Disney's Dark Side: Urban Explorers and the Black Market for Pilfered Park Treasures

Walt Disney World (WDW) has a secret world beyond its gates, where urban explorers venture into abandoned and off-limits areas to document them. Florida-born filmmaker Joshua Bailey shines a light on this phenomenon in his documentary 'Stolen Kingdom', which explores the history of urban exploration at WDW through interviews with those who have dared to do Disney after dark.

The advent of the world wide web has given fans of Disney parks a new way to experience attractions, but what about the ones that don't stand the test of time? According to Bailey, when the cost of removal is too high, Disney lets an attraction sit and rot. This has created a black market for pilfered items from the park, which fetch exorbitant prices from private collectors.

The story centers around 'Buzzy', a 400-pound animatronic character from the former Epcot attraction Cranium Command. In 2018, Disney reported Buzzy stolen, valued at nearly half a million dollars. Bailey's documentary raises questions about the motivations behind such thefts and whether they are driven by a true passion for Disney or a desire for fame and fortune.