30 Disney Myths That May Or May Not Be True
Ever hear the one about the ghost that haunts “Pirates of the Caribbean”? Ever want to find out if it’s true or not?
The Tower of Terror attraction is being replaced by a ride based on Elsa’s ice castle from Frozen.
FALSE!
What started as a Twitter joke spread to a Tumblr parody blog filled with intentionally misleading news and false facts, which is where the rumor really picked up steam. While it isn’t true, the idea is somewhat based in truth, given that the Epcot ride Maelstrom was shut down to make way for a Frozen-themed ride in the Norway Pavillon.
Also, Bob Iger probably never said, “I just wanna be rad and hip with the times, coolio?” (Not publicly, at least.)
Also, the Tower of Terror attraction is haunted.
FALSE!
If ghosts were real, riding the Tower of Terror over and over again would be a pretty rad way to spend your afterlife. But, the ride probably isn’t haunted. (Unless you count a hauntingly good time!) (Sorry.) Just looking at the quality of the video above, which is where this rumor originated, it’s plain to see how fuzzy and low-quality the picture is. The ghost is most likely just a digital video artifact.
The broken singing bust on the Haunted Mansion ride is Walt Disney.
FALSE!
The broken bust singing toward the end of the Haunted Mansion attraction is not supposed to be Walt Disney. The image projected onto the bust is actually the face of Thurl Ravenscroft, who is one of the singers on the track that plays in that section of the graveyard. (He also happened to be the original voice of Tony the Tiger.)
When it first opened, the Haunted Mansion was much scarier. It was revamped and toned down after a guest suffered a heart attack on the ride.
FALSE!
The ride hasn’t really changed all that much since it originally opened in 1969, and nobody has ever suffered from a heart attack brought on by the attraction. This rumor likely started circulating when the building at Disneyland that would become the Haunted Mansion sat closed for six years, even though the attraction had been first announced in 1963. The opening was likely delayed due to the World’s Fair in 1964, and then Walt Disney’s death in 1966.