It’s hard to think of Universal or SeaWorld as an underdog of anything. None of the big theme parks could be called scrappy at this point, even if they continue to live in the shadow of Walt Disney World. Still, everybody happily making money won’t stop the parks from pouncing if the House of Mouse gives them an opening.
That’s exactly what they did when news began to spread that a former Disney employee was fired for drinking from the park’s fountains. TikTok user Jason Jeter massed followers by taking sips from the park’s landscape features and ranking the quality on a scale of 1-10. (Note: you shouldn’t drink from decorative fountains and that goes double inside theme parks.) Jeter claims he banned from the park permanently for his antics and showed a trespass warning from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to his TikTok followers on May 4.
According to Jeter’s account of events on TikTok, he was fired from Disney in the middle of March. On April Fool’s Day, he posted a video claiming to be banned from the property before revealing it was a joke.
Now that he’s officially banned from the park, Legoland, Universal and SeaWorld all saw an opportunity to crack wise.
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This article appears in May 5-11, 2021.