Disney World: Scary Gator Encounter ... Weeks Before Deadly Attack

Turns out Disney World is a haven for gators ... which have become so bold they tried to board a raft that is often filled with unsuspecting guests.

TMZ obtained this footage ... shot a month ago at Disney World. You see a gator climb aboard the log raft that takes guests to Tom Sawyer Island on the Rivers of America.

Our Disney World sources say gators are a nagging problem that has not been abated. After the gator mounted the raft park employees set out to catch the female gator ... we don't know the outcome.

Disney's Rivers of America sits less than 2 miles away from the Seven Seas Lagoon at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort where Lane Graves was snatched and killed.

As we previously reported ... the resort only had "no swimming" signs, and the boy wasn't even swimming ... he was standing in a foot of water at the time of the attack.