Looking Back: The Effects of 9/11 on Disney
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On the Friday after the attacks the President asked the country to observe a moment of silence and Disneyland participated as well as Reuters reported:
Observing a moment of silence on Friday in keeping with a request to the nation by President George W. Bush, the country's best-known theme park shut down its rides, shows and music as guests on Main Street turned to face flags and sing "God Bless America."
The same article talks to a woman who took her child to Disneyland to get away from the sadness for a while:
Dawn O'Neill, a 34-year-old resident of New Mexico, said she brought her 4-year-old daughter to the park for the same reason. "I want to shelter her," O'Neill said. "She's smart enough to know that it's a very sad day, even at her age. A very bad thing has happened but it's important for her to understand about our flag and what our country represents. "She needs to see that she lives in greatest country in the world," O'Neill said. "She needs to be thankful for her freedom." O'Neill said she moved to New Mexico from New York, where she had been a hairdresser in the World Trade Centre, and knows about 30 people who are still missing, including her former partner.
At Walt Disney World the 100 Years of Magic celebration was scheduled to kick-off on October 1st but the media event for it was postponed wrote the Orlando Business Journal:
The company has postponed its planned media event and told 5,000 reporters, photographers and broadcast personalities not to come on the originally scheduled date.
Disney eventually decide to go ahead and kick-off the event on October 1st but without the media event.
Security in the parks was increased in several ways seen and unseen. Starting September 12th guests entering the parks had to have their bags searched first, a practice that continues today. A uniformed police presence outside and inside the parks was also increased wrote the Orange County Register:
Police and park officials said the presence of undercover and uniformed officers inside Disneyland, California Adventure and Downtown Disney have increased since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Shortly after the U.S.-led military action against Afghanistan on Sunday, Anaheim squad cars were spotted outside ticket booths while uniformed officers inside the park observed guests as they strolled down Main Street.
New policies were also put in place for Cast Members as Tampa Live reported:
In the wake of last week's terrorist attacks, Walt Disney World is implementing tougher security measures for its 55,000 employees. Many of the measures were already in place, but were only randomly enforced before last week. Disney workers who drive into employee-only sections must now present a photo I.D. card in order to get past a security check point. Previously, workers could get by if their car had a decal.
In the wake of the attacks everyone was on heightened alert. Enhanced security measures at Port Canaveral forced a temporary evacuation of the Disney Magic wrote the MiamiHerald:
A Disney cruise ship was briefly evacuated Saturday after explosives search dogs singled out some luggage. The 2 p.m. alert came after the dogs became agitated with a passenger's luggage, said Brevard County Sheriff's Lt. Gary Young. The luggage had not left the terminal, said Disney Cruise spokesman Mark Jarnoski. Young said the dog discovered a 12-guage shotgun shell inside a passenger's bag. No guns were found. Jarnoski said that the ship, Disney's Magic, was delayed for an hour.