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Secrets Disneyland Doesn’t Want You To Know · Be Amazed

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: finally made it to Disneyland.
• 0:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: The happiest place on Earth.
• 0:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Picture it.
• 0:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Sleeping Beauty's castles soaring into the bright California sky.
• 0:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thousands of visitors streaming through the gates, the smell of warm popcorn and candy floss drifting on the breeze.
• 0:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: And me, Bartholomew Egbert amazed a ball-shaped mascot, barely ankle-high, weaving between a
• 0:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Opening its doors back in 1955, Disneyland was built to be pure, flawless magic.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: But that magic comes at a price, because one straight kick from the crowd, one wrong step, and I tumbled straight down through an open manhole, and now I'm trapped in the pitch black maze of service tunnels that snakes beneath the entire resort.
• 0:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: And down here far from the smiling faces in the fairy tale facade,
• 0:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm starting to glimpse the thing's Disney keeps buried, whispers of Walt's frozen head sealed in a freezer, dolls that crawl out of the dark, and things far worse.
• 1:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: So come with me, these are the secrets Disneyland doesn't want you to know.
• 1:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Behind Disneyland smiling faces and joyous facade, dark secrets lurk.
• 1:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Take this tunnel I'm stuck in.
• 1:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Legend says that one day Walt Disney was at Disneyland in Anaheim, California when he spotted a cowboy strolling through tomorrow land on his way to his post in front of your land.
• 1:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: He thought such a jarring site distracted guests and spoiled the illusion of the park.
• 1:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, for his next park, he swore to do something about it.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 1971, Walt's brand-new resort opened in Florida, and underneath it was dug over 390,000 square feet of utility doors.
• 1:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: A network of tunnels where park operations were kept out of sight from the public.
• 2:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Here, costumeed characters can secretly move around from one section of the park to another and other less glamorous operations like trash disposal can go on with guests none the wiser.
• 2:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Strictly out of bounds for visitors, unless they have a special pass, the utility doors have been subject to some of the farious rumors.
• 2:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like being used for child trafficking, on November 4th, 2024, podcaster Joe Rogan reported that a child had been abducted into them.
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: One viral video circulating online claimed that on Friday, October 13th, a family from Los Angeles visited Disneyland with their child.
• 2:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: After about two hours when they wanted to have lunch, the child went to the restroom to wash their hands.
• 2:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: When the child didn't return after three minutes, the parents went to check on them.
• 2:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: They saw a man abducting the child into an underground tunnel that seemed to vanish beneath the floor.
• 2:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: The parents could only watch as the ground folded in on itself.
• 2:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was impossible to see that there was a tunnel hidden underneath.
• 3:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: There are a few things wrong with this video.
• 3:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Firstly, the utilitors are most associated with Disney World, not Disneyland.
• 3:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Problem 2, California Police have stated that no reports have been filed regarding missing children.
• 3:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: This brings me to Problem 3, which is the most egregious of all.
• 3:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: That video is clearly fake AI garbage.
• 3:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: The mouth movements don't line up with the words and the whole thing looks like a garbled artificial mess.
• 3:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, before you cancel your trip to Disney just yet, you should know that there's no proof of Disney stealing people away down crazy tunnels.
• 3:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Wait, if that's true, where am I?
• 3:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Alright, deep breaths.
• 3:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Let me get my mind off this tunnel and onto a ride millions a door, though a door might be the wrong word once you hear what it gets up to after dark.
• 3:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Of all the rides in Disneyland, one of the most famous is, it's a small world.
• 3:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: First opened in 1966, the ride takes guests on boats through a water tunnel filled with over 300 smiling dolls.
• 4:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Each dressed in a tire from all over the globe.
• 4:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now if these things weren't eerie enough, let me elucidate and get this, they're constantly twirling around like tiny idiots.
• 4:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: When the ride closes, the music stops and the lights go out, but these animatronics keep moving.
• 4:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yep, whether the ride is open or close, the dolls move 24-7.
• 4:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: But why?
• 4:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Disney are suspiciously tight-lipped, and that's not the only thing.
• 4:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: According to the internet, the doll's hair grows, so much so that they supposedly get it cut every year.
• 4:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, what?
• 4:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Are they actually alive?
• 4:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: The product of some twisted experiment?
• 4:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, probably not.
• 4:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Their hair is reportedly made of yarn which stretches over time due to humidity, and they could be kept on all night to save the wear and tear of constantly shutting them off.
• 4:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Even so, all this perpetual movement and hair growth have led to some terrible tales.
• 5:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some netizens tell of living children being stolen from their parents and gruesomely turned into living dolls.
• 5:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Afterwords, they're doomed to remain forever dancing in Disneyland.
• 5:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you want to dance with happiness, why not follow the show wherever you're listening?
• 5:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: And while you're there, could you call someone to get me out, please?
• 5:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not until I'm done with the episode?
• 5:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Bye.
• 5:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'll deal with it.
• 5:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: With that shameless plug out of the way, let's sink our teeth into one of the most persistent Disney legends of all.
• 5:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: A rumor that's been chilling fans for decades.
• 5:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ever since humans have existed, we've sought to cheat the inevitable and achieve immortality.
• 5:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: And rumor has it that beloved Uncle Walt was no exception.
• 5:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: To fulfill his dream, he allegedly had his body or just his head, cryogenically frozen, waiting for the day when medicine would finally conquer death.
• 5:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Over time, the legend has evolved with some claiming that Walt's Frozen Head is stored beneath his own theme park, possibly in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
• 6:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just imagine wandering through the depths of Disneyland, only to see that icy visit staring back at you.
• 6:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, and this may come as a surprise, there's not much evidence to support this story.
• 6:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Walt's body was actually cremated, so the opposite of Frozen, and then interned at Forestlon Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
• 6:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so, how did the legend begin in the first place?
• 6:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, Walt died in 1966, around the time newfound interest
• 6:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: The legend that he was frozen likely started in 1972 when Bob Nelson, president of the cryonic society of California, claimed that Walt wanted to have his body preserve, but the pair couldn't finalize the paperwork in time.
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Again, Nelson's story is probably baloney.
• 6:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's no proof Walt even knew what cryogenics were.
• 6:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Regardless, the story grew in popularity and remains prevalent to this day.
• 7:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if that wasn't strange enough, there's another rumor that Disney's 2013 hit Frozen was made purely so that when people Googled Disney Frozen, they'd get results for the film.
• 7:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not stories about Walt's chilly head.
• 7:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Frozen heads are the stuff of rumor, but this next story is grimly verifiably real, and it cost one young cast member her life.
• 7:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: For many, the idea of working at the happiest place on Earth is nothing short of paradise.
• 7:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yet for Deborah Stone, this place quickly became hell.
• 7:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: At Disney Land Workers are called cast members, and in 1974 the 18-year-old joined the cast hoping to earn some extra cash before heading off to college.
• 7:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: She worked as a hostess tasked with greeting guests at the newly opened America Sing's Attraction.
• 7:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: The theater housing the show rotated as audiences watched animatronic animals sing tunes from U.S. history.
• 7:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: As guests entered, cast members guided them onto one of several rotating stages, and between acts the cast would move between these stages as they rotated into position for the next scene.
• 8:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: But on July 8, 1974, just nine days after the attraction opened, Tragedy struck.
• 8:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: At around 11pm, it's believed that Stone got too close to the gap between the rotating wall and the stationary stage wall and got caught between the two.
• 8:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: audiences watching the show hurt her screams, but assumed it was just part of the performance.
• 8:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: By the time staff were alerted and arrived at the scene, it was too late to save her, horrifyingly the walls had completely closed in.
• 8:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: America sings was promptly closed.
• 8:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, contrary to popular belief, this heartbreaking incident didn't shut it down for good.
• 8:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just three days later, it reopened with added safety lights and breakaway walls, giving someone a chance to escape if a similar event happened.
• 8:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: It continued running for another 14 years before being re-done and legend told that Stone's ghost haunted the attraction, telling guests who get too close to the rotating wall to be careful.
• 8:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Speaking of restless spirits, Disney's dark side doesn't end with a single tragedy.
• 9:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: One of its most iconic rides may be haunted for a far more literal reason.
• 9:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: First opened in 1967, Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean ride became famous for inspiring the film franchise of the same name, as well as having a few outdated scenes.
• 9:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: But this is far from the weirdest thing about this place.
• 9:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Before the attraction opened, the Imagineers, that is the creatives behind Disney Park operations, needed some props to add a certain spooky Genesequat.
• 9:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: They wanted skeletons, but the technology at the time couldn't create anything realistic enough, and they'd already blown a whopping $15 million on the attraction.
• 9:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's over $140 million today.
• 9:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: So needing a cheap but authentic looking alternative, the Imagineers nab the next best thing.
• 9:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: They went to the University of California's Medical Center, got their hands on some real skeletons, and put them on display.
• 9:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: What?
• 10:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Surely these bodies aren't still there today?
• 10:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you believe Disney, no.
• 10:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, as technology improved, the Imagineers decided to ditch the real skeletons, replacing them with convincing models.
• 10:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: But, of course, legends persist.
• 10:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's some speculation that the remains remain, in fact, one skull is still mounted on a headboard in the Ridesbed Chamber.
• 10:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Back in 2014, one Disney cast member confirmed that it's the real deal.
• 10:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, man, who was that person?
• 10:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: And what did they do to tick Waltoff?
• 10:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Unsurprisingly displaying actual human remains on a family ride led to legends that pirates of the Caribbean is haunted by the souls of the dead, and it's not the only ride filled with spectres.
• 10:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Legend has it that if you aboard the Space Mountain ride at Disneyland alone,
• 10:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: you'll be greeted by a man dressed in 1970s clothing with red hair and a red face.
• 10:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Sitting down next to him, he'll be amiable and chatty, but by the time the ride ends, he'll have vanished.
• 11:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Check the security footage, and all you'll see is his faded outline.
• 11:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is Mr. One Way, the ghost of a man who lost his life on the ride and remains there to this day.
• 11:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then there's the Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
• 11:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: According to the story, one of the bellhops working at the attractions suddenly dropped to the floor right there on the platform while loading guests.
• 11:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: To this day, he supposedly haunts the ride, causing eerie occurrences like freezing temperatures and flickering lights.
• 11:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's even grainy maintenance footage from the ride that people swear captures his ghastly face lurking in the dark.
• 11:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's definitely creepy, but these two videos were deep bunked years ago by the aptly named YouTuber Disney Ghost Abompt.
• 11:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Mr. One way video is probably just the reflection of a guest on the polished floor, and when the ghost sits down, it's actually the right operator's reflection on frosted glass.
• 12:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: As for the tower of terror clip, the low frame rate combined with strobing lights creates the illusion of a ghostly figure.
• 12:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: When in reality, it's just reflections of the maintenance man.
• 12:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's true, spooky things do happen at the Disney parks, but it probably ain't phantoms.
• 12:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: For years, Disneyland and Disney World have faced a very real problem.
• 12:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Fans sprinkling the cremated ashes of their loved ones.
• 12:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: You heard right.
• 12:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ash dumping happens at least once a month, with Disneyland's haunted mansion being the most popular side.
• 12:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's even a story of a spirit boy haunting the place after his mom's spread
• 12:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I heard that Disney prohibited this practice because the parks were becoming too overrun with ghosts.
• 12:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: In reality, it's because it's illegal and leaves a big mess.
• 12:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Rides have to be shut down so the ash can be vacuumed up and unceremoniously thrown in the trash and the scatterers themselves are quickly removed from the park, and sometimes ban.
• 13:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Forget about ghosts, I'm scared of the living, and the living guard their own secrets too.
• 13:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Talk to way in the parks it's a door most guest stroll straight past, one hiding a world of exclusive wealth, power, and whispered conspiracy.
• 13:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hidden away on New Orleans Square in Disneyland is a mysterious building with a mosaic in the shape of the number 33 in front of the door.
• 13:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is the entrance to Club 33, an ultra-exclusive private membership club that first opened in May 1967, as a place where Walt could entertain VIPs, at least on the face of it.
• 13:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Members of the club can beat the crowds and enjoy gourmet cuisine, and around the park, they can skip lines and have parking fees waved.
• 13:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: If they cough up the $60,000 fee, just to get in, along with $25,000 in annual dues.
• 13:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Everyone from Elton, John, to Katy Perry are in the super hush hush club, and Tom Hanks and his family reportedly spent their Thanksgiving there.
• 14:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: But there may be more to club 33 than fancy meals and celebrities.
• 14:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: That name, for example.
• 14:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: The number 33 is commonly associated with the secretive fraternity the Free Masons and it's been claimed that Walt himself was a member.
• 14:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: See one Masonic organization, the Scottish right, has a series of degrees a member can obtain.
• 14:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: The 33 degree is the highest, only conferred to members who've shown exceptional dedication and service to the fraternity.
• 14:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: powerful men from politicians to royalty have long held positions in free-masonry and been accused of orchestrating global politics.
• 14:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Could it be that Mickey Mouse is moving the chess pieces of world events?
• 14:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, it's true that at age 19, Walt joined Demole International, a Masonic organization for young men, though there's nothing to prove that he went on to become a free-mason proper afterwards.
• 14:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Even so, there's something undeniably shady about an exclusive members only club in the middle of a family theme park.
• 15:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Two former 33 members, Scott and Diana Anderson described it simply to the Hollywood Reporter in 2024.
• 15:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is a cult and waltz is the Messiah.
• 15:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Geez, I mean, waltz.
• 15:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Secret societies are one way to hide things in plain sight, but Disney's designers pulled off a far bigger trick using nothing more than a clever bit of optical illusion.
• 15:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you walk through Disneyland and look closely at the buildings on Main Street, USA, you'll notice something odd.
• 15:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: The second and third floors are far too small for any adult to comfortably stand in.
• 15:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Indeed, almost all the buildings are designed to be 7-8 scale on the first floor, 5-8s on the second floor, and a measly half on the top floor, with only the first floor open for guests to enter.
• 15:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're tricked into thinking the buildings are normal size because the first floor pretty much is, and we assume the upper floor is only a pure smaller because they're further away from us.
• 16:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: at Disneyland spaces at a premium and the seemingly unused floors are actually used for storage and mechanical systems, basically stuff guests never get to see.
• 16:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Similarly, Main Street is built at a slight upwards angle towards sleeping beauty's castle to make it look all grand and big in the distance.
• 16:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: In reality, the castle stands just 77 feet tall, that's shorter than the base distances in baseball.
• 16:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like the buildings on Main Street, the designers of the castle used forced perspective to make it appear larger than it actually is.
• 16:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: While the lower sections are full-scale, the windows, bricks, and turrets gradually shrink in size as they go higher, tricking the eye into perceiving greater height.
• 16:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: For the most part, the illusion is seamless, unless someone were to climb up it.
• 16:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: To trick the brain further, the Imagineers even created their own colors like Go Away Green.
• 16:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is designed to subtly divert guests' attention away from certain objects and areas.
• 17:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Go away Green works similarly to camouflage.
• 17:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: It blends things into surrounding vegetation, making them easy to ignore.
• 17:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: This can be anything from trash cans and fences to the old entrants of club 33.
• 17:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: But Disneyland has an even more manipulative way it plays with our minds.
• 17:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: See, inside our brains lies the limbic system, that's the emotional center.
• 17:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: This house is something called the old factory bulb, which processes smell and connects it with memory.
• 17:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, Imagineers wanted a nifty way of triggering memories of childhood nostalgia so you to associate them with the part, what better way than with smell.
• 17:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Dotted a long Disneyland or contraptions that look like speakers called Smellitsers, named after the howitzer cannons used in World War I, but instead of firing deadly shells, they fire to lightful smells.
• 18:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Along Main Street, you'll smell freshly baked goods and at California Adventure, you'll get a whiff of woody pines, adding an extra level of immersion.
• 18:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: taking deep, heavy breaths to inhale these smells actually reduces stress by lowering the heart rate and cortisol levels.
• 18:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, there are those who claim that smell-it-sers do more than shoot out nice aromas.
• 18:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: One TikTokker, hangry blogger, claim these sensor actually designed to brainwash visitors into buying merchandise.
• 18:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm not convinced.
• 18:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: I tell you, some days I just wish the ground would swallow me up.
• 18:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: You may still be trying to guess the color of Charlie XCX's underwear, but you definitely don't want to guess the color of the Disney cast.
• 18:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: From 1999 to 2001, workers who don't costumes to portray characters like Mickey or Cinderella used to share Disney-issue jock straps, tights, and bike shorts.
• 18:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: At the end of the day, they'd turn them over to be washed in the next day, they'd be given a different set to wear.
• 19:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Why on Earth, the Disney imposed this grotesque rule?
• 19:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Apparently, it's because regular underpants bunched up and were noticeable under their costumes, but all this sharing meant things weren't the most sanitary down there.
• 19:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Despite Disney's assurances that garments were washed in hot water, workers still complained about receiving stained and stinky underwear.
• 19:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Just imagine having to wear beast sweat-drenched wifrons.
• 19:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: There were even three reported cases of cast members contracting pubic lice and scabies from wearing these things.
• 19:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: disgusting.
• 19:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Finally, in 2001, workers won the right to have individual garments that they could wash at home.
• 19:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: But moldy underwear isn't the only thing workers have complained about.
• 19:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: In recent years, Disney cast members have repeatedly called for better pay and working conditions.
• 19:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Working at a Disney park is notoriously demanding, and the company is unsympathetic to anyone going through a family crisis or falling ill.
• 20:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: This all came to a head in 2008 when 2,300 maids Bellhops cooks and dishwashers at three Disney-owned hotel staged a demonstration in Anaheim.
• 20:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Some dressed as Disney characters.
• 20:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: After an hour-long March 32 of them were arrested, I never thought I'd see Mickey carried off by police, but even after all that, things didn't improve much.
• 20:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: By 2024, a staggering 73% of Disneyland workers reported that they didn't make enough to cover basic expenses each month, with one in 10 experiencing homelessness whilst working at the park.
• 20:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: One overnight custodian told the BBC how she slept in her car since the average apartment rent in southern California is $2,000 far beyond her means with a salary of just $20.65 an hour.
• 20:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, on July 29th, Union Groups agreed to a three-year contract that increased the minimum wage to $24 and introduced a more flexible policy on sick leave avoiding a load of strikes.
• 21:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: seems like even the happiest place on Earth can have its rough days.
• 21:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: We dug into what happens on the ground, now look up, because there's one Disney rule that reaches all the way into the sky.
• 21:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you've ever wandered around a holy side or place of historic importance, like the Taj Mahal or White House, look up to the sky, and you won't see a plane in sight.
• 21:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's because their designated no-fly zones do to their cultural significance.
• 21:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: What's more surprising is that both Disneyland and Disney World have been designated permanent no-fly zones, too.
• 21:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, the Orlando Park is the only zone of its kind in all of Florida, huh?
• 21:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yep, no planes are allowed below 3,000 feet, or within 3 miles of either park.
• 21:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is given rise to the rumor that Disney somehow could hold the government and to granting them the status to maintain the illusion of the Disney parks,
• 21:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: as their own separate worlds.
• 22:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: The truth is a little simpler, after the world was rocked by the tragedy of 911, the Federal Aviation Administration granted Disneyland and Disney World this temporary special status for their own safety.
• 22:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Two years later it was made permanent and has remained that way ever since.
• 22:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yet new government legislation could fly in the face of Disney's
• 22:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 2023, Republican Congress members began working to recent Disney's no-fly zone designation.
• 22:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: This was apparently retaliation for the company's opposition to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his so-called don't-say-gay bill, which restricted schools from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity.
• 22:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Congresswoman Lauren Bobert accused the company of grooming children and added the ever-in
• 22:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Politics aside, let's end our little descent where the magic truly curdles.
• 23:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: With the parks and legends Disney would much rather let rot quietly in the past.
• 23:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: You may have heard of a story that went around the internet back in the 2010s where a blogger ventured into Mogli's palace or resort based on the 1967 tune, The Jungle Book.
• 23:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Disney had dumped millions into turning the land into a tropical paradise complete with a hotel built like an Indian palace surrounded by jungle.
• 23:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Shortly after opening, however, they mysteriously shut the attraction down.
• 23:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Disney cordoned the place off and erased any reference to Mogli's palace from every map and leaflet until it was forgotten, except by our blogger.
• 23:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Unable to suppress their curiosity, the blogger got hold of an old map and managed to track down the aged resort, safe to say, it had seen better days.
• 23:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Walking up to the towering wooden gates, they saw a metal sign with the words abandoned by Disney's scrolled in black paint.
• 24:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: After sneaking in and trudging through the overgrowth, they came to the palace.
• 24:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was open.
• 24:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Once inside, they made their way downstairs to a basement that twisted and turned like a maze, until eventually they came across a room filled with old Disney costumes hanging from the walls.
• 24:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Lying in the middle of the room was a Mickey Mouse costume, but not just any costume.
• 24:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Its fur was rotting and patchy across its rank body and the whole thing was like a photo-negative.
• 24:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Black was white, white was black, and the normally red trousers were light blue.
• 24:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: very off.
• 24:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: After snapping a few photos, the blogger was about to get the hell out of there when the Mickey Mouse costume suddenly began to shuffle.
• 24:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then, it stood up.
• 24:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Staring straight at the blogger, the creature reached up and removed its head, the blogger heard a sickening tearing sound as yellow pulp spurred from its neck, terrified they fled leaving the creature behind.
• 24:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: But just before escaping, they glanced up at the door and saw something scratched into the wall above.
• 25:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Abandoned by God!
• 25:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's where the blog ends, but thankfully it wasn't really a blog at all.
• 25:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was written by writer and artist Slimebeast who posted his tale on the creepypasta Wiki in November 2012, where it picked up traction and a number of articles were subsequently released assuring people that it wasn't in fact true.
• 25:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: In reality, there was no creepy basement dwelling Mickey and Mogli's palace never existed.
• 25:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, there was an attraction that met a similar fate.
• 25:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 1974, Disney World opened Discovery Island in a 11-acre wildlife park.
• 25:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Today it remains shut down in a band since 1999, and it's heyday this wasn't the wildlife sanctuary people we're expecting.
• 25:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 1990, Disney World was ordered to pay $95,000 over $230,000 in today's money to settle 16 animal cruelty charges against the company, and five employees.
• 26:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Staff reportedly kept tortoises and overheated cramped sheds with no food or water, shot hawks and falcons, and beat the life out of vultures.
• 26:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jeez, that's scarier than the creepy pasta, though that hasn't stopped others from trying
• 26:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 2018, YouTuber Matt Sunswaw uploaded footage of his visit by all accounts the place looks utterly abandoned, and, as far as I know, he didn't find any disgusting zombie Mickey's lurking down there.
• 26:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: However, travel just off Discovery Island, a river country, and you'll find somewhere with an even more sordid past.
• 26:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: This lake and water park first opened in 1976.
• 26:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: all was going swimmingly until 1980 when disaster struck.
• 27:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: An 11-year-old boy was swimming in the lake when he contracted neglieria falery, a rare and deadly amoebic infection.
• 27:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: The parasite is found in warm, untreated water and entered his body through his nose before eating away at his brain and nervous system.
• 27:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't survive, then two years later, a 14-year-old boy had an accident on a slide and lost his life, too, and in 1989, a 13-year-old met the same fate.
• 27:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jeez.
• 27:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Despite these tragedies, River Country remained open for years.
• 27:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't until 2001 when the aftermath of 911 saw a sharp drop in U.S. tourism that Disney claimed they were temporarily closing the park for maintenance, but the years rolled by and the attraction has remained shut ever since.
• 27:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: After everything that happened there, I'm not surprised.
• 27:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Today, River Country is abandoned its murky lakes surrounded by vegetation.
• 28:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Visiting the area is strictly prohibited with guards preventing tourists getting within 160 feet, but in 2016 one daring explorer, photojournalist Seth Lawless, lived up to his name.
• 28:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Using a drone-mounted camera, he captured images of what the park has now become.
• 28:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Seth's curiosity had consequences.
• 28:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: After releasing these photos, he was banned from Disney World,
• 28:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: What do you think they're hiding?
• 28:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Either way, you know what they say.
• 28:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Don't mess with the mouse.
• 28:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's just about it for today.
• 28:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: From Walt's rumored frozen head to dancing dolls that never quite stop moving, and the shadowy tunnels running beneath your feet, Disneyland guards an awful lot behind that fairy tale smile.
• 28:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: So the next time you find yourself in the happiest place on Earth,
• 28:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe take a closer look at what's hiding in plain sight.
• 28:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks so much for listening.
• 29:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'd love to know which of these secrets unsettled you the most, so let me know in the comments if the platform allows it.
• 29:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Take care of yourselves and I'll catch you in the next episode.