Disney World has been closed since the middle of March, but that didn't stop one man from camping on Discovery Island. 42-year old Mobile, Alabama resident Richard McGuire was arrested by Orange County, Florida police for trespassing on the private property earlier this week. McGuire claims he did not know that he was trespassing and referred to the island, which has been shut down to the public since 1999, as a "tropical paradise." The area of the park isn't even labeled on current maps.

Discovery Island opened as Treasure Island back in 1974 and then changed its name to Discovery Island in 1976. It offered guests of Disney World some relaxation away from the main park and featured exotic birds and other animals from all over the world. However, it has been closed since 1999 and Disney just let it go. The elements have destroyed much of the buildings, though there are a few that are still standing. The only way to reach the island is by boat, and police believe that is how Richard McGuire arrived there on Monday of last week.

According to Florida law enforcement, "Richard stated that he had made entry to the island to go camping on Monday or Tuesday and had planned on staying on the island for approximately one week." It's unclear how law enforcement knew McGuire was on the premises. They conducted a search by foot, boat, and helicopter, along with using the loud speaker to try and get McGuire to come out. They later located him, but he said he wasn't able to hear them because he was sleeping in one of the buildings, which isn't exactly traditional camping.

Richard McGuire is now banned from entering any Disney properties for camping and trespassing on Discovery Island. McGuire is also not the only person to have visited the forgotten area of Disney World. Curious Disney fans have made their way over to the island, taking video and photographs of what it looks like today. It really doesn't look like a place where anybody would want to spend an extended period of time and there could very well be some dangerous material there since it was just left alone. Bathrooms and the once fully-functional animal hospital have been overrun by nature.

All of the exotic birds that once called Discovery Island home were moved in 1999 over to the Animal Kingdom. At one point in time, the area of the park housed over 500 endangered species including tortoises, bald eagles, and scarlet ibis. There were also different sections of the island for Disney parkgoers to explore like the Alligator Swamp, the Flamingo Lagoon, Primate Point, and the Monkey Canopy. None of that, or the animals is around today, though some Florida wildlife probably took it over in the past 21 years. As for when Disney World will open its doors again, that is unclear. Orange County representatives have already released phases that focus on how it will reopen, but no exact date has been announced. Newsweek was the first to report on Robert McGuire's Disney World camping adventure.