Disneyland Explosion Causes Evacuation of Toontown

Frightening news tonight from "the happiest place on earth" -- an explosion has been reported at Disneyland. After it happened, a portion of the park -- Mickey's Toontown -- was evacuated and officials are investigating.

According to the Associated Press, no injuries were reported, which is the most important thing, and it sounds like it was a relatively small explosion. Now police are investigating what may have caused it. An officer said it may have been due to dry ice inside a bottle that was placed in a trash can. Hopefully it was just a mistake someone made, not knowing what would happen.

Regardless, it had to be frightening for those who heard it and put a damper on what was supposed to be a day of fun for many. Allen Wolf told the Associated Press he was about 20 feet from the blast and the "sound was similar to a gunshot, but louder."

Others described it via twitter.

Was sitting in Toontown at Disneyland and something exploded in the trash can. I felt the sound waves of it and Toontown is closed. -- @SurelyShawna

Something went BOOM in Toontown at Disneyland and now they're evacuating -- @theallenwolf

Hopefully it will turn out to be an accident and not some intentional act of attempted violence, but still it's one of those things that make us just a little more cautious when we're out in crowded places. We've seen too many frightening incidents in recent years not to have at least a healthy fear of them. The thoughts of what-if flicker through my mind when I'm at the mall, at a sporting event, and at theme parks. I don't let them stop me from enjoying life, but they are sadly always there.

Do you worry about things like this happening when you're in crowded places?

Image via Sean MacEntee/Flickr