Credit: DisneyAfter three significant fires at EPCOT in the last year, Magic Kingdom took its turn, setting fire to an attraction yesterday, which led to discussions about the viability of that attraction for future use and why Disney has not considered replacing it yet.
Yesterday, a Magic Kingdom guest, @traveling_throuple, posted a video on TikTok showing a car from the Tomorrowland Speedway with a fire coming out of the rear. The orange and white had visible flames coming from the engine compartment.
What made this video more remarkable was that the cast members continued to direct cars past the flaming vehicle, as it appears that the ride did not even shut down due to the fire. Eventually, a cast member came with a fire extinguisher to put out the fire.
While this appears to be a momentary blip for the Tomorrowland Speedway, it has led to several discussions about the ride’s future viability. One user posed the question, “Why aren’t these vehicles electric?”
It is an interesting question given Disney’s reported commitment to the environment. One of the main complaints guests have about the Tomorrowland Speedway is the smell emanating from the cars due to the consumption of gasoline.
However, this led to an even more interesting discussion: how is Tomorrowland Speedway still a thing? The ride occupies a massive piece of real estate in Tomorrowland, contributing little to the area except for noise and smell.
While the Tomorrowland Speedway is an opening-day attraction at Magic Kingdom, Disney has shown that it has no problem removing treasured attractions; see Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island. Disney is also using the space vacated by those two opening-day attractions to create a new off-road car racing experience, which would make the Tomorrowland Speedway seem outdated and, to a certain extent, dull.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that Disney doesn’t have plans to alter the ride or remove it in the future, after all, it does take up some prime real estate. If this fire did nothing else, it showed that changes are needed at this opening-day experience to bring it into the next century, or the ride may need to be removed, as it has proven to be somewhat dangerous.
Do you think Disney should keep the Tomorrowland Speedway after yesterday’s fire? Let us know in the comments.