Register or Login to Hide This Ad for Free!

Ice

Coffee is for Closers
Silver Donor
Jan 5, 2018
2,390
5,760
270
DC Area
A few weeks back the story broke that the animatronic that has received so much attention from behind-the-scenes Disney-goers has gone missing, potentially stolen, along with Buzzy's in-show companion, Hypothalamus.

Though nothing is confirmed, this video posted by Mickey Views goes into detail about what was known when the story first broke. Another popular Disney-related content creator is expected to release a delve into this story soon.

This event unfolds shortly after many reports had been made of Buzzy's hands and clothing being stolen a few months back, where police reports were filed, confirming theft of these items. (NOTE: This article does not explain the situation appropriately, but should instead be used as a way to view the police report filed earlier in 2018 regarding the missing components)

Disney has also been reportedly giving Cranium Command some TLC, with tests of the attraction becoming more frequent, so many suspected Disney to be preparing a limited-time return to the spotlight for the ride during an event to capitalize on some nostalgia, in preparation for the approaching anniversary celebrations.

I know I am interested, and will be following this story as more information releases. It'd be a darn shame if this animatronic being stolen becomes the deciding factor behind Cranium Command not returning for showings.

For those not familiar with the attraction, it was the second attraction housed in the Wonders of Life pavilion prior to its closing in 2007, with the ride having stood intact ever since. The story itself was the original inspiration for the Disney Pixar film Inside Out.
 
Last edited:
i just came across this news article from Yahoo news by means of a twitter post which claims that a man named Patrick Spikes is the suspected culprit for the missing Buzzy animatronic. although the police have arrested him, they haven't charged him with Buzzy's disappearance. they believe, though, that he is connected to an account called BackDoorDisney which shows a bunch of behind-the-scenes images, including one of Buzzy's head which has been disfigured greatly.

here is a link to the article so you all can read it. within the article it includes a link to an archived image gallery of BackDoorDisney's photos, which is actually super cool although totally not right and frankly kind of disturbing at some parts.

the police have reason to believe that Spikes has stolen clothes from backstage areas of rides (haunted mansion) as well as from animatronics themselves (buzzy) and sold them on a "black market" of sorts, which has allowed him to gain thousands of dollars. i think you all will find this an interesting read!
 
Last edited:
He posted a youtube video a month or two ago about his detainment and ther search warrent for his residnece where they found nothing. Quite frankly if he did take Buzzy Disney should be embarrased with the lack of security. The AA was fairly large and by many accounts weighed hundreds of pounds. Its also interesting that it sat there for so many years then went missing justbefore Disney started work on the Wonders pavalion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RollyCoaster
He wasn’t arrested for the Buzzy theft:

Five days later, police arrested Spikes. Although Buzzy’s disappearance featured prominently in an arrest affidavit (police appear to have started investigating him over Buzzy’s theft), Spikes was actually charged for a different series of alleged thefts from Disney World. His lawyer did not return The Daily Beast’s request for comment.

In July, police alleged, Spikes printed a fake Disney employee card for his cousin and snuck him into the park. The pair allegedly snuck into the Haunted Mansion, a popular ride, and stole a collection of wigs and outfits from backstage. The clothes, which were designed for the ride’s animatronic ghosts, cost between $40 (a tiara) and $1,746 (a robot’s jacket), adding up to more than $7,000.
 
He posted a youtube video a month or two ago about his detainment and ther search warrent for his residnece where they found nothing. Quite frankly if he did take Buzzy Disney should be embarrased with the lack of security. The AA was fairly large and by many accounts weighed hundreds of pounds. Its also interesting that it sat there for so many years then went missing justbefore Disney started work on the Wonders pavalion.

The article claims he made counterfeit employee IDs and posed as a cast member, so I think it’s more a matter of his extreme determination to be human garbage than Disney missing the mark.
 
Last edited:
The article claims he made counterfeit employee IDs and posed as a cast member, so I think it’s more a matter of his extreme determination to be human garbage than Disney missing the park.
There is a big diffrence from making a fake employee ID just to gain access backstage and impersonating a person from Imagineering to take a major part of a attraction. Im not defending the guy, and have no idea what he has done or not. Im just saying if someone can just walk away with a major part of a attraction unnoticed there is a problem.
 
Im just saying if someone can just walk away with a major part of a attraction unnoticed there is a problem.

What exactly are you suggesting? 24/7 video surveillance of all of the thematic and mechanical elements in each Disney park...?

I, for one, prefer that Disney not assume everyone is an absolute scumbag. It would take a little bit of the magic out of Tomorrowland Speedway if all of the cars were chained to the ground.
 
Last edited:
What exactly are you suggesting? 24/7 video surveillance of all of the thematic and mechanical elements in each Disney park...?

I, for one, prefer that Disney not assume everyone is an absolute scumbag. It would take a little bit of the magic out of Tomorrowland Speedway if all of the cars were chained to the ground.
Are you being serious? There is a huge diffrence from a day guest stealing a trading pin or a candy bar than someone walking off with a major part of a attraction worth thousands of dollars, which has been guessed at weighing a couple hundred pounds, was physically bolted to the building and connected with numerous power and hydralic lines. You cant just drive a vehicle to the backside of the building and load it up with no one noticing something odd and I dont see them walking out the front gate with it in a backpack. If they did do this they were literally feet from walking straight into the park, this should be a huge security breach and with the Disney parks being such a high homeland security target this should not be taken lightly. You do realize Disney has picked out wanted fugitives and notified the US Marshalls they were on property, they do watch through a elaborate system of cameras.
So basically whay you are saying is that everyone that wants to enter the park any way they want should be not considered a....as you put it "scumbag"? You are also implying that the security of the parks, guests and employees should not be a consoideration of the WDC and if someone was to waltz in and steal Captain Jack form POTC that there should not be practices in place to prevent that?

With all this said, I assume that if you have ever visited WDW or plan to that you will never use a Magic Band, any current ticket media, or a mobile device with the MDE app installed because they are tracking your every move. This all plays into the overall mission of your security while you are at WDW both for your protection and the protection of others from you.
 
Uh...

I have no problem at all with security. I agree that security should be important at Disney. That said, maybe the security of long-out-of-commission attractions is relatively low on the priority list? Maybe Disney security is more (rightly) focused on guest areas—protecting actual guests.

You seem to have this idea that Disney's irresponsibility led to this person being able to break in and take props out of the park. My point is that it's not anywhere near reasonable to expect Disney to monitor every dark, deserted corner of their enormous property at any given time. In fact, it almost certainly makes better business sense for them to take losses like this from time to time instead of throwing untold amounts of money and manpower at the problem.

There is only one party acting irresponsibility in this story and it's the jackass who decided they should rob Disney.

PS: I'm an active WDW pass member with a disgustingly large collection of MagicBands. I don't know what I ever said to suggest that I'd have any problem at all being tracked on Disney property...
 
I'm kind of in the middle between you both on this one. It does concern me that if someone could do this and not get caught Disney is very lucky someone with much more sinister intentions wasn't able to break into the park undetected. If you could get away with a statue weighing this much you could have also brought in that much explosives.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WDWRLD
I can understand the viewpoint that someone being able to complete this just means SEVERELY lax security for Disney.

Of course like @Zachary said the deserted corners aren't as heavily monitored, but it's not like the thief teleported in there to steal it. They had to pass through Epcot's perimeter security and get backstage, where if they could've done that theoretically they could've gone anywhere in the park. So it isn't the security of the Wonders of Life pavilion we should be questioning, rather the backstage area as a whole, which to me is a huge red flag.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WDWRLD
A couple of people “broke in” to KD late one night last year and went on a joyride with the go carts. Security had a hell of a time chasing them from what I understand, and they ultimately ended up ditching the go carts and got away without getting caught. They are theme/amusement parks, not Fort Knox. Perimeter security isn’t going to dissuade someone if they really want to, and know how to get in.
 
The levels of security at KD, BGW or any other local park is nothing compared to what is deployed in and around the WDW resort. We will leave that at that and go no further with details other than saying what you see as a guest is not the real security forces in place. The Wonders Pavalion is still in daily use, there are many offices there and although the section where this AA in question was located was not in operation the building was. In the surrounding area was construction for GotG and the Space Resturaunt. Access for those two projects are also on the same road as the Wonders Pavalion. Also located off this road is a imagneering office, cooling towers and quite a few other major mechanical areas that service utinities for the park. Once you are inside the pavalion you are inside the park with one set of automatic doors that are turned off but remain unlocked between you and the active guest areas. This certainly isnt some long lost corner of WDW that is no longer used. Just because someone sneaks in a backstage area and isnt caught right then dosent mean they go unnoticed. There are quite a few youtube vloggers that have gone backstage numerous times and got away with it only to come to the park another day and be picked out by security at the security checkpoint and questoned then.
Im not saying this guy isnt in the wrong on what he does. I just dont think a couple people could pull this off without some either serious inside help or a irresponsible hole in the security at Epcot Center. Timing of it going missing just before the pavalion was to have a overhaul to me is fishy.
 
Last edited:
Consider Donating to Hide This Ad