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Disneyland Fantasmic Dragon Engulfed in Flames
- Thread starter SplashJacket
- Start date
PiratesMansion
Well-Known Member
It'll never happen, but my dream reaction scenario is dueling night parades!
"Sorry about Fantasmic, we know that is unmagical, but how about MSEP at Disneyland and PTN at DCA??"
I can dream, anyway.
You're right, we should close Disneyland, it's too crowded, what if something happened?!?!? I suppose we should also close Knott's and USH and cities and stop doing July 4th fireworks and...I understand your concern, and it's actually something I thought of once or twice while packed like sardines into a Fantastmic! crowd of thousands with my young nephews. But I remember my thought being "What do I do here if there's an earthquake and people panic?" I'd never thought of a fire, until now.
Because the entire Fantasmic! viewing area is a sea of humanity, thousands of whom are sitting on the ground with no immediate access to exit routes. It's entirely unlike a theater setup, like the Hyperion or even Mr. Lincoln or Tiki Room with dedicated aisles and exit paths. It's just a giant blob of thousands of people, with at least two thousand of them sitting on the ground with nowhere to go for at least 5 minutes until the backside of the crowd disperses and clears the way for them.
If anything, it might be time to seriously reconsider how to evacuate the 2,000+ people along the lower tier of the Fantastmic! viewing area. Where would these people have gone had the dragon started shooting flaming liquid on them instead of on the stage?
TP2000
Well-Known Member
You're right, we should close Disneyland, it's too crowded, what if something happened?!?!? I suppose we should also close Knott's and USH and cities and stop doing July 4th fireworks and...
No, that's not what I said. What I said was...
There are strict rules and regulations for emergency exits and access in theaters. But Fantasmic! seems to not have to follow those rules because it's outside?
I'm reminded of the dozen or so deaths at that rock concert (The Rolling Stones, I think?) in Cincinnati back during the Carter years. It was "outdoors" and with "Festival Seating", so the normal rules of emergency access and exits for theaters didn't apply. But tragedy struck and people were killed, even though there was technically plenty of room for thousands of people packed in like sardines outdoors.
I'm sure all of us here have personal experience of being packed into the Fantasmic! crowd on a Saturday night. Where do we go and how do we get there safely if tragedy happens and a few thousand people panic?
I'd be interested to know if Disneyland had to meet any sort of requirements or regulations for outdoor seating with the Fantasmic! viewing areas. Especially that lowest tier directly along the river, where everyone is seated on the ground packed tightly together.
Whereas at a facility like the Hyperion Theater, there's plenty of laws and safety regulations and automatic safety guidance systems in place for that facility.
The Who, in 1979. (I remember because of the "WKRP" episode.) But you don't have to look that far back.
"On November 5, 2021, a fatal crowd crush occurred during the first night of the 2021 Astroworld Festival, a music event founded by American rapper Travis Scott that was held at NRG Park in Houston, Texas. Eight people died on the night of the concert, and two more died in the hospital over the following days." ...
Astroworld Festival crowd crush - Wikipedia
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Oh, gosh, that was it! The Who. What am I thinking of with The Rolling Stones? I know there was a tragedy at one of their concerts too. Maybe earlier.
I am unfamiliar with the AstroWorld deaths, but I do remember the Cincinnati tragedy being a very big deal. It resulted in law changes in Ohio as I remember, and concern about similar outdoor events.
I do wonder what the strategy is for that Fantasmic! viewing area. I can't be the only one to have had a fleeting thought of uneasiness while packed in there shoulder to shoulder with no visible exit path waiting for the show to start. Can I?
Disney Irish
Premium Member
You're thinking of the Altamont concert incident with the Hells Angels.
THEMEPARKPIONEER
Well-Known Member
What I don’t understand is why they couldn’t shut the gas off. A show with cast members and guests that could have been allot worse. You see the gas spewing out and it’s obvious the line was broken and some affect could easily set it off. After all these years you think they’d learn something.
Vinnie Mac
Well-Known Member
Was joking about this earlier but this situation is kind of sad. Disneyland pretty much lost an icon of the park.
I wanted the WDW Fantasmic to be better than the Disneyland Fantasmic but NOT like this!
I wanted the WDW Fantasmic to be better than the Disneyland Fantasmic but NOT like this!
Vinnie Mac
Well-Known Member
Fantasmic being retired would be as bad as Illuminations: Reflection of Earth being retired . The grief from the theme park community may actually be slightly worse.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
These types of effects use a fuel source like propane or natural gas, and while they’re stored as a liquid their boiling point is so low that they would not pour out like that. What is seen is some other fluid, not the fuel source.
Disney Analyst
Well-Known Member
I’m sure it’s the hydraulic fluids pouring out.
BasiltheBatLord
Well-Known Member
There's a video on Twitter showing that the river lit up in fire without the "dragon breathing fire" effect. So contrary to earlier reporting, they did in fact turn off the dragon's fire effect at WDW.
𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖗97
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Save one for Magic Kingdom!
gerarar
Premium Member
The dragon's mouth has been broken for about a month now, so the fire effect has been off long before the incident at DL last night.
Disney Analyst
Well-Known Member
Probably the clearest video I’ve seen of the events right after it all kicked off.
It seems the fire crew that are on the island during the show just started spraying stuff down around the dragon, before leaving the stage. It seems far too dangerous to get close to without the full fire department present and big hoses.
It seems the fire crew that are on the island during the show just started spraying stuff down around the dragon, before leaving the stage. It seems far too dangerous to get close to without the full fire department present and big hoses.
gerarar
Premium Member
Thank goodness the cabin didn't catch fire. There were a lot of embers flying and falling on the cabin during the entirity of the video.
We could see in the last couple mins that they're dousing the cabin with water, so they were definitely preventing the fire from spreading instead of putting it out, at least until the Anaheim FD gets there. Sadly the flames were too much to fight the fire actively spreading on the stage-floor.
Disone
Well-Known Member
So the 10 million company asset is worth more than list of life? Where are you going with this?
A monorail train is way more than 10 million and Walt Disney World lost two of them for a while, and a life forever.
I'm not sure where you're going with this.
𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖗97
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Strange how far we've come... There was a time when Disney actually added something incredibly impressive (albeit unreliable) to their nighttime spectaculars. It seems that would never happen now.
And now it's all going down in flames. Symbolic. There will not be another Murphy the dragon for a very long time. And the era of exciting and creative Disney Parks additions sadly seems to be going down in flames as well.
And now it's all going down in flames. Symbolic. There will not be another Murphy the dragon for a very long time. And the era of exciting and creative Disney Parks additions sadly seems to be going down in flames as well.