Disney World is known for being the Most Magical Place on Earth, but it certainly isn’t all pixie dust all the time.

That much is especially true at certain Disney hotels, where doctors and medical professionals gather to participate in cadaver labs. While you’re dining with Mickey and Minnie, doctors could be practicing the latest techniques on real, human cadavers just down the hall.

This article contains images and descriptions of graphic content that could be potentially disturbing to some readers. Please exercise caution and take care.

Disney World is no stranger to hosting conferences, events, and competitions alike, especially as it’s home to over 25 hotels — many of which feature large meeting spaces and ballrooms. And, while you may think only dances and weddings take place in these ballrooms, you would be very wrong.

An investigation originally reported by Elizabeth Culliford with Reuters revealed a harrowing reality: instead of hospitals or medical offices, hotels often play host to cadaver labs where doctors perform various procedures on real human bodies — or sometimes just body parts. Disney World hotels are often a top choice.

Culliford attended a conference held at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resort in 2017, where she witnessed one of these cadaver labs firsthand.

While “the organizers of a medical conference wore Minnie Mouse ears” outside the ballroom, inside, blood dripped from one of three cadavers as doctors practiced on the human specimens. “They leak,” said a lab technician, referring to the bodies. At this particular conference, doctors practiced nerve root blocks in the Grand Harbor Ballroom of the Yacht & Beach hotels — an area often used for wedding receptions.

Disney isn’t the only name in the hospitality industry involved in these unregulated labs, however. According to Culliford, anyone from Hilton to Hyatt, Sheraton to Radisson has hosted similar events.

Aside from the fact that it’s unsettling to consider this could be going on while you’re on your vacation, these cadaver labs are largely unregulated. At least 90 cadaver labs had taken place at hotels between 2012 and 2017, and they’re still happening to this day.

In fact, a conference labeled “Skin, Bones, Hearts & Private Parts” will be taking place at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort this October. The description of the event says that participants should be able to “apply new and emerging therapy options for several different body systems and treatment modalities” among other things:

There’s an entire industry surrounding medical conferences at Disney hotels — even ones at Disneyland and Aulani in Hawaii. Doctors get to test out new products and skills while enjoying a Disney vacation — and may get to write off some of that travel as a business expense or get reimbursed for it by their employer. It’s hard to beat that.

The cadavers used in these seminars often come from body brokers — organizations that obtain bodies donated to science who then sell or rent out parts to be used in medical training and research. Essentially, these brokers say they are “non-transplant tissue banks,” but this is different than the transplant industry closely regulated by the U.S. government.

There is currently no federal law that covers the sale or lease of body parts or cadavers used in research or education, like what we see at Disney and other hotels. Not only that, but there is little regulation to govern where these seminars can be held. The federal government does have guidelines on how labs handle medical waste and pathogens, though.

Cadaver labs are typically part of medical association meetings for various professionals and are often hosted by medical device companies that want doctors to try new products — and they usually provide the bodies or body parts like torsos, legs, and hands.

A 2021 New York Times article reported the story of a World War II and Korean War veteran whose body was donated to science after he passed away from COVID-19. His wife intended for the donation to go to Louisiana State University, but the school refused it because of the infection.

Instead, his wife was offered a list of other organizations and chose Med Ed Labs in Las Vegas, who then sold the cadaver to a company called Death Science for $10,000. Death Science then hosted a “cadaver dissection class” for a live audience who paid $500 a pop to be there — not doctors honing their craft, just spectators. There were “no criminal laws which directly speak to such circumstances,” according to The Times.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has no guidelines on seminars involving human body parts, which means that any safety precautions are left to the lab providers and hotels themselves. Culliford reported, “To guard against fluid or flesh falling on hotel carpets, seminar organizers typically lay plastic on the floors.” But depending on what procedure is being practiced, more precautions are also taken.

“When they cut away the knee, there are bone pieces flying. So you cover up the walls,” stated James McElroy, president of Bioskills Solutions, one company that organizes and supplies cadaver labs.

We spoke with former Disney World hotel Cast Members who confirmed knowing about such labs, and while they weren’t explicitly told about the cadavers, it was an “open secret.”

While we are confident Disney is taking precautions for safety and cleanliness when hosting these labs, one thing is for sure: We won’t be forgetting this dark Disney World hotel secret anytime soon.