Disneyland's no-fly zone

[Tom Morrow]

Disneyland's no-fly zone


Disneyland Flight Ban (http://video.nbc4.tv/player/?id=96039)
NBC4 TV - Los Angeles, CA
Disneyland has a flight ban over its property.
How did they get the special restriction?
complete video (http://video.nbc4.tv/player/?id=96039)


</p>

[ah92us]

That was a pretty interesting video... it's funny how Disney Parks are the only commercial parks to have a no-fly zone... other commercial places have at least the same number or even more people per day... I wonder.

[mhendrix]

Yes, it is amazing, the power of the mouse ears.

I do think, however, that this would be the perfect forum for my brief convo with a Disneyland security CM.

As a friend and I were standing on Main Street to watch POD, cast members were walking around and roping things off.

A nearby CM, who happened to be security, struck up a conversation with me over a shirt I was wearing and how much he thought Disney should buy it.

About this time a plane flew over head.

I looked up and said, "Hey, that plane is awfully low."

The Security CM responded, "That's an OC Sheriffs aircraft. It, LAPD and Anaheim PD all have helicopters that monitor our skies and make sure no one flies over the parks."

I said, "Oh, so no one can fly over? Why?"

He responded: "Well Disneyland is unique in that it is one of the only parks in America that has this. We don't allow it for various reasons. We've had private jets and helicopters fly overhead to watch parades or fireworks and we've had them escorted by police aircraft out of our space and some have even been arrested."

I said, *sigh* "Leave it to 9/11. That's too bad."

Security CM: "No worries. You're well taken care of here and that is the last thing you need to worry about. It's just another layer of protection for the Guest. Hey, I think I see the parade coming!"

And so ended our convo.

The CM's name was Dick and he worked in security, as I said above.

This whole chat hit me upon seeing this story.

I'm interested now, WDW doesn't have this flight restriction? Hmmm... big questions there.

Ah well, who doesn't think this whole concept is great, no matter what the "secret ruling" or ways it got into the legislation.

[Disneynovice]

You know, that was pretty interesting, however, it really bothered me that the story had so many negative undertones. Like a place that sees that much visitation is not worthy of more consideration. If the other parks want it, why don't they ask for it?

[PeoplemoverMatt]

I think the difference between DLR & WDW is flight patterns and size of property. Disneyland is small enough that it doesn't take a huge detour around for air traffic in the area. WDW, however, is huge and there are quite a few smaller airports in the area and Orlando Int'l not too far away. It would cause a large mess if WDW was a 47 sq. mile obstacle that needed to be avoided.


-- PMM :cool:

[Ezra]

The video is interesting, but it makes it sound like Disneyland got something special that it doesn't deserve. But there's another way to look at it.

As a symbolic gesture, terrorists struck out at our financial prowess (World Trade Center); our military might (Pentagon) and attempted a strike against our powerful government (White House). Suppose someone were to attempt to strike out against our decadent American entertainments which have been corrupting the world's women and children. What symbolic landmark would they choose?

At the heart of Disneyland there's an internationally recognized landmark. People gathered around televisions around the world once a week for over forty years and saw it. It's a very potent symbol of American entertainment: Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Universal and Knott's don't have anything that people all over the world would recognize instantly, the way Disneyland does.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

It's a very potent symbol of American entertainment: Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Universal and Knott's don't have anything that people all over the world would recognize instantly, the way Disneyland does.

Someone wanna tell Disney Marketing that? :tongue:

All joking aside, there are a couple other points to note about that...

Potential for terrorist strike was the reason given for the permanent closure of the SBC Walkthrough.

Terrorist strikes on LAX and other places in the Los Angeles-metro area have been noted to have been thwarted by the U.S. Government.

-- PMM :cool:

[BCC]

I have noticed that there is a no fly zone above Disneyland and Disneyworld. I think they got this ban to not "Spoil the Illusion that you are in a different land."

[mhendrix]

I was thinking.

A plane flying into landmarks will probably never happen again because we are all too secure and lying in wait for that.

In reality, a plane flying into the DLR would not do much human damage because a plane can only cover so much of an area and who wouldn't see it coming down at them in order to move out of that area?

Sure it might destroy attractions or landmarks like the castle, but human casualties probably wouldn't be that severe. WTC and the Pentagon were all isolated places and full of folks. There was no room to flee.

DLR, on the other hand, not so much!

I pray nightly nothing ever happens to our parks. I'd like to think that DLR security and homeland have enough of a handle on the situation that they'd know and would be able to stop it.

That's why I enjoy Disney suits never commenting on the security of their Guests. It makes me feel like they don't want to reveal their operations already in place and jeopardize anyone.

I'll stick with that.

[Ezra]

High human casualties may not be the only consideration here. There was a foiled plot to blow-up Seattle's Space Needle. How many people would that take out? A dozen? But it would have been during an outdoor New Years party nearby, with all the camera's there. The motive was protest publicity as much as murder.

The castles would definately be targets for that sort of thing.
Imagine how demoralizing that would feel...
Our governemnt is willing to protect them? I'm cool with that.


Add some no-fly zones over those nuclear power plants though. :mad:

[Nightlyre]

It was annoying to see a skywriter in the skies over WDW one of the days we were there. I kept wondering whether he was actually allowed to be there...

[mousecrazy]

Saw a helicopter fly over just this past saturday.... wonder if it was Disney's?

[Executioner]

Hmmmm...... Of course their motives for it are questionable. But are we as guests complaining about planes not being able to fly overhead as we experience the magic? I think it is nice they have a no fly zone over them. Although yes, I do find it odd there isn't a no fly zone over a nuclear plant or other parks. But here again, do those places mean as much to america as does Disneyland? Either lives would be lost and anger would set in. Now the one pilot in the video did raise some good points. It's about spying and commercializing over their space. Not that a satelite couldn't see down there. Hmmmm..... I guess money does by you everything though...... Including happiness LOL.

[Ezra]

It was annoying to see a skywriter in the skies over WDW one of the days we were there. I kept wondering whether he was actually allowed to be there... Here's an article about a guy who does that:

The message from on high,
high above the theme parks (http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/features_orlando/2007/04/the_message_fro.html)
Orlando Sentinel

It turns out he's not violating the no-fly zone, he just comes close...Chances are, you?ve seen his handiwork above the theme parks here. Because his skywriting messages are so large, they might appear to be overhead when you?re at Walt Disney World or Universal or SeaWorld or elsewhere. But that?s really all because of perspective, so it?s not like he?s necessarily skirting Disney?s infamous no-fly zone.

[Nightlyre]

That's the guy. That's interesting to know, in any case. I had to Photoshop his writing out of a couple of photos from Animal Kingdom :/

[PeoplemoverMatt]

^ I saw that guy at work when my group and I were at WDW last. I didn't really think anything of it. Figured it was far enough away that it was outside the zone, as skywriting requires a large distance away from its intended audience.

-- PMM :cool:

[coolmccool5]

I've also seen him in the skys near DCA, when I was staying at the Paradise Pier Hotel. He actually fooled me into thinking that he was actually over the park.

[kellerdm]

Anyone ever read " Mouse Tales" by a guy named David Koenig? Disney total protects and preserves the integrity of it's experience and the safety of all of us who visit. Kind of gives me warm fuzzies just thinking about it... :)

[ryguy222]

Think about this, if someone wanted to crash a plane into Disneyland they easily could, there only a few helicopters there from time to time. So its kinda good for security and also not good.