Disney World can be quite the confusing place.
Magic Kingdom
Between all the construction going on for new attractions, EPCOT’s walls finally coming down as it completes its multi-year transformation (which you think would make things less confusing, but when you’ve gotten used to walls for so many years, it’s pretty jarring to have them all disappear), and the other changes that are happening nearly every day, we don’t blame you if you feel a little discombobulated. However, we ARE still laughing at these wildly funny things we’ve overheard in the Disney World parks.
“Where’s The Harry Potter Stuff?”
If we had a nickel for every time we heard about Harry Potter in Disney World, we’d probably have enough nickels to fill the cupboard under the stairs he lived in for 11 years.
Fantasyland
Many people visiting Orlando for the first time, or who haven’t been there in a while, commonly get Disney World and Universal confused. They are two completely different parks, and two completely different companies that own different sets of intellectual property.
Hogwarts at Universal’s Islands of Adventure
Universal owns Harry Potter, so you’ll find Harry Potter World and all the Harry Potter merchandise you can dream of over in Universal Orlando. Disney World, on the other hand, does not own any part of Harry Potter, so it would be a pretty big breach of the rules to have him and his IP in Disney World.
Hogwarts Express in Universal’s Islands of Adventure
While you and I may know this easily, we talk about it a lot on the blog because there are people out there who don’t know that they’re separate parks, and it can be really disappointing for them to realize that they won’t be able to see something they were really looking forward to on their Disney World trip. (Does it still make us giggle a little bit at the start though? Yes, yes it does.)
Is Disney World accidentally paying for Universal’s massive theme park expansion?
“Oh Look, It’s Tinker Bell!”
Now this one really surprises some of us. Over in Disney’s Hollywood Studios you can meet Joy from Pixar’s Inside Out franchise. However, it seems that a lot of guests think she’s a completely different character.
Joy at Pixar Plaza in Hollywood Studios!
“But who else does Joy look like?” You may be asking. Fair question, but it appears that many guests think that Joy is actually Tinker Bell from Peter Pan.
Hi, Tinker Bell!
Well you can still see Tinker Bell fly over Cinderella Castle and Main Street USA at the end of the Happily Ever After fireworks show in Magic Kingdom, there’s currently no set way to meet Tinker Bell in Disney World. We have seen her in EPCOT before, but it seemed to be a one-off. However, you are still able to see her and wave hello in the Festival of Fantasy Parade that happens once or twice a day in Magic Kingdom, depending on when your trip is.
Daffy Duck
Again with the IP troubles — we’ve also heard many guests refer to our number one duck Donald as Daffy Duck.
Donald and Daisy!
Daffy Duck is a cartoon character now owned by Warner Brothers Studios, which again, is totally different from Disney. Just like with Harry Potter, Disney would get a lot of trouble if they had Daffy Duck in their parks, but having Donald Duck, whom they own the rights to, is no problem at all!
Donaldo!
What makes us especially giggle about this one is that, to us, the characters look nothing alike! Yes, they’re both ducks, but that’s about it.
Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
Honestly, we overhear strange things in Disney World all the time, and we guarantee that you will too when you’re on vacation! Sometimes it’s someone telling someone in their travel party incorrect information about a ride, the history of the park, or it may be something that has nothing to do with Disney and you just walked by weird conversation.
Hollywood Studios
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What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever overheard in Disney World? Tell us below!
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Do you ever give them the correct information, or just stay out of it?
My aunt worked at guest relations and she told us about a guy who walked to its a small world, saw that it was closed, and walked backed to complain that it was closed ignoring the signs stating it was closed. She asked him about them, he stated “I’m on vacation. I dont need to read.”
Hi Chrystie! I can only speak for myself, personally, but I’ve always tried to help when I could. I’ve had some great Skyliner discussions with other guests because I love sharing what I know as a Disney Parks fan, but people aren’t always receptive to the help, haha.
Some of my favorite comments heard in the parks are by tired parents in that 2-4pm timeframe when they and their kids have both hit their limit. They say things like “We are HERE to have FUN!!! We are on Va-CAY-shun!!!”
My kids and I were wearing Stitch shirts, but during the Christmas holidays in the parks and someone pointed to our shirts and said to her friend “look at the cute elf on their shirts” lol Stitch…
I used to work in the Magic Kingdom, and one time I guest kept asking me where the line was for the big silver ball. I explain to the guest that Spaceshjp Earth was at Epcot. And that he had to go over there to see the big silver ball. He kept insisting it was in the magic kingdom.