The goal of this blog series is to factually prove or disprove rumors and myths in the Disney-verse. Tonight on TMSM Mythbusters we are once again taking on more reader suggestions, one of them because it just cracked me up so much!
“Are the Disney Cruise Line ships classified as war ships?”
Paul Moore posed this great question “Are the Disney Cruise Line ships classified as war ships?”
This one had my retired US Navy husband rattling off facts at me so fast I had to ask him to pause and slow down. The first issue with this myth is that the Disney Cruise Line ships are actually registered in the Bahamas. Using a “flag of convenience” all four Disney ships fall under the shipping regulations of the Bahamas. This being said, IF the DCL ships were warships they wouldn’t fall under the control of the US Navy*.
Then we need to look at what a war ship is, and if the Bahamian Navy declares that all merchant ships registered there are also war ships. The definition of a warship is rather long and wordy. The short version is a warship is an armed combat ship that carries weapons, ammo and supplies for it’s crew. DCL ships fall under the classification of merchant passenger ship.
Finally we need to look at the Bahamian Navy, which is actually called the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, is VERY small. “The main ships in the force are two Bahamas-class offshore patrol vessels and three Legend-class OPV”, while they do have 9 ships on order with a Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards Group, the the RBDF does not lay claim to any cruise ships in their line up of ships.
As a side note just in case someone wants to say “BUT AUTUMN!!!! Disney is a US company so maybe the US Navy has classified the Disney ships as..” All commissioned US Navy ships are classified as USS (United States Ship) and it’s non commissioned and civilian manned ships are classified as USNS (United States Naval Ship). None of the Disney ship’s have this classification, nor are they listed on the US Navy’s list of ships.Not to mention US Navy ships are dry and if you have ever been on a Disney Cruise you know thanks to the “adult beverage of the day” that is NOT the case on Disney Cruise Ships.
So though I am sure my husband would have LOVED to have done a six-month cruise on the Dream, this myth is in fact busted.
Was a wedding ring thrown from WDW’s Haunted Mansion Attic?
Tali McPike a Main Streeter and one of our contributors at OffTMSM suggested we look into the story of the “wedding ring” in the queue of Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion.
I absolutely LOVE this myth because it shows how Disney Imagineers listen to fans. Years ago a turnstile pole was cut down near the Haunted Mansion’s exit, leaving behind a bit of pipe and a nut that looked oddly fashionable.
Guests started noticing it and saying it was the attic bride Constance Hatchaway‘s ring that had been hurled from the Mansion’s Attic. Because this was a fan story the ride’s CMs went along with it, but there was never a set version of the tale so how the ring came to be thrown from the window varied on the version the story teller had been told by their friends etc. The original ring was found as you left the ride and were still under the green canopy, just before the paving stones changed designs.
Fast forward to the completion of the Mansion’s queue remodel. Guests realized there was a REAL ring now laid in the concrete. (See Imagineers rock!) This new ring was actually IN the new queue entering the ride, near a brick wall column behind the children’s head busts. But the new ring wasn’t particularity weather proof and it started to wear and rust away and was eventually removed this past spring/summer (2014). 
This of course caused QUITE the stir with fans and even led to rumors of theft. But, around October a NEW new ring appeared in the same place the OLD new had been, along the wall resolving any drama that the old “new” rings disappearance may have caused. In the picture taken by TMSM Fan Nation member Bernice you can see the new ring seems to be a LOT better suited for life in a concrete sidewalk!
So as you can see, the “Bride’s Ring” in the queue at Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion may have started out as a myth created by guests but it became a reality when Imagineers stepped in! Making this Disney Myth, Confirmed!
Research sites used/Images courtesy of :
Ship: www.shipcruise.org/cruise-ship-registry-flags-of-convenience-flag-state-control; www.navy.mil/navydata/ships/lists/shipalpha.asp; disneyparks.disney.go.com; www.ussjfkri.org
Ring: Original Ring Google image search flickr, New ring pic Bernice Jimenez taken 10/2014
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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