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False claim Walt Disney World has shut down indefinitely | Fact check

Andre Byik
USA TODAY

The claim: Walt Disney World has closed indefinitely

A Nov. 6 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows a TikTok video of a man speaking about Walt Disney World in Florida.

"Breaking news y'all, this is big news," says the man in the TikTok video, which was first shared on Nov. 5. "Looks like Disney World park shuts down indefinitely. This is probably the biggest news of 2023."

The Facebook video was shared more than 5,000 times in four days. The original TikTok video has been shared more than 12,000 times in five days.

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Our rating: False

Walt Disney World remains open. There is no evidence the resort closed on either Nov. 5 or Nov. 6.

Theme park continues to offer day passes, reservations through website

Walt Disney World, the renowned entertainment resort complex in Orlando, Florida, remains open, contrary to the post's claim.

Visitors can purchase tickets to Walt Disney World's theme parks through the resort's website, which shows availability through mid-January 2025. The website also lists daily hours of operation for the resort's four theme parks: Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Guests can also reserve rooms at the resort's hotels.

Walt Disney World's social media accounts showed no indication the resort had closed indefinitely on either Nov. 5 or Nov. 6. There are likewise no credible news reports of Walt Disney World shutting down on those days, or indefinitely. Disney fan sites also continue to post videos from within the park.

The man in the TikTok video used three unrelated articles to support the erroneous claim that the resort had shut down indefinitely.

He first showed a headline to an Inside the Magic article posted Nov. 5 that read, "Total Closure as Disney World Theme Park Shuts Down Indefinitely." However, the body of that article makes clear the headline is referring to Disney's Typhoon Lagoon, one of two water parks at the resort, which was scheduled to close indefinitely on Nov. 5. The headline has since been changed.

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Walt Disney World's website lists the Typhoon Lagoon water park as "temporarily closed." The website lists daily hours of operation for Disney's Blizzard Beach, the resort's other water park. The water parks typically alternate in operation, with one closing for refurbishment while the other remains open.

The TikTok video also shows a Disney Dining article posted on Sept. 3 with the headline, "Entire Magic Kingdom Land Shuts Down, Closed Off Indefinitely." That article was about a tweet reporting a closure of Frontierland, an area within the Magic Kingdom, not closing the entire Walt Disney World. The area was closed for a couple hours, possibly because of a sewage line issues.

The video then shows a paragraph of text from an Inside the Magic article posted on Sept. 8 that read, "Due to unfortunate extreme conditions, a massive Disney resort has announced it will be closing immediately." That article was about Hong Kong Disneyland, not Walt Disney World. The park closed temporarily due to severe weather caused by a typhoon, the article explains.

Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom made international headlines on Sept. 18, when parts of the park were closed for hours until wildlife authorities captured a black bear discovered in the park.

Walt Disney World did not respond to a request for comment.

The Facebook user who shared the video and the man who created the original TikTok video also did not respond to requests for comment.

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