I have to say, I don’t know that I’ve ever done a double-take so fast as when I saw the words “Disney World” and “heist” together in a headline.
Those are two very powerful terms! Each word alone would get me to click on an article right away. But together??? My mind started to race. HAVE there been any heists in Disney World? How could there have been, with all the security there? And anyway, who would steal from Disney World?
Friends, I clicked on that article so, so quickly, I think I dislodged the mousepad.
This is what I learned: yes, there have been heists at Disney World. And not only one, either. But there has been one VERY big one, and that happened fairly recently.
The article, on Gold Derby, spotlights an upcoming documentary called Stolen Kingdom. It the story of a wild, real-life heist that took place in EPCOT–the pilfering of an anamatronic named Buzzy, a hallmark of the long-defunct Cranium Command attraction in the Wonders of Life Pavilion in Epcot’s Future World. The anamatronic, pictured below, was stolen one night in 2018.
The documentary, directed by Joshua Bailey, digs deep into the heist, as well as addresses the larger culture of Disney urban exploring and low-level heists. There is, you may not be surprised to find out, enormous demand for Disney artifacts on the black market. The film interviews numerous people from this community, and, heavily features one individual who is very involved in this dark underbelly, Patrick Spikes, a former Disney cast member long known online as “BackDoorDisney.” He’s posted lots of videos of himself breaking into the parks at night, taking viewers into storied, shuttered spaces. And it seems like he might be responsible for the heist of this strange, obscure character. Or at least, he seems to know something about it.
Here’s the log line, from the Slamdance Film Festival website:
Stolen Kingdom is a documentary that delves into the history of mischief, scandal, and theft at Walt Disney World, ultimately leading to the theft of an animatronic valued at nearly half a million dollars. The film features key figures from the park’s underground community, each sharing their unique stories. As the narrative unfolds, early pranks and antics are shown to have inspired more recent crimes, culminating in a true crime mystery.
And here is the trailer:
The documentary runs 1h 23m and is available to stream on
