“Controversy is part of the nature of art and creativity.” – Yoko Ono
“There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” – PT Barnum
The Walt Disney Company is one of the largest corporations in the history of the world. And one of the downsides of standing so squarely in the public eye is that all mistakes are infamous. They also get blown out of proportion at times. This happens because people are so passionate about Disney’s creations, which oftentimes represent a key part of our youth.
When Disney messes up, many of us care enough to speak out. The outcome of such discussions justifies Yoko Ono’s quote, while Disney hopes that PT Barnum’s philosophy is also true. Which theme park issues have evoked such strong feelings among theme park tourists? Well, it’s a long list, but my goal today is to discuss the most inflammatory issues. Here are the biggest controversies in the history of Disney theme parks.
Mission: Space is too intense
Image: DisneyUnfortunately, many of the greatest headlines involving Disney parks stem from dangerous incidents. One of the most famous situations occurred on Mission: Space, although it wasn’t an isolated example. This attraction, which Disney rebooted in August of 2017, originally had rare intensity. It proved to be too vigorous for a few unlucky riders.
The roots of Disney’s broadcast television programs are steeped with love of outer space travel. It was a passion of Walt Disney, and the company paid many members of NASA to liaise on potential space-based park additions. With Mission: Space, Imagineers constructed the most realistic astronaut simulator ever built.
Image: DisneyEarly in the ride, guests experience the centrifugal force of escape velocity. It’s a powerful sensation that reinforces the underlying strength of astronauts. It’s also too much for some park guests. Disney posted warnings about the impact that Mission: Space could have on the human body, but it sadly wasn’t enough. Several different riders suffered maladies in the throes of escape velocity. Two of them even died, although both parties had pre-existing conditions that were the true cause of the tragedies.
Image: DisneyGiven what happened, Disney had no choice but to change Mission: Space. They added a Green Mission, which was less intense. It stripped out the G-force pressure of the ride, basically negating its specialness. The Orange Mission was the original ride, only with more warnings. Due to the scary reputation of Mission: Space, it never did as well as Disney hoped, which is why they eventually rebooted it.
The mysterious delay of the Hall of Presidents
Image: DisneyDuring the 1964 New York World’s Fair, WED Enterprises revealed its latest technology, the audio-animatronic (AA). The Illinois Pavilion showed off the technology during its show, Great Moments with Lincoln, which Disney later transferred to Disneyland. It remains there to this day as a celebration of the American way of life. Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World has a similar but expanded attraction named the Hall of Presidents. And that version became a source of controversy in 2017.
During the 2016 election campaign, a divided country had two main options for President of the United States. Polling suggested that Hillary Clinton would win, but Donald Trump pulled off an upset. This turn of events had strange ramifications for The Walt Disney Company. They had prepared as if Clinton would become President. When that didn’t happen, Disney had headline-grabbing issues.
Image: DisneyIgnoring other speculation about political ideologies, Disney struggled with several aspects of the update. They had to construct a new AA of Trump in a short period of time. They also needed to update the speaking part of the current President, something that they’d done with the prior holders of the office.
Trump denied that he would do this, meaning that Disney lacked the two things it needed to re-open the ride: a robotic Donald Trump and audio from the sitting President. The original re-opening date of June of 2017 fell by the wayside. Disney was also evasive about a realistic timeline for the updated version.
Image: DisneyThe awkwardness of the situation and lack of details caused cynics to wonder whether Disney had any interest in adding a Trump AA to the Hall of Presidents. The situation garnered so much controversy that Disney’s Parks Blog took the unusual step of posting a mid-year update about the attractions’ status.
The new iteration wouldn’t open until December of 2017. When it did, there was a rare consensus among people of all political ideologies. The Trump AA looked ridiculous, almost as if Disney had repurposed a planned Hillary Clinton AA into one with Trump’s appearance. The entire situation was a debacle for Disney, and it happened on an attraction specifically designed to celebrate the greatness of America.
The missing Redhead
Image: Disney2017 was an especially strange year for Disney. It was almost like they courted controversy. At roughly the same time as the Hall of Presidents shutdown, park planners confirmed that they were plussing a classic. Disney decided that Pirates of the Caribbean, the last ride that Walt Disney worked on prior to his death, needed a change.
To modernize the attraction, Imagineers needed to create some room. To achieve this goal, Disney had to eliminate an existing set piece. They chose the outdated auction scene, the politically incorrect sequence in which pirates bid on wenches. While the idea of buying a bride seems barbaric today, Disney fanatics love the Redhead, the premiere wench at the auction.
Image: DisneyDisney anticipated this controversy. They simultaneously promised that the Redhead will return in the new set piece. Now, she’ll be a pirate rather than an unwilling bride. While you might expect that this move toward female empowerment would be well received, many Disney loyalists expressed outrage over the change. They want the classic version of the Wench Auction, outdated though it may be.
Image: DisneyAt the 2017 D-23 exhibition, Disney fanatics went so far as to shout, “We wants the Redhead.” There was even a smattering of boos during the announcement. The late Marty Sklar, who was attending his last D-23 prior to his death, defended the “tinkering.” He noted that several small scale changes had previously occurred on Pirates of the Caribbean up to and including the introduction and prioritization of Captain Jack Sparrow. Sklar was passionate about the idea that Disney should always update its rides, as that was Uncle Walt’s explicit wish. Alas, Sklar’s wise words have done little to diminish the outcry in certain circles over the Redhead’s new empowerment.
Disney vs. the Yippies
Image: DisneyYou know enough about Disneyland to realize it rarely closes. The Happiest Place on Earth is open every day of the year, rain or shine. Only on unique occasions like 9/11 does it close. That’s been true throughout its history. Amusingly, the first example of an early closure wasn’t planned. It was because of a few hippies.
Well, technically, the closure was due to Yippies. What’s the difference between hippies and Yippies? The latter group is the politically active branch of the former. During the 1960s and 1970s, you could be a hippie and not care about politics. To qualify as a Yippie, you had to hate Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War. Technically, you also had to be in something called the Youth International Party.
What does all of this have to do with Disney? Well, a few enterprising Yippies came up with a grand plan for the date of August 6, 1970. They would voice their joint displeasure with the government. Rather than go to Washington, D.C. and have their voices heard, these would-be protesters selected…Anaheim, California for their demonstration. Specifically, they attended the Happiest Place on Earth.
Their choice was odd for myriad reasons, but it was their behavior that was surreal. The Yippies smoked pot publically, climbed the mast of the Chicken of the Sea pirate ship, and raised a white flag on Castle Rock to celebrate their capturing of it.
Disney had been tipped off by the possibility of this Yippie invasion and had prepared for the worst. They had local police protecting the guests and ensuring that everyone was safe. Once the Yippies showed signs of getting out of control, Disneyland announced that it would close early for the first time ever. The entire day was extremely controversial, but the breaking point occurred when Yippies tried to take down the American flag. Some of the regular guests started fighting with the Yippies, and Disney decided that was enough politics for one day.
The unhappiest day at the Disneyland
Image: DisneyWhile the 1970 Yippie debacle was embarrassing, it was by no means the first such instance of problems at the Happiest Place on Earth. Disneyland was mired in controversy from day one. Yes, the grand opening of Disneyland was a total fiasco.
Walt Disney always had an eye for marketing, and he guaranteed that Disneyland’s opening would receive ample television coverage. ABC agreed to broadcast a special, which 90 million people watched. What they saw was mortifying. One of the (married) co-hosts got caught kissing a woman who wasn’t his wife during the live broadcast. And many of the elements seemed staged. Also, the guests acted cranky. What the televisions didn’t understand was why the guests felt that way.
Let me break down the basics of Disneyland’s opening day problems. There wasn’t enough water to serve the entire crowd. Walt Disney himself was forced to choose between having water in the fountains or water in the toilets. Why was there a water shortage? Well…
Image: DisneyDisney hadn’t developed a way to identify real park tickets from fake ones. So, they badly miscalculated the number of guests in the park. And those folks who snuck inside didn’t get a great deal, either. The pavement hadn’t set overnight, which caused women in high heels to sink into the ground as they tried to walk through the park. Then again, it’s probably for the best that they didn’t wander a lot. Disney was trying to control the radius of a gas leak.
Also, did I mention that the Mark Twain Riverboat almost capsized? Yeah, the sheer volume of uninvited guests meant that all the rides had too many people. The boat in particular had 200 more people on board than recommended, which caused it to rock dangerously.
You get the point here. The most controversial day in the history of Disney theme parks was literally the first one. Keep that in mind the next time someone tries to complain about politics, prices, or ride safety at one of the parks.
