Sure, There Are Flesh-Eating Bacteria in Florida Right Now, but We'd Rather Tell You About This Instead

It’s an interesting summer in Disney World. There’s construction in 3 of 4 parks, and even more construction walls are on the way.

Hollywood Studios

However, the wildest thing that’s happened so far has got to be the flesh eating bacteria in Florida. Yes, you heard us right — there’s unfortunately been an uptick of flesh eating bacteria in the state this summer, but hey, there are other things to focus on too, like this cool offering in Hollywood Studios!

Alright yes, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first — there IS flesh-eating bacteria in Florida, and it’s unfortunately caused four deaths so far in the state. It’s called Vibrio vulnificus and it’s been reported in Hillsborough Bay, Broward, and St. John Counties. The bacterium is most notably found in salt water and becomes an issue mostly during hurricane season when seawater makes its way inland.

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To avoid coming in contact with it, you’ll want to stay away from swimming or wading in floodwaters, as well as standing water, seawater, and brackish water. It can enter the body through open cuts and wounds, so you’ll also want to ensure any of yours are covered up with waterproof bandages, or don’t come in contact with the water. However, you can also ingest the bacteria by eating raw or undercooked seafood, so you may want to avoid that this summer as well.

Chilled Seafood Trio

But enough about that — do you remember that there’s a way you can have a DIFFERENT experience when riding Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run in Hollywood Studios? The normal experience itself, narrated by Hondo Ohnaka, is great, don’t get us wrong, but there’s a way you can alter the experience and do something tons of Disney guests have no idea about.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

What if we told you that you can have your whole experience in the ship narrated by Chewbacca instead of Hondo? It’s totally possible, but it’s tricky! It’s called Chewie mode, and the only way to make it happen is for all members in the ship (so all six people) to follow these instructions EXACTLY before hitting the red button to start the ride:

Pilots: push their controls to the far left or right and far up or down, then push the red activation button
Gunners: hit one of the white buttons on their console before hitting the red activation button
Engineers: hit one of the white buttons on their console before hitting the red activation button

Smuggler’s Run

However, there’s another different experience you can have as well, but you have no control over this one — on some rides, right after you come out of lightspeed the second time, you may notice you get caught in an asteroid field before coming back in to land. You get tons of additional dialogue and a bit of a longer ride, and while we don’t know it for sure, our assumption is that this happens when someone in a different ride vehicle needs more time exiting or entering.

Hollywood Studios

Can you imagine being in Chewie mode and hearing this happen? How cool would that be? Now, here’s the thing — sometimes you can make Chewie mode happen if you have fewer than six people, but you will need a Cast Member’s help, and sometimes it’s not always possible. Ask politely, and if it’s not possible, don’t argue! We know, it may be a bit of a bummer, but it just means you can try again next time.