Cuban Boy Pulled From Sea Spends Day at Disney World

On a Sunday visit to Walt Disney World, 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez could not escape reminders of the harrowing trip that brought him to the United States or the attention surrounding his international custody battle.

Led by a Disney escort, he got into the rides without a wait. But some attractions clearly brought back bad memories.

He was tense at the beginning of the “It’s a Small World” boat ride, gripping the knee of his great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez and asking “Is the boat going to sink?”

Elian was found on Thanksgiving Day, clinging to an inner tube off the coast of Fort Lauderdale after the boat carrying him and 12 other Cubans sank in the Atlantic. His mother and stepfather died.

Within a few minutes of flinching at the “Small World” ride, he was at ease and pointed and shouted “look” at a hula display.

But later, when he walked past the “Splash Mountain” water flume ride, he said: “I don’t want to go on that. When that hits, that goes under water and I don’t want to go under water.”

Elian was followed by an entourage of 30 relatives, journalists, security guards and sheriff’s deputies.

Other visitors to the park also seemed to know who he was: On “Cinderella’s Carousel,” the riders began a chant of “Elian, Elian.”

Elian is at the center of an international custody fight that has caused millions in Cuba to march in the streets waving posters bearing his picture.

Elian’s father wants his son sent back to Cuba. Two of his relatives in Miami have filed a request for political asylum, seeking to keep Elian in the United States.

Elian speaks to his father every day, said Spencer Eig, the attorney representing the U.S. relatives.

“The family here and the family in Cuba have always been a close family, and they are working very hard to keep Elian’s father involved, and to allow them the opportunity to talk and get together,” Eig said.

On ABC’s “This Week” program, National Security Advisor Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger said Sunday that Fidel Castro should not use Elian’s situation for political gain.

“This boy should not be a political football; he should not be a political pawn,” Berger said. “There is a legal process which will determine who speaks for this boy.”

Elian was to spend Sunday night at a Disney bungalow with his great-uncle and cousins.