Why you don’t see mosquito’s at Disney

Disney’s ability to practically eliminate mosquitoes at its Florida resort is made all the more amazing when you remember that the site is built on former swampland. In fact, many Southerners would probably say that the blood-sucking insects are an inevitable part of life in a hot place surrounded by marshy lowlands.

But Disney was determined that these pesky critters wouldn’t ruin guests’ fun in the parks. So the mission to banish mosquitoes at Disney World apparently began with a meeting between Walt Disney and Major General William “Joe” Potter at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

Potter was a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an engineering expert. And prior to meeting Disney, he was the Governor of the Panama Canal Zone. The Panama Canal Zone was an unincorporated U.S. territory from 1903 to 1979. The region was also a hotspot for malaria – a disease that’s transmitted by mosquitoes.

But to build the Panama Canal, it was crucial that the authorities could control the spread of the pathogen. And it was here that Potter reportedly picked up his vast pest control knowledge.

Apparently, when Disney heard about Potter’s work as an engineer helping to control mosquito swarms in the Panama Canal Zone, he offered him a job there and then. And once Potter had accepted, he began putting his insect-fighting expertise to good use on Disney’s “Florida Project” – which would later become Walt Disney World

Rather than killing adult bugs, the resort tries to make itself seem as unpleasant as possible for any insects that need to lay their eggs. So by following a policy of prevention, Disney World can keep the population down permanently – and help ensure that guests aren’t bothered by the bloodsuckers.

And one such way that Disney tries to keep the mosquitoes at bay is by ensuring that there’s no still water at Disney World at all. After all, the insects are attracted to standing water, as it’s the perfect place to deposit their eggs.

So by removing any potential mosquito breeding grounds, Disney drastically reduces the number of larvae that it needs to deal with on the site. Ridding Disney World of all standing water might sound like a simple enough solution – until you remember that the resort was built on a swamp.

And so after Potter was first employed by Disney, he started work on the construction of a vast drainage system to transform the boggy land into something better suited to construction.

The original drainage gutters that Potter installed – affectionately known as “Joe’s ditches” – are still in use at Disney World today.

Touchingly, in 1997 Potter was dubbed a Disney Legend. And in yet another tribute from the company, one of the ferries that operates on Seven Seas Lagoon was renamed General Joe Potter. Of course, most people who visit the park presumably have no idea of the part that the engineer played in preventing them from getting pesky mosquito bites.

And you thought that Disney was just about rides, characters and movies.

Walt knew that the mosquito’s would detract from the experience and set about eradicating that detraction.

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P.S.: The rest of the mosquito story…

Interestingly, Disney also designs its buildings to ensure that water cannot collect anywhere on the parks’ structures. Lucas told Reader’s Digest, “All of the buildings are built so that water flows right off of [them]… With all the rainstorms, if water got caught on the buildings… it would form a pool, and then mosquitoes would hatch their eggs, and you’d have thousands of mosquitoes.”

What’s more, all the water features in Disney World – including fountains – are rid of any flora such as water lilies that can disguise mosquito eggs. Lucas revealed to Reader’s Digest, “They also stock-fill those places with minnows, goldfish and a type of fish called mosquito fish that eat the larvae.”

And as well as going to great lengths to avoid creating standing pools of water, Disney also uses sprays to combat mosquitoes. Though Walt Disney himself made sure that no nasty pesticides would ever be used. Lucas explained, “[He] did not want to ruin the environment at all, so they couldn’t use pesticides… It’d be easy to just spray the whole thing, but he wanted it to be something natural.”

So in keeping with the filmmaker’s wish, the staff at Disney World are very familiar with garlic spray. The insects are apparently averse to the pungent-smelling plant, so the resort diffuses a garlicky scent all around the park.

Lucas told Reader’s Digest, “The amount that they use is so small that humans can’t smell it, but mosquitoes are very susceptible to it.”

Yet while garlic sprays might sound bizarre, that’s nothing compared to Disney’s use of chickens in the fight against mosquitoes. The birds are kept in coops all around the resort and live pretty ordinary lives.

Some of the diseases that mosquitoes spread include Zika and West Nile. And while hens are not susceptible to such viruses, evidence of these pathogens will be present in their blood work. Staff can then see where any affected birds live in the park, helping them to determine which area of the resort needs more mosquito-beating attention.