If you were planning to visit Disney World this past week, you might’ve been worried about how Hurricane Milton affected your magical trip.
Well, the storm did hit central Florida, and yes, Disney World had to close its gates. But don’t worry, things weren’t as bad as some of the viral pictures floating around on social media suggested.
If you’ve seen photos of Cinderella Castle underwater after Hurricane Milton, don’t panic. Those dramatic images are fake, courtesy of AI. Yes, Disney World did close due to the storm, but it wasn’t nearly as disastrous as some posts made it seem.
Yes, Disney World was hit by Hurricane Milton, but the flooding photos were fake AI images. The park temporarily closed for safety but sustained no significant damage. Disney is set to reopen, with some areas taking a little longer to fully get back to normal.
How Did Disney World Handle the Hurricane and Fake AI Photos?
When Hurricane Milton slammed central Florida, Disney World had to close its doors. The parks, Disney Springs, and some resort hotels shut down from Wednesday, October 9, through Thursday. Events like Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party were canceled, but Disney’s main attractions are designed to handle storms like this .
Now, while guests were safely hunkered down, some fake images started circulating online. These AI-generated pictures showed places like Cinderella Castle surrounded by floodwaters, which were quickly debunked.
Disney reassured everyone that the park’s hurricane-proof designs held strong, and no such flooding occurred. Community fact-checkers on X (formerly Twitter) even flagged the photos as deceptive.
But AI images aside, the actual storm impact was mostly a temporary inconvenience. Disney’s attractions are built to withstand Category 3 hurricanes, and their underground power lines help avoid outages, making Disney a relatively safe place during storms.
Although some areas, like the mini-golf courses and certain resort spots, will take a few more days to clean up, Disney’s main parks plan to reopen shortly.
What would you do if you saw fake images like that? Would you wait to see what Disney says, or would you cancel your trip right away?
Averagebeing’s Take: AI photos can really mess with your mind during big events like hurricanes. Luckily, Disney World knows how to handle both storms and social media panic. But it does make you wonder, how much can we trust what we see online during a crisis? Would you stick around Orlando or head home if a storm hit?
