Has Disney World’s Cinderella castle really burned down?

A story about the iconic Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney burning down is going viral on social media, but is there any truth to the reports?

First reported by mousetrapnews.com, the alleged news spread through online circles like wildfire (pardon the pun) and gave Disney fans a real moment of fright about this long-standing thing of architectural beauty facing an unexpected twist in its fate, after more than 50 years of serving as a monument to both Cinderella and the Mouse House’s cultural impact.

Fortunately, further investigation revealed the website mentioned earlier to be purely satirical. They did a great job with it, too, using AI to sell the illusion via photos and even a video.

While we can certainly put this story to rest, as no legitimate news websites or other authorities have reported a smoke or a fire anywhere near Cinderella Castle, this instance once again paints a bleak picture of AI and its misuse.

Granted, this particular satire website states its mission outright, and at the end of the day, it didn’t take a whole lot of digging to get to the bottom of the matter, but others — say, with more sinister intentions — won’t have the same compunctions. I mean, if we journalists have a difficult time determining the validity of a rumor, where will that leave everyone else?

Strangely enough, this is the second time in as many months that a fake fire story has gone viral. So here’s hoping that, in itself, won’t turn into a trend for 2024. I’m personally not looking forward to remembering this one as the year of fake fire hazards.