CHAOS at Magic Kingdom: Guests Stampede in Fear for Their Lives - Disney World Security CRASHED!

it was chaos in Mayhem at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World last night as people ran in Fright families trying to escape a danger they thought might be the end of them all cast members dragging folks behind into backstage areas security telling them to cover in place today we'll tell you what went wrong and why it's time to reexamine everything for security at Disney [Music] hello ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the place that brings sanity to your everyday why it's the pro Channel and we are so happy to have Jonas J Campbell joining us he is the investigative reporter for that Parkplace and that parkplace.com Welcome Back Sir so good to be here today BR so good to be here uh I'm hoping that everyone is okay there at Walt Disney World absolutely and folks uh as we get into this consider clicking the like button uh others will just report the news we are going to bring an analysis of Excellence that you uh demand from this Channel and we will do just as planned here's what we have straight out of X Orange County Sheriff's Office we want to bring this to you as it was happening last night this came out at 10:45 p.m. on August 29th it says alert there is no active shooter at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom a fight occurred and a popping sound was heard that we believe was a balloon guest began running and that's how the active shooter rumor started there is no active shooter but this was coming out as folks were still panicking inside the Magic Kingdom now Jonas this is from at anx Rosa I want to show everybody what this was like uh for the guests who were at Magic Kingdom it says went to Magic Kingdom today and there was literally a stampede because of a suspected shooter I thought that was actually going to be my last day I was shoved out of the way and fell mothers were crying looking for their daughters hopefully their sons as well people were hiding it was so bad here is the uh here's the full video of what uh the inside of the uh stores on Main Street looked like during this hysteria Jonas this breaks my heart I'll I'll I'll admit this is um this should be a peaceful place this should be a place of of of frivolity and you know buying stupid stuff and cupcakes and merchandise and instead it's people freaking out wondering if their family is alive and that's uh that's horrible when people go to a place like Disney they're expecting to have a fun family vacation especially when they go with kids and instead they have teror wondering if the things that actually matter to them are still in this world that's awful now the official word from Disney is that there was no evacuation Jonas and officially that appears to be true there does not seem to have been any actual coordinated evacuation of the park however uh we do seem to have confirmation that cast members were pulling guest into um places and spaces that they don't typically go the private areas of Disney the cast member only area is backstage as they call it and uh guests themselves seem to have been self- evacuating the other issue of course was that parts of Transportation at Magic Kingdom shut down as Disney was trying to figure things out and so the Montreal was unavailable the fery seems to have been available but there was a tremendous bottleneck and inability to get people out of what could been a could have been a very dangerous situation now this was not a dangerous situation and that well at least the uh perceived Danger but the real danger came from the Stampede the hysteria people running and no real control by Disney to express to people you are not in danger you are not in danger you are not in danger does not appear to me that the PA was used uh to calm the crowds and that is a real issue I want to show folks this uh there's there's a design flaw that has become Apparent at Magic Kingdom and it's been this way for many many years as attendance has soared at the Magic Kingdom you can see that the park is is rather large you've got all of these areas and uh they do need to continue expanding but to enter and to exit the park you have to go through the idealic and uh visually stunning Main Street USA and that's the view of the castle everybody gets the problem is that this is a very narrow Pathway to exit all of your guests they do have a secondary pathway that can be used at times but they don't always have it open that's a real problem Jonas in the dark uh you have popping noises with another fight yet another fight and this is an indictment by the way on Disney I think and we're not trying to be unnecessarily condemning of Disney here but we have seen time after time I'm remembering the Toontown fight in Disneyland we have seen multiple fights there was one in Disney World during the pandemic multiple fights where cast members cannot get involved and security is exceedingly slow and because of that it doesn't matter if the theme park is wrapped in cameras and they can see everything if you can't get Security on the scene when there's a fight this is what happens people heard popping sounds po popping sounds during the fight they assumed it was uh firearms and it led to what could have been a catastrophic problem because as you know Jonas in the dark and bottlenecked into a tight space with no way to get out remember they got out here and there was still no way to get out so you've got this issue of people can't escape um the problem becomes that you'll have people who are trampled run over small kids uh tackled by adults who can't see them it's not anybody's fault once that begins it's a domino effect uh Jonas what do you make of the security at Disney and the logistics issues they need to to solve after this well they they do have security at the front that's supposed to be checking for uh things that should not be entering the park and you could say that that uh obviously reduces some of the stress for people once they are in the park I used to only expect uh metal detectors at parks like six flags with with that comes a responsibility that you're going to be uh in charge of the safety of everyone in that Park and they need to feel secure when they're in that park at a busy time Main Street USA is well definitely a bottleneck that's that's kind of how it's designed you're supposed to have everybody going through here and buying merchandise that is the intention of the design to have everyone in this small space and it is a nightmare if you try to go through here after not a real nightmare like it probably was last night but a nightmare to try to navigate a family of let's say six uh maybe with a stroller with all of these lights and all of these people and to try to get let's say one child who's misbehaving to stay with the group as you go through here um this is if something happens in there and you really lose control of everyone and everyone reacts in a panic that is that is really not good for a Disney Vacation it's something it's something that I've been concerned about for a long time Jonas and I I have remarked in private to people you know when when the when the Hub area and we'll move this to where you can see the Hub area when the Hub area fills up with the fireworks crowd and then Main Street is also completely filled um they have to do crowd control where they'll have 18 and 19 year olds with little uh airport style light up uh uh what would you call it light up wands and they're very exuberant and they're very they're very eager to show you their Authority and getting you to move in the way that they want to and I always wonder where are the adults here you know like what happens if something happens where are the adult security members like I don't need an 18 or 19-year-old with a lightup wand who thinks that they're the be all endall I need uh someone who can come in step in and fix a problem if something happens with this many people crammed into this tiny space and clearly uh this should be a wakeup call I worry that it won't be a wakeup call it's not necessarily that I worry that Disney is an unsafe place I don't worry about that necessarily but what I would say is that these sorts of situations can happen I don't think this is either neither an indictment on uh American society as some have tried to project through this I think those people try to project those sorts of things any given chance they have um I think this was simply a domino effect of some people heard something in a fight situation and that's where it should have stopped Disney security should have come flying out of the utilidor access buildings they should have come flying out of U you know wherever they can be Disney security should be ever present especially at the front of the park and when there's a fight they should have broken it up and then this would have never happened they don't do that but I think that what happened as a result was that a popping noise was heard and it only takes about 20 30 people to take off running and nobody knows what's going on but everybody else starts running too because you don't have time to make a good decision at that point you're in the dark many of these people have not been to Disney very often they don't know where they are they don't know where they're going and there are people panicking and running saying that there's you know whatever a danger they join in and that's when you get into mass chaos this needs to be resolved at the very beginning of the situation and Disney needs to have people on the ground who are actually good at their job the pr of Disney is this safe uh well protected place where nothing can go wrong that has been that veil has been torn I would say and it's time to have actual good security people who can step in as soon as conflict occurs Fair Jonas no I I would say that's completely fair and uh you said something that I maybe I'm repeating it or maybe I'm just restating it not everyone is familiar with the layout of the park as someone like you or me where you know where you are and you know your relative position to everything else pretty much anywhere you are in the park for someone who doesn't know the ways out and the bottlenecks of the park this would be terrifying or you look at this instance right here where you have this massive area where everyone is stopping to look at fireworks and look at the castle and and and if they all Shuffle into that tiny little space right there um that's um that's a problem I have been in instances where they've opened up those side corridors there and I I remember chuckling to myself and it's probably the first time I I said uh Walt would never allow this and I do think that's true Walt would never have allowed something like that of course if it's an emergency I think I think there's a different you're talking about the you're talking about the back exess behind Main Street is that what we talking about yes this this I remember walking back here one time and they've made it prettier since then well they need to fully they the plan was originally and this is this is why Disney skimping on expansion and upgrades is such a problem it's actually a safety hazard now they pack all these people in here originally Jonas the Main Street Theater was supposed to be going back here in this parking lot and this would have been a full use all day all all you know all year long access route with fully themed backside of the buildings that would look like you know they'd have the full facades and everything but you'd have a theater and then you have the ability to get guest out of here more easily um you know you've got this bottleneck issue where if if something happens in the Magic Kingdom and everybody rushes back to the train station and out and they can't get out of this area either then everybody gets stuck right here and you talk about Panic now that the interesting thing Jonas is that if you were back here in uh in fantasy land you probably had no idea anything was going on last night that's that's the difference in how uh things can be perceived within the park depending on what's Happening I'll also add I don't know where the the Orange County Sheriff's Department did show up and we saw a lot of videos of many uh SUVs with lights and Sirens or at least lights on which would probably be an unsettling site once you actually got to the areas where you could see I think these bus Pavilions over here on the right of your screen that would be about where you would see some of these uh police cars so you finally get people out into this area and I'm I'm guessing at the location based on what we were able to see it seemed like those uh that that's where an Orange County Sheriff's Department vehicle might be anyways so so my thought is that likely the police came in the back uh backstage entrance uh behind Tomorrowland and U and Main Street that's that's that's my guess as to where they came flooding in and you likely saw police cruisers on this road with flashing lights as you were going out to the buses I yeah maybe here as well so you and I were having a discussion last night and I I think there was a a judgment call made on whether or not we needed to stop what we were doing and immediately record a video or whether or not we needed to wait until a little bit of the fog of War had cleared here to know exactly what happened um and and I don't know that Disney will release a statement that is better than a balloon popped I don't think anyone's going to question that I think it's reasonable enough that you can handwave it and say something happened that shouldn't happen and then someone Associated something that happens all the time with a dangerous incident and that's how we got where we are today I don't think it only takes a few people to yell the three-letter word and start running for everyone else to run with them right so that's how you run in that situation the vast majority of people I mean 99% of the people involved in this hist areia in this stampede they were not anywhere near that fight when it broke out Disney has to step in when there are fights like this you cannot assume that in the dark idiots fighting one another is going to be something that is self-contained to just you know a a group or a family uh we all know that fights can lead to a broader sense of violence and so Disney had this is this is not the first time if it were the first time you know we'd cut them some slack this has happened over and over in the Parks where have been fights that have been left to go on without security stepping in quickly and it needs to stop it it just Flatout needs to stop Disney is very very lucky that uh people were not seriously injured at least we don't know that people were seriously injured yet in that Stampede last night again when you're in the dark when you are disoriented and when you are fleeing for your life as you perceive it the chances that you might accidentally trample a small child or knock over an elderly person very very high and there's nobody in that situation who's trying to do that uh but you know senselessly allowing harm to occur is not a good scenario for Disney they need to fix this immediately Jonas let's take a look at the uh the article we have here this is in hindsight and and I want to thank you too for mentioning that we did discuss you know how do we handle this last night we could have released a video immediately we could have started tweeting like Mad Men uh covering the story there were accounts out there that did a very poor job we're not going to call them out here um but there were accounts and uh accounts that cover Disney regularly that did a very poor job and reported this in a way that uh generated clicks and also could have generated uh high levels of fear for people still in the Magic Kingdom who might have been getting on Twitter to see what's going on so uh yeah not good if you did that you need to really consider what it is you're doing in this in this world and are the clicks worth it from Fox 35 Orlando which was not one of those uh uh platforms doing that no active shooter at Disney's Magic Kingdom Sheriff says fight followed by popping noise led to panic reports of the situation that's given here at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom on Thursday night are not true according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office goes on the list this post that we had uh the reports of the incident started appearing on social media at 10:30 p.m. uh Jonas I know you and I were discussing at 11:30 whether or not start reporting on it and we decided still that it was not wise to do so so we held off on it and I think that was the right call says uh Glen Brady and his family were visiting from Kansas when the panic over the possible situation erupted he said the happily ever after fireworks show had just finished which means by the way that the that Main Street was as crowded as it possibly could be uh which is makes it all the more dangerous if people panic uh so the other rides attractions and shows in the Parks were closed for the night but the stores were still open we were walking down Main Street heading out of the park when we my family was in one of the stores and then all of a sudden people came rushing into the store Brady briefly said separated from one of his daughters said security instructed everyone to take cover he reunited with his wife two daughters and two children or two grandchildren who huddled together while awaiting forther information he described the scene as chaotic with many people crying and anxious uh Jonas there's two mistakes here mistake number one is that security should not have been uh resolving the problem at this point they should have resolved it when it was initiated we've discussed that but problem number two is uh security should not and I I want to make this very clear security should not have instructed guests to take coverage inside those stores that was the wrong thing to do um the correct thing to do is to get guest into the backstage areas and lock the park down yeah get I would agree that so they should have been taking them into the backstage areas uh I I don't think they should have taken them down into the utilidors that can present another problem if someone who is dangerous get down there but you should be taking them back into the access areas the uh uh load and unload areas Behind these buildings get them out of there not not huddle and hope that someone who's bad will not arrive that's that's a stupid decision so anyway uh Jonas I'll give you final word on on this and uh hopefully Disney's goingon to clean up their act Jonas your thoughts I'm reminded of other times that tragedy has happened at the park and thankfully this is just a tragedy of circumstance I'm I'm hoping that no one was injured I'm I'm willing to bet there were probably some minor injuries of people uh running around I don't I hate the idea of someone being at what should be the most magical place on Earth and going there to try to make memories that are going to last a lifetime and instead they get the wrong kind of memories that will last a lifetime this this footage right here I will I'll save a copy of it um but this is not what you would expect to see this is kind of this is the way you would start a TV show if you're trying to be as dramatic as possible uh maybe add some smoke effects here right um this is not the kind of thing that you want associated with the park I was there um on the uh near the Lagoon with my daughter talking about all of the things that Disney does to try to keep Gators out of those lagoons uh and within a few days uh I'm going to say Shanghai Disney opened within a few days if you want the timeline here and you can go read Bob iger's book if you want to know what also happened that week in the Seven Seas Lagoon this is the thing that really horrifies me when someone goes and they're intending to make something that lasts a lifetime and instead they have something awful like this happen so I my prayers are with anyone who has to console their children now and has a bad mark because of uh what should have been a fun time and uh I I hope that Disney does everything in their power to be the company that we remember that they were 15 20 years ago in dealing with things like this and making it right for all of the people who now have a bad taste in their mouth now have a bad family memory handle things like this and now they're not I I realized in the in the course of our conversation we didn't bring up this one point and I'd like to your thought on it uh the Magic Kingdom has a public announcement system they can turn the music off why did they not cut the music bring on the PA announcer and say ladies and gentlemen the Magic Kingdom is safe and secure you are free to move about the park and exit at this time you are not in any danger we thank you you know why why could not do something like that why right or get up and say uh the Orange County Sheriff's department has arrived and confirmed that uh there there was not an incident on Main Street or whatever they could they could have someone they should have highlevel communicators when chaos happens at the Magic Kingdom the flagship Park of the Flagship Resort for the most profitable sector of the company that should be something where every communication apparatus at their disposal should be engaged to say okay how are we going to handle this right now they should have someone on speed dial that knows the exact thing to say and it should have been whether it's presidential rallies or whether it's theme parks I'm I'm you know it's very frustrating to know how things are supposed to go and know that there should be somebody in control somebody who's there in command who you know 365 days out of the year and one day out of 10 years only one day out of 10 years they ever have to actually take the action necessary but you know it's it's frustrating to know that there should be somebody who makes the call and says get on the PA Break The Rules get on the PA and say everything safe and it's okay turn the music off like where is the where is the person at the Central Command who says here are the steps we do to protect our guests it's just not there yep yep I agree it makes you wonder Jonas what do you do what do you do if there's a real threat because obviously when there's not a real threat there there's incompetence so what do you do when there's a real one hope and prey is not a a good strategy no it is no it is not uh Disney maybe you can do better than that that's the that's the place to end it though Jonas because that was that was a perfect comment with the pregnant pause necessary to emphasize uh folks if you'd like more analysis as to everything Disney Parks theme parks and more check out that Park Place where Jonas J Campbell is producing content all the time Jonas what do you guys have coming up in the real near near future well uh Vash and I will be talking about this from a different angle and uh there'll be lots of things to discuss here we're also talking about some of the merchandise that's made it into cast member connections uh that's the uh that's the place where all the merchandise they don't want to admit didn't sell well goes in order to be uh clearanc for the company of course we'll be talking about the carriage deal which is Disney Plus's last chance to get a big bump in subscribers and they're going to do it in uh well by cannibalizing another part of their business we've got a lot to talk about in analyzing the company and uh look forward to seeing you over there on that Park Place sounds good Jonas and to everybody at Disney watching this video we're not trying to be overly critical of you not of any individual individual but we do want this to get fixed because the next time something like this happens it can be resolved if it's handled the right way this could have been resolved and handled the right way PR disaster could have been a much worse disaster all right folks something that would be a true disaster here on this video and we don't want to fin any kind of real world events but a disaster for us is if you don't click that like button share subscribe click it stick it to the algorithms it is the notification Bell drop a comment down below let us know your thoughts folks we'll see you real soon we're hoping that you'll have a wonderful Labor Day weekend be safe spend time with those you love and make some memories make the world a better place until the next time keep learning keep growing and as always keep having [Music] fun listen up my brothers and sisters you've been listening to Phils and zo with an agenda to destroy your brain cells for far too long it's time to change your way of doing things TPP is a place to be covering the news so honestly it's a team that's cool and tried and true ahead of the culture C they're trying to keep you Jonas and pro they run the show and they dragged in the bearded cult Casino you got Val and Bor and fourth of Life wonderful people all right the guy we're bringing in people like floral but made no mistake with Lorena Creo Amelia and John stuttering guitarist Martin and ton and someone called CMS fat St makes a bunch of other Graphics did I mention a partnership with Bing in the comics F sky is a guy and do Matt does the we stuff there's probably some people I miss I hope they're not uh telling you the news that should be fun with accurate info that's not been spun you can figure it out as you will see the TPP is the place to be yeah Wilton that was actually pretty good or white but I I think you might have forgotten Vash well he left all his friends but it was implied