Can you pull Disney’s Excalibur sword? Probably not

polygon.com:

You, too, can try your hand at pulling King Arthur’s Excalibur sword from the stone where it’s stuck in three different Disney parks — Disneyland, in front of King Arthur Carrousel; Walt Disney World, near Prince Charming Regal Carrousel; and at Disneyland Paris, by Le Carrousel de Lancelot. The Sword in the Stone attraction is a small but popular experience at the parks largely because it’s so mysterious. Many try to pull the sword from the stone, but not many can get it out.

And it makes sense: Excalibur is the sword in The Sword in the Stone, and as the movie’s story (and Arthurian legend) tells it, only the rightful king of England can pull it out. The parks used to do a little show everyday where Merlin would choose several people from a crowd to test their might, and, maybe, one of them would pull out the sword. The show doesn’t run anymore, but the swords stuck in their respective anvils remain.

Pulling the sword out is so elusive, so rare, that people have started analyzing videos of park-goers’ attempts, drumming up theories on how to up your chances as one of the worthy ones. I know this because, despite never seeing The Sword in the Stone, this park attraction is somehow all over my TikTok feed.

Celebrate Cool Sword Day the Polygon way

Some people believe that you should scope out the area before attempting to pull. If there are two or more Disney cast members standing around, it means a higher chance of pulling the sword up. Why? Because, according to one of the leading theories, a Disney employee has to be around to push a remote-controlled button to make the sword rise. (It’s seemingly on a motor, because you aren’t actually pulling it up at all. If it unlocks, you can take your hands off and it’ll still rise, then go back down on its own.) The other reason is that people believe someone has to be around to give you a certificate, but this one’s been debunked: Disney hasn’t done certificates since the Merlin show stopped. Some people have reported