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Credit: Walt Disney World
Guests at Walt Disney World’s Epcot experienced what seemed to be a truly scary situation this past Saturday night. At that time, a fire broke out in the French Pavilion section of the park. All staff and patrons were quickly evacuated from both the relatively new Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and the French cafe as a result. While a number of people may have stopped eating and drinking the international offerings at the location, they seemingly didn’t hesitate to take out their phones and record what was happening.
In the aftermath of the situation, videos of the fire began to surface on the web, and it’s admittedly disturbing footage. The clips posted to social media show scary plumes of dark smoke disturbing the faux French skyline. @megantooboo on TikTok was flying over the scene in the park’s Skyline Gondolas during the worst of it, with the caption stating the video was taken at 7:10pm on March 22. Her video clearly catches a view of the flames:
From this aerial shot, the fire is seen to originate in the backstage area behind the buildings, which was later confirmed by officials. Allegedly the fire started in a walk-in cooler, as reported by the Associated Press and other outlets. The Skyline Gondolas heading in and out of the park seemingly had the clearest view of the ordeal. Here’s another video from a Gondola going the opposite direction, captured by @ryanwmsn on X:
Despite the intensity of the smoke shown on camera, fire officials told Fox 35 News Orlando that the fire was extinguished in under 30 minutes. Still, the following video shared by @disneychick1997 on TikTok still seems to indicate that this was no small matter:
What arguably makes the video so disturbing is how peaceful everything else seems to be. The sky is perfectly cloudless and blue, with the setting sun bathing everything in a nice, golden color. Then there is the endless dark plume of black smoke erupting from the French-themed plaza.
Amid Epcot’s storied history, this is not the wildest situation to ever unfold at the Disney World theme park. Nevertheless, a fire is no joking matter, which is why attendees needed to be cleared from the area. Despite the staff’s attempt to evacuate the park, or at least clear the area near the French Pavilion, patrons could be seen milling about relatively close to the fire. What this may signify is that even though the fire looked severe, it was under control.
It’s ultimately just something of a relief that the fire didn’t turn out to be even more severe. After all, even more of the trees in the French Pavilion could have caught fire, and the flames could have spread quickly.
The extent of the fire and smoke damage is still unknown, as of this writing. So we’ll have to wait for updates on Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and other attractions. I personally hope the underrated Pixar classic’s ride, which opened at Epcot in October 2021, doesn’t have to be closed for long, as I’d hate to see the construction walls come back. But, at the end of the day, I’m also hopeful that no one was harmed during the fire.
