Chaos erupted at the Magic Kingdom as crowds waiting for the Happily Ever After fireworks collided with spectators watching the Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away parade. One Walt Disney World Resort guest shared their experience on social media, stating that they witnessed several guests “trampled” and another faint.
Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away debuted at the Magic Kingdom this summer. Sparkling floats travel the Magic Kingdom parade route in reverse, from Main Street, U.S.A. to Frontierland. The parade has drawn heavy crowds in the months since its debut, even though it performs twice nightly most nights (before and after the Happily Ever After fireworks).
This month, though, Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away is more popular than ever. Like the Happily Ever After fireworks, the parade doesn’t perform on Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party nights, meaning that Walt Disney World Resort guests only have a few nights per week to experience nighttime entertainment at Magic Kingdom Park.
Unfortunately, guests holding spots for the Happily Ever After fireworks are colliding with crowds lining up for Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away in front of Cinderella Castle and on Main Street, U.S.A. Last weekend, one Walt Disney World Resort guest shared their terrifying experience waiting for Happily Ever After while the nighttime parade was traveling nearby, describing it 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,” u/Happy-Mongoose4095 wrote on Reddit. “I saw a person faint and also people unable to get out to go to the bathroom.”
The madness didn’t stop after Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away ended.
“By the time the fireworks started children and adults crying due to the chaos of the crowds being packed in n and unable to move or have space,” the Disney Park guest said. “People were seperated from families. The whole experience for approx 3-4 hours was mayhem.”
They claimed Walt Disney World Resort “obviously” doesn’t “care about people’s safety or experience.”
“[Disney’s] reputation will soon be ruined completely at this rate,” the guest said. “They should not let that many people into the park or cancel the night float parade before the fireworks also as it was panic from people throughout the park unable to move.”
“So disappointed,” they concluded. “What a shit show!!!”
Walt Disney World Resort didn’t respond publicly to the guest’s complaint.
How does your family beat the crowds at Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park? Share your tips with Disney Dining 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 Dining’s personal views on Disney Park operations.
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Jess, I know it’s freedom of speech and you put the disclaimer at the end of negative comments, if you truly believe in your heart that you love disney, don’t have these negative post bring shame on Walt.
1000% agree!! This site is getting just as bad as ITM……… and that’s pretty bad! I really don’t believe a word of this. I know people who work there. 3-4 hours of “Mayhem”??? Seriously. This sounds like sour grapes to me. One of those people who didn’t get their own way for location and got their nose out of joint. Seen it way too many times not to recognize it!
Honestly, it’s fireworks people!! Calm down! Disney cannot control the asinine people who act like Barbarians over a light parade and fireworks. I’ve seen them before, yes they are impressive HOWEVER, I wouldn’t come remotely close to a massive crowd to watch them NOR be disappointed if they were cancelled. More important things in life.
Is this anything really new? Decades ago, I was in MK on the 4th of July, probably the busiest day of the year for them, wall to wall people around the castle, after the fireworks, they actually opened exits by pulling back walls and walking crowds backstage, basically.
Someone in the crowd waiting for the fireworks fainted, and before most people could realize, Disney cast members swooped in with a stretcher and got the lady out of the crowd. It was pretty amazing.