The fiery dragon

Fires are a recurring theme at Disney theme parks. None of them are ever serious enough that you should rethink vacation plans or anything. They’re merely the logical outcome of standard park practices in place. With so many rides, floats, and nightly exhibitions that employ combustible materials, something will catch fire from time to time. As discussed above, Disney’s amazing with their response times and resolutions of such issues. The visuals of these disasters are still stunning, though.

The most famous recent one occurred during the Festival of Fantasy Parade at Magic Kingdom. The highlight of this presentation is Maleficent, the fire-breathing dragon, the nightmarish creature from Sleeping Beauty. Imagineers designed an audio-animatronic so realistic that it can shoot balls of fire out of its mouth.

The downside is that they have to stick several flammable materials inside of Maleficent to create the effect. You see where this is going. Allegedly, a gas line malfunctioned, causing the fire to start at the wrong spot. Ignoring the technical aspect, the snafu caused a fascinating glitch. The head of Maleficent caught fire.

At first, guests weren’t even sure if what they were seeing was wrong. They, they realized that the black ash floating from the sky was abnormal. This caused a humorous combination of reactions, one of which defines our modern society. Some savvy folks fled to positions far away from the fire. Others pulled out their cellphones and started recording the video. While that was a reckless decision that bordered on suicidal, we’re all grateful since the videos are so engrossing. It’s hard to look at Maleficent the same way after seeing its head burning.

Yes, ANOTHER fire

Image: DisneyBy now, you’ve noticed the pattern. Most of the major incidents at Disney theme parks involve fire. Even some of the simplest attractions have the potential to experience an electrical fire. To wit, Astro Orbiter isn’t the type of ride that would ever seem dangerous, right?

Well…

Yeah, in 2011, the primary selling point of Astro Orbiter became its primary weakness. The entire purpose of the attraction is to serve as a wienie, an attention-grabbing visual centerpiece for Tomorrowland. At its core, the ride is just a bunch of people spinning around in a circle for a couple of minutes. Yes, that part has flammable vulnerabilities as well, but it wasn’t the problem.

One of the LIGHTS that imbues the ride with colorful decoration caught fire. I mean, what are the odds of that happening? We may never know, but we certainly know the outcome. The fire inside the decorative ring caused it to melt. Guests in the area reported a horrible smell, and smoke filled the area, too. Since it wasn’t part of the ride apparatus, it didn’t cause any primary damage. It was simply a funny (in hindsight) hiccup.