A huge thank you to our Disneyland Firemen that stay on the island each night of the show for times like this. These guys don't get enough credit.

I was a cast member when the show was first added in 1991. The original dragon burst into flames in a similar manner before Fantasmic ever premiered to the public. The "replacement" dragon which was used ended up being a cherry picker with a quickly built dragon head attached to the top of the cherry picker, the wings were poles with fabric draped of of wires attached to the cherry picker, and two cast members moving the poles back and forth. It was pretty rinky-dink, yet the lighting was kept much lower and most folks bought the effect for long enough to get the show going for enough seasons to justify the fancy Murphy which blew up last night.

I'm honestly shocked at how Mickey finally destroyed Maleficent/Murphy. While I'm happy that no one got seriously hurt, I really hope Disney takes the necessary steps to bring back Murphy. The only true version of Fantasmic I know has a climatic dragon battle, and I believe it was maintenance issues that brought this on. I hope this isn't a domino effect that'll effect other Disney attractions or anything related. I'm holding out hope that we'll see Murphy again, but it'll be a while I know for sure. Maybe they'll rebuild Murphy into an upgraded version, I mean, he's from 2009, so he's somewhat outdated in the animatronics world. Murphy will (hopefully) rise again!

Looked like she was spewing hydraulic fluid before the fire began. Once the first pyro was set off from the head, thats when it caught fire. And then a shirt time later the hydraulic fluid being leaked further caught fire in where she was entirely on fire

My heart goes out to the Disney cast members who worked so hard on Murphy. I am devastated to see this happen to my favorite nighttime spectacular. Disneyland’s version is truly a special gem. I hope Disney is able to replace it soon so that everyone can continue to enjoy this iconic moment in this amazing show. ❤😢

I worked as a Fan Guest Control CM when she debuted and to see this happen just broke my heart. Also just the magnitude of the incident has shaken me up a bit. Im so thankful no one was hurt and also that the fire didn't catch to anything else. That island in general could have gone up in flames too 😢 very sad

I am shocked! I can't believe this happened! Fantasmic debuted a long time ago and I never expected the dragon to catch on fire ever! Thank you to the cast members who worked hard to get everyone out of the park safely and to the firemen for doing their best to repair Murphy!

I was there when this happened and I just want to say to all the cast members who were working to get everyone out, y’all were amazing! So many guest not listening and pushing through to get video. There was even a cast member begging and crying to guest to please leave the area and people weren’t listening . Also Disney needs to create a sound letting guest know to leave a certain area or evacuate. Because them just playing the lands music was not helpful at all.

While it’s hard to know for sure what caused this catastrophe, if it was indeed lack of maintenance I hope it opens Disneys eyes to what is to come if they keep cutting costs in the wrong areas. Cut all the suits you want but beef up boots on the ground at the parks.

I predict that Fantasmic will be up and running as soon as the stage and supporting structure are cleaned and deemed safe. I'm sure that the remains of the animatronic will be moved to a location where the issues surrounding the source of the fire can be determined and "B" mode will be instituted until a final decision over how to move forward is made. The decline of Disney show quality has been on the increase in the last decade and preventative maintenance that used to be carried out nightly on every attraction, seems to be a line item in the budget that has been deleted. It used to be that a "dead" animatronic in any attraction was the exception whereas now it seems to be the rule (just look at the condition of Splash Mountain when it comes to show quality standards). Fix it BEFORE it breaks used to be the mantra. From the multiple angles I've seen of the incident during Fantasmic, it appears that fluid (assuming hydraulic) was leaking just before the fire started. Whatever fluid was leaking, obviously intensified the flames causing the conflagration that consumed Murphy. The constant breakdown of attractions at Disneyland is testament to this lack of maintenance, and it appears that it has now caught up with Murphy. I should add that since the Big Thunder accident back in '03, I don't believe the practice exists in the actual mechanics of the ride systems, just the "show" aspects of the attractions. I feel completely safe when boarding a coaster, dark ride vehicle, or dropping elevator at Disney parks. Disney is very lucky that no one was injured during the fire. When seeing the cast member with what appeared to be little more than a garden hose trying to douse the fire, I was yelling at him through my computer monitor to "get away". The stream of fire that erupted almost hit him. Here's hoping that this very high profile incident will knock some sense into Iger, Demaro, and the bean counters that control expenditures at the most profitable arm of the Walt Disney Company, Parks & Resorts. We guests that visit the parks pay enough to ensure that we see fully functioning attractions that are both safe and pristine in condition. Walt insisted on the practice. It needs to be refocused on. As for the loss of Murphy, I hope that the dragon is replaced with either a new build, or even the original "head on a stick", which I personally feel isn't as awesome to look at, BUT more menacing in it's presentation. Long live Fantasmic!

They even suspended the Magic Kingdom parade version of a fire breathing Maleficent. So sad... Hopefully Disney can figure this out and get the dragons back in action!

What's more important is no one got hurt and everyone was fine. Fantasmic can still run anyways using B-Mode Projection.

I watched the original video. It looked to me like something went wrong with the first blast of fire. You could see the huge jet of fuel, but only a small puff of flame at the end before the lake burners went on. I'm guessing that first blast didn't ignite properly and resulted in a collection of fuel in the head, which then ignited and started burning. That was a crazy fire to watch - the fuel system was clearly damaged and leaking fuel, causing the explosions, and twice a jet of fire shot from the mouth while it was pointing somewhere it shouldn't be. Someone was at the bottom there on the second one and almost got hit. They clearly need a better plan for putting a fire out. I'm really surprised at the apparent lack of response.. that fire burned for a good 15 minutes in that video and was still going when they stopped filming. Regardless, a tragic event that fortunately no one was injured in. I'm very glad I got to see that show last summer now!

When I was 10 years old in 2010, I saw fantasmic for the first time and was completely stunned. My family went to Disneyland every year but we always watched the fireworks. I’ve been wanting to watch fantasmic since then but for some reason we never did. Last time I went to Disneyland I was 16 in 2016 with all my cousins from the Philippines. They shut down fantasmic for 2 years to work on Star Wars land. Now I’m 23 and I was actually planning a trip to go back to Disneyland for the first time since then especially to see fantasmic, the show I’ve been dying to watch now for 13 years since I first saw it. And now I have to wait longer again. This is painful.

I was so shocked and sad to hear last night what happened with it! Also shocked to hear that it cost 10Mil to replace it, but I hope Disney deep deep down inside feel it's worth and does either replace/fix it as it truly is the gem and centerpiece of Fantasmic.

Bummer to see a catastrophic failure like this happen to the show after operating for 30 years. But definitely good to hear that no one was hurt. I remember catching shows in its first season during my teenage years and how impressive it was for the time. Didn't take long for it to become a staple of Disneyland trips.

My husband was there the night Murphy was first floated over to the island. And the flotation started to sink! His company hadn't calculated the buoyancy right. Everything that could go wrong with that dragon now has. Aptly named. Surprised it didn't happen sooner, but glad no one was hurt.

My prediction: it’s gonna be a loooooooong time before we see Murphy again on that island. I’ll even go as far to say that even IF we get Murphy back I don’t think it’s unfair to assume that we will NEVER see him breathe fire again.

I was shocked when I saw the video up on Instagram. Speechless. I saw Fantasmic when it first started...and while I haven't seen it in many years, it etched such a memory into my heart. I know the music and the lines...and Murphy is the most important part that amazing, fantasmic show. I really hope Disney spends the money to rebuild her.😢🐉

Fantasmic is such an amazing show. I remember seeing it for the first time in 1992 when it opened. I cant imagine Disney not replacing Murphy once a cause is found for the fire.

No Murphy no show, I hope they replace Murphy, with Murphy #2. This is so sad. I have loved that show since day one. Thank you fresh baked

Former cast member here. Fantasmic has for years been my one thing. For years I would drive down to OC on Sunday nights, just me. Put my blanket down front row center for the second show. Chocolate chip cookie, clam chowder bowl. Fantasmic. And then one ride of choosing and I’m done. Murphy’s new addition melted me. It’s the most amazing thing ever. I really believe it’s the greatest mashup of imagination-storytelling-technology. I truly am just frozen in shock and sadness. I just can’t believe it. My hope is the skeleton is mostly safe and the cosmetic body is all that needs the most repair. I just can’t believe it.

I believe, on Mondo's comments, a man who helped install the dragon commented. He said that the dragon is surrounded by concrete underneath and all other things below should be ok.

Disney capital expenditure is anticipated to increase 36% in 2023 and $3 billion of 5 billion in cuts are related to content/Disney+. I don’t expect cost to be a limiting factor in getting the dragon up and running.

No, disney needs to rebuild Murphy because fantasmic needs that dragon. It makes the show a whole lot more better. They took away peter pan, they better not take away the dragon.

I’m so sad. Understand it will take time and money to get Murphy back but I really hope Disney understands how important and valuable she is and that it’s worth it. Best part of my 3 day birthday trip was watching both Fantasmic showings back to back with Wondrous Journeys and a trip through Haunter Mansion on the day it came back after Holiday Haunted Mansion in between!

I was asleep last night at home when this happened, so when I woke up to find out about this, I was GUTTED. Murphy holds a special place in my heart as she's my top favorite AA, so when I saw the show again for the first time since its return back in 2022, getting to see her again made my trip worth it. The last time I recall her having an incident was back in 2010 when I was 16- and even then, the thing I had to do was show support for maintenance to help her out. But now I don't know what to do.

I'm right there with you. I wanted to cry watching that happen. Props to Mickey for staying in character. I am sure that the dragon will come back, bigger and better, Disney style. Maleficent will RISE again!

Watching the Dragon Maleficent burning up and being destroyed was so hard to watch. It sucks because I actually like this dragon and I do hope it makes a new one. I am glad that guests and cast members were safe and sound

So sad that this happened. Glad no one was hurt. I feel like we will see Murphy again, just not anytime soon. Hopefully they take the decades of experience of all the faults with Murphy 1.0 and build it better. If/when we see Murphy 2.0, I petition we call it “Phoenix”.

Thanks for the update. What a crazy week Disneyland had. Fresh Baked!!

Nobody got hurt, none of buildings on Tom Sawyer Island were burnt and a piece of equipment was pretty much destroyed. I hardly label that as traumatic but I do feel sorry for any guests that were looking forward to seeing this show. We don't know what the outcome of this will be. Apparently it's not the first time this has happened although guests didn't experience it the first time. How Disney deals with this unfortunate event could be troubling or could be exciting. I'm very happy that Bob Iger is back.

I’m so glad everyone is ok. The cast member in Mickey must have been so scared.

I am GUTTED. I actually shed a tear yesterday morning. Fantasmic is one of my favorite shows ever 😔 Sadly I missed it on my last trip because I didn’t realize the show was weekends only and looks like I’ll probably be missing it again on my June trip 😭

Such a relief to hear no one was hurt. I’m really disappointed the vlogger didn’t follow the CM’s directions. Everyone’s safety is more important than a video.

Depends on if Disney insured Murphy. If it is, they will rebuild a new one. However if they didn’t, the show will go on in B mode without the animatronic indefinitely… for the price to replace her, they might opt to develop something new.

When I first saw the video posting shortly after it happened I was in shock. Then I was in tears. I'm too old to cry over something as unimportant as a toy catching fire. HECK NO! I don't get to go to Disneyland very often because it's so far away, but when I do I make sure I time my trip so that I can see the Fantasmic show. I've never seen the "B" mode. I hope they bring back my friend. We're loosing to much Disney magic.

Crazy how much of Disneyland is changing. So much needs updating.

probably due to maintenance issues, Disney needs to pay the cast members more and hire additional technicians, hopefully this is not the beginning of worse things to come. I think Disney needs to rethink what they are about and return to Walt's vision

To put a positive swing on this, we can hope that Disney will do a complete upgrade on the dragon. Maybe it’s time for Murphy 2.0, since technology has advanced so much with animatronics let’s hope that it becomes bigger and better

Fantasmic! Was literally the coolest show I have ever seen at any Disney park. When I first saw this I was so sad. R.I.P. Murphy 😢

I have tickets to Disney may 20th with fantasmic dinner reservations. If fantasmic isn’t open, I’ll cancel my reservations to Disneyland all together.

Hurts me so bad. That is my favorite Disney show & the Disneyland version. I really hope they can rebuild.

I actually caught this as I was going to sleep and was so nervous and awake for another 2 hours worrying about the people and the show - it's my favorite show at Disney, I use the theme song as my morning alarm! Hope they decide to bring it back and plus it up in an amazing way!

I am so sad . This was the only show my daughter didn't get to see the last time we were there and I always hype up that dragon it is the best part. And we just bought our dining package for our next trip.. I could just cry.

Thank you for the update, David. I was in the park yesterday and it was jarring to know what happened and then look at Tom Sawyer's Island and see the scaffolding/scrim sitting there. There was quite a palpable buzz amongst other passholders we ran into throughout our day. Thankful no one got hurt and pray that they find a safe solution moving forward.

So grateful that no one was hurt, I immediately thought of all of the cast members who were right there when this footage started coming out last night. It is gut wrenching, I honestly don’t think they’ll bring murph back. It’s not what I hope happens, but I really just don’t see them choosing to put this at the front of their to do list, especially cost wise. Right with you there emotionally, it is traumatic, kinda leaves you with a gut punch and emptiness feeling if that makes sense.

Rest in peace Murphy

I’m completely devastated 😭 it’s definitely part of the magic for me at Disneyland!

Just heartbroken. I’m glad no one got hurt. It was sad to see what was left this morning. 😢

I’m super sad 😞 Praying we get everything back the way it once was 👏🏼

Really grateful nobody got hurt. I had a chance to see fantasmic as part of the river bell fantasmic package. Great seats and food. Hopefully they bring back something good soon. Crossing fingers for the return of the Main Street electrical parade 🤞let’s get Pete’s dragon back!!

Murphy catching on fire is such a tragedy. So grateful that nobody got hurt. I hope when I go to Disneyland in July the show is back. Thanks for the update David🙏🙏

I’m visiting the park from Australia in a week. I’ve never seen Famtasmic except in your videos and was so excited for it. Most likely won’t get a chance to travel over again. This was so sad!! I was so excited for the show.

It's so weird how many things have been catching fire the last few years at Disneyland (when I worked there in 2020, a part of the Jungle Cruise caught fire, which we were worried about since it was so close to Walt's apartment. Then there was the New Orleans train depot that caught fire as well earlier this year or last year, and now this).

Murphy is a major part of Fantasmic and what everyone wants to see. The B mode is good for a temporary amount of time but the Dragon needs to come back if Fantasmic is to continue on for the long term.

Crushed, but so thankful no one was hurt!

This is devastating to see, we were actually supposed to be there yesterday but had to reschedule. Fantastic is something I always look forward to and this time I wanted to share it with my kids. Not knowing if Murphy will ever return hurts my heart.

A quick minor correction, Murphy is the second version of Maleficent, the first one was essentially a carved Maleficent head on a stick (picture a cherry picker), Murphy didn’t debut until 2009

While I know that she is ultimately an inanimate object, I too am heartbroken and having a difficult time accepting it. Murphy is such a huge part of the experience of the entire show. I have tons of memories of just waiting to see her. I've strayed away from all other coverage, because most people just want to go viral and I don't want to hear the jokes and speculation. Thank you David & Fresh Baked for the compassion in your reporting. For a lot of us, Disneyland is home and our happy place.

Anytime I speak to another family about going to DL, one of the first things I recommend is FANTASMIC! The show is so amazing especially for littles. I will never forget the first time I was able to watch with my daughter at 3 years old. 😢

It shouldn't come as shock that this happened at a time when they're slashing maintenance budgets. As somebody with a background in pyrotechnics, that thing always made me pucker a bit (being essentially a flamethrower, and all that entails). I'm surprised it lasted this long. I'm also surprised that the failure mode for it was "explode".

The thought of maleficent not returning is devastating. It’s such a nostalgic part of fantasmic and Disneyland entertainment. We are already losing Splash mountain as it is 😢😔

Thanks to the fire fighters. Thank goodness no one was hurt. I hope they get her repaired/replaced soon. So sad😢😢😢😢😢

I definitely haven’t heard of the first Dragon burning down before😮. But yeah, that’s some interesting history that I hadn’t heard before.

How ironic. A dragon destroyed by fire.

For me, it was the "rule of threes" coming into play in the last week at the parks that got me. We had major network outage that ground things to a halt in the parks, we had a major power outage, then this disasterous fire.

I’m really sad over the fire. I have seen both versions of the show at Disney and the dragon is what made the show. Devastating seeing it burn to the ground.

The first time I saw Fantasmic I thought this show was totally worth the price of admission. That’s how good that show is. ( the first year it opened).

I believe this is not the first time the Dragon has caught fire. In the mid 90's same thing happened and they brought back a sort of temporary dragon dubbed the "trash bag dragon". It was a simple system with hanging black plastic, hence the name. It was later replaced with a more complex dragon "murphy". Side note - There was a Tick Tock Crocodile float in Fantasmic until it over turned and was removed from the show. It sat in a back lot for years with a fake For Sale sign on it.

Thank you for the update.

Originally this news didn’t have any impact on me, but seeing how much this affected you and the people in your comment section, I lament for your losses. You were such a sweet guy when we met you last year, and I hope this situation gets remedied soon to give you back these magical experiences again (with the better safety to the crew of course).

Definitely sad and emotional! We just saw it with a dining package on our last trip. We saw in 4/13/23 and coincedently that was the day I met you with my jungle cruise shirt on! It was a grand day! Thank you for all your videos!

We were there last night when it all broke up it was a shock to see Murphy going up in flames, we were supposed to watch the first show but decided to stay for the second showing. It's sad it was my daughter's first time watching the whole show

I love Maleficent! My favorite villan. I was so sad when I saw this on Tik Tok first. I didn't know how to process it. I turned to Facebook today and was saddened by some people's reactions. Yes, I know it's an inanimate object but I think it's wrapped up with the feeling I get when I watch the show. Then seeing people laughing just made me sad. Thank you fir sharing how it affected you as well so I know I'm not alone. So glad everyone was OK and I hope they can get her up and running again knowing she definitely makes the show.

So sad. The magnitude of this disaster and nobody getting hurt shows the forethought of Disney to avert harm during a possible disaster. I'm sure they learned some things too. I hope they create a new Murphy. 😢

Last I heard David the stuff underneath the dragon remains in tact and safe based on what I heard in reports.

I never seen those late night shows at Disneyland I always leave way before the crowd but glad every one was safe

This is so sad... I was fortunate to see the show at 9pm before the late show started! Crazy! This is so difficult to process... I LOVE that show.

My guess is Fantasmic will be closed for a couple weeks, maybe a month. Then it will come back in b-mode. It will probably take about a year to get a replacement built and installed. If they’re smart, they’ll get it built in time for winter when Fantasmic is usually down for the season. That will allow them time to work out any kinks. And who knows, maybe next time they’ll be sure to make their fire breathing dragon fireproof. The only possible reason they might decide not to replace Murphy would be if they rewrote the show and created a new finale.

It’s really not that big of a deal it’ll come back eventually. Acting like grandma died 😂😭

Really thankful no one was hurt. I was there for the second showing of fantasmic on Friday night and the park was absolutely jam packed. It was jam packed with people on Saturday too

I’m devastated. I haven’t been able to see the show and I have a trip to Disneyland coming soon and I got up super early just to make dining reservations to watch fantasmic. And over all the part of Disneyland is filled with scrim right now and it’s just a big bummer. This park barely has any shows so loosing one is a huge loss.

I’m so devastated!! But I am happy that I heard no one was injured!

My guess is that Murphy will remain in its current position until an investigation is done. Once that’s completed, they can remove Murphy from its lair and begin the process of making the area accessible to guests during the day. If they do replace Murphy, it will take months and if I’m not mistaken, Murphy will have to be airlifted into position. Not a good day for anyone. Hopefully than get get B mode back up and running soon.

This makes me so sad!!! 😢😮 Murphy is such an amazing part of nights at Disneyland. We love taking people to see Fantasmic… would not be the same without her. I hope they bring her back.

Totally heartbroken about poor Murphy!!! Soooo glad no CM’s were injured!!! Thx for your reporting!!!

The one thought I have: is Murphy covered by any insurance Disney might have? If so, that may influence them to repair the unit and get it working again much faster than if they had to pay out-of-pocket during a time of budget cuts...

Thankyou for posting

Distraught, grateful people are safe and the great job CMs do to move everyone along safely

i hate to say it but i’m not surprised this happened. that version is about 14 years old now which is a long time for an animatronic of that size. it seems like it was moving strangely and leaking fluid, then caught fire. i bet it was a maintenance issue but i’m sure they’ll do an investigation. i doubt they’ll invest in repairing it in the short term, i imagine it’s going to be very very expensive to update it. i bet if they do bring it back they probably won’t have it spew fire anymore though

I've been to Disneyland twice but never got to see Fantasmic and I was looking forward to it so much this year. I'm really glad nobody got hurt but how sad.

Glad no one was hurt. Can’t wait to see how much they raise the price of everything so they can fix it.

So glad more damage wasn't done and of course that no one was hurt. Hope they can reimagine the dragon with new technology bc you are right she is the "show stopper"

Why does it feel like there have been so many fires at Disneyland lately. First next to the mainstreet firehouse, then the train station in New Orleans square, and now this.

'Evil destroyed' smacks of irony for Disney.

This brought tears to my eyes watching you report on this, David 😢

The $10M estimate is how much it cost to build the current version of the dragon in the late 2000s.

Awww. I feel for you! We were without Maleficent at WDW for such a long time! But she came back as good as new. I hope the same is true for you!

as far as murphy goes, repair i doubt is going to be possible, i think its totaled in this instance, I do think that disney knows how important this show is, and has a couple options. Get the stage cleared and repaired enough to put on performances in B mode, or if they happen to have enough spare parts, they could build a replacement on site, or they just reorder the dragon with changes to the fire effects or eliminate them altogether. depending on what the investigation finds.