However, I do not wish to trivialise the deaths of anyone, so this list of the top ten weirdest, craziest, and strangest things, will be more light-hearted.
10.The Toilet Paper Castle
Stitch's Great Escape is the most hated attraction at the Magic Kingdom. Although the titular character's animatronic is impressive, the ride experience itself is often unpleasant as it is unpopular. Having a character burp in your face, whilst strapped down, unable to move, and in darkness, has caused years of negativity towards the ride. However, Stitch was once the hottest thing at Disney, and they welcomed their latest star's ride with chaotic pranks. Guests to the Magic Kingdom hoping to get that perfect snapshot of the castle were in for disappointment, when they found the Cinderella Castle covered in toilet roll. Stitch had come by, going on a mischeivous rampage, and yard-rolled the turrets of the iconic castle. Both that and Stitch's Great Escape were not the best of moves, or that great.
9. Be Sure To Bring Your Death Certificate
The Haunted Mansion is stylised as a retirement home for the world's ghosts and ghouls. Some guests have taken this as a place to let their loved ones rest in peace. Literally. It is a common occurrence for guests to visit the old Gracey Manor and bring the ashes of their loved ones with them, and scatter them around the grounds or even in the ride itself. Disney discourages this, and will bring in a specialised team to deal with the remains - by hoovering the ashes up with a dustbuster!
8. The Enchanted Tiki Room Goes Up in Flames
Who doesn't love the Enchanted Tiki Room? One of Walt Disney's classic attractions, the first use of audio-animatronics in Disneyland. Sure it's old, but there is just so much charm to it. In the late 90s to the early 2000s, Disney started putting their popular characters into old attractions at the Magic Kingdom to give them some "needed" life. Stitch appeared in Tomorrowland, the Three Caballeros appeared in Epcot, and the Enchanted Tiki Room came Under New Management. The beloved singing birds and chanting tiki masks were now under the rule of Iago and Zazu. This sounds like a pitch for a Disney cartoon, but it actually happened. Gone was the whimsical charm, and instead Iago mocks the ride with that unfunny, hip 90s humour that proved toxic to the Disney parks.
Long-term fans felt the change as tasteless was an insult to Walt's vision, since he designed the original ride at Disneyland. In 2011, Under New Management closed for good when a fire in the ride's attic occurred, reportedly setting Iago on fire too. The ride's protective system had doused the flames, but the damage was done. The ride closed and underwent a transformation, and reopened with the original show back where it belonged.
7. The Cake Castle
6. The Yippies Invade
Some groups have tried using Disneyland for their politicial activities, but none have done it quite as successfully as the yippies. The Youth International Party was a counter-culture, anti-war movement who opposed the Vietnam War. The yippies planned to visit Disneyland as part of their movements in a "hippie pow-wow" in 1970. On August 6th, the yippies came in their droves. Disney had prepared for the invasion, summoning the Anaheim police to intervene if the yippies appeared.
Twenty-thousand yippies were expected, but only around two-hundred showed up for the cheeky mayhem. The yippies scattered like ants, climbed the rigging onboard Captain Hook's pirate ship, conquered Tom Sawyer Island and replaced the American flag with that of the New Nation, got high, danced in Main Street, and cried shouts to legalise marijuana. The police removed the protestors and Disneyland closed only for the second time in its history, the first being after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
5. I Am Not A Crook
Richard Nixon's time as the US President infamously came to an end after the Watergate scandal. What most people don't know is that Nixon's speech immortalised with the words "I am not a crook!", was actually delivered in Walt Disney World. In 1973, Disney's Contemporary Resort played host to Nixon and the Annual Convention of the Associated Press. Nixon addressed the press in a live broadcast, answering questions about his taxes, and infamously delivered those words to the journalists. Nixon resigned from the presidency in 1974.
4. Black Sunday
When Disneyland first opened in 1955, it was quite a gamble for the Disney company. While today it is the most popular theme park in the world, sixty years ago, things weren't so easy. It's opening day was certainly a disaster. There were two sides to the mayhem - the events in the park, and the live broadcast of the park's opening. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Counterfeit tickets led to overcrowding. A gas leak led to the closure of three of the park's lands. There was a plumber's strike down the road, so Disney had to choose between the toilets or the water fountains to keep running. They chose the toilets. The newly laid asphalt softened in the hot summer sun, and women's high heels sunk into it.
The live broadcast is quite the cringefest. Hosted by Walt, Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings, and Ronald Reagan, the broadcast was off to a good start but technical issues soon became a problem. Cues were missed, camera work was dodgy, and Bob Cummings' increasing awkwardness grew increasingly funnier. He even gets caught out smooching presumably his wife live on camera. Not to mention there was Fess Parker as Davy Crockett singing a song about loving guns and shooting Native Americans, and the presence of the racial stereotype Aunt Jemima (associated with promoting "happy" plantation slaves).
3. Tigger Punches A Kid
There have been a number of times where the costumed characters who roam the parks have broken character. They are not supposed to be, and there are even bizarre rules on what to do if a costumed character faints or falls ill. There have been numerous reports and infamous lawsuits where these normally beloved characters have attacked guests or touched them inappropriately. In 2007, Tigger apparently did both. A family from New Hampshire was visiting Disney Hollywood Studios, Orlando, when a photoshoot with Tigger turned into a brawl. The bouncy, flouncy, normally fun tiger apparently punched a 14-year old in the face. The boy's father recorded the incident on film and it became notorious online. However, the footage shows the boy trying to unzip Tigger's costume, and people believed the performer did not punch him intentionally, but was rather trying to stop him. No charges were filed.
2. Hostage Situation
Walt Disney World is normally a safe place and has pretty tight security. That was until Bismark Rodriguez, a 39-year old American decided to kick off a hostage crisis. Going through a divorce, Rodriguez has had a history of explosive blow ups in his shaky marriage, most of which he was the cause of. Taking his 4-year old son and a waiter hostage at the BoardWalk Inn, claiming to have several firearms and a bomb with him, unless his wife let him see his other children. The stand off lasted eleven hours, ending with the hostages being released unharmed, and Rodriguez getting arrested.
1. Woody Woodpecker Visits the Magic Kingdom
Yes, seriously. Well, sort of. Back in the 1980s, Universal was planning to build a studio theme park in central Florida. Disney, then led by Michael Eisner, also announced plans to build their own studio park. Coincidence? Probably not. If Disney were hoping this announcement would make Universal back down from their own plans, it didn't work. Instead, Universal made it clear that they would go ahead with their project, but would challenge their rival in who had the larger water tower, if you know what I mean.
In all came to a climax in 1987, when Universal told the press that they would be giving Disney some presents as a gesture of good will or friendly competition - and would deliver it directly to Walt Disney World. They would deliver two director chairs with the names of Mickey and Minnie emblazoned on them, and hand them over to the famous mice in person. Disney did everything in their power to prevent or dissuade the event, but it actually did happen. Universal sent a busload of their iconic characters, including Woody Woodpecker and Dracula, to drop off the chairs for their neighbours.
To prevent an embarrassment, Disney actually went along with the plan in a way. They sent Mickey and Minnie to Walt Disney World's transport centre to greet Woody and friends. See, the rules of the resort stated that no one was allowed to come in costume as it would distract from Disney's own costumed characters and cause confusion. It would prevent the Universal gang from having to board a monorail and travel to the Magic Kingdom and cause some sort of incident. While Disney dissuaded photos from being taken, and the incident mostly buried, a couple of photos emerged, this hilarious encounter between the two theme park empires immortalised forever.
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