Walt Disney World’s Epcot theme park had more excitement than usual on March 22 when a fire broke out in the France Pavilion. Fox 35 reported that Disney officials stated a walk-in cooler caught fire backstage and created a tremendous plume of smoke. Photos and videos of the frightening scene made the rounds on social media, but thankfully, no one was injured during the Epcot fire. As a precaution, cast members evacuated riders from Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and crews extinguished the fire around 7:20 p.m. Orlando time.
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Following The Fire At Epcot Disney Temporarily Closed The France Pavillion
According to People, Disney cleaned the area and determined that guests could safely return to the France Pavillion around 8:20 p.m. The park closed at its usual time, 9 p.m.
NBC 6 shared a video of the park on social media, which was shared by a Walt Disney World guest riding the Skyliner. The science honestly looked terrifying. Black smoke filled the area as guests evacuated safely.
While those at Epcot certainly had a scare, many made jokes about the fire on social media.
One person wrote on TikTok, “It was actually a dumpster fire, with the ‘Snow White’ opening this weekend they were recreating the actual box office debut for Snow White.”
Another made light of the situation with a reference to the election of a new pope. “The black smoke means they haven’t picked a new Mickey yet. We won’t know until we see white smoke.”
This person made a joke about Ratatouille, “Nothing to see here, just a Ratatouille kitchen fire. Alfredo Linguini just forgot the muffins in the oven. We’ve all been there. Ratatouille is very embarrassed.”
A former Disney cast member defended Epcot cast members and how they handled the fire situation.
“I used to work at Epcot and we have specific instructions on what to do when it comes to fires. So no, the cast member is not ‘rude’ she has got a set of rules she needs to follow and that is it. Stop.”
This story’s featured image is by Joseph Prezioso/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.
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