Disney World’s Strangest Secrets
Since it first opened in 1971, Walt Disney World has imagined itself as “The Most Magical Place on Earth”—and for many people, it is. However, this is an image it has carefully cultivated through strictly-controlled practices and secretive policies.
The Glimmer In His Eye
Disneyland in California was the first Disney theme park, opening in 1955. Very soon, however, stats showed that very few visitors were coming from east of the Mississippi River—despite 75% of the US population at the time living there.
Walt Disney wanted to build something even bigger and better than Disneyland to accommodate people who didn’t want to travel to California—so he started making plans for Walt Disney World.
CrispyCream27, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Secrecy Of "The Florida Project"
In the mid-60s, Walt Disney began acquiring land in Florida around Bay Lake, using dummy corporations to avoid attention from the press and naming the whole thing “The Florida Project”. Disney’s agents began slyly buying up tracts of land in the area, never revealing who the buyer was. Soon, rumors began to fly.
Quarax, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Who Was Behind It?
People suspected that NASA was behind the land sale, while others speculated that it might be Ford, or the Rockefellers, or notable eccentric Howard Hughes. Walt Disney was forced to deny inquiries by journalists about whether or not he was the one behind the land purchases. There was just one problem—he wasn’t a great actor.
Alan Fisher, Wikimedia Commons
The Truth Is Revealed
Disney had big ideas on how he wanted to reveal the truth about the Florida Project—but the journalists were closing in and his denials weren’t convincing them. In 1965, he finally revealed his plans to build “the greatest attraction in the history of Florida”.
Sadly, he didn’t have long to see those plans through.
Florida Development Commission, Wikimedia Commons
It's So Hard To Say Goodbye
On December 15, 1966, Walt Disney passed on from lung cancer before ever seeing the opening of Walt Disney World, his namesake project. At the time, his brother Roy had been planning on retiring, but ultimately decided to keep working so that he could make sure Walt’s project came to life.
Ultimately, Roy also passed just three months after the park opened.
The Tunnels
People often talk about the extensive network of tunnels underneath the Magic Kingdom, which allows for cast members to move seamlessly between areas of the park—avoiding, say, a gaffe if someone from Tomorrowland were to step foot in Frontierland. But, here’s the thing…they’re not actually tunnels.
Jedi94, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention
Florida has a high water table, which would’ve made digging out a basement the size of the whole park nearly impossible. So, the network of passages “underneath” the Magic Kingdom is actually at ground level—and the Magic Kingdom itself sits above it. That means if you’re walking on Main Street USA, you’re actually on the second floor.
Jedi94, CC BY-SA 4.0 , Wikimedia Commons
The City Of The Future
Everyone has their favorite area of Disney World, be it the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, or the Animal Kingdom. Epcot, in particular, is something of a mash-up of two ideas—a celebration of both technological innovation and international culture, all under the umbrella of human achievement. But that’s not how it all began…
Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow
Before there was the Epcot Center, there was EPCOT—the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Walt Disney planned for an entire community on the land he’d acquired in Florida for Disney World, intending to create a modernist/futurist utopian autocratic company town. Now that’s a mouthful.
Jedi94, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Looking To Tomorrow
Disney wanted to build what he called a “community of tomorrow,” which used cutting-edge technology and would be a continuous work in progress, always improving on what came before. Disney believed that there was an “urban crisis” caused by the dominant modes of community planning, and he thought he could fix it.
When You’re Here, You’re Home
Disney’s original plans for the vast swath of land he’d purchased in Central Florida included the Magic Kingdom, various hotels and campsites, transportation options, as well as the EPCOT “city” he envisioned. There would be a city center, transportation, residential areas, and even a green belt which would be home to schools, community centers, churches, and arenas.
There’s A Word For This…
Residents—a planned 20,000 people—would live in apartments at the edge of the city center near the green belt. Outside that, in the residential area, there would be single family homes. These residents wouldn’t own the land or their homes, and as such, would not have voting rights in the community.
To prevent slums, everyone would be employed by Disney at the Magic Kingdom or one of the other tourist attractions. Additionally, everyone had to work—no one was allowed to retire while living in EPCOT.
HarshLight, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
What Happened To EPCOT?
According to Disney’s brother, he was still working on plans for EPCOT while in the hospital just days before his passing. Though Roy wanted to see his brother's dream through, the board at Disney were wary of the project.
Later, when some of Disney’s Imagineers attempted to keep it going, the board reminded them that people might be reluctant to live in the totalitarian, surveillance state that Disney had originally envisioned.
Florida Memory, Wikimedia Commons
Celebration
In some ways, the spirit of EPCOT lives on in today's Epcot, of course, but also in Disney’s planned community of Celebration, Florida, which came to fruition around the year 2000 and recorded 11,878 residents in the 2020 census.
Celebration is far from Walt Disney’s utopian, futuristic, and problematic, vision—but there are some totalitarian elements of Disney’s planning that remained a part of Disney World for years afterward.
Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Don’t Get Your Knickers In A Twist
Disney World takes the integrity of cast member’s costumes pretty seriously—perhaps too seriously. In order to make sure that their costumes had no unsightly “panty lines,” as it were, cast members were forced to use regulation underwear…but that’s not even the worst part.
What’s Yours Is Mine
Pairs of underwear often stayed with a costume, even as the cast members inside it switched between shifts—meaning that yes, they were essentially communal underwear. This practice continued until 2001. It was rumored that a scabies outbreak put an end to it, but more likely, it was action from the union.
Pooh 4 Prez
Of all the Disney characters who might run for President of the United States of America, who would you expect to enter the race, hypothetically? Well, he may not have been everyone’s first pick, but in 1968, Disneyland staged a publicity event that involved Winnie the Pooh running for president.
It was a cute one-off performance—until it wasn’t.
History Repeats Itself
When we think of tenacity despite failure, we may not think of Winnie the Pooh, but he nonetheless decided to “run” for president again in 1972, this time at Disney World. And they really went all out.
The Campaign Trail
There was a campaign song, rallies, and numerous pamphlets where Pooh laid out his policies—including a promise to put “hunny in every pot,” “disclosing the ‘Bear’ Facts,” and a “battle to ‘lick’ the high price of ice cream cones”.
The U.S. National Archives, Picryl
Election Interference
At the time, Pooh 4 Prez was probably a pretty good lesson for kids in the way that national politics works, along with a few tongue-in-cheek jokes for the adults. But in the age of Super PACs, foreign interference, and the other problems that plague electoral politics, it’s all a bit weird.
The U.S. National Archives, Picryl
One Infamous Moment
Pooh's presidential run wasn’t even Disney World’s only foray into presidential politics. In 1973, it was the site of one unforgettable moment, when then President Richard Nixon was in the thick of the Watergate scandal.
Department of Defense, Wikimedia Commons
Denial Isn’t Just A River In Egypt
On November 7, 1973, Nixon called a press conference at Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort to address the allegations against him—and in the process, spoke one of the most infamous lines in all of US history: “I am not a crook”. Yup, those five infamous words were spoken at Disney World.
JOKA Press Photo Archive, CC-BY-SA-4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The End Of An Era
Aside from political incidents, Disney World has also seen its fair share of births, deaths, breakups, makeups, and other major life events among its visitors. But, strangely, enough, it was also the site of one of the most notable breakups of the 20th century.
Hello, Goodbye
While enjoying a stay at Disney World’s Polynesian Village Hotel on December 29, 1974, John Lennon received paperwork that would officially disband the Beatles. He signed it at the resort—marking the true end of an era for many music fans.
An Explosion In The Dark
The upkeep on a place like Walt Disney World requires a lot of time and a lot of workers. And a lot of it happens after the park closes for the night. On one such night in 1974, a small explosion occurred, claiming the life of one carpenter and injuring another.
It was a mystery as to what had happened—until an investigation uncovered the truth about that night.
A Freak Accident
Orange County, Florida detectives found the cause of the explosion—and it was utterly bizarre. The filament from a fluorescent light had inadvertently ignited glue fumes where the carpenters had been working. It was one of the earliest fatalities at the park, though it was far from the last.
River Country
Disney's River Country, the first water park at Walt Disney World, opened in 1976 and closed in 2001. Due to mysterious illnesses and accidents including deaths from brain-eating parasites and drownings, a myth that the water was cursed began to circulate. But there may have been something to the rumors…
Coreyjune12, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
River Country’s Bad Water
In 1980, an 11-year-old boy from New York perished after swimming at the River Country Water Park. An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was a brain infection caused by a microbe named Naegleria fowleri, which was found to exist in the water the boy had swam in.
Two others drowned in the park in the 1980s.
On Pause
River Country “temporarily” closed in 2001, after Disney World built two other water parks. Finally, after years of speculation, Disney announced the park’s permanent closure in 2005.
It sat abandoned and rotting for 17 years—but that’s not the creepiest part.
Quarax, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
And The Band Played On
During this time, the “River Country Closing Theme,” which would play each night when the park prepared to shut down, played continuously throughout the abandoned area. The lights also turned on and off automatically.
Today, the water park remains abandoned and rotting—but the myth of the cursed water keeps the curiosity and interest of Disney fans alive today.
Quarax, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
A Vacation Gone Wrong
One of the most remarkable—and upsetting—incidents in Disney World history happened in 1984. A family of five were flying in a private plane to Kissimmee, Florida, for a Disney World vacation when they ran into trouble near Epcot.
Crash Landing
The father was forced to attempt an emergency landing in the Epcot parking lot, but ultimately hit a pole, which sheared off the right wing. Three perished in the accident, but two of the children survived. Luckily, no one else was around at the time of the incident, so further injuries were avoided.
Jedi94, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Calling OSHA
On June 26, 1985, a monorail car traveling between Epcot and the Ticket Center caught fire and was quickly engulfed in flames. There was just one—extremely perplexing—problem. The monorail had pretty much no safety features.
Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
No Way Out
There were no fire alarms nor emergency exits aboard the monorail car, as the people on it quickly discovered. They were able to kick out windows and climb to the top of the car, where they had to be rescued by the authorities.
While some were hospitalized from smoke inhalation, there were luckily no fatalities, and safety measures were later installed in the monorail cars. Unfortunately, it took them a while to institute them everywhere…
The Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular!
Anyone who’s taken the time out of their day to watch the Indiana Jones stunt show at Disney World will tell you that it’s a real thrill ride—and apparently, that extends to the performers as well. In 1990, OSHA came after Disney World based on three different incidents…
Jedi94 , CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Close Calls
OSHA cited incidents where performers fell 25-30 feet due to equipment failure. Additionally, another performer had been pinned by a trap door. Ultimately, Disney worked to make the show safer for performers, though sadly, one perished in 2009 after hitting his head during a tumble roll.
Lunch Break Gone Wrong
One of the Disney World's strangest—and saddest—fatalities occurred in 1992. An off-duty cast member had been sitting on the ledge at the Contemporary Resort's Top of the World restaurant when he was suddenly surrounded by a swarm of wasps. While trying to swat them away, he lost his balance and plunged 11 stories down.
Quarax, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Remember The Magic
Disney World celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1996, and Disney’s Imagineers came up with a variety of ways to mark the occasion. The promotion was dubbed “Remember the Magic,” but some of the things they planned were more memorable than others—and not always for the right reasons.
The Pink Cake Castle
One of the projects for the anniversary involved turning the Magic Kingdom’s Cinderella Castle into a pink candy confection. For some, it was a feast for the eyes. For others—to quote A Christmas Story—it was a pink nightmare.
Making The Pink Castle
To turn Cinderella’s Castle into a giant pink birthday cake, the team at Disney used 400 gallons of pink paint, 26 “candles” that were 20 to 40 feet tall, gumballs, lollipops, gummy bears, Life Savers, and 1,000 feet of pink and blue inflatable “icing”. A giant “25” was also tacked over the main entrance.
Sickly Sweet
All in all, it sounds pretty whimsical—so what’s the problem? Well, many guests claimed that looking at the Pepto Bismol-pink confection in the Florida heat left them feeling hyperglycemic. But that’s just a matter of opinion, right? Well…
DearCatastropheWaitress, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Happily Never After
Disney had recently introduced the “Fairy Tale Weddings” program to help couples plan their nuptials at Disney World—and many brides- and grooms-to-be who expected to be able to take wedding photos outside of Cinderella’s Castle were in for an unpleasant pink surprise.
And it wasn’t the only time that Cinderella’s Castle got a makeover…
Raman Patel, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Stitch’s Great Mistake
In 2004, Disney World opened a new ride called “Stitch’s Great Escape,” featuring the mischievous alien from the 2002 film Lilo & Stitch. The team decided to stage a publicity stunt to celebrate the new ride—but how they did it raised eyebrows.
Theme Park Tourist, CC BY 2.0 ,Wikimedia Commons
Stitch Wuz Here
Overnight, they covered Cinderella’s Castle in toilet paper and graffiti, including a piece that proclaimed “Stitch is King”. It fit in with the character’s naughty side, but visitors to the park were horrified at the sight of their beloved Castle desecrated like that.
If there’s one tip we could give to Disney’s imagineers for future publicity stunts—don’t mess with Cinderella’s Castle.
Discovery Island
Though Walt Disney World covers 25,000 acres, only half of that has been used by the park—and then, of course, there are the areas that are abandoned, the most intriguing of which is Discovery Island, originally known as Treasure Island. .
The Wild Kingdom
Discovery Island featured a variety of wildlife that visitors to the park could observe, including Capuchin monkeys, lemurs, tortoises, alligators, flamingos, and a variety of other exotic birds. Though the attraction flourished for many years, it was not without its problems.
What Happens At Discovery Island…
In the 90s, Disney made plans to build a new attraction called Animal Kingdom, which would make Discovery Island redundant. Additionally, Discovery Island was the subject of an investigation that involved 16 counts of animal cruelty.
It soon became clear that Discovery Island was not long for this world.
The Forgotten Island
Disney began to move Discovery Island’s animals to Animal Kingdom before eventually closing the area in 1999. Though it was not the first time that an attraction closed, what was remarkable was that Disney essentially abandoned Discovery Island. They left buildings and other structures behind untouched for the past 24 years—but just because it’s non-operational doesn’t mean that it’s been completely deserted.
The Final Islander
A number of “urban explorer” types have visited the island in the decades since it’s been closed—perhaps most notably, a Youtuber who took up residence on the island in 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Richard J McGuire, 42, told law enforcement officers that the island looked like “a tropical paradise”—but McGuire had also filmed videos of himself covering himself with leaves to hide from authorities.
McGuire later took a plea deal for $100 and accepted a lifetime ban from Disney World.
BestofWDW from USA, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Pulse Connection
The Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 was a horrific day in Florida’s history—but few know that there was also a connection to Walt Disney World. The man responsible, Omar Mateen, had visited Disney Springs, a shopping and entertainment complex at Disney World, just four hours before the incident—for a disturbing reason.
Edburns00, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
What If?
Mateen had contemplated whether or not he should carry out his attack at a nightclub or at Disney World—but ultimately, he was deterred by the amount of security at Disney.
JZ85, CC BY-SA 3.0 , Wikimedia Commons
A Year-Round Experience
Disney World is open 365 days a year, including Christmas Day—but extenuating circumstances have caused the park to close a number of times. For most of its history, it only closed for hurricanes, but on September 11, 2001, it closed for the first time for non-weather-related reasons. The longest closure was from March 15, 2020, to July 11, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Where Memories Are Made—And Kept
Disney World and the other Disney parks obviously have scores of fans—and among those, some are more casual, where others are true die-hards. Literally. It’s led to a major problem for Disney staff.
Michael Rivera, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Disney Forever
Disney cast members have revealed a pretty disturbing regular practice that takes place, despite being forbidden—people attempting to leave or spread the ashes of their dearly departed loved ones on the grounds of Disney parks. But what happens next may be even more disturbing.
Theme Park Tourist, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Code A
Leaving someone’s remains somewhere without authorization isn’t just against Disney’s rules, but also state laws. If you manage to get away with it without getting caught, it’s likely that a Disney cast member will spot it and have to call a “Code A”—that’s right, A for Ashes.
The remains will then be cleaned up and disposed of. Not exactly the “Rest in Peace” Disney fans imagine.
The Code Of Silence
Speaking of, Disney has tried to keep some of its practices under wraps throughout the years, but former cast members have spilled the beans about the meanings behind the different “codes” they use. And once you know what they stand for, you definitely won’t want to hear them on your next visit to the park.
V Is For…
Among the many codes regularly used by Disney cast members to call for clean-ups, there’s Code U for urination, and Code V for vomit. The wildest one of all? Code H. Try and follow us here—the H stands for Honey. And which character famously loves honey? Winnie the Pooh, of course. Pooh…yup, Code H means someone has had an accident. The kind no one wants to have.
So, if you happen to overhear someone use those over the radio, watch your step!
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