Claim: Disney has been working with SpaceX to create a new hurricane defense system

Question

Disney has been working with SpaceX for the past 7 years on developing new technologies to defend against hurricanes that may impact the Disney World Resort in Orlando. The resort plans to use magnetic coils to "break up the storm and lessen its impact".  If the defense system is successful, Disney and SpaceX will likely sell the technology to other hurricane-prone businesses.

Answer 1

After reading the article, I searched "Disney Spacex Hurricanes" to find any background information I could on the subject. The first article on the page was from Snopes.com, explaining all the different ways this information was satire, and therefore false. The article came from a website titled Mouse Trap News, which, on the surface, seems like it could be a reputable news outlet for Disney related information. In their 'about' section, however, they explain that they are "the world's best satire and parody site". This article was also posted before Hurricane Milton hit; while the hurricane was impacting the state of Florida, Disney shut it's doors to the public. With all of the information gathered, it is safe to conclude that this information is satire that derived from a parody site. 

Comments

I agree with your answer to the claim about Disney working with SpaceX to create hurricane defense systems. You did a good job at proving the original site to be satire by diving into their website and reading their 'about' section. The website you used to factcheck this claim is a website designed for factchecking, so I think it would be considered a credible source.

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This is a great fact check. I really like the way that you walked through how you were able to debunk the source. I also appreciate the fact that you mentioned that it was before the hurricane and how Disney shut their doors to the public.

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I like the way you structured your fact-check. You got to the point quickly and plainly, this helps people get correct answers faster and without confusion. I also appreciate how you described where you found your information. By including information about the website you help people understand why the fact is satire.

Answer 2

The article in question was published by Mouse Trap News, which is a self-described: "satire and parody site" that publishes "fake stories [that are] ... not true, real, or accurate." Therefore, the information in the article is false and intended to be taken as satire. 

Mouse Trap News also made a TikTok post on the same story that gained traction. Several of the top commenters appeared to believe the claim, despite the account description acknowledging that the information is "100% FAKE."

Comments

This fact check is very thorough! I appreciate that you linked every aspect of the evidence you found to prove that this claim is false/satire. After looking at their website and TikTok page, why do you think people are so quick to believe their absurd claims? Is it their evidence/reasoning or their marketing?

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Thank you! A lot of people take what they see at face value. Even legitimate stories are presented in the most attention-grabbing ways possible, which means that many people have become conditioned to accept any information they see. That's why websites like News Detective are so important.

Answer 3

This is not true. After inspecting this article, I found no sources for the information or the pictures in the article. I then looked on the Walt Disney World website for information about hurricanes and there was never a mention about anything to do with working with SpaceX. I also searched for any other website that was reporting this information and there was nothing except a website called Snopes.com saying this article by Mouse Trap News is false. The news outlet Mouse Trap News is not a trustworthy place to get information as it says in the website "about" section, "Mouse Trap News is the world’s best satire and parody site. We write fake stories about Disney Parks stuff". This claim is completely false.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/disney-world-hurricane-defense/

Answer 4

First, I located the specific claim about Disney World testing a new hurricane defense system. I noted the references to Disney’s partnership with the U.S. government and SpaceX in designing this system, as well as the internal source that provided the information in the article. However, I observed a lack of cited sources. The internal source was the only one mentioned, and no details were provided to verify its validity. Next, I researched Mouse Trap News to evaluate the credibility of the website. I found their "About" page, which explained that they are a parody site that writes fake stories about Disney. After that, I searched for similar articles using the term "Disney World hurricane defense system," but the only results were from Mouse Trap News. After thoroughly fact-checking the article, I concluded that the information it presented is not accurate.

Answer 5

I researched several of the main facts that were used to support the claim that "Disneyland is testing a new hurricane defense system" And from searching "Disney hurricane defense system" I found a similiar article on Snopes.com : https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/disney-world-hurricane-defense/ But this subsequent article on Snopes.com stated that this article could be known as satire given that although the news outlet that the claim originated from reports on everything Disney, they do not make any truthful claims that can be backed up by a reputable source and also claim to be a news source that will often contain parody and satire to hook its audience. Therefore this claim is false.

Comments

I like how you cross examined the claim on a similar fact-checking website that also had a similar story to the claim posted. After researching into the claim posted on 'Snopes', I found that the website linked in the claim, 'Mouse Trap News,' actually posted that TikTok video onto their account, so both sources of media are from the same website.

Answer 6

The article is published by Mousetrap News, a site known for writing satire articles. Upon looking in the about section on Mousetraps website, it states, “From Disney Park announcements to Disney Hotel and resort news to made-up Disney partnerships, you can be assured that anything you read here is not true, real, or accurate, but it is fun.” This is further emphasized by a factchecked article, published by Snopes.com, that verifies that the claims made in the article are satire and not true. Furthermore I was unable to find any articles supporting a hurricane related partnership between Disney and SpaceX.  All this information points to the fact that the article is satire and written for entertainment purposes, meaning the claim is false. 

https://mousetrapnews.com/about/

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/disney-world-hurricane-defense/

Answer 7

After reading this claim, I immediately went to the website being used as a reference. The website Mouse Trap News is notorious for being a self-proclaimed "world 's best satire and parody site." Given the only facts used in this claim were from Mouse Trap News, it is obvious that this claim is false. 

Answer 8

When reading the article, I could not find any source referenced by the author. Additionally there was no author credited with making the article, instead it just shows the site "mouse trap news" I then searched for "Disney hurricane defense system" and I couldn't find any other relevant websites talking about this story, and seen as this should be a ground breaking topic, it was fishy that no one else was talking about it. Finally I looked at a snopes article explaining that the claim was made originally in a Tik Tok in a satirical manner, and mouse trap news is known as a satirical and unserious news site. Seen as this site is made for satirical news and that this whole story was fake, I think it is safe to say that this is a satirical article. 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/disney-world-hurricane-defense/

Answer 9

Perhaps a serious error on Mousetrap new' part but this site is purely satirical. Though the Walt Disney Company does have a lot of control in the telecommunication space, it has yet to make the leap to outer space just yet.

Answer 10

This claim is false. First, there is nowhere else on the internet that has this information. Disney and SpaceX are not linked to a hurricane defense system anywhere else. Second, the article does not provide any source for the information. Lastly, just a little bit of browsing Mouse Trap News, the website the article was posted to, makes it clear that the website is satirical. With other headlines like "Women can now go topless in Disney World" and "Disney World officially moving to Nashville", it is obvious that this website is satirical and not meant to be taken seriously. If all of that was not enough, the link below is a fact check from a different website that labels this claim as false.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/disney-world-hurricane-defense/