A float caught fire during the 3 p.m. parade at Disney World, and the pictures are absolutely bonkers
On Friday afternoon, May 11th, during the 3 p.m. parade at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, one of the floats caught fire. Specifically, the Maleficent float. The float as it’s normally supposed to run actually breathes fire — you know, because Maleficent is a DRAGON and stuff. But for reasons unknown, because fires are fickle, the head of the dragon float caught fire mid-way through the parade route for “Festival of Fantasy,” sending guests and cast members at the park scrambling.
This is not something you see every day, and going forward, probably not something you’re ever going to see again. From the video and pictures posted to social media, it appears as if this incident happened in Liberty Square, right before the float passed in front of Cinderella Castle. Normally, the fire for the float comes out of the mouth — because once again, duh, it’s a dragon. But something somewhere went wrong, and it looks as if the fire quickly spread through the head of the float and down the neck. It appears as if THANKFULLY the fire did not spread anywhere else on the float, nor onto any other floats, surrounding buildings, or trees along the parade route.
And because this is Disney World and safety is of utmost importance, the fire was quickly dealt with and extinguished…but not before those pictures and videos started popping up on social media.
https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/995023055855464452
Looks like the Dragon from #FestivalofFantasy Parade in Magic Kingdom caught fire today. Float was burning in Liberty Square, seems the fire was put out quickly. Cast member friends confirming everyone is fine.
Float is completely destroyed. #MagicKingdom #DisneyWorld #Fire pic.twitter.com/UPCf6m4rvP
— Disney Dan Becker (@DisneyDan) May 11, 2018
Dragon at the parade at Magic Kingdom #disneyworld completely on fire !!!!! OH MY GOD pic.twitter.com/wDyqL4xesc
— PixieDust (@Pixiedust_be) May 11, 2018
When someone tells you to stay calm. #festivaloffantasy #magickingdom #dragon #maleficent #fire #disneyworld pic.twitter.com/w7Sfa3js9q
— alyssa (@alyssa_hendy) May 11, 2018
A very different #festivaloffantasy today. That fire breathing dragon was a bit too realistic… pic.twitter.com/GI5KhSPQ6l
— Andy Cole (@andyc_plymouth) May 11, 2018
It’s so hot outside even the dragon burst into flames. #Florida #MagicKingdom pic.twitter.com/zrEbL8J2vx
— 🖤🧡Chris.TheSpookyGay🎃👻 (@cbell_jr) May 11, 2018
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0MEHWLkfos?feature=oembed
Following the incident, and after the parade floats had been cleared off, the Liberty Square area was closed off to guests, with The Hall of Presidents temporarily closing down.
Major malfunction at @WaltDisneyWorld right now. A parade float just majorly caught on fire. They are evacuating the area near the Christmas Shop & Hall of Presidents. pic.twitter.com/tNULFdbG0N
— Steve Giglio (@stevegiglio) May 11, 2018
They basically closed the entire Liberty Square section of the Magic Kingdom. Crazy day at @WaltDisneyWorld! pic.twitter.com/3nI4PZ37Pz
— Steve Giglio (@stevegiglio) May 11, 2018
Disney World hasn’t released any sort of official comment about this, but we’re hoping that everyone is a-okay and that operations can resume as normal as quickly as possible. Also sending well wishes and a speedy recovery to Maleficent, who was more fiery than usual this Friday.
