Magic Kingdom Is Safe After Fight, Incorrect Gun Rumor

All the action today occurred at EPCOT, where MickeyBlog reported on the thrilling first day of the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival.

The evening took a turn as a wild series of events led to a stampede at Magic Kingdom.

Extended Evening Hours in Magic Kingdom

Let’s start at the end so that you know everything is okay. Here’s a tweet from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office:

ALERT: There is NO active shooter at @WaltDisneyWorld’s Magic Kingdom. A fight occurred, and a “popping” sound was heard that we believe was a balloon. Guests began running and that’s how the active shooter rumor started. There is no active shooter. pic.twitter.com/TRKLs3NglC

— Orange County Sheriff's Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) August 30, 2024

In case you’ve uninstalled Twitter, here’s the official quote from the police department:

Image: Orange County Sheriff’s Office

“ALERT: There is NO active shooter at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. A fight occurred, and a “popping” sound was heard that we believe was a balloon. Guests began running and that’s how the active shooter rumor started. There is no active shooter.”

A Scare at Magic Kingdom

Just after Magic Kingdom had closed for the evening, reports suddenly surfaced of a suspected gunman and possible gunfire at Magic Kingdom.

I’m happy to inform you that this wasn’t true. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigated the matter diligently and then posted that.

Photo: Disney

There is ZERO percent chance that the police would give the all-clear signal unless Magic Kingdom were perfectly safe.

So, we can all breathe a deep sigh of relief over what amounts to much ado about nothing.

Apparently, the poor timing of a loud balloon pop and the knowledge of a fight in the area triggered a mass panic.

Guests in the park started running, which caused confusion and, briefly, even more panic.

There are some shocking videos on Twitter that encapsulate those chaotic first moments after someone screamed about gunfire.

Here’s one of the aftermath in a Main Street, U.S.A. shop when guests literally dropped their packages to the ground and evacuated:

went to magic kingdom today and there was literally a stampede because of a suspected shooter i thought that was actually going to be my last day. i was shoved out of the way and fell. mothers were crying looking for their daughters, people were hiding, it was so bad. pic.twitter.com/NATeMuwceK

— D (@anxrosa) August 30, 2024

Here are two other posts displaying the elevated police presence at the park:

from magic kingdom? they have it blocked off with police right now to my knowledge pic.twitter.com/uA687GPVKz

— D (@anxrosa) August 30, 2024

you guys i’m at magic kingdom and they sent us backstage and there are lots of police. i’m scared af 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/MVvwc0Bj7m

— figment (SAVE MUPPETVISION * 3D) (@niksenergyadv) August 30, 2024

So, everyone is completely safe, but they’ll all have quite the story to tell about their Disney visit.

As for the people involved in the fight, I hope they did everything they wanted at Magic Kingdom today because they’re never stepping foot in there again.

Photo: Disney

Update: Disney released a statement about the incident late this evening. 

“We appreciate the immediate response of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to quickly assess and clear the situation. Normal operations have resumed and the park is now closed for the evening.”

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