I am fairly confident that George, who allegedly haunts the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Walt Disney World, is an urban legend, rather than an actual ghost. The hallmarks of a good yarn all there: Conflicting versions of what happened to him; things that allegedly happen if you do or don’t do certain things while riding his ride; and so on and so forth. Either way, though, his legend seems to be a surprisingly friendly one, so let’s take a look.
It’s said that, when the Florida version of Pirates of the Caribbean was under construction, a welder named George was killed in an accident. Exactly what that accident was varies depending on who you talk to; according to some, he was crushed by a falling beam, while according to others, he fell from the “burning city” portion of the ride and died as a result. Ever since then, the ride has allegedly been plagued by strange occurrences whenever George is disrespected.
Really, though, that’s all George seems to be after: Respect. He’s said to stop the ride whenever someone says “I don’t believe in George,” so presumably if you don’t question his existence while you’re actually riding Pirates of the Caribbean, you should be fine. Additionally, the rumor persists that Cast Members in charge of opening the ride for the day or closing it up at night say “Good morning” or “Good night” to George at the appropriate times to keep him appeased. As long as you do that, he’s apparently happy.
The reality, though, is that George probably didn’t exist. You know what did really happen, though? Real bones were once used as props on the California version of the ride. According to Atlas Obscura, the fake skeletons available when the ride was first opened were deemed to be not realistic enough, so the Imagineers working on the ride got some real ones from the UCLA Medical Center. These eventually were replaced with fake bones... but still.
