Disney magic keeps planes from flying overhead

The "Happiest Place on Earth" has some of the strictest airspace in America.

One day last month, an odd pair of security alerts appeared on the Federal Aviation Administration's website, reminding pilots that they are not allowed to fly into two areas in Southern California and central Florida.

The sky over Disneyland and Walt Disney World is "national defense airspace." Intentionally violating Mickey and Minnie's airspace, the alerts warn, could result in interception, interrogation, and federal prosecution.

No-fly zones are known as temporary flight restrictions. Some surround the president when he travels. Wildfires, air shows, and large sporting events regularly get temporary flight restrictions. Officials in Ferguson, Mo., got the FAA to impose temporary restrictions during protests over the summer, though it was recently revealed that the request was an effort to reduce news coverage.

Yet there is nothing temporary about the restrictions over the Disney properties, and such limits do not exist over competing theme parks, such as Universal Studios in Los Angeles or Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, Calif.

The Disney restrictions have been in place since 2003, thanks to a provision slipped into a massive congressional spending bill weeks before the Iraq war. Defense and counterterrorism officials did not appear to ask for the Disney protections, which were instead urged by at least one Disney lobbyist, according to an Orlando Sentinel investigation in 2003.

The restrictions effectively ended a war between Disney and aerial advertisers who had buzzed over the parks for years before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The FAA's leader, Michael P. Huerta, testified before Congress last year that if not for the 2003 law, he would eliminate no-fly zones over Disney properties. An FAA spokeswoman said last week that the agency also would like to take a closer look at no-fly zones over sporting events, which were made permanent by the 2003 law.

Defenders of the zones have said the Disney parks merit special protection because of their importance to American culture and the large crowds they draw. Critics say that the zones, which each cover a three-mile radius, would be useless against a true terrorist attack and that the restrictions instead mostly harm pilots who tow advertising banners. "Banner towers used to make money with their banner tows around Disneyland; now they're not allowed to," said Mark Skinner, owner of Anaheim Helicopters. But "you can fly (around) Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags, no big deal," he said.

When the no-fly zones were approved, Disney's public remarks emphasized safety and enjoyment, but a spokeswoman told the Orlando Sentinel that "enjoyment" included keeping out "banner ads from trial lawyers" and pilots "buzzing the parks."