Dry-Ice "bomb" explodes in ToonTown

[daveypoo]

An explosion was reported at Disneyland in Anaheim, California on Tuesday, according to local news outlets, prompting the evacuation of a portion of the park.

The blast occurred in the Mickey's Toontown section of the theme park, according to CBS Los Angeles.

A plastic bottle filled with dry ice reportedly ruptured inside a trash can, the Anaheim Police Department told the Los Angeles Times. No injuries were reported.

Toontown was evacuated as a precaution and fire crews responded at the scene, according to ABC 10 News.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department also sent a bomb squad to the scene, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Here's more from the Associated Press:

Park visitor Allen Wolf says he was about 20 feet from the blast, near Toontown's City Hall. He said the sound was similar to a gunshot, but louder.
Wolf says the park's music never stopped playing as security surrounded the trash cans where the bang came from and told visitors they were evacuating.

Wolf also tweeted a picture of people leaving Toontown:


"This afternoon, a small bang was heard in a trash can at Mickey's Toontown," a Disney spokeswoman said, according to Reuters. "In an abundance of caution, we evacuated Toontown to allow local authorities the opportunity to investigate."
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[ocmsma]

I saw that reported on the Fox station out of Denver last night - almost called ocm to see what she knew - what I want to know is how did they get a bottle of dry ice into the park in the first place ... glad no one was hurt and that it didn't cause any damage - my son-in-law makes those all the time and they can be loud and shoot pieces of the bottle all around

[DisneyChris]

I read somewhere on line that the dry ice bomb thing has been a continuing prank played by cast memebers in outdoor vending, and this has been going on for years, if not decades. it has become a sort of initiation for a new cast member to plant one of these, and the higher ups have been well aware of this practice but usualy ignored it, because many of them had also participated in this prank before they worked up the ladder. This particular bomb was larger than normal, but there was no malace intended by the person who did it, and it is very unfortunate that they have been made a scapegoat. He never meant this to be anything more than another of these routine pranks that have been going on for years and years. 500,000 bail seems quite excessive if that is in fact the case.

[theEpiphany]

Chris,

It's been done before, but not to this level, or with this much scrutiny. I'm also not aware of it ever being done on stage. Dry ice bombs are becoming a bit of a thing around Anaheim it seems, and beyond the city, there's been several youtube videos detailing such pranks that have gone quasi viral.

The bail is in part due to the "example" that's being set, considering all of the unrest in Anaheim currently. At the time, nobody knows what's going on, and you add inciting panic, or any number of charges to this dope's accolades, it becomes much more serious than a prank.

[DisneyChris]

[theEpiphany]

As far as I'm aware, it's not been done on stage before, though something could have happened previously where people dismissed it as a silly prank.

The response to 911 has put everyone on "high alert" and has incited a bit of hysteria into the daily lives of people as well as the operation of businesses. People are sensitive to certain things more than they used to be. Combine that with today's "sue happy" mentality, and combine THAT with one of the biggest lawsuit targets in the world (Walt Disney Company themselves), it's a recipe for chaos and dischord.

[ocmsma]

Wow - interesting on all parts - but I certainly feel that had I been in the Park on that particular day - I would have been frightened and can see the mass hysteria that could ensue - if in fact this is a "practice" to initiate newbees-it should be kept back stag and not where the general public is - however, I do not condone this practice at all - one of my son-in-laws has put dry ice in water bottles with a little water and tossed them away from where people are standing and watch them explode, but when one of his dogs chased it and it didn't explode right a way - his has stopped this even a a "thrill" in the desert ... so much for my rantings - just glad everyone is good and hope this doesn't happen again

[DisneyChris]

Perhaps in the past it was a harmless prank, but given light of recent events, it was a very very dumb move, putting it lightly.

[ocmsma]

Agreed