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Disney in a Minute: What is Trespassed?

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We’re here with a series of quick posts, “Disney in a Minute,” bite-sized nuggets of information that can better help you understand a Disney term or planning topic. Enjoy!

In the broader world, trespassed is a verb that means you violated a physical boundary. (“The poacher trespassed on federal land,” for example.) At Walt Disney World, “trespassed” is more often used as a noun to describe an action taken against someone who has violated a physical, legal, or moral boundary. In Disney parlance, “trespassed” essentially means “banned.”

An example sentence might be, “Did you see that guy who tried to climb the Mexico pavilion at EPCOT? He was obviously trespassed for life.” The translation, “Some idiot did some idiotic thing and now he’s banned from the WDW parks forever.”

Don’t try this at home, or in the Disney parks.

 

A guest, or a cast member, might be trespassed for things such as fighting in the parks, indecent exposure, exhibiting unsafe behavior (standing up on a ride, drinking the water in a public fountain), attempting to bring drugs or weapons onto Disney property, violating backstage secrets, abetting underage drinking, running an unauthorized business inside the parks, or any number of other infractions. Being trespassed might come with legal charges or it might not, depending on the severity of the transgression.

The vast majority of Disney guests will never be trespassed. Act like a decent human and you’ll be fine. That said, there does appear to be a law firm that specializes in fighting theme park trespass notices (I’m not linking to it; if you need it, you’ll find it). So, if you are a die-hard theme park fan and you are overtaken by a fit of wickedness, there may be a second chance for you. (But don’t. I mean, please, just don’t.)

Have a question about a Disney term that is unfamiliar to you? Suggest it here for an upcoming Disney in a Minute segment.

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Erin Foster

Erin Foster is an original member of the Walt Disney World Moms Panel (now PlanDisney), a regular contributor to TouringPlans.com, and co-author of The Unofficial Guide to Disney Cruise Line. She's been to WDW, DL, DL Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, Aulani, DVC Vero Beach, and DVC Hilton Head. She's a Platinum DCL cruiser and veteran of 10 Adventures by Disney trips. Erin lives near New York City, where she can often be found indulging in her other obsession - Broadway theater.

5 thoughts on “Disney in a Minute: What is Trespassed?

  • Wrongful tresspass ap taken away I never got the yellow paper actually I don’t know what to do at this point I have video proof of what happen.

    Reply
    • Did you ever get any information on this? I was wrongfully escorted off property yesterday 8/2/24 from California adventure

      Reply
  • I’ve always been curious how lifetime trespasses are enforced. I know an AP can be taken, but what keeps the banned from buying other tickets. I know the fingerprint scanner doesn’t take a perfect fingerprint, so that can’t be it.

    Reply
  • Are trespassers banned for life or does it depend on the severity of what they did ?

    Reply
    • At WDW (I think this applies at Disneyland as well), most if not all trespass warnings are indefinite unless successfully appealed. The guest can request an appeal after one or more years.

      At Universal, they may be temporary or indefinite, the duration will be communicated at the time of the trespass. (It’s *much* harder to appeal an indefinite trespass warning from Universal, so in their case, “indefinite trespass” might as well mean “permanent trespass”.)

      Reply

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