Trespasser camping on Disney World's abandoned island thought it was a "tropical paradise"
Orange County, Florida police arrested Richard J. McGuire, 42, who had been illegally camping on the abandoned "Discovery Island" at Disney World. All Disney parks are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, besides, Discovery Island has become overgrown and the structures decayed since it closed as an attraction in 1999. (Above is 2017 video of the property.) From the New York Times:
As a deputy arrived, Disney staff members were helping a small boat with Mr. McGuire aboard to shore, according to an arrest report.
Mr. McGuire told the authorities that he had reached the island on Monday or Tuesday to go camping and that he planned to stay there for approximately one week," the report said.
Told that the area was restricted, Mr. McGuire said he was unaware of that and described the island as looking like a tropical paradise," the report said.
(Thanks, Charles Pescovitz!)