Entire Building at EPCOT Evacuated, Zero Cast Members in Sight

An evacuation of an entire area of Walt Disney World in Florida is highly unlikely, but sometimes issues arise that force this protocol. Usually, Disney is quick to act in the interest of guest safety, but visitors are often left wondering what is happening. Recently, an entire section of the EPCOT theme park was forced to evacuate completely, leaving guests scrambling to know more and causing frustrating results.

Living with the Land Evacuation

The unexpected evacuation at EPCOT’s Living with the Land pavilion building created a buzz among park-goers on social media. The area houses many popular venues, including the Soarin’ ride, Living with the Land Attraction, and Garden Grill restaurant.

According to a Reddit thread on the r/WaltDisneyWorld subreddit, the entire building was evacuated on September 11 for unknown reasons. The original poster asked for information, as they had just gotten off the Living with the Land attraction and saw the building being evacuated.

Land Evac
byu/hagemeyp inWaltDisneyWorld

Responses from visitors who experienced the incident or had something similar happen to them in the past gave reasons as to what may have caused the incident. An issue within The Garden Grill restaurant itself could have prompted the evacuation. While details were somewhat unclear, one post mentioned a possible “fire” in the kitchen of the Garden Grill, while another suggestion indicated a smoking cooling unit as the cause. Regardless of the issue’s precise nature, the importance of guests’ safety caused Walt Disney World to act accordingly.

Happened to me in July. Supposedly it was a “fire” in the kitchen of garden grill. We were let back inside in less than 10 minutes.

Edited to say I have also heard this has happened due to a cooling unit smoking.

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byu/hagemeyp from discussion
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In such situations, Disney adheres to stringent safety protocols. Evacuating the pavilion and temporarily closing the restaurant was a precaution to ensure that all individuals present were out of harm’s way.

Guests Forced to Leave Again as Cast Members Disappear

Guests who were in the midst of their dining experience at the Garden Grill found themselves in an unusual predicament. Some reported that they were served their meals just before the evacuation began. The incident also led to unexpected disruptions, with guests initially allowed to re-enter the restaurant and continue their now cold meals. However, they were later asked to leave again due to the absence of Garden Grill cast members who had yet to return to the building. One witness described seeing zero employees in the building:

We were eating at garden grill and just got our food.

Edit: We are now back inside sitting down eating ice cold food with zero employees in sight anywhere in the restaurant. It’s really weird.

Edit2: Now we got kicked back out of the restaurant since they don’t have any staff. So weird

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byu/hagemeyp from discussion
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Another response indicated that a fire alarm would be the most likely culprit. Regardless of if it’s a false alarm or not, Disney always does a mandatory full evacuation of the building if one goes off. Sometimes, this happens due to a glitch, but guest safety comes first!

Fire alarm, most likely. It’s a mandatory full evac of the entire building. Often enough, it turns out to be a false alarm. Sometimes, the system likes to go off for a small reason, glitch, or no reason at all. But sometimes it’s real, and every alarm is treated like it’s real until it’s confirmed either way. It may be inconvenient at times, but safety first, always. That’s the way it is, and always should be.

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byu/hagemeyp from discussion
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As with any incident of this nature, it’s advisable for prospective guests to stay informed and prepared for any unforeseen issues while at Walt Disney World. While this incident seems to have ended without any lingering problems, being evacuated twice for lack of employee presence is odd.