Capital Thinking • Issue #1128 • View online

Mosquitoes are some of the most annoying (and most deadly) pests out there. If you're from a country without mosquitoes- like Iceland- then you might not realise just how annoying mosquitoes can be.

Just imagine returning to your hotel with not only tired feet, a sunburn but also itchy mosquito bites. So why do you almost never see mosquitoes at the most magical place on earth?

Let's uncover the magic.

-MouseTrack/Blog

Mosquitoes at Disney World: why do you (almost) never see them?

MouseTrack/Blog:

The eradication myth

Before discussing the details of Disney's mosquito control program, it's worth to mention that there are many articles and videos on the internet which falsely claim that there are no mosquitoes at Disney World parks.

Photo by Manpreet Rattu / Unsplash

The truth is that this is a myth.

Eradicating mosquitoes completely anywhere in Florida is practically impossible. After all Florida is swamp territory and that's just about the most perfect environment for mosquitoes to thrive.

In fact Florida is the worst state for mosquitoes, coming ahead of Texas and Louisiana.

But it is true that Disney does a good job at keeping mosquito numbers at bay in the Disney World parks. It is by no means an easy feat.

The mosquito control tactics actually started many decades ago.

The 1964 New York World's Fair

At the New York World's Fair in 1964, Walt met retired army Major General William E. Potter, or "Joe" Potter for short.

Joe Potter / Credit: D23

Joe worked as the governor of the Panama Canal Zone, an area noted for its prominence of yellow fever and malaria-harboring mosquitoes. The construction of the Panama Canal actually happened many decades before Joe's governorship, its successful construction can be attributed to the work done by William C. Gorgas, a doctor who fought hard to eradicate mosquitoes in the canal and was one of the first people to predict correctly that yellow fever was transmitted by these pesky insects.

Dr. Gorgas' original strategy employed to control the mosquito population involved two things, both designed to keep mosquito larvae from forming:

Removal of standing water
Treating undrainable waters with oil

By the time Joe became governor, the canal was already in operation for multiple decades. Over this time the mosquito control strategy was refined and Joe was able to to learn its ins and outs.

When Walt met Joe, he hired him on the spot to help with what was then known as the "Florida Project".

The Florida Project

For what was going to become Disney World, Walt was buying up many thousands of acres of land in the centermost part of Florida. Every bit of land he purchased was hot, humid swampland, full of aligators, crocodiles, and of course, mosquitoes.

Walt knew that mosquitoes were going to be a problem and already recognized a need for pest control. Joe Potter was going to be Walt's resident expert on mosquito control.

But even with Joe's help it wouldn't be easy and would require a combination of multiple different techniques to work. Joe knew that the best approach to controlling the mosquito population is to not kill the adult insects but instead target the larvae.

If he could make Disney World a place where mosquitoes aren't able to lay their eggs, then he might just have a shot at reducing their numbers drastically.