10 Simple – But Huge – Myths About Walt Disney World

There are a lot of things that people don’t know about Walt Disney World, and they believe just about anything and everything that they read online. Well, there are a lot of myths about the parks that people tend to believe without putting much thought into them, and a lot of them are far from true.

Some have a history to them, – such as the old paint brushes on Tom Sawyer Island – but there are many which don’t really have a lot of history behind them. A good bit of myths are things that you hear with every trip to Walt Disney World, and that’s why here are 10 myths debunked.

1.) Crowd Calendars are highly accurate

While many crowd calendars online will show you the least-crowded and most-crowded days of the year, it’s really hard to go by those at all. You can get a general idea, but coming from someone that is in the parks 5-7 days a week, let me tell you that they are far from accurate.

The holidays, peak seasons, low seasons, and all of the commonly known days are rather easy to pinpoint as high crowds (8-10) or low crowds (1-3). The rest of the year is just totally random and guessing. Any day can be just as crowded or least crowded as the next.

I’ve often gone into parks just to see how accurate some of the random days of the years are called with these crowd calendars…and hardly any of them are that accurate. When it comes to planning your trip, look at times of year, holidays, events happening at Walt Disney World and the like. This is not to say you shouldn’t use them because some of the information is great.

Check them out, but still use caution and do more research on top of reading them. They can be helpful.

Calling crowd calendars incredibly accurate and basing your entire trip on one is a myth to avoid.

2.) Every meal in Walt Disney World is a character meal

No, characters are not at every single meal in Walt Disney World. Even though many Disney Facebook groups and websites may tell you that “you always eat with characters,” you won’t. Even locations that have character dining…they don’t have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner so be aware.

Believe it or not, there are only 15 character dining opportunities (amount of restaurants) out of over 300 different dining locations throughout Walt Disney World property. Think about that for a second. Even without exact numbers, that’s a ratio showing about 5% of restaurants that have character dining.

This may also make you think twice before stating, “Oh, we can always just walk into one when we get there.”

Myth, much?

3.) The dome over Walt Disney World can close when needed

Guests inquire about the “dome” over Walt Disney World more than you may think, but it’s a huge myth. It happened to me numerous times during my employment at the parks, and you can read more about it in this edition of “Tales of a Former Cast Member.”

4.) Park Hopper tickets allow you to go from park-to-different-park, but not back to your original starting park

How would this even remotely begin to make sense? Still, it’s something I see asked online a lot of times, and many people tell others it’s true. Even with Base park tickets, you can go in and out of the same park as much as you’d like in a single day.

5.) It’s possible to get on every single ride as you please

This just is a pure myth, and that’s without a doubt. Sometimes, you can walk on attractions and it may even surprise you that there is no line. Other times, there will even be a line for Wedway (Tomorrowland Transit Authority) on one of the slowest days of the year. It’s just how things happen and the twists of fate.

Sometimes, you can even walk onto the mountains in the Magic Kingdom or even Soarin’. It’s not like you have  to plan every moment of your trip, but if you know when to hit up certain attractions during a day, you can deal with as little line as possible. Even then though, you could think you’re going to arrive at an attraction at the perfect time for the least amount of line…there could be an hour wait.

It’s just the way things work.

6.) The governments of different countries fully sponsor and pay for the World Showcase countries at Epcot

No, they don’t. Money does come from business owners and sponsors in each particular country, – Norway, for example – but the governments don’t offer up all of the money to the countries in the World Showcase.

7.) Walt Disney stars as one of the singing busts in the Haunted Mansion

If you’ve ever paid close attention to the singing busts, the lead singer looks an awful-lot like Walt Disney, but it isn’t him. That is actually a man by the name of Thurl Ravenscroft, and he’s done a bit of other work in the past…including voicing Tony the Tiger.

8.) Characters are lurking around every corner in the parks

There are specific locations for characters in each of the Walt Disney World parks, and there are the occasional times that they may show up in random spots…but it will still be in a location commonly known to house characters.

I see a lot of people tell others online that “Characters are everywhere you look and if you ask, they will ride the rides with you.”

No, they aren’t and no, they won’t. It has been known for characters to sometimes ride an attraction or two with guests…usually early in the mornings. It doesn’t happen everyday or all the time.

Character appearances aren’t how they used to be many years ago when they roamed the parks a lot more often.

9.) Walt Disney’s body has been cryonically preserved and is hidden at Walt Disney World

No, he wasn’t. Just Walt’s head wasn’t either, and this is one of the oldest myths you’ll ever hear about Disney. Many believe him to be stored underneath the Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland as well.

Walt Disney was cremated a mere two days after his death, which was on Dec. 15, 1966. His ashes were interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Walt Disney requested not to have a funeral, and his request was said to have been honored.

10.) Cast Members have to do every single thing you ask of them

Yes, Cast Members will go out of their way at times to please guests, but just because you ask – or tell – them to do something, that doesn’t mean they are going to do it. Some requests are just leaps and bounds out of the question, and Kristen touches on that a bit already in “The Myths of Disney Magic.”

As a former Cast Member on a few occasions and someone that’s always in the parks, I’ve been asked and overheard requests that are far and above anything that anyone should ever expect from any company, including Disney.