Drone pilot gets warning while filming Disney World

It’s the perfect shot: The sun setting at Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom, which has been completely empty for months for the first time in its history. Well, almost empty.

Disney security hasn’t left. They noticed a drone about the size of a frisbee flying overhead about 100 feet from the iconic castle last month.

Not far away, hidden in an apartment complex in the shadow of the theme park, was the pilot, a 40-year-old Minneola man. He was an experienced drone pilot. He even worked on the set of a Lifetime movie once, he said.

Now, this was his chance to get images of the world’s busiest amusement park that lay quiet since March 16 when the coronavirus pandemic shut it down.

But an off-duty Orange County deputy was less impressed when he caught the man, who is not being named because he wasn’t charged with a crime, in the apartment complex.

After several sheriff’s cars arrived, the man said he felt embarrassed. He didn’t realize his drone could be perceived as a threat. He just thought an empty park would be the perfect place to fly above since he couldn’t crash into any guests, he said after being confronted by the sheriff’s department and Disney security.

“I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong,” he said.

The man was issued a trespass warning, according to the incident report.