For those still here, thanks for your patience and understanding.

As much as we hate to admit it, we are in different world than we were three years ago. No, I’m not talking about Walt Disney World, but rather the increased importance of security in our society after September 11th, 2001.

It’s not often security is talked about in the same sentence as Walt Disney World or Disney in general, but the climate has changed, as all guests to the Resort are reminded every time they enter one of the parks. Bag checks are now commonplace for entering the parks, as permanent structures for doing so have been built at the entrance of all four theme parks.

Disney isn’t the only one doing it, though. Universal Orlando is also employing their security to search baggage compartments of guests entering their parks, as is SeaWorld Orlando. Of course, no one in the area likes that fact that it’s being done, but the measures have been (fairly) accepted by the public at large as necessary in our post-9/11 world.

This brings me to our Magic Kingdom example. To be sure, this series is not trying to cover every aspect of every possible security risk or scenario which could play out in the park. I’m also not trying to do an exposé on Walt Disney World security or park procedures which based on my current level of information, would be insufficient to do such a broad topic.

What I am trying to do here is to analyze what I feel as the most plausible major security risks the Magic Kingdom could face, and try and determine what could be done about them. Before we begin, however, we need to cover two very core concepts in the world of security policy, which are relevant to our discussion here.

#1 – Terrorism works off of fear

While this may sound obvious, this concept is either thrown to the side or ignored altogether all too often. The idea here is that the ultimate goal of any terrorist activity is to strike fear in the populace you are targeting.

That was very evident for not only the entire country, but the world after September 11th. How many people avoided flying, or took a second thought about going into a high-rise building? How many people decided not to go on a far away vacation? Heck, just look at our entire economy after that time period. The whole country was in such a state of shock that consumer confidence plummeted and so did sales.

The point here is that, contrary to popular belief, terrorism doesn’t have to claim a lot of victims to be successful in its goal(s). As long as the activity gets a lot of attention (media and otherwise) and can be seen as something which could happen to a large amount of people, the fear gets across and the goal is reached. In other words, if small corporate jets are being hijacked, that really won’t resonate with the populace because not many people fly in small, corporate jets. That’s why public facilities are often targeted, since they have a large number of people which access them frequently.

Okay, so what does that have to do with our example? Simple; if the Magic Kingdom were to experience some sort of terrorist activity, it wouldn’t have to have a large number of casualties to meet its goal, but it would have to strike fear into a large portion of the populace.

#2 – The better the Security ( & Security Policy) works, the less you know it’s working

This concept is absolutely critical for those in decision-making roles to understand. The idea here is that (in regards to terrorism), the better your policy and security efforts are, the less terrorist activity you will have, and therefore the less exposure of such problems. Since terrorism works off of fear, less media coverage from fewer successful fear campaigns would be a good thing. However, since security always tips the balance away from privacy issues, the less terrorist activity leads to calls for the increased security to subside.

In other words, a well planned and executed security policy should lead to lesser terrorist activity. That lesser amount of terrorist activity would eventually lead to the thought that such a policy is no longer needed or can be scaled down. In the end, the limited existence of terrorism causes the security policy to be scaled down due to a false sense of security. This is especially true in regards to counter-terrorism efforts, since most efforts are done out of the public eye.

What this means for the Magic Kingdom is, that even though the area may not have any terrorist activity, that doesn’t mean that people aren’t being caught at the front gates or on property with alternative agendas.

Therein lays the problem with security efforts anywhere, and especially at Walt Disney World. I have no doubt that the Magic Kingdom, as well as most of the other public locations within the Resort, is monitored either remotely or directly constantly. I’m sure that the Orange County Sheriffs Office has more deputies on property than you or I ever see as well. However, while the best security efforts go on in the background, that means that they are rarely (if ever) seen. It could very well be that we perceive the Magic Kingdom as a potential target of a specific criminal act, where there are security policies and procedures in place right now. The truth is that we (the public) just don’t know, and honestly that’s the way it should be.

Let’s be clear, however, that I personally don’t know of any instances of where a terrorist plot against Walt Disney World was planned or foiled, and the press releases from the Resort indicated that the recent increase in security measure was not in response to any recent threats or incidents.

Now that we have the above concepts in mind, what sorts of threats would the Magic Kingdom face? Let’s look at two characteristics of the place, which I believe would be the springboard of any possible terrorist activity.

First of all the Magic Kingdom (and Cinderella’s Castle, specifically), are ideological Americana targets. As mentioned in previous articles, Disney is synonymous with America, and is engrained with our history. An attack on the place would be an attack on everything that’s American, like an attack upon Coca-Cola or McDonalds.

Secondly, Orlando is known the world over, and is the number one vacation destination in the world. At the same time, Orlando is interchanged with the Disney name on a daily basis. This leads to international exposure and a large volume of visitors. The Magic Kingdom comes into the equation since it is the epitome of the Disney parks with its hub-and-spoke design with classic attractions, and in the beginning pretty much was Walt Disney World.

That’s why I would expect some sort of symbolic terrorism activity upon the Magic Kingdom, instead of some random violence. More to the point, that is the reason why I’m not too keen on metal detectors possibly being deployed at the front gates of the park. To be sure, it would increase the security of the parks, but what would it really catch?

Well folks, I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until next week for the answer to that question. It’s then that we’ll take a look at what a magnetometer (metal detector) really would protect against, and an alternate suggestion for screening guests entering the Walt Disney World theme parks. Until that point in time...

Thanks for stopping on by, and I’ll see you next week!