that day when a little boy who was lost at Disney World adopted new parents while he waited to find his own.

He made himself quite at home:

“Not a Cast Member, but did have a little kid ask me if I was his dad in front of Thunder Mountain. He decided that my husband and I were his new parents so he sat down between us and asked if he could have a bite of my husband’s Mickey Pretzel.

My husband distracted him with the Mickey Pretzel while I grabbed a Cast Member to claim a lost child. Cast Member told the kid that he knew where his real parents were at.

Poor kid started crying that he didn’t listen to his mom by not having a hand on the stroller and running ahead of his family.”

Though it’s a story of a family that got separated, it’s a positive one for two reasons: he was ultimately reunited with him family, and the couple he approached and sat with were only too happy to help the little boy find his way back to Mom and Dad.

Credit: Dizbuff

No doubt his parents were happy to find him, but as a Mom, something tells me there was probably another chapter to that story that took place as soon as the boy’s parents were assured their little one was ok, and after they had celebrated their reunion. And it probably started with something like, “This is why I told you to stay with us and hold on to the stroller . . . “