BRAIN ROT Is the Word of the Year, To the Surprise of NONE of Our Disney Experts

Oxford University Press named “brain rot” as the word of the year for 2024 and as Disney experts, we said, “Yeah, that makes sense.”

Take it from a crew that’s in the Disney parks every day, we experience some truly WILD stuff. From breaking unspoken restaurant rules to seriously poor ride etiquette it seems like a lot of people’s minds take a vacation on their vacation. But even compared to those shocking behaviors, some of this year’s Disney rumors had us saying, “Excuse me, WHAT??”

When it comes to Disney, it seems like there are constantly wild rumors swirling. And while some of them have been around for years (nope, Cinderella Castle can NOT be taken down to prep for a hurricane), 2024 brought a brand new batch of patently false rumors. Let’s review a few of this year’s biggest absurdities!

Since we already debunked one longstanding hurricane falsity, let’s start with a new hurricane-related rumor from 2024. After Hurricane Milton hit Florida in October of this year, there were fake, AI-generated images circulating that showed several areas of Magic Kingdom partially submerged underwater, including Main Street, U.S.A. and Cinderella Castle.

The hurricane did bring severe weather that caused the parks to close, but the images showing excessive flooding in Magic Kingdom were nowhere close to the reality of the situation in the park.

Another rumor from this year claimed that Elon Musk was buying Disney World. This false claim is traced back to a satirical headline reading, “BREAKING: Elon Musk Is Buying Disney World,” that trended on Google. And while there was a lot of Disney news this year, this particular story was 100% fake.

Did you hear that Disney World opened a maternity ward right in the middle of Magic Kingdom? If not, no worries, because they didn’t. This is another rumor that originated from a satirical article that claimed mothers could now give birth in a new “Magic Kingdom Maternity Ward” overlooking the Cinderella Castle. There are Baby Care Centers located at all four of the Disney World parks for use by guests with toddlers and infants, but those spaces are absolutely not equipped as maternity wards.

On the topic of Magic Kingdom rumors, one was also spread this year that claimed Tiana’s Bayou Adventure closed before it even opened. This one traced back to, you guessed it, a satirical article that claimed that the ride would close during previews before even opening to the public due to negative guest reactions. If you’ve been to Magic Kingdom since the ride opened in June 2024, you might be able to personally debunk this fake rumor.

This was definitely an appropriate year for “brain rot” considering the wild crop of false Disney rumors that popped up in 2024! We’ll continue to report back with all of the (real) Disney news you need to know for your vacation, so stay tuned to AllEars for the latest updates!

4 Wildly Fake Rumors About EPCOT

Did you hear any other fake rumors about Disney this year? Share them in the comments!