Fact Check: Fake Disney World Flood Photos Spread Amid Hurricane Milton

Disney World closed several of its theme parks and Disney Springs this week as Hurricane Milton barreled toward the Florida coast.

In an update posted to its website Thursday morning, Disney World announced adjustments to its operations, including the temporary closure of attractions and entire parks. The update confirmed that Walt Disney World's theme parks, water parks, amusements and Disney Springs are now closed until Thursday, October 10.

After Milton reached the mainland on Wednesday evening, photos spread online that appeared to show the park had been flooded and Cinderella's castle was underwater.

The claim

Several posts on

user @goLoko77 posted the videos with the caption, “Hurricane Milton flooded Disney World in Orlando #flwx #hurricane #Milton #HurricaneWarning #HurricaneAlert #HurricaneMilton #DisneyWorld #GolpeDeEstado #KimPau.”

A post from a user @upuknewsViewed 359,000 times, said: “#WATCH: Hurricane Milton flooded Disney World in Orlando #flwx #hurricane #Milton #HurricaneWarning #HurricaneAlert #HurricaneMilton #DisneyWorld.”

The facts

While Disney World attractions were closed due to the storm, the images shared online are AI fakes.

Even in a quick comparison, Cinderella's Castle, a key feature of the park, looks nothing like the AI ​​photos shared on X.

Several towers on and near the castle cannot be seen in the photos on social media. Some of the towers are deformed or completely wrong in shape. A tower on the left appears to be leaning.

The area outside the castle is also inaccurate, notably missing the statue of Mickey Mouse with Walt Disney right in front of the castle.

It's unclear what part of the park the other AI images shared online were intended to represent, although they are also fake. A guardrail in one of the images has a reflective, mirror-like surface that doesn't match the others next to it, while a building in the same image appears misshapen.

According to reports on Russian news sites, the images were shared on Russian Telegram channels today.

In a statement released at 12:00 p.m. ET, a park spokesperson said: “We are grateful that Walt Disney World Resort has weathered the storm and are currently assessing the impact on our property in preparation for the reopening of the Disney Springs and Disney theme parks Springs.” possibly other areas on Friday, October 11th.

“Our hearts go out to our fellow Floridians who were impacted by this storm.”

Newsweek has emailed a Disney Parks media representative for comment.

All theme parks and Disney Springs – including parking garages – are currently closed and will remain closed on Thursday, October 10th. This also includes the cancellation of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (event tickets will be refunded).

For partially used multi-day tickets, ticket expiration dates will be adjusted to expire on October 11, 2025.

Disney noted that prepaid bookable experiences will be automatically refunded within 7 to 10 business days.

The verdict

INCORRECT.

Although Disney World closed many of its attractions ahead of Hurricane Milton, photos posted online do not show the resort.

They are AI fakes with little resemblance to one of the park's most notable attractions, Cinderella Castle.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's fact checking team