Cinderella Castle Caught Fire and Disneyland Lost Power
Cinderella Castle caught fire, and people got trapped on several Disneyland attractions. So, it’s been a rough 24 hours for Disney. I’ll explain.
A Small Fire
One of the open secrets at Magic Kingdom involves Cinderella Castle. Due to the logistics here, it’s one of the most flammable places at the park.
Now, you needn’t worry about this issue, as Disney officials have plenty of safeguards in place. It’s still true, though.
Disney hides much of its fireworks presentation infrastructure in and around Cinderella Castle. Fireworks are tiny balls of flame.
Courtesy of Disney Tourist Blog
Headlines about this subject came out in 2014 when the still-new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train experienced a fire. Stray fireworks caused this mishap.
Also, when you dine at Cinderella’s Royal Table, some seats reveal various fireworks launchers.
Disney Enchantment’s fireworks don’t suddenly manifest. Instead, they launch from the castle and the nearby grounds.
Well, mishaps happen with burning embers. I think about this every time I blow out a candle. For Magic Kingdom’s management, it’s that much more stressful.
To wit, a junction box in a mulch area by the castle sparked last night. When it did, the embers caught fire.
Mulch is generally quite flammable, although Disney likely has some flame-retardant mulch close to buildings and combustible structures. That’s an industry standard.
Whatever the explanation, cast members quickly noticed the fire. They used nearby fire extinguishers to put out the flame in the mulch.
In fact, Disney employees had already stopped the fire before the Reedy Creek Firefighters Association arrived on the scene at 7 p.m.
These firefighters noticed a flaming tree by Cinderella Castle and extinguished it.
Overall, the situation proved minor. However, one security guard required medical attention for extinguisher chemical inhalation – that stuff is nasty.
Otherwise, Disney evacuated the area surrounding Cinderella Castle. So, the incident could have been much worse. It did lead to this disarming video, though:
This is definitely something we have never seen in all our years of visiting The Magic Kingdom… @WDWNT @InsideTheMagic pic.twitter.com/vWR7Cdhzw5
— The Coaster Crew (@Coastercrew) December 14, 2021
Yes, those are fire trucks driving down Main Street, U.S.A.
Disneyland Power Outage
The Cinderella Castle fire arguably wasn’t even the worst Disney mishap over the past 24 hours.
Details remain sketchy for now, but Disneyland experienced a power outage early on Wednesday.
Before noon, several rides suddenly lost power, some of which were currently in operation.
Reports suggest that guests got stranded on Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
Meanwhile, several E-ticket attractions like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion Holiday, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Space Mountain went offline.
By 2 p.m. PST, they all had returned from Code 101 status and were working. So, the outage was short-lived but more comprehensive than most.
Since some have wondered, Amazon Web Services did experience another outage earlier on Wednesday.
However, that should have no impact on power supply issues at park attractions. It would have impacted technical operations like Disney Genie instead.
This was just a good, old-fashioned power outage that stranded some unlucky guests.
I suspect that many DVC members have experienced at least one of those over the years.
Also, MiceChat had the right idea about this incident, viewing it as an opportunity:
Haunted Mansion Holiday, Pirates, and Big Thunder at #Disneyland are currently down due to a power outage. It’s unfortunate, but you can get great pics without people right now. pic.twitter.com/GXphQ8EQr4
— MiceChat (@MiceChat) December 15, 2021
That’s a can-do attitude right there!
Park News and Notes
Not all the recent Main Street, U.S.A. news was bad. For example, the Walt Disney World Railroad has entered its test phase.
Courtesy of Disney Tourist Blog
You may recall that Disney modified some of the tracks to create space for Tron Lightcycle Power Run.
So, this bit of testing will likely take a while and still may not signal the impending return of the attraction.
Management may not want the railroad running until closer to Tron’s debut. Then again, it could open early in 2022. Disney’s been mysterious and secretive with its recent plans.
Finally, I’ve got a weird Disneyland update for you. As previously mentioned, Mickey’s Toontown will close for massive renovations next March.
Before that happens, Disneyland will offer a unique opportunity. For $350, up to 10 guests may attend Celebrate! In Mickey’s Toontown.
Disney describes these events as “90-minute gathering(s) at Mickey’s House.”
Think of the whole thing as an ideal birthday party option for a kid. The Celebrate! party gets a private photo op with Mickey Mouse.
You also get to decorate and then eat commemorative cupcakes. Also, you can play games and do Disney-related crafts before riding Gadget’s Go Coaster.
Perhaps most importantly, a Disney PhotoPass photographer will be on hand for the full 90 minutes, snapping pictures of your social gathering.
Really, Celebrate! is an excuse to throw a party inside the Happiest Place on Earth at the cost of approximately $35 per guest.
You’ll have from January 19th through March 6th to book this event.
Access all available Disney Vacation Club resale listings, or learn more about buying and selling with DVC Resale Market.
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