Prohibited Drone Crashes In Disney Park

As many big Disney fans know, the airspace over Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort is restricted, with permission needed to fly over both The Most Magical Place on Earth and The Happiest Place on Earth. Aircrafts that want to fly over the Parks need to get special permission, and, should they not get permission and do it anyway, it could result in interception of the aircraft, interrogation of the people in control of the aircraft, and possibly a large fine and federal prosecution.

While drones are not large, they are considered unmanned aircraft, and are not allowed above or on Disney property. Both the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort websites state that Guests are not allowed to have drones on property. So, you can imagine how shocked Disney Guests and Cast Members were when they saw a drone hovering in the trees in Frontierland at Disneyland Resort!

TikToker Donovan Sanford (@donovandoesdisney) shared a video of the surprising incident.

@donovandoesthemeparks

Drone was spot hovering over Disneyland around 2:20 pm #fy#fyp#disneyland#fypシ#why#foryou

♬ original sound – Donovan Sanford

According to Donovan, he saw the drone just after 2 o’clock in the afternoon. As you can see in the TikTok video, the drone is hovering in a tree right next to the Rivers of America. The drone seems to be facing the dining spot, The Golden Horseshoe. A Cast Member stands by the drone, making sure the drone isn’t moving, and that Guests don’t get too close to the object.

We don’t know what caused the drone to fall out of the air, but the TikTok video then cuts, showing the drone in a bush, with a text overlay saying that the drone crashed. Several Disneyland security guards are standing around the theme park area.

Since the drone crashed on Disney’s property, and it was in prohibited airspace, Disney can take the drone and find out who it belongs to. Each drone comes with a registration number. Every drone must be registered with the FAA, so Disney can take the drone’s registration number and cross-reference it with the FAA’s database. That will show them who the registered owner of the aircraft is.

Once Disney finds out the owner, they are well within its rights to hand the drone over to the federal government, which may then decide to prosecute the drone owner for breaking federal law.

Disneyland is located in the southern California city of Anaheim, with people living incredibly close to the theme park. So, it’s entirely possible that a resident lost control of the drone. However, it is also possible they flew the drone into Disneyland on purpose. Disney is most likely investigating the matter.