Fans Speculate Cause of Increased Violence at Disney World - Inside the Magic

We reported on a brutal brawl in Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom in July. Two families reportedly got into a physical fight after one Guest tried to rejoin their family in line for Mickey’s Philharmagic.

Related: Fans Horrified By Magic Kingdom Brawl, “It Will Never End”

One man involved in the fight was hospitalized with a facial laceration, while others suffered minor cuts and bruises. Reportedly, personal designer items and phones were damaged in the incident.

The story went viral on Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok – making its way to FOX national news. The network called the fight “chaos.” According to their reporting, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office arrested three people for misdemeanor battery.

Related: Guest Tackled and Hit as Intense Brawl Breaks Out at Disney Park

This fight is the most recent in violent incidents recorded at the Disney Parks, including a brawl at Disneyland Park during the return of Fantasmic!. Disney Park fans on Reddit discussed the reasons for the violence.

Related: Guests Witness Altercation at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

u/kenazo noted that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and other political issues have people more on edge than usual:

Many people are living on a hair-trigger right now, so there might be some level of increased frequency of anger erupting into violence coupled with the increased recording I’m sure it ‘s that much more pronounced.

Related: Guests Fight, Scream While on Magic Kingdom Tram

u/mhall85 agreed, adding that the heat in swampy Florida makes people tenser:

Add the heat to that equation… if you’re hot and tired, on top of already being a breath away from being triggered…

u/ariariarii said it’s not just the Disney Parks- violence is everywhere:

I don’t think it’s just Disney. I was at my local renaissance fair this weekend and saw fights breaking out there too. People are just angrier these days in general for a lot of different reasons (be it violence in the news, politics, covid, the economy, lack of social interaction) and their fuses can run out just about anywhere.

Many fans, however, said that the violence is the same as it always was. The only difference is that everyone has a camera in their pocket that can easily share a violent incident with millions of people in seconds. A former Disney Cast Member,  u/prosperosniece, wrote:

I worked there 20+ years ago and the guests were just as unruly then. The difference is people had a finite amount of film and video tape and wouldn’t waste it on skirmishes.

u/Moon_Noodle agreed, having worked as a Walt Disney World Resort Cast Member more recently:

Worked there from 2012-2020 and yeah. We had fistfights blow up juuuust about everywhere. During Frozen Summer Fun back in like….2014 or 2015, a CM got attacked by a guy because we had no space left in the theater. I was pulled by my collar over me counter at a turkey wagon in MK because we were out of turkey legs and waiting for more from the kitchen.

Do you think there is more violence at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort now than there used to be?