- 5 months ago
Ever wonder what lies beyond Disney's magical facade? Join us as we explore the unauthorized adventures of those who snuck into restricted Disney areas! From abandoned attractions reclaimed by nature to secret backstage areas, these trespassers uncovered Disney's hidden side - sometimes facing serious consequences. Which forbidden discovery surprised you most?
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00:00Oh. My. God. There is an electric fence to get into Animal Kingdom.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're exploring the infamous times people trespassed into Disney parks,
00:11including areas restricted to the public. We'll explore what they discovered and occasionally what they stole.
00:17Everyone has a Harry Potter wand. Everyone has the Banshee. People want something that other people don't have, something that's unique.
00:24Spooky Island
00:34In 2009, Shane Perez published a blog post filled with images of his nighttime excursion to Walt Disney World's Discovery Island,
00:41which had been closed since 1999. With waterproof bags, his group swam to the island.
00:47Yet once there, instead of whimsy, it was like a horror film set. With the paths having degraded and been overgrown with plants,
00:55they were still able to make their way around, finding the attraction's old facilities.
01:00The group discovers abandoned buildings and cages still standing from the 11-acre zoological attraction,
01:06preserves snakes in jars, even employee pictures, left behind after Discovery Island shut down in 1999.
01:14Other, more animated wildlife was still living on the island, and Perez also encountered a vulture nest with chicks.
01:21Once his posts spread online, Disney contemplated banning Perez from their parks.
01:26The Statue of Limitations for Trespassing Charges is four years, but Perez tells me it's been longer than that
01:32since he and his friends visited the island just recently blogged about it.
01:36Big Thunder Sneak
01:38I can understand if you're… scared.
01:41Scared?
01:42I'm not scared!
01:43Okay, then meet us tonight at the old train station.
01:47Huh?
01:48One hour after the street lights come on.
01:51Matthew St. Cyr, who's behind the YouTube channel, Matt Sanswa,
01:55is well known for his Urban Explorer videos when it comes to Disney parks.
01:59In one video he uploaded, a person broke into Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom theme park,
02:04in particular, the big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster.
02:08At night, when the park is closed, the explorer looked around the dimly lit area, giving us flashbacks to the 2005 film The Descent.
02:16This is not gaving, this is an ego trip.
02:19Come on, Rebecca, I didn't know this was gonna happen.
02:22This is exactly what we believe in.
02:24We've always said if there's no risk, what's the point?
02:26But they climbed up the track as a low rumbling noise was heard, eventually reaching the top to showcase what the park looks like at night,
02:33with most of the lights and attractions turned off.
02:36It's rather beautiful.
02:37You can see the whole world from up here.
02:40And others as well.
02:42TikTok Trespass
02:44While working as a cast member at Walt Disney World, Jason Jeter created a TikTok account to give viewers a look at what the park's restricted areas look like.
02:53However, Disney wasn't happy with this and fired him.
02:57I wish Disney would just ask me to delete the videos instead of firing me, but it is what it is.
03:02It's official now, your favorite cast member, Jeter, has officially been fired from Disney.
03:09In one video, Jeter just walked into an unlocked door to Disney's fairytale weddings facility.
03:15With no staff around, Jeter explored the chapel.
03:18A stunning chandelier plays a starring role in the room, as well as the iconic castle in the background.
03:24You can't really see it, but in the background, you can see the castle right there.
03:27Straight in the day, you can definitely see it.
03:30Whew.
03:31They just leave the doors wide open.
03:33Wide open.
03:34Despite his firing, the former employee continued uploading content from the park, eventually leading to security confronting him.
03:42As a result, in 2021, Jeter was permanently banned from Disney World, which he attempted to overturn.
03:48I could never go back to Disney.
03:50Ever.
03:51And just to add insult to injury, Disney security then followed me home.
03:56Just to make sure I really laughed.
03:58Abandoned plane
03:59Walt Disney famously had his own private jet, a cream-colored Grumman Gulfstream 1 with an orange stripe around it.
04:06The last two figures of its tail letters, N234MM, are said to stand for Mickey Mouse, giving the plane the nickname of the mouse.
04:14There was a phone where he could talk to the pilot, and there was an altimeter and an airspeed indicator, so he could sort of keep track of what was going on with the airplane.
04:26Inside, the cockpit and cabin were decorated with his various characters.
04:31It was later displayed at the Studio Backlot Tour until the attraction closed in 2014, resulting in the plane being left abandoned in a nearby field.
04:39This thing was in Moth Falls, and it's just a shame that something of its historical relevance and importance to the company's history was sort of sitting out in the human community in Florida.
04:52Well, in 2019, Matt St. Cyr's channel discovered the legendary jet.
04:57While the outside looked great, the inside was a far cry from its heyday, as it was gutted.
05:03After being refurbished, the mouse later found a new home at the Palm Springs Air Museum.
05:08We are able to go over to the hangars and take a look at some of the incredible components of these planes and show the students what we're talking about.
05:19Trespasser of the Galaxy
05:21In 2020, with the pandemic running rampant across the globe, Disneyland Resort was shut to the public.
05:32Unfortunately, this gave Jeremiah Smith an idea.
05:35At night, security spotted him jumping a fence into the park.
05:39He was soon tracked down in a backstage construction area that was near the Guardians of the Galaxy Mission breakout ride.
05:45It's believed Smith was looking for a payday by stealing building equipment or other items he could find in the area.
05:52That dude there.
05:53I need his prosthetic leg.
05:55His leg?
05:56Yeah.
05:57God knows I don't need a restroom.
05:58Look at him.
05:59He's useless.
06:00He was quickly arrested by the police.
06:01Smith was charged with trespassing as he faced a possible fine or a short jail sentence.
06:06Oh crap.
06:07By the authority of the Nova Corps, you are under arrest.
06:11Backstage Tours
06:12Uh, we're going toward Main Street.
06:13Dough.
06:14It's like a maze.
06:15In 2011, Leonard Kinsey released his guidebook, The Dark Side of Disney.
06:27As well as exploring some of the illicit situations that have happened at the parks,
06:31the book also advises people on getting into the park for free and discovering restricted areas.
06:36I mean, we could just fear to the left there and go in the park, but I think it could be one of the largest ways.
06:43Yeah.
06:44Instead, keep it.
06:47It's nice though.
06:49I like this park.
06:50As a self-confessed Disney fan, Kinsey had previously shot videos of his exploring escapades.
06:56Showing him walking around staff areas.
06:59Sometimes even taking unofficial tour groups through to peek behind the mouse's curtain.
07:04However, after being warned by Disney about his trespassing, Kinsey announced he was retiring
07:09from the restricted exploration and advised others not to follow in his footsteps.
07:14You could get caught.
07:15You could get banned for life.
07:17You could get arrested.
07:18You could get hurt.
07:19You know, there's some dangerous things back there.
07:21Nature Taking Back Attractions
07:24Out of all of Disney's attractions, none are quite as infamous as River Country.
07:36Opened in Walt Disney World in 1976, the water park had an amoebic meningoencephalitis outbreak
07:42in 1980, leading to multiple deaths.
07:45This greatly contributed to the facility being abandoned in 2001.
07:49However, with that dark history, that hasn't stopped people from breaking into it.
07:54Like a land that time forgot, it's still there, right smack in the middle of Disney World,
08:01but masked by jungle and overgrowth.
08:04In 2017, the YouTube channel Dark Exploration Films looked around River Country.
08:10Nature had reclaimed the area, as vegetation was everywhere.
08:14The water rides and pools had all been drained, making it look nothing like it once did.
08:19There are even animals that have made the forgotten amusement their home.
08:22It's really hard to see, but over there and there, some deer that are running wild still
08:27in the park.
08:28Breaking into Expedition Everest
08:31Matt St. Cyr often mentions that while he's uploading the videos, it's not him doing the recordings,
08:52and they were sent to him anonymously.
08:54However, he has not so subtly hinted in some videos that it's likely him doing it.
09:00In 2020, the next mission for his Matt Sanzwa channel to tackle was Walt Disney World's
09:14Expedition Everest.
09:15In particular, it was the mission to touch the iconic Disco Yeti, a damaged animatronic
09:21creature that uses strobe lighting to mimic movement.
09:24The Yeti, even without effects, is a terrifying sight to behold with its reflecting eyes.
09:29St. Cyr's antics of breaking into Disney resulted in him being banned twice from the park.
09:35In 2020, he agreed to a plea deal after breaking into Busch Gardens.
09:40If you do this stunt again in Hillsborough County, you'll come back in front of me and I guarantee
09:45you, next time this happens, it won't be time served in court costs.
09:49Are we clear?
09:50Yes, sir.
09:51Buzzy.
09:52We spoke with Ken Story, who is host of the Orlando Tourism Report on FM Radio about why
09:57someone would steal pieces from a retired exhibit.
10:00He says there's a big black market for Disney theme park materials.
10:05While working at Walt Disney World, Patrick Spikes also ran social media accounts named
10:10Backdoor Disney, where he would showcase behind-the-scenes aspects of the park.
10:14However, in 2018, he and his cousin Blayton Taunton stepped it up by sneaking into the staff-only
10:20area, the Utilidor system.
10:22They ended up at the Haunted Mansion, where the duo stole around $7,000 worth of props
10:28and costumes.
10:29Including dresses worn by the animatronic ghosts.
10:33Other photos show Spikes posing in stolen wigs.
10:36It was also believed that Spikes may have been connected to stealing clothes and parts
10:41from the animatronic Buzzy months before, too.
10:44In 2020, Spikes and Taunton took plea deals for the Haunted Mansion thefts, earning them years
10:49of probation, hundreds of hours of community service, and paying around $25,300 in restitution.
10:57Interestingly, one of the people who will receive restitution money is NBA player Robin Lopez
11:03with the Milwaukee Bucks.
11:04Investigators do not believe he knew the Disney memorabilia he bought from Spikes Online
11:09had been stolen.
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11:26Trespassers Tropical Paradise
11:29In 2020, with the pandemic closing Disney parks, Richard McGuire had a very unique plan.
11:44He snuck into Walt Disney World's Discovery Island and began camping there.
11:49When the police realized McGuire was there after he triggered a wildlife camera, they warned
11:54him over the tenoy to leave.
11:56But he didn't.
11:57So they sent deputies on foot, by boat, and by helicopters to track McGuire down.
12:02After arresting him, he claimed he didn't realize it was off-limits, despite there being several
12:20warning signs and having to get through multiple locked gates.
12:23However, McGuire described the area as a tropical paradise, which sounds nice.
12:29McGuire agreed to a plea deal, earning him a fine as well as being banned from the park.
12:34If there were no consequences if you could choose any restricted place in the world to explore,
12:50what would you pick?
12:51Let us know below.
12:52Anything you want to say?
12:55I'm going to Disney World.
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