Haunted Disney: Where the Ghosts of Fort Wilderness & Wilderness Lodge Materialize

With dark, thick forests dripping in Spanish moss, old train rooms, and an abandoned water park, it is quite fitting that the shores of Bay Lake are the fodder for spooky tales of the paranormal. Here’s a few places where spirits of days gone by have allegedly been spotted. Are these apparitions a figment of imaginative minds – or do some folks really spend eternity at Disney? You decide.

Stetson the Cowboy

This old soul is said to float around at Wilderness Lodge, wearing a large stetson hat. He reportedly comes “out to socialize” occasionally with CMs and guests. Other happenings at Wilderness Lodge have to do with strange incidents with electricity. You know, things like ghostly dial tones and static on phones that aren’t plugged in or through cell phones.

The Loop 2400 Guest Who Never Leaves

We all know the feeling of wanting to spend just one more day at night at Fort Wilderness. Well, one cabin guest in Loop 2400 may be reluctant to ever leave. I suppose it is apropos that this loop is named Settler’s Bend. Like Stetson, she too is a floater, but usually appears more as a white apparition. Neither friendly nor particularly evil, folks say she enjoys walking around the loop, waking guests up in their cabins at night, and moving food and kitchenware around.

Midnight at River Country

For at least 10 years after River Country was oddly left just as it was on that last day, the park music continued to play. Meanwhile, remnants of the past (lost sandals, staff photos, supplies, signs) slowly decayed. Why was it really left undisturbed for so long? There are a lot of theories relating to unusual incidents, including guests hearing laughter and even seeing children playing in the distance late at night. There was also a weird tale about a zombie-type something discovered by videographers who snuck in the park during the night. One is left to wonder about what kinds of Reflections may be revealed at the new Lakeside Lodge DVC, which will sit on the shores of the old Swimming Hole.

#Disney‘s River Country theme park has been abandoned for 15+ years, here’s a rare look inside. https://t.co/HtPJV0joIX #travel $DIS #geek pic.twitter.com/Y3KYyYV5jr

— TechEBlog (@techeblog) July 20, 2017

PILOT ON BAY LAKE

According to legend, a pilot crashed his plane into Bay Lake in the 1940s, decades before it became a Disney property. He apparently carries a cane, enjoys riding in the doombuggies at the Haunted Mansion right after it closes, and occasionally makes a late night appearance on Clementine Beach or at the marina.

carolwood train room

There’s absolutely nothing creepy about this magical, hidden place at the Wilderness Lodge filled with an abundance of authentic historical artifacts. However, it does have a seriously ethereal vibe and the feeling of a “presence.” People who enter experience an immediate sense of calm, and are known to unexpectedly fall asleep.

Want to do some serious ghost-hunting at Disney? Well, there’s some apps for that. If you don’t have any luck, you’re sure to find plenty of fine spirits at Crockett’s Tavern.