Fake AI Images Of A Flooded Disney World Are Going Viral After Hurricane Milton And This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Hurricane Milton was looking like it was going to be one of the worst storms to hit Florida in many years as it headed toward the state. While the previous hurricane only caused Disney World and Universal Orlando to close a few things, and the parks remained open, this time the brunt of the storm was going to go over Orlando.

This caused all of the area theme parks, including Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort, to close, and while they are all closed today as well after the storm, the images you may have seen of a flooded Main Street U.S.A. are entirely fake.

Images Of A Flooded Magic Kingdom Aren’t Real

While flooding at Disney World has happened from time to time, images have been going viral on Twitter that show parts of Magic Kingdom under what looks to be a few feet of water. It's something we've never seen before, and it actually didn't happen now.

The images are AI creations. While it’s unclear if the post intentionally created the AI images, or simply reposted them from another source, please be aware that anything you see like that is not real. There have been no reports of significant flooding at Disney World.

Anybody who knows Magic Kingdom well will be able to tell at a glance that the pictures aren’t real. While the image of Cinderella Castle is decent, the area of Main Street in front of it looks nothing like the actual street if you were to visit it today. The image is so fake I'm surprised it doesn't include Cinderella's Castle deconstructed. It's a popular Disney World myth that the castle can be taken apart to help it survive hurricanes.

Needless to say, it’s utterly depressing, and frustrating, to see AI used to sensationalize the situation and cause people to gawk at a problem that isn’t even real. There will clearly be a lot of real destruction caused by Milton that should be getting people’s attention.

What’s Actually Happening At Walt Disney World And Universal Orlando After Hurricane Milton

The actual state of affairs at Walt Disney World is far less terrible than fake pictures indicate. In fact, there’s no reason to believe there are any real problems at all. Earlier this morning Disney World was asking guests who waited out the storm in the hotels to remain sheltered indoors while damage was assessed, but that request has since been lifted.

The parks at both Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort will be closed today, which was the plan as it was announced on October 8th. Both resorts are still planning to reopen on Friday, October 11. Today will likely be a day of cleaning up the mess left behind by the storm.

There may still be some individual attraction closures at Disney World or Universal if there was any damage done. The last time a major hurricane came through Orlando, Hurricane Ian in 2022, the Jurassic Park River Adventure lost a chunk of its exterior wall, which closed the ride for a while, but the rest of the park reopened on time. Disney World has seen some hurricane damage as well in the past, but it's never been anything too significant. Florida theme parks are built to withstand hurricanes.

Depending on the state of individual attractions or other buildings we may see some individual closures, but nothing like that has been announced yet.