When You Can Bring a Horse to Magic Kingdom and 3 Other WEIRD Disney World Rules | the disney food blog (2024)

We often talk about the importance of packing comfortable shoes, hats, extra socks, and more for Disney World — but have you considered bringing your horse?

Yep, you read that correctly. Okay, not everyone is able to bring a horse to Magic Kingdom but there is one weird rule that says you can! So, whencanyou bring a horse to Disney World? We’re sharing that and three other weird Disney World rules!

You can bring a mini-horse

While you’ve probably seen a service dog or two at Disney World, they’re not the only service animals allowed to join families during their Disney World vacation. According to Disney, miniature horse service animals get the green light of approval, as well!

Disney’s official statement on service animals reads, “At Walt Disney World Resort, a service animal is a dog or miniature horse that is trained to do work or perform tasks for, and to assist, an individual with a disability.”

So, if you require a service animal to help get you through your park day (and only IF you’re required a service animal) then you can walk your mini horse down the middle of Main Street USA. Keep in mind that with any service animal, there are certain areas and attractions in the park that are still off-limits — like on most rides, for instance!

No, Mickey can’t do that

Mickey Mouse can sail ships, fight towering dragons, and shoot fireworks out of his fingers. So is there really anything Mickey CAN’T do? Well, actually — yes! Mickey Mouse likes to meet his friends in several different places around Disney World to take pictures, sign autographs, and give big ol’ Mickey hugs.

And while each Mickey Mouse interaction is gonna be completely unique, there are some rules that Mick (as well as his fellow Disney pals) has to abide by to keep themselves safe (as well as the guests safe, too). For example, Mickey Mouse cannot sign anything on your body. No ankle signatures, no wrist signatures, no forehead signatures — nothing.

But if you want Mickey’s signature somewhere besides just an autograph book, you may wanna bring something ELSE that you’ll use and see more often when you’re back home — like a plain shirt, a water bottle, a white picture mat frame, or a hat. He also can’t hold your baby or give you a gift!

We hope you like Coca-Cola products

To all the Dr. Pepper fans in the place with style and grace, we’re sorry to report that you’re not welcome at Disney World. Okay, okay — yes you are! All are welcome at Disney World, unless you’re Dr. Pepper. You won’t find a single drop of Dr. Pepper sold in the parks, and that’s for one very specific reason.

Disney’s just staying true to a partnership that Walt Disney himself set up years ago. Disney’s partnership with Coca-Cola was established by Walt Disney back when Disneyland first opened. While Disneyland did have two sponsored drink providers at the time of its opening — Coca-Cola AND PepsiCo — the domestic Disney parks have been strictly a Coca-Cola hub since the 1980s.

That means you’re not gonna find other soda providers sold in the parks, including that beloved soda with the 23 different flavors, Dr. Pepper — since it’s owned by the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., and NOT by Coca-Cola. However, youcan find Dr. Pepper by the bottle at the Swan and Dolphin hotels, since those aren’t owned by Disney.

Don’t count on seeing Spider-Man

Disney purchased Marvel a while back, and many folks thought it meant we’d soon see Spider-Man at Disney World — but they were wrong! Disney California Adventure out in Anaheim can have a whole Avengers Campus… but Disney World can’t? That doesn’t seem fair. The reason they can’t have more of a Marvel presence in Disney World all has to do with Universal Orlando.

Before Disney purchased Marvel in 2009, Marvel Comics had already signed a contract with MCA, Inc. — the company that owned the Universal Studios theme parks at that time. Even after Disney purchased Marvel, the company did NOT get all of Marvel’s licensing rights.

The original Universal contract states that other companies — including Disney — cannot use any Marvel characters being currently used in Universal theme parks east of the Mississippi River. In other words, Disney World is legally not allowed to bring Marvel to Disney World because Islands of Adventure has Marvel characters in their park RIGHT NOW. But, because no Guardians of the Galaxy characters are featured at Universal — they’re fair game!

Stay tuned to DFB for the latest weird Disney World rules, tips, tricks, and more!

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Did you know about these Disney World rules? Tell us in the comments.