Walt Disney World is supposed to be the most magical place on earth. For millions every year Disney World becomes a place to escape reality into worlds like Star Wars, but sometimes reality has other ideas. A massive storm hit the theme park resort over the weekend that ended up flooding parts of Epcot and even caused an apparent lightning strike on Spaceship Earth.
Storms in Florida aren’t exactly uncommon, but it puts them in a very different perspective when we see them from the perspective of Disney World. The storm that hit Sunday night was captured on Twitter and included what appeared to be a lightning strike on Epcot’s park icon, Spaceship Earth. Check it out.
Wow! Lightning strikes spaceship earth during Kristen & Adam’s live stream on Streaming The Magic #disneyparks #spaceshipearth #lightningbolt #Epcot pic.twitter.com/OmAWS4XekwMay 16, 2022
One certainly hopes that all the tallest structures at Disney World are designed with the possibility of lightning strikes in mind. Storms like this are at least somewhat regular occurrences and so it would make sense to deal with this possibility in the design. Nobody would want to see a marquee attraction actually damaged by such a strike. Except possibly the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, which actually has a lightning strike built into its storyline.
While storms are certainly not uncommon, when the rain comes down hard enough there’s only so much that can be done. When a storm like this hits, it’s going to cover guests in water and you just have to hope everybody is prepared. Having said that, it’s hard to get prepared for minor flooding. We saw pictures of Disney’s Hollywood Studios in a similar state, covered in water, just a couple of months ago. Now, it seems it’s Epcot’s turn.
@camstravels_ ♬ original sound - Cam’s Travels
When Walt Disney was trying to figure out where to put his “east coast Disneyland” weather was a primary concern. One of the nice things about Southern California is that the weather is fairly temperate year round, meaning the park never has to close. Walt wanted something similar for what became Disney World. With central Florida he found a spot that works pretty well.
That’s not to say weather is not an issue. Storms like we’ve seen hit Florida this year are far from uncommon, rain in general is something that guests to Walt Disney World need to be prepared for basically year round. And let’s not forget the possibility of the parks needing to close due to weather is still there, though in this case the main reason we’ve seen Disney World forced to close is hurricanes.
If people are looking for Disney World to provide lasting memories, being at Epcot during a thunderstorm is certainly that, even if it probably wasn’t what people were expecting. Hopefully things clear up and everybody also gets their share of sunny days on their vacation as well.
