Pilot’s Photos Capture Deserted Disney World During Pandemic

Pilot’s Photos Capture Deserted Disney World During Pandemic

Obviously, the impact to Disney World since the outbreak of coronavirus is significant.  The theme parks have been closed for months since the spread of the pandemic began.  Disney Springs began opening last week with some limits, but the theme parks are still closed.  One pilot captured incredible pictures of the empty theme park properties and posted them on his Instagram account.  We’re going to show some of them here, but be sure to check out @thedisneypilot (Jonathan Salazar) on Instagram for more incredible photos.

I’d like to give a special thanks to Jonathan for allowing us to post these photos here.  We thought our readers would love to see these captures, and it’s great he’s willing to spread his work around for all to see.  Be sure to follow him for even more photos!

The Photos

For starters, here’s a picture of Magic Kingdom’s entrance.  If you’ve ever been to Disney World, you know this is the total opposite of how this looks on a normal day.

And here is a highly recognizable Magic Kingdom, including the world-famous castle that is usually packed with people walking around it.

A picture of the entire Magic Kingdom property.

Here’s the usually bustling area of Epcot that is pictures completely empty.  Not a single soul in sight.

The most startling picture that grasps the pure impact is an empty parking lot.  I know when I’ve been to Disney, there’s often a line simply to park.

An empty Animal Kingdom with no safari trucks driving around the property/

The pool usually filled with screaming kids and smiling families left empty.

How He Did It

In a Facebook post, Jonathan described how he took the photos.  He also discussed the planning that went into making sure it all turned out well.  He had to coordinate with Disney, air traffic control, and others.  The airspace around Disney is usually restricted, but Jonathan got permission to fly over Disney properties.  Jonathan noted, “(Disclaimer: I also had a fellow pilot in the right seat for those moments I needed to stick my camera out the window and get my face kicked around in the wind at 120MPH.😁).”

Bottom Line

These are just some of the many photos Jonathan posted on his Instagram account.  The photos really capture the depth of this crisis and the long road to recovery ahead.  Anybody who has spent time at Disney can look at these pictures and grasp just how big an impact this is.  We look forward to the day that people can safely walk these paths on Disney properties again.