Pilot captures an empty Disney World
Orlando resident flies over to photograph the empty resort
The aerial photography of pilot Jonathan Michael Salazar has provided a Tinker Bell’s-eye view of an empty Walt Disney World, shut down during the coronavirus pandemic.
Theme-park fans staring at the dozens of images via social media can spy the deceptive spires of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, abandoned parking lots, drained water parks, graphically appealing views of the Ticket &
Transportation Center and the Contemporary Resort along with several construction projects, including a crater in Epcot’s Future
World, where it looks as if the park’s iconic Spaceship Earth could roll right in.
What they’re less likely to see from Salazar’s photos: People.
“I think it was about 1,100 pictures I took that day, and of 1,100 pictures, I have not once found a soul on Disney property, with the exception of Shades of Green and the golf properties,” said Salazar, a native of Miami who lives in Orlando. This flight was in early May, after the resort’s shutdown in midMarch.
Despite a persistent public
notion that Disney World is a “no-fly zone,” Salazar says this flight was legal, safe and not his first time passing above the resort. He estimates he has flown over 50 times.
No-fly zones is more of a military term, Salazar says, and what Disney has is a “temporary flight restriction,” which the company was granted after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. TFRs deal with civil aviation, he says.
“To put it simply, a TFR normally is a chunk of airspace that is blocked off for firefighting or after a disaster happens. Like, if you remember the California wildfires last year, the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] blocked off a huge chunk of airspace to allow for safe firefighting,” Salazar says. Other examples would be at a stadium during the Super Bowl or for presidential visits, he says.
The FAA enacted temporary flight restrictions above Disney World and Disneyland in California, Salazar says, and “the temporary flight restriction has been here for, you know, two decades now.”
As with all air travel, there are procedures and regulations for Salazar to follow.
“The airspace goes up to 3,000 feet, but they do allow you to transit through the airspace at a certain altitude as long as you’re in contact with air-traffic control, and you’re carrying what’s called a discreet beacon code, and it’s just a code that’s attached to you,” says Salazar, who is not affiliated with Walt Disney Co. aside from being a Walt Disney World annual passholder.
During hours of preparation for this photo flight, Salazar mapped out points he wanted to photograph. He said he spent about 90 minutes in the air above Disney World (not all Disney property is part of the restricted area), and he was accompanied in his Cessna 172 Skyhawk by a safety pilot, who took over the controls when Salazar was taking photos with his Nikon camera.
They flew through the restricted area at about 1,500 feet above ground level, he says.
“It didn’t really hit me until maybe about 100 pictures in. I was over the Magic Kingdom Park and I made my way through on to the north side of the park, and I see the castmember parking lot is basically empty,” he says. “I had to set the camera down. That’s when it hit me that there is not a single soul.”
Another surprise was at Epcot, where multiple construction projects are halted. “I was there when they still had those walls that everybody kept complaining about,” Salazar said. “It’s different when you see it in the big scale. I never realized ... essentially it’s a crater right now.”
Other notable sights, as seen on Salazar’s Instagram account: Cinderella Castle with some spires not yet repainted; work on the Galactic Starcruiser (a.k.a. “the Star Wars hotel”); the greenery next to big boxy buildings of Pandora — The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom; rows of parked vehicles for the Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction; the Liberty Square Riverboat (and its underwater track); and the solar panels that make up a gigantic Mickey Mouse head.
Salazar, 22, works as private-jet pilot. He’s been flying for about nine years. He’s also an airborne photographer and mission pilot for the Civil Air Patrol and a glider flight instructor.
“I planned ahead to ensure that everything about this flight was not only legal but also safe,” he says.
Salazar wanted the pictures because of the rare circumstances of an empty resort, he says. At first, he aimed just to share with friends and family. He almost gave up on the project because of the time devoted to planning, shooting, editing and posting the images, he says.
Feedback from his posts on Facebook and Instagram (@thedisneypilot) has included between 800 and 900 emails. Some people have written to him saying they used his photography to re-create trips to Disney World.
“There were several times where I said it’s not worth it. Nobody’s going to like them . ... This is bad,” Salazar says. “Obviously, I think I’m wrong about that now, but I’m just glad that many people got to see them.”