Do viral images authentically capture the massive destruction caused by Hurricane Milton at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida? No, that's not true: Those pictures were generated by AI and first posted on a website with a satire label. On October 11, 2024, Disney announced it had reopened its theme parks.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on Instagram on October 10, 2024. The text overlay said:
BREAKING: Disney World
Destroyed By Hurricane
Milton!
The post continued:
We aren't crying, you are... okay we are too 🥺
#disneyworld #disneynews #disneyparks #disneyland #mousetrapnews #hurricanmilton #disneyhurricane #disneyworldclosed #hurricane #hurricanehelen #cinderellacastle #ai #aigenerated
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Fri Oct 11 14:50:23 2024 UTC)
Satire labels
The Instagram account that posted the video acknowledges that its information is "100% Fake" (archived here). It calls itself "The Onion of Disney News," a reference to the humor site The Onion.
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Fri Oct 11 15:02:31 2024 UTC)
The website linked in the account's bio previously posted the same still images in better quality (archived here). They were featured in an article whose last paragraph encouraged readers "to stay up to date on more very real Disney news like this totally made-up story." That website also showed a satire disclaimer (archived here):
What is Mouse Trap News?
Mouse Trap News is the world's best satire and parody site. We write fake stories about Disney Parks stuff.
The opening shot
The opening frame from the video on Instagram purported to portray the Magic Kingdom park at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida, but it was not a real depiction of Hurricane Milton's aftermath.
The composite image below shows some of the details algorithms got wrong:
(Sources: MouseTrapNews.com screenshot taken on Fri Oct 11 15:35:46 2024 UTC; composite image by Lead Stories)
1. (upper left screenshot) The picture lacks any signs of the towers located in front of the castle on an elevation, roughly at the same level as that castle, seen on Google Maps (archived here) and the map on the Disney World website:
(Source: Disney World screenshot taken on Fri Oct 11 16:05:10 2024 UTC)
2. (upper left screenshot) The Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse statue (archived here), also situated at the same level as the castle's massive entrance door, is nowhere to be seen in the viral images.
3. (lower right screenshot) Though the castle has changed its colors over the years, the area around the clock on the clock tower is now pink, not gray, as seen in the August 5, 2024, photo (archived here) published by Tampa Bay Times and the most recent photos on Google Maps (archived here).
4. (lower right screenshot) The decorative carving around the lower towers is golden this season, not gray, according to an Orlando Sentinel photo published in Tampa Bay Times on August 5, 2024.
5. The opening image from the video on Instagram depicts multiple street lights glowing in the middle of the severe flood. Disney World does have its own underground power network as protection against hurricanes, People Magazine reported on October 9, 2024 (archived here), but there are no indications (archived here) that the resort closed down ahead of Hurricane Milton and left the lights on.
Even as of the evening of October 11, 2024, some customers in Orange County and Osceola County, the location of Disney's Magic Kingdom park (archived here) and the Walt Disney World Resort, were still affected by outages, as seen on the Find Energy map (archived here and here).
Roughly 3 million customers lost power in the affected areas of Florida (archived here), as of October 11, 2024.
AI-detection tests
AI-generated content detection tools also confirmed that the picture was not authentic.
TrueMedia.org (archived here) found "substantial evidence of manipulation":
(Source: True Media screenshot taken on Fri Oct 11 16:43:34 2024 UTC)
Hive Moderation also found signs of generative AI:
(Source: Hive Moderation screenshot taken on Fri Oct 11 16:33:20 2024 UTC)
So did AI or Not:
(Source: AI or Not screenshot taken on Fri Oct 11 16:35:42 2024 UTC)
Other images of the purported destruction
On October 11, 2024, Walt Disney World theme parks, which had been closed October 9-10, 2024, reopened, as its website (archived here) informed the public.
Had the effect of the hurricane in that specific area been as bad as it was shown to be in other images from the video on Instagram, the parks would not likely have returned to scheduled operating hours this fast.
According to TrueMedia.org, all the pictures in question demonstrated "substantial evidence of digital manipulation" and were likely generated by Midjourney (click to view larger):
(Sources: True Media screenshots taken on Fri Oct 11 between 15:13:07 and 15:17:08 2024 UTC; composite image by Lead Stories)
Nevertheless, some users on social media shared (archived here) these images without disclaimers about self-described satire origin or artificially produced visual content.
Other AI-generated images
The pictures that came from the website with a satire label were not the only set of AI-generated images circulating online that purported to portray Disney parks shortly before and after Hurricane Milton's landfall on October 9, 2024 (archived here).
Other examples can be found here (archived here):
(Source: X screenshot taken on Fri Oct 11 15:50:32 2024 UTC)
Like other AI depictions of the purported disaster at Disney, this set included an image of the castle that missed the Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse statue in front of it while also showing working electricity despite the weather conditions.
True Media (archived here) and other AI detection tools (screenshots below) confirmed that it was not authentic.
(Sources: AI or Not screenshots taken on Fri Oct 11 between 14:19:21 and 14:22:26 2024 UTC; composite image by Lead Stories)
(Sources: Hive Moderation screenshots taken on Fri Oct 11 between 14:16:09 and 14:17:26 2024 UTC; composite image by Lead Stories)
Lead Stories contacted Walt Disney World Resort for additional comments. If we get a response, this fact check will be updated, as appropriate.
Other Lead Stories fact checks about claims regarding Disney are here. Other fact checks about claims concerning Hurricane Milton can be found here.
