Chaos erupted at Walt Disney World Resort’s Magic Kingdom Park recently following overcrowding during the Happily Ever After fireworks show and the Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away parade. Guests reported a mass “trampling” situation, with parents becoming separated from their children and at least one visitor losing consciousness.
Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away, which debuted this summer, features sparkling floats that travel the Magic Kingdom parade route in reverse, from Main Street, U.S.A. to Frontierland. As the parade continues to draw crowds, combined with the Happily Ever After fireworks show, the park’s evening attendance has reportedly soared, leading to severe overcrowding.
With the parades and fireworks not being performed on Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party nights, Walt Disney World Resort guests only have a limited number of nights to experience both shows. This has led to an influx of Magic Kingdom Park visitors rushing to experience the nighttime entertainment, creating a perfect storm of congestion, especially as crowds from the fireworks show collided with those waiting for the parade.
One guest (u/Happy-Mongoose4095), sharing their experience on Reddit, described the scene at Magic Kingdom Park last weekend as “firework chaos with crowds squashing and pushing.”
“About an hour before [the 8:00 p.m. parade] it was so crowded people could not move,” they wrote. “I saw a person faint and also people unable to get out to go to the bathroom.”
The chaos continued after the Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away parade, reaching a peak by the time the Happily Ever After fireworks began.
“By the time the fireworks started children and adults crying due to the chaos of the crowds being packed in and unable to move or have space,” the Disney Park guest recalled. “People were separated from families. The whole experience for approx 3-4 hours was mayhem.”
The guest went on to express frustration with the Disney park’s handling of the situation, claiming Walt Disney World Resort “obviously” doesn’t “care about people’s safety or experience.” They further criticized the park’s ability to handle crowd control, adding, “[Disney’s] reputation will soon be ruined completely at this rate.”
“So disappointed… What a shit show!!!” they concluded.
Have you visited Magic Kingdom Park for a performance of Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away or Happily Ever After? Disney Fanatic would love to hear about your experience in the comments!
Please note that the story outlined in this article is based on a personal Disney Parks guest experience. No two guest experiences are alike, and this article does not necessarily align with Disney Fanatic’s personal views on Disney Park operations.
We have attended the parade twice in the last week. There is a lot of congestion- which is to be expected. Parents have to know this and keep a hand on their child at all times in such a large crowd. I don’t think it’s Disney’s fault. It’s just people not being aware of others around them and assuming that they have the right of way.
There is a definite issue at this event. The issue comes between the parade and the fireworks. Once the parade ends, a couple of Disney people come out and tell everyone to move forward to fill in the road areas. This becomes a fight between people to try and get the best space, there is no order and a complete mess of everyone out to get the best spot. There is a lot of shoving and at the end of the day, after people have been in the parks for hours, tempers get a bit high. We almost saw fights break out between people. Then to make mattters worse, they make you wait 20 min before they will start the show. These two events should run concurrently.
Last year at the christmas party people were so rude and impatient, not even looking in front of them. One lady fell on my son ciz she wasng paying attention trying to rush around me and the stroller while i was crossing main street behind another family with small children. There was no room to see the fireworks safely unless you sat for 1:30 to two hours before… i was definitely scared walking with the kids… and i love disney world always will and will always go but the party was a rough one.
the crowds are always bad in front of the castle, our family has found an assortment of locations that provide almost as great a view of the fireworks, and when the shows done we can usually sneak in one or at the most two last rides when everyone else is fighting crowds and headed for the exits.
I had b ever seen the parade or fireworks cause I can’t stand crowds. Years ago I was at magic kingdom to see the electric parade and fireworks it was disastrous. A woman with a stroller ran over my foot and did not care held on to my son and husband did not like being in the park at night. I now live in Orlando and a annual pass holder and haven’t gone at night but I did go and see Fantasia and leaving with my scooter and so crowded. Never went back again
We were there on October 8th and left right after the parade. We were trying to leave the park as we were not staying for the fireworks. We got stuck in a crowd that was staying for the show, but wouldn’t allow any room for anyone to get by. Eventually the people in front of us were able to make a small path. I had to literally keep the stroller I was pushing on my wife’s heels to keep from getting separated. There were no Disney Cast members to be seen. After we finally cleared the first crowd of people there was a little more room to move. We continued to move at an extremely slow place because people that were staying for the parade would not make any room for anyone to get by. I would way about 50 ft from starting through the second crowd I saw the first cast member. She was people to stay to the right because the area around the castle was already roped off. The guy next to me told her that people were starting to get angry and others were pushing and shoving. I was not able to hear the cast member’s reply, but she continued to wave people on. People continued to block the path out and I had to continue to keep my stroller pressed to my wife’s heals as people would shove their way through and I was not going to let my wife and 9 month old get lost in the crowd. A few feet more and there was another cast member. This time she was standing there and she was not giving any kind of direction whatsoever. I don’t really blame her, because they were extremely understaffed in the area of crowd control. I do not understand how Disney can expect two cast members to effectively control hundreds of people trying to exit the park or secure their spot for the fireworks show. I expected the crowds and some congestion but the effort to control the crowd was minimal at best. It makes me not want to bring my family if there is not going to be anything done to control the crowds. Disney is used to these types of crowds and should definitely be more prepared for that amount of people during parades and fireworks shows. If they don’t people will continue to get injured or worse. I’m hoping that they take a serious look at what kind of staffing is needed or limit the amount of people to a number they are able to effectively manage.