Disney World News: Magic Kingdom Fire & RCFD Dangerously Understaffed

It’s time for another Walt Disney World news roundup! This one covers the latest changes to park hours, runDisney’s 2022-2023 schedule for the remainder of the 50th Anniversary, airport holiday travel volume, plus fallout from this week’s fire in Magic Kingdom–the fear among firefighters that short-staffing is putting Disney guests in danger.

As usual, we’ll start with the latest release of new and modified operating schedules. All four theme parks have had hours for another week added to DisneyWorld.com’s park hours. The current calendar now runs through February 25, 2022. Here are the hours for most dates that are newly-added through the end of this year and into Winter 2022:

• Magic Kingdom: 9 am to 8 pm
• Epcot: 10 am to 9 pm
• Hollywood Studios: 9 am to 9 pm
• Animal Kingdom: 9 am to 7 pm
• Disney Springs: 10 am to 11 pm (11:30 pm on Fridays & Saturdays)

There are also several extensions to park hours for the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Magic Kingdom has had its closing time extended until 10 pm (still incredibly early by historical standards) several nights, Animal Kingdom is now 8 am to 8 pm throughout that week (pretty good hours for that park), and Epcot will be closing at 1 am on NYE.

Sticking with the topic of park hours (sorta), we have more dates and changes for the Extended Evening Theme Park Hours. This perk allows eligible guests to experience select attractions, shops, and dining after regular park hours in Epcot and Magic Kingdom on one night of the week each.

As a reminder, this perk is available to guests staying at Deluxe Resorts, Deluxe Villas, Disney Vacation Club units, or other select hotels (Swan & Dolphin or Shades of Green). Guests staying at Value Resorts or Moderate Resorts at Walt Disney World are not eligible for the Extended Evening Theme Park Hours.

We’ve done both and they’ve been fantastic. Here’s our Extended Evening Hours at Magic Kingdom Photo Report. The story is very similar at Epcot–and has gotten better since we did it there. Here’s the latest schedule update…

As you can see, Magic Kingdom and Epcot are swapping days of the week in late February 2022. It’s unclear whether that’s a permanent change, or a scheduling issue for one of the parks that week. As you can also see, Magic Kingdom had its Extended Evening Hours moved to Friday on February 4, and that turned out to be a one-off.

In not-so-new news, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure has been added to the Extended Evening Hours lineup. We’re hoping to get a chance to attend the extra hours at Epcot soon and report back on the experience, so stay tuned for that. Based on everything we’ve heard and seen, this is still an exceptional guest perk with extremely low crowds.

The Ho Ho Holiday travel season kicks off tomorrow at our airport. ✈️ Here are the projected Top 5 busiest days for this 19-Day Christmas/New Year travel period:

1️⃣ Dec 18 – 156,925 travelers
2️⃣ Jan 1 – 153,048
3️⃣ Dec 30 – 146,407
4️⃣ Dec 27 — 146,402
5️⃣ Dec 23 – 146,298 pic.twitter.com/wCm0W56g1D

– Orlando International Airport (@MCO) December 16, 2021

Speaking of crowds, Orlando International Airport just released travel volume forecasts for the 5 busiest travel days of the Christmas season. As you can see above, this Saturday will be the busiest day, which is due to arrivals into MCO. The 2-4 dates are normal post-holiday departures. These numbers put this Christmas/NYE travel season almost exactly on par with 2019 volume.

While this is not necessarily conclusive when it comes to Walt Disney World visitor trends…it’s typically pretty close! Overall attendance won’t be nearly as high as 2019 at Walt Disney World due to capacity caps (caused by staffing shortages and scaled-back operations), but the “feels like” crowds could be pretty comparable.

If recent history (Thanksgiving travel trends) repeats itself, prepare for heavy crowds at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios on Sunday and Monday, in particular. The entirety of the next two weeks will be bad, but anyone hoping this weekend might be the calm before the storm…don’t hold your breath.

Continuing along, runDisney has announced more races for 2022-2023 during the 18-month celebration of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. Here’s look at the weekend dates for each runDisney event during the remainder of the World’s Most Magical Celebration:

2022 Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend

• November 3 — 6, 2022

2023 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend

• January 4 — 8, 2023

2023 Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend

• February 23 — 26, 2023

2023 runDisney Springtime Surprise Weekend

• April 13 — 16, 2023

Primeval Whirl has been removed from the map for Animal Kingdom after being completely demolished over the course of the last few months. The attraction hadn’t operated regularly for a while before that, plagued by safety concerns before Walt Disney World announced last July that it would not reopen. Even prior to that, it has been the subject of perennial rumors about future Animal Kingdom expansion.

As the new map suggests, the short term future of Primeval Whirl is a seating area. There have been tables and stroller parking in this area for a while, but that will soon become semi-permanent. It’ll probably stay that way for a while, as the absolute best case scenario is a long-term replacement announced at the 2022 D23 Expo, opening around 2024 or 2025.

This is definitely something we have never seen in all our years of visiting The Magic Kingdom… @WDWNT @InsideTheMagic pic.twitter.com/vWR7Cdhzw5

– The Coaster Crew (@Coastercrew) December 14, 2021

As you probably saw from viral stories on social media, a small fire at Magic Kingdom earlier this week resulted in guests evacuating Cinderella’s Royal Table and photos and video of emergency vehicles rolling down Main Street. (In typical internet fashion, that was followed shortly thereafter by “night parade returns” memes with the Baroque Hoedown spliced into the footage).

Walt Disney World issued a statement the blaze broke out in the Magic Kingdom in a mulched area outside Cinderella Castle near the Liberty Square Bridge. Per that, the fire was quickly put out by Cast Members with fire extinguishers before firefighters arrived to the scene. The Reedy Creek Firefighters Association said the call initially came into the fire department around 6:45 p.m. as an electrical fire on a junction box outside the castle.

Firefighters treated a security guard who inhaled chemicals from an extinguisher, and one Cast Member was transported from Magic Kingdom for non-emergency treatment and released shortly afterward. No other injuries were reported. We didn’t report on this yesterday since we were late to the punch and it seemed like the coverage was disproportionate to the incident, however…

You ever seen a fire truck and ambulances make their way down main street USA? Because uh… #wow #disney #disneyworld #magickingdom pic.twitter.com/GlCUw11yPB

– Cameron (@CameronYeager) December 15, 2021

In a disturbing new exposé by the Orlando Sentinel, union members say the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID), which runs Walt Disney World’s emergency services, reduced staffing when the parks closed as part of an agreement to avoid layoffs. Now they are not adequately staffed to respond to a fire at a resort hotel, much less a large-scale emergency.

Reedy Creek firefighters and paramedics say they are bracing to be stretched further. They claim they are increasingly relying on outside fire departments to respond to calls and take guests of Walt Disney World to hospitals, which can lead to delayed care at vital times. The union is in arbitration with RCID over the staffing issue, pushing for more first responders.

Minimum staffing per shift at the Reedy Creek Fire Department is currently 26 firefighters spread across five ambulances and four fire engines. These 26 people are responsible for responding across Walt Disney World’s theme parks, hotels, Disney Springs, and other venues–plus to accidents on neighboring sections of I-4 and State Road 429.

Prior to the closure last year, RCFD had 32 firefighters between 8 ambulances and 4 fire engines per shift. For some perspective, the National Fire Protection Association’s nationwide standard recommends at least 42 firefighters respond to fires in high-rise buildings.

Firefighters say Reedy Creek has not increased its staffing since 1989. Anyone who reads this blog likely knows that a lot has changed at Walt Disney World in the intervening 32 years. The complex has added Animal Kingdom, Blizzard Beach, and about a dozen hotels in addition to other expansion. Based on trends in the last two decades, it’s safe to assume park attendance has roughly doubled during that time and on-site occupancy has at least tripled.

The firefighter staffing also impacts the special operations team, which evacuates riders from complex attractions and transportation when there are breakdowns. Of particular relevance here is the aging monorail and newer Skyliner. Rescue from the latter could take 60 to 90 minutes for each of the Skyliner’s 300 gondola cabins with optimal staffing, which RCFD does not have. Knowing how understaffed their department is in the event of an emergency, some firefighters told OS they refuse to ride the gondolas. (Even as staunch Skyliner supporters, this revelation troubles us.)

There are a lot more disturbing details and specific stories in that Orlando Sentinel report, and I’d encourage you all to read it for yourselves. That also includes Disney and Reedy Creek’s response, which is essentially a denial and assurance that they prioritize safety and that the fire department has “appropriate levels of fire and medical services at all times.”

In terms of commentary, it should be noted that at the core of the cited article is a standoff between the union and Disney. With that acknowledged, it certainly seems that assertions about understaffing are fairly irrefutable. The numbers are the numbers. Moreover, this isn’t the first time the firefighters’ union has raised similar staffing issues. Given that this is a potential safety matter–not simply entertainment and escapism about which we usually offer commentary–I don’t feel qualified to opine beyond that. Suffice to say, the Orlando Sentinel piece raises concerns and we felt it appropriate to apprise Walt Disney World fans of this.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you think about all this Walt Disney World news? Thoughts on staffing at Reedy Creek Fire Department? Expecting the busy holiday travel season at MCO will translate to heavy attendance at Walt Disney World? Think the new seating area will be an upgrade over Primeval Whirl? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!