Twenty-five years.
It is difficult to believe that much time has passed since the morning of September 11, 2001. For those of us old enough to remember it, we can almost immediately tell you where we were when we first heard that an airplane had struck the World Trade Center in New York City. We remember where we were standing, who we were with, and the television images that seemed impossible to understand as they unfolded in front of us.
I was seven months pregnant with my daughter. She is just about 25 years old now, which somehow makes the passage of time feel even more difficult to comprehend. An entire generation has grown up knowing September 11 as history, while so many of us remember watching that history happen in real time.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attacks that morning at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and aboard United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. Behind that number are thousands of individual lives, families who never got their loved ones back, and countless first responders, survivors, witnesses, and communities forever changed by what happened.
Disney Parks became one small part of the enormous story unfolding across the country that day. Walt Disney World began closing its theme parks that morning, while the time difference allowed Disneyland Resort in California to close before guests entered for the day. At Walt Disney World, cast members helped calmly guide guests toward park exits while information about what was happening outside the gates continued to spread.
Corey Martin, President of our company, was a Disney cast member at work that day and shared where he was that awful morning:
On September 11, 2001, I was working in Base Operations at Blizzard Beach, where I also watched the events of 9/11 unfold.
I was sent a carefully worded script to read over the theme park intercom to close the park immediately.
I stood at the exit afterward and handed these passes to every guest leaving the park.
Corey said all the Walt Disney World theme parks read the same script over the loudspeaker announcing the park’s closures. He said they used only a pre-recorded message for rain and closures, but rarely a live voice.
Disney Resort hotels remained open for guests who could not travel, and phone charges were suspended so people could contact their families. At Disneyland Resort, food and beverages were made available to guests on property, while Disney movies were shown at the Downtown Disney theaters for stranded Resort guests.
Then-Disney Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner addressed cast members following the attacks. He ended his message with words that feel especially poignant 25 years later:
“Finally, let me say our company around the world will continue to operate in this sometimes violent world in which we live, offering products that reach to the higher and more positive side of the human equation.”
There are moments when a theme park is simply a theme park, and September 11, 2001, was certainly one of them. Disney closed its gates because something infinitely larger was happening beyond them.
Today, we remember the people who left for work that morning and never came home. We remember the passengers and crews aboard the four airplanes, the first responders who ran toward unimaginable danger, those who survived, and the families who have carried their losses for 25 years.
And for those of us who remember exactly where we were when everything changed that morning, it’s hard to believe it has been a quarter of a century.
We remember September 11, 2001. We remember the lives lost. And we will never forget.
