Not-So-Happy Facts About Disney World
The Walt Disney Company has made a point of saying that their parks are "the happiest places on Earth." But unless bizarre rules, freak accidents, and questionable behind-the-scenes policies make those corporate executives smile, they might want to reconsider their slogan. These Disney nightmares are too odd to be completely forgotten.
Another one bites the dust
In 2016 Animal Kingdom's allegedly staff failed to notice a large snake that slithered out of one of the enclosures and into the park. It wound up falling onto a young boy and biting him on the neck — which in itself is terrifying — but he managed to survive. The boy's grandmother, however, was so shocked by the sight she died of a heart attack.
That was the family's story, however. Disney responded that the snake was actually wild and that the bite simply required a band-aid to be placed on the boy's wound. Despite these discrepancies, the matter was settled outside of the public eye.
Hi ho, hi no!
Seeing the fireworks displays at Magic Kingdom is a wonderful thing, but not when the explosions get a little too close for comfort. In 2015 parkgoers were enjoying a beautiful night, but within minutes they were watching in horror as the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train went up in flames.
The Reedy Creek Fire Department claimed the cause was the turf grass used in the ride. The good news was that nobody got hurt, plus the attraction was able to reopen shortly afterward.
Flash Mountain
Who doesn't love a ride that comes with a Kodak moment? Splash Mountain was a favorite spot for Disney visitors to pose for funny photos and memorable family portraits. But not everyone on the ride was so well-behaved.
Some parkgoers get a kick out of exposing themselves or making lewd gestures for the camera. In response, Disney employees had to screen each round of pics to weed out any R-rated selections before they displayed them for sale at the end of the ride.
Down goes Pluto
Park visitors aren't the only ones who suffer from Disney slipups. During one of Magic Kingdom's famous parades, a float drove a little too close to an actor dressed as Pluto and ran him over.
Sadly, the actor playing the character later died from his injuries. The victim's name was Javier Cruz, and he had worked for Disney World for eight years before the tragic accident claimed his life.
Indiana Jones and Stunt Spectacular of Doom
Injuries to Disney park employees aren't that uncommon, and many of them have happened at Hollywood Studios' Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. Since the show's 1989 debut, three stunt performers have been horribly injured from falling, and one person even died just by performing a simple tumble roll.
The 2009 tragedy occurred during a rehearsal when acrobat Anislav Varbanov suffered a fatal head injury. A Disney representative explained, "It's worth noting that stunt is a common acrobatic maneuver and has been performed successfully thousands of times since the show was created." Still, that's hardly any comfort to anyone affected by the accident.
Never break character
Character employees are given strict rules that must be followed at all times. Specifically for "fur characters," the golden rule is "no taking the costume off or breaking character," or else management will fire them in the blink of an eye.
And Disney workers are certainly afraid of disobeying these rules. On one occasion, a parade employee dressed as Dumbo vomited in his suit but had no choice but to stay in costume and remain on the float!
Ashes to ashes
Disney World is a decidedly less gloomy resting place than a graveyard, which is probably why the park has to contend with people bringing their loved ones’ ashes onto rides and then sneakily pouring them out.
The Haunted Mansion is a favorite location for the recently deceased, and poor park staff members are often required to use a special HEPA vacuum to clear them up. Yikes.
Breaking a sweat
It's safe to say Disney workers have it pretty rough, especially the costumed ones. The characters in suits, dubbed "fur characters," have to endure exhausting heat from their costumes year-round.
Even in colder temperatures, they break a sweat, and the heavy weight doesn't help either. The costumes can weigh up to 47 pounds, equating each shift to a hefty workout for only minimum-wage pay.
A pirate's life for she
When it comes to the Pirates of the Caribbean, some patrons were upset by the ride's infamous "wench auction" scene — unsurprisingly, most felt that women being sold into marriage wasn't quite the best message to send to little girls.
In 2017 Disney decided to remove these damsels in distress and replaced them with an antiques auction instead. In addition, the head auctioneer is now a lively redheaded female pirate, who stands out given that most of the ride's other characters are men.
Disrespectful visitors
Along with the "fur characters" there are also the "face characters," who just dress in Disney characters' clothes. You'd think they have the better deal, but even these workers have their fair share of issues.
There is a boatload of cases out there regarding employees being attacked, harassed, and even propositioned by park visitors, and they're all paid minimum wage with few perks to speak of. It's enough to make even Tinker Bell go red in the face!
Dr. Mickey on call
For a long time, Disney never thought to have health warnings for their more intense rides. But after three different people died of heart failure — including a 12-year-old — they decided enough was enough.
The parks now have a whole booklet of restrictions and advisories, hundreds of strategically placed defibrillators, and staff members are trained to perform CPR and other life-saving measures.
Keep your arms and legs inside the ride, please
Roller coasters aren't for everyone, and there's no shame in that (you wusses). However, there are dangerous consequences for those who attempt to jump ship in the middle of the ride — including not living to tell the tale.
Disney has taken stronger measures to ensure even the most fidgety passengers are locked in safely, but a series of ride-related incidents over the years still hasn't exactly helped their image.
Brain-eating parasites
Located on Bay Lake within the grounds of Disney World, River Country was Disney’s first-ever water park. In 1980 a young boy of 11 was killed by a brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, which lived in the semi-fresh waters of River Country that kids used to swim in.
Two other drownings in the ensuing years did not help the attraction's popularity. The water park closed down in 2001 and remains eerily abandoned to this day. Any chance of reopening seems highly unlikely.
Made to perform
Humans aren't the only ones being exploited in the magical world of Disney. Though they aren't forced to do circus tricks for literal peanuts, the many animals of Disney's Kilimanjaro Safari are manipulated so they get up close and personal with their guests.
Air-conditioned rocks, for example, are placed close to visitors. These aren't for the park guests, but rather to manipulate the animals — who are often overheated by the Florida sun — to come closer to the viewing areas.
Dead men tell no tales
Most of the skeletons on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World are fake – no real surprise there. But in one scene, there is a skull and crossbones on a headboard above a skeleton sitting in a bed. And it looks a bit... different.
That's because, according to many eagle-eyed Disney fans, it's real. In fact, when the ride opened in 1967, all of the skeleton props came from real human remains. The park substituted fake bones in the following years, but some visitors claim that one or two actual skulls remain.
Exploited interns
If you thought things were bad for regular employees, try college interns. You've probably heard of Disney's highly sought-after College Program, but it's even more miserable than a regular internship.
With Disney, interns are merely minimum-wage employees who aren't even paid! Although it looks good to have "Disney" on your resume, these internships are no better than any other menial labor job.
The magic of greed
Is it worth working at the happiest place on Earth? Disney employees did eventually get a "happily ever after" of their own, but that was only after the Department of Labor went after the conglomerate for not paying over a thousand employees their due.
Between unpaid overtime and not covering costume and uniform costs, Disney had been taking advantage of its employees for years. It wasn't until 2017 that a case was opened for the 16,339 mistreated employees.
Disney horror movie
Disney World and Disneyland like to protect their squeaky-clean image; indeed, they would rather you didn’t know that a horror B-movie was once shot at both locations without Disney’s permission. Director Randy Moore secretly shot Escape from Tomorrow, which followed a fictional family vacation that slowly turned into a nightmare.
After the indie movie was announced, many showbiz insiders expected that Disney would slap a big fat lawsuit on Moore. Curiously, the corporation took the opposite approach. They instead ignored the movie for the most part in an effort to prevent it from getting more attention — and attracting copycat filmmakers.
Highway to hell
Disney's monorail is one of the tamer rides in any of their parks, but that doesn't mean it's always been the safest. Back in 1985, about 240 park guests were given the shock of a lifetime when the Disney World monorail burst into flames.
One of the train's tires had burst, causing enough friction against the rail to ignite the fire. With the monorail track set some 30 feet off the ground, the passengers either risked the jump or climbed to the roof to escape the flames.
Subliminal mind tricks
Disneyland is full of mind tricks, including a few subtle ploys that barely anyone notices. For starters, it uses “smellitizers” all over the park. On Main Street, for example, you inhale the sweet aroma of cookies despite there being no actual baked goods in sight.
Cinderella Castle, meanwhile, looks bigger than it actually is thanks to forced perspective; the castle’s bricks get smaller the higher they go. While these illusions aren't exactly sinister, they do show how far Disney will go to convince visitors that they're having fun.
Up in smoke
As a kid, you probably didn't notice all the smokers around you in Disney. Despite bans against smoking across the country, Disney was repeatedly criticized for allowing its visitors to puff freely for decades.
It is, however, one controversy the company has tried to make amends for... partially. Since 2019, smoking has become prohibited in many areas, though there are still designated areas for it scattered around Disney parks.
The mysterious death of Deborah Stone
In 1974 18-year-old Deborah Stone got the dream job as a hostess for “America Sings,” a new musical performance at Disneyland. But during one evening performance after Deborah left the stage, park guests heard a horrifying scream.
They rushed to find the teenager crushed to death between the rotating wall and the stage. Even to this day, no one knows exactly how it happened. The entire set was redesigned so that a similar disaster could never strike again.
Roast duck
Disneyland is beloved for its pyrotechnics, at least by its human visitors. According to author and Disney expert David Koenig, during one edition of Fantasmic — a river light show that involves setting fire to water — a whole paddling of ducks quacked their last when they got burned to death.
In fairness to Disney, it has now inserted a bubble machine to scare the ducks away during shows. “People think it’s for the atmosphere — like the moment’s getting tense and something interesting is going to happen. But really, it’s to save the lives of the ducks,” Koenig explained.
Walt sold out his animators
The height of the Red Scare in the 1950s ruined countless careers. Walt Disney was not one of these victims. Rather, he smeared the names of many of his past collaborators and got them permanently blacklisted.
Walt Disney, a close friend of FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover, appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee and testified that a number of his former animators were communists. This included Art Heinemann, an art director on Fantasia.
The lemming lie
Poor lemmings. These cute critters are infamous for running off the sides of cliffs and plummeting to their deaths. That, however, is just an urban legend — one that Disney is responsible for. This misconception stems from the 1958 Disney “documentary” White Wilderness, where filmmakers pushed lemmings off a cliff into the water below to make it look like they were jumping.
The film's narrator then claimed that this suicidal tendency was simply part of the lemming’s nature. Disney has since blamed a freelance director for setting up the grisly scene, but they still funded the whole debacle.
Not caring about daycare
Throughout its history, Disney has proved. that it can be surprisingly petty. In 1989, the corporation threatened to take legal action against three daycare centers in Florida that had lovingly painted life-sized versions of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy on their walls.
As much as the company loved kids, it loved its intellectual property more. The nurseries had to remove the paintings, but it all ended happily for them as rival animation studio Hanna-Barbera let them use its characters for free.
Snow White silenced
Adriana Caselotti is best known to modern Disney fans as the voice of Snow White in the Disney movie. In fact, she’s only known for that single role – because Walt Disney himself supposedly banned her from doing future work that entailed using her voice. Why?
It was all a move to preserve “the illusion of Snow White.” She was even banned from being interviewed on the radio, effectively ending her career right as it started. It also didn't help that voice actors weren't credited back then, so Caselotti never got the industry recognition she deserved.
The very exclusive Club 33
There are many nooks and crannies to California’s Disneyland, and this has led people to wonder what mysteries lurk behind some of those innocuous-looking doors. One of these doors, in New Orleans Square, leads to Club 33, an exclusive speakeasy and one of the few places that serve alcohol in Disneyland.
But even if you know the location, you can't simply stroll into Club 33. It's only open to its exclusive roster of members, who shell out tens of thousands of dollars to sip on their Mickey Mouse martinis.
An ironic attraction
The Tree of Life, which represents all of nature’s diversity with hundreds of animal carvings, is the centerpiece of Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. At first glance, it seems like the perfect celebration of every type of life under the sun.
It’s interesting, then, that the massive tree structure is built around an oil rig. Some might view this fact as the epitome of irony, while others might see the recycled rig as an inspiring message for the future. It all depends on your point of view.
Sexist hiring practices
Today’s more welcoming members of the Walt Disney Company would squirm at the way the company turned down a female animator for a job in 1938. Kevin Burg discovered in 2013 that his grandmother, Mary Ford, made an overture to become a Disney animator when he found an old letter in storage.
Ford’s rejection letter stated that all creative work at the company was “performed entirely by young men.” Worse still, the letter was penned by a female employee. She never told her family about her secret dreams while she was still alive, but instead became a teacher.