The mystery person who spies on theme parks from the sky

May 31, 2023 8:33 AM

@Bioreconstruct is a Twitter account that seems to post almost daily aerial (and ground) photos of Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort, particularly construction projects. It's a tremendous resource for theme park reporters, bloggers and fans, but almost nothing is publicly known about the person behind the account.
posted by Etrigan (20 comments total)

This person has got to be getting paid by both Disney and Universal, right? Or at least operating with their permission.
posted by potrzebie at 8:56 AM on May 31, 2023

I'd guess it's a season pass holder ("I'm a very good customer") that smuggles a small drone into the park. You can get up and down pretty quickly before you're discovered. Staying anonymous is the only way to keep doing it.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:03 AM on May 31, 2023 [4 favorites]

As an adult who loves Disney (but not quite a Disney Adult) I've loved these photos for years and agree with JoeZydeco. With a good enough drone camera you can get some of those shots from hotel & theme park parking lots and nearby public-ish spaces.

I'm really glad they're still anonymous.
posted by kimberussell at 9:13 AM on May 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Is it worth a FPP about the people that do urban exploring in these parks? You have some really fun stuff like the guys that literally spent days living inside EPCOT's Horizons but then you also have some crazy stuff like the search for the stolen Buzzy figure from Cranium Command.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:34 AM on May 31, 2023 [9 favorites]

There's some great photos of Super Nintendo World at Epic Universe on that account, not that you'd recognize it yet.
posted by Servo5678 at 10:00 AM on May 31, 2023

Worth noting it's not legal to fly within a 3 mile radius of Disney World up to 3000 feet. There's a permanent temporary flight restriction specifically for Disney parks. It's nominally "for security" after 9/11, but the common assumption is it's really to prevent banner tows advertising over the parks. There's been various attempts to change this permanent temporary regulation over the years, the latest one is coming from some pro-DeSantis politics.

Anyway, it's very unlikely whoever is taking these photos is doing so legally. Not just the TFR; assuming there's a drone involved there's the UAV flight rules too. If they do have permission from Disney maybe there's a path to doing it legally.
posted by Nelson at 10:12 AM on May 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

For a moment I thought the Florida park was named Super Nintendo World and the California one was just Nintendo Land and I thought that was a pretty neat way of bringing the naming scheme full circle.

Disney Land (California) -> Disney World (Florida)
Super Mario Land (GB) -> Super Mario World (SNES)
Donkey Kong Land (GB) -> Donkey Kong Country (SNES)

But I guess they're both Super Nintendo Land.

Anyways, I still think of something with 'world' in the name as being larger/more technically advanced than a 'land'.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 10:16 AM on May 31, 2023 [4 favorites]

I cannot imagine anyone being able to do anything stealthily from inside Disney, given the massive surveillance that goes on there at any given time.
posted by sibboleth at 10:44 AM on May 31, 2023 [5 favorites]

Especially a drone. They overlay different sound on the pretty videos, but if you're around those things, they're loud as fuck. Can't imagine doing that from inside the park with any degree of stealth.
posted by Naberius at 11:08 AM on May 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

I live near the theme parks, and everyone but Disney is easy to get pictures of. There are plenty of helicopter tours available that overfly Universal and Sea World. You can see them while visiting the parks on any given day.

Bioreconstruct is a staple of the theme park social media ecosystem. I have worked at and know many others who do or have worked at the theme parks. There is a love/hate relationship in that current employees aren't allowed to dish about future plans until they are officially announced. However, they also have to deal with the continuous onslaught of speculation, rumor, hearsay, and just outright incorrect information that is spewed out daily in the name of social media clout.

I won't even go into the daily clickbait sites with hyperbolic headlines only to find out upon reading that it is really a non-issue.

Also Shibboleth, while the security and surveillance in the theme parks is quite prevalent, it isn't up the 1984/Big Brother levels that they would like for people to think it is. It is easier to assume you are being watched than to hope that you aren't.
posted by Badgermann at 11:10 AM on May 31, 2023 [5 favorites]

One reason not to be open about who's behind this could be that it is a selection from security and surveillance videos made available with a confidentiality agreement because it is actually good PR for the parks, but could expose gaps if its ultimate source became known.
posted by jamjam at 12:14 PM on May 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

It's possible to film within Walt Disney World secretly. The Florida Project famously has secretly shot footage in it. What is amazing is that bioreconstruct has been doing this for years and hasn't been publicly outed.
posted by mmascolino at 12:22 PM on May 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

A quick Google search shows that there are affordable helicopter tours over all the Orlando area parks. That and a long lens seems like the most likely scenario. Especially coupled with this quote: I asked them if they are a helicopter or plane pilot, and they replied simply: "A very good customer."
posted by mrphancy at 12:32 PM on May 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

Just to add to what Nelson said -- The TFR is actually part of the PATRIOT Act, which is why it's essentially a permanent ban. And due to the TFR even Disney itself is limited in how often they can overfly the parks -- too many flights and the FAA would threaten to re-evaluate the legitimacy of the flight ban and stop enforcing it.

We flew drones over Galaxy's Edge (the Star Wars land) and other attractions during construction to assess construction process and create marketing materials. We were allowed one flight a month, and we had to coordinate with Disney's Director of Aviation to file an exception request to the FAA each time. All in all it was an incredible hassle.
posted by turbowombat at 12:53 PM on May 31, 2023 [18 favorites]

I have followed bioreconstruct on social media for years. I hadn’t really thought about the no fly zone. I assume the are shots are taken from a small plane or helicopter outside the perimeter.

I remember being in Hollywood Studios in September of 2016 seeing a plane fly over towing a Trump banner. Why didn’t they scramble the F-18s in Pensacola??
posted by chrchr at 4:58 PM on May 31, 2023

I cannot imagine anyone being able to do anything stealthily from inside Disney, given the massive surveillance that goes on there at any given time.

If there’s anywhere to hide a rental car, it would be a Disney world parking lot. Keeping the drones quiet turns out to be a lot easier with good propeller design. And you might even be able to camouflage the ascent with a balloon escape.
posted by pwnguin at 5:26 PM on May 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

I thought it might be sattellite photography, maybe another bored air national guardsperson, but that Touringplans website linked in the BoingBoing piece also has an interview with Bioreconstruct where they discuss some of their favourite photos.

“ Flew the helicopter tour, and got opening day photos.”
“ Arranged a charter flight.”
“ Negotiated a route with a charter helicopter operator.”
“I had arranged a charter flight. Plan was I would land in LA, get to the operator, fly over Disneyland, then enjoy a day at the park.”
posted by rodlymight at 7:46 PM on May 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

Despite the TFR, ATC routes pilots over Disney World below 3000' all the time. All perfectly legal. The trick is that you can't ask, you just have to be going somewhere where it makes sense for ATC to tell you to go that way and it happens to be operationally convenient for them...
posted by wierdo at 8:42 PM on May 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

Yeah I don't think there's any reason to think this is a drone/UAV. I think this is someone spending a shitload of money chartering fixed- or rotary-wing aircraft and then using high-quality photography gear.

I've never thought about it, but I wonder if an aircraft's vibration creates issues getting clear photos at long focal distances? I guess you could mitigate it by shooting in bright daylight and using fast film a high-ISO sensor, so that you have a very fast shutter speed.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:20 PM on May 31, 2023

Given the frequency, my guess would have been an aerial survey operator having some extra fun with the aircraft they fly anyway; whether planes, helicopters or drones. Can't imagine how much near daily charters cost.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:34 AM on June 1, 2023 [1 favorite]