With Walt Disney World’s brand new fireworks spectacular set to begin on Friday night, the second-to-last-ever presentation of “Wishes” was not without its drama. As fans gathered around on Main Street U.S.A. and around the lands in Magic Kingdom, things seemed to get out of hand after the fireworks set off. This led to Cinderella Castle needing to be evacuated of all guests and cast members due to a fire that broke out.
On Wednesday night, a large number of guests gathered around to watch one of the final two performance of the nighttime spectacular known as “Wishes.” It is set to finish its long run after Thursday night’s performance, but it will have to do a lot to beat out this evening.
As reported by WDWNT , a small fire did break out at Cinderella Castle this evening shortly after “Wishes” concluded. Many thought that it may have been from the kitchen inside Cinderella’s Royal Table Restaurant, but it appears as if the fire was actually on the outside of the giant structure.
Cinderella Castle ended up being evacuated due to the fire and one guest caught a picture of other guests leaving down the back steps.
@WDWNT castle being evacuated. Fire smell coming from the bottom level. pic.twitter.com/P56aSRoihf
— Brandon Kabbash (@bkabbash) May 11, 2017
As of 11:15 p.m. Eastern, firefighters were reporting to the scene and focusing on an area in front of Cinderella Castle where the fire reportedly broke out. Near the front rock facade at the base of the castle and near the surrounding moat is where boats were seen checking things out.
It is believed that some of the pyrotechnics or the fireworks themselves were to blame for the small fire inside Magic Kingdom.
Just a few months ago, Walt Disney World announced that “Wishes” would be coming to an end as of its last show on May 11, 2017. Taking its place will be a brand new nighttime spectacular called “ Happily Ever After ” and it will have its first showing in Magic Kingdom on May 12, 2017.
There has been a large increase in guests who have been heading to the Walt Disney World theme park as of late, and that is to get one last look at “Wishes.” Little did anyone know that this evening’s show would cause a fire and send social media into a complete panic.
There has been a rather large dry spell in Central Florida over the last couple of months and there have been reports of brush fires from the fireworks at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. While it is not yet confirmed what caught on fire at Magic Kingdom tonight, that theme park does have a major sprinkler system in place for that very reason.
As of this writing, the fire inside Magic Kingdom did not seem to be a huge deal and there were no reports of any injuries. Even though “Wishes” had concluded and the fire appeared to be under control, Disney did evacuate Cinderella Castle for the safety of all those around.
By the time it had reached 11:20 p.m. Eastern, the fire was reported to be out and all was operating as normal at Magic Kingdom.
It appears as if the fire was small and put under control before it got too out of hand, but when something like this happens in a Walt Disney World theme park, word spreads fast. “Wishes” is set to end after tomorrow night, but having a small fire started on Cinderella Castle and causing an evacuation is certainly a way to finish with a big-time memory. Now, it will be up to “ Happily Ever After ” to start things fresh and new at Magic Kingdom on Friday night.
[Featured Image by Danny Cox]
