Vandalism is no laughing matter, kids. In this day and age, punks and pranksters are fueled to fan and fortune on the TikTok and whatnot, garnering trillions of views and cult-like adoration as they poison the minds and morals of our nation’s youth. It’s thus exceedingly disappointing that Walt Disney World, once a beacon for family values, is celebrating criminality yet again.
It all happened for the first time back on November 16, 2004. On that fateful day, one of the worst attractions in Walt Disney World history opened, with Stitch’s Great Escape replacing the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, one of my favorite attractions of all-time. It came amidst some dark days for Walt Disney World, with a multi-year lull in new offerings and several creative misfires. (Whatever you think of the last few years, the early to mid aughts were worse.)
The same could be said for the Walt Disney Animation Studios, which was why Lilo & Stitch was such a bright spot and there was so much excitement for Stitch’s Great Escape. It was billed by Walt Disney World as featuring the most sophisticated Audio-Animatronics ever developed by Imagineering, with the multi-sensory Tomorrowland adventure putting guests in the middle of the mayhem caused by “Experiment 626” when he’s sent to the Galactic Federation Prisoner Teleport Center.
In the unique theater-in-the-round attraction, park guests arrived as new recruits at a detention facility designed to separate the galaxy’s naughty from the nice. During Stitch’s Great Escape, guests were ushered into the center’s high-security teleportation chamber as the six-limbed Stitch beams in, tracked by two ceiling-mounted “plasma cannons” that follow his DNA whenever — and wherever — it moves.
With guests seated in DNA scanning restraints, Imagineering’s proprietary “proximity audio” technology provides a close encounter with the playful Stitch as he attempts to outwit the galactic authorities in the circular chamber. Sights, sounds and — ewwww! — smells add to the pandemonium.
Online, fans of the crafty alien could learn more about the new attraction and help Stitch explore Magic Kingdom in Stitch’s Escape Game, a free download available for Windows PCs at stitchescape.com. (Most of this is verbatim out of the original press release.) Suffice to say, there was a lot of excitement and fanfare for Stitch’s Great Escape ahead of its debut.
As part of the promotional push for the new attraction, guests to Magic Kingdom on November 16, 2004 were greeted by a huge inflatable Stitch outside the Main Street USA Train Station at the park’s front entrance. The mischievous Experiment 626 was once again on the loose to mark the grand opening of Stitch’s Great Escape. (This inflatable was used on countless occasions from 2004 until at least 2007; we saw him repurposed for Christmas, wearing a Santa hat one year.)
The biggest surprise came when guests turned the corner on Main Street, and were greeted with that iconic sight: Cinderella Castle. Except covered in toilet paper. As it turned out, Stitch had TP’d the Magic Kingdom icon overnight, while also spray-painting “Stitch is King” on one of the Cinderella Castle turrets.
To further clue in guests that it was Stitch who had wantonly vandalized Cinderella Castle rather than a rogue criminal who broke into the park (how would that even work?!), there were “Wanted” signs all over Main Street for Experiment 626. Later that day, there was also a special grand opening stage show for Stitch’s Great Escape featuring Elvis impersonators.
Here are photos of the one-day festivities sourced from Pinterest and Imgur (sorry for the lack of attribution–unable to track down the original sources):
I really regret not seeing this in person. Sarah and I didn’t first visit Walt Disney World together as adults until another year-plus after this, so we missed it. I got into the Disney fandom pretty deep around the same time in Summer 2006.
Already, this was the stuff of legends. There was no social media outrage machine back then, but rest assured, there was most definitely outrage. It was like the 25th Anniversary Cinderella Castle Cake all over again, with complaints about how disrespectful it was, how bad it looked, and how upset guests must’ve been who only had one day in Magic Kingdom and this was in all of their photos. (Since so few photos exist, I assume these complaints are on behalf of other guests, not firthand feedback.)
As with the controversial Castle Cake, my favorite is its detractors expressing sympathy for brides of the nascent “Disney Fairy Tale Weddings” division who arrived to Magic Kingdom on November 16, 2004, shocked and heartbroken to discover that the regal castle they wanted in the backdrop of their photos had been vandalized.
To each their own, but the official position of this website is that we would cherish our wedding photos even more if they had a toilet-papered castle in the background. Think of how unique that would be–an awesome conversation-piece when visitors to your home saw your wedding photos! (Correction/retraction: I have been advised that, in fact, we would not cherish such photos. This blog condemns toilet-papering Cinderella Castle in the harshest of terms.)
Fast forward to May 23, 2025–the release date of the “live action” Lilo & Stitch remake. Oops, he did it again:
Caught in the act of almost turning the iconic Cinderella Castle into a roll of chaos 😉🧻 Don’t miss this troublemaker in #LiloAndStitch, now in theaters! 🌺 pic.twitter.com/Shn5f43TQP
— Walt Disney World (@WaltDisneyWorld) May 23, 2025
As part of a new marketing campaign for the remake, the Walt Disney World and Disney Parks social media accounts have shared a new video of Stitch with the caption: “caught in the act of almost turning the iconic Cinderella Castle into a roll of chaos 😉🧻 Don’t miss this troublemaker in #LiloAndStitch, now in theaters! 🌺”
The video features Stitch in his live-action look rolling in front of Cinderella Castle, which has been digitally decorated as a call-back to the infamous IRL November 2004 overlay. The only differences are the Cinderella Castle color scheme and that it read “Stitch is King” in 2004 and now readers, “Stitch was Here.”
In case it’s not clear, this is all CGI or whatever, and no park icons were harmed in the making of this marketing campaign. So it’s not actual vandalism, and Stitch can only be charged with Attempted Mischief. As I understand it, that’s a second-degree misdemeanor. Good thing that Reedy Creek Prison still hasn’t been built, or Stitch could do 30-days in the slammer. (Then again, if urban legends about the underground Disney Jail are true…)
Joking aside, part of me really wishes Walt Disney World would’ve toilet-papered Cinderella Castle for real. It would’ve been silly and fun, and social media would’ve had a field day with it. Then again, I completely understand why they didn’t. Every little outrage is amplified more these days, and manufactured into more than it’d otherwise be.
Even setting aside those acting in bad faith, there would have undoubtedly been regular ole guests saving up thousands of dollars to step foot onto Main Street for the first time (and only time), devastated to see Cinderella Castle “vandalized.”
I’m very sympathetic to this perspective, and recognize my own entitlement as a blogger who has seen the castle countless times and would just appreciate something fresh and zany–even if objectively ugly. So perhaps Stitch could’ve TP’d his old attraction IRL? That’s ugly anyway.
Disney has had a lot of fun with the marketing campaign for the Lilo & Stitch remake. Earlier this week, Disney shared images of Stitch wreaking havoc at Disneyland during its 70th anniversary celebration, with Stitch crashing a photoshoot for Mickey and Minnie, riding Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and more.
Stitch has also “crashed” the Disney Parks Blog, with an “Alien Invasion” button that transforms pages. New menu items inspired by “Lilo & Stitch” are also coming to Walt Disney World and Disneyland to celebrate the remake’s release.
The eagerly anticipated film, a live-action reimagining of Disney’s 2002 animated classic, is now playing in theaters nationwide. Lilo & Stitch is the wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family.
The film is directed by award-winning filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp, from a screenplay by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright and Mike Van Waes. Lilo & Stitch stars Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Billy Magnussen, Tia Carrere, Hannah Waddingham, and Chris Sanders, with Courtney B. Vance and Zach Galifianakis, and introducing Maia Kealoha.
Disney reports that the blue alien’s brand has expanded across The Walt Disney Company’s various segments exponentially since 2002. There are of course the animated sequels and the TV series, but guests at locations such as Walt Disney World Resort and Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa can have fun in-person encounters with the character. As a brand for Disney Consumer Products, Stitch has grown 27-fold over just the last five years.
I was surprised to read that line about 27-fold growth for Stitch, but mostly because it’s been in the last 5 years. Personally, I’ve really come around on Stitch, but over the last decade-plus. For the first several years after the movie came out, I had “Stitch Fatigue” and felt the character was poorly used, and annoyingly so. Disney never quite captured the warmth and heart of the character, which was odd for a movie that had just come out.
Things got better around the time Frozen came out and was a smash success. Stitch was able to fade into the background, was used more sparingly in the parks, and in situations where it actually made sense. Disney also got better about conveying his big heart along with his mischievousness, making the character much less abrasive.
This is a big reason why we loved “A Totally Tomorrowland Christmas,” and hope that the success of the Lilo & Stitch remake is what’s needed to bring back that cult-classic stage show for Christmas 2025. Even if that doesn’t return, I wouldn’t mind Imagineering taking a second-crack at creating a Stitch attraction. They have a vacant space in Tomorrowland and an envelope-pushing Audio Animatronics figure, so might as well give it a try!
Stitch is really lovable when focusing on his best features, and has a ton of unrealized theme park potential. The character has a certain child-like quality to him, which I assume is why he resonates with kids and adults alike. This might sound like heresy coming from me, but Stitch is almost like Figment for modern children. (Almost. He’s more rambunctious and less imaginative–but there are clear parallels!)
Beyond that, the Lilo & Stitch remake actually looks good. Perhaps I’m just being “fooled” by a strong marketing campaign, as almost all of these remakes have failed to justify their own existence (the biggest exception being Pete’s Dragon, which I love). We stopped watching the remakes ages ago, realizing after Beauty and the Beast that they were never as good or better than the animated films they remade–so we might as well watch those.
I highly doubt Lilo & Stitch will be the exception to that rule, but I’m at least curious at this movie since I do think the animated version had room for improvement. We’ll probably check it on Disney+ eventually, which might seem tepid–but it’s fairly high praise for Lilo & Stitch’s PR push given that we haven’t watched any of these remakes since 2017. I wish Disney the best of luck with this film at the box office and hope it joins the billion dollar club. But remember kids: crime doesn’t pay.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of Stitch toilet-papering Cinderella Castle? Should he have done it for real again, or is the digital homage the best of both worlds? Disappointed to see Disney celebrating criminality and wanton acts of vandalism? Excited to see Lilo & Stitch in theaters, or have you been burned by too many live action remakes? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!