Several Magic Kingdom guests on social media have reported stampeding on Main Street, U.S.A., and a police presence at the park as it closed on Thursday.

Panic Situation at Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom closed at 10 p.m. on August 29, 2024. The incident happened around this time. Several reports indicate there was a gun scare. No eyewitnesses reported seeing a gun or hearing gunshots. No serious injuries have been reported. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office confirmed there was no active shooter. Their statement is included at the end of this article.

X user @anxrosa shared a video at 10:16 p.m. of a trashed Emporium, writing, “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, people were hiding, it was so bad.”

@anxrosa added in a follow-up post that “they kept us in the stores for around 15 minutes while police officers patrolled the streets and checked everything out. they are finally letting us out but only on the ferry boat. no buses no monorails. lot of people are pretty shaken up but we haven’t been given an explanation”.

@anxrosa shared this personal account with us:

I was on my way to the exit, and I saw three men sprint past me, then a family after them, and then it was like dominos. suddenly i was the only one walking towards the exit and i was getting pushed and shoved. I was terrified of falling because I thought I might get trampled. There were some screams of “shooter” but I didn’t hear any gun shots

People started diving behind anything that could hide them, parents were already shielding their kids, I ran out towards Adventureland and I started having a panic attack

slowly I think when no one heard any gunshots everyone started slowly calming down but people were still belining to get as far away as possible from the exit

they started directing us back into the shops, and police were patrolling the streets we were in there for around 15 minutes i’d say

they finally let us out and the monorail was shut down, they initially weren’t letting anyone on the buses either and just funneled us all in a line for the ferry

a lot of kids were still crying and everyone was kind of trying to figure out what happened

Another user said they were on an operating bus although @anxrosa said the bus stations at Magic Kingdom appeared to be blocked off with police cars, sharing another quick video from exiting the park.

User Taylor Bybee said they have loved ones who were at the park and are safe. They also said the incident was on Main Street, U.S.A. Guests “ditched everything to hide” and Cast Members ushered many guests into usually off-limits backstage areas.

X user @niksenergyadv also said they were sent backstage at Magic Kingdom and shared a photo of half a dozen police cars in the bus loop outside the park.

Reader Anthony Penny also shared photos with WDWNT of the police cars at the bus loop and police officers on Main Street.

Monorail service from Magic Kingdom is reportedly closed but guests are allowed to leave.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office posted to X at 10:43 p.m. that there was not an active shooter situation at Magic Kingdom, and that the gun scare was instead a “popping” sound, possibly a balloon, that occurred during a fight. Guests began running in a panic and that was the reported source of the active shooter rumor.

Disney later released a statement on the situation, thanking OCSO for their help and confirming that operations resumed and the park is now closed.

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