Police confirmed there was no shooter at Magic Kingdom after a panic ensued, the 2024 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival began, Halloween Horror Nights 33 kicked off with Premium Scream Night — all this and more in today’s daily recap for Thursday, August 29, 2024.

Daily Recap for August 29, 2024

Walt Disney World

Magic Kingdom

• After a gun scare led to stampeding and lockdowns on Main Street, U.S.A., police confirmed there was no active shooter at Magic Kingdom.
• Disney later released a statement thanking the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
• The Little League World Series champions from Lake Mary, Florida were the Grand Marshals before the Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade at Magic Kingdom.

EPCOT

• The 2024 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival has a normal festival passport and a new Kid’s Guide.
• Food & Wine Festival merchandise includes a Muppet Labs collection.
• The other Food & Wine Festival merchandise collections feature Chef Figment, Chef Remy, Chef Mickey, and Chef Minnie.
• The Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak scavenger hunt is back with new prizes.
• CommuniCore Hall reopened after a brief closure, having undergone a transformation for the Food & Wine Festival.
• Living With the Land was decorated for the festival.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

• Previously announced price increases of the Fantasmic! Dining Packages have gone into effect.

Disney Springs

• Limited-time Halloween-inspired food and beverage items will soon be available at Disney Springs.

Disneyland Resort

• Disneyland Resort revealed new experiences coming this holiday season including Chip and Dale’s Ornament Trail and Mickey’s Holiday Pajama Party.
• Disney ¡Viva Navidad! Street Party is returning for the holiday season but will only take place on weekends this year amid entertainment budget cuts.
• Disney will spend $600,000 to fix the Jungle Cruise tiger scene after the fake ruins actually crumbled.

Tokyo Disney Resort

• Tokyo Disney Resort shared details and a behind-the-scenes look at figures for “it’s a small world with Groot”, an upcoming Marvel overlay of the classic ride.

Universal Studios

Universal Orlando Resort

• We were at Premium Scream Night for Halloween Horror Nights 33 and shared our review of Goblin’s Feast, one of the best HHN houses ever.
• Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines is a satisfying sequel house.
• Unfortunately, Slaughter Sinema 2 doesn’t live up to the original.

WDW News Today

EPCOT Food & Wine, Boxed In and Match Game!

Disneyland Halloween 2024 Food Reviews: Best New Treats & Hidden Gems!

That’s it for today; we hope you enjoyed this Daily Recap. Thanks for stopping by, and we’ll see you tomorrow!

The post Police Confirm No Active Shooter at Magic Kingdom After Panic & More: Daily Recap (8/29/24) appeared first on WDW News Today.

Several Magic Kingdom guests on social media have reported stampeding on Main Street, U.S.A., and a police presence at the park as it closed on Thursday.

Magic Kingdom closed at 10 p.m. on August 29, 2024. The incident happened around this time. Several reports indicate there was a gun scare. No eyewitnesses have reported seeing a gun or hearing gunshots. No serious injuries, including shooting injuries, have been reported.

X user @anxrosa shared video of a trashed Emporium, writing, “went to magic kingdom today and there was literally a stampede because of a suspected shooter i thought that was actually going to be my last day. i was shoved out of the way and fell. mothers were crying looking for their daughters, people were hiding, it was so bad.”

went to magic kingdom today and there was literally a stampede because of a suspected shooter i thought that was actually going to be my last day. i was shoved out of the way and fell. mothers were crying looking for their daughters, people were hiding, it was so bad. pic.twitter.com/NATeMuwceK

— D (@anxrosa) August 30, 2024

@anxrosa added in a follow-up post that “they kept us in the stores for around 15 minutes while police officers patrolled the streets and checked everything out. they are finally letting us out but only on the ferry boat. no buses no monorails. lot of people are pretty shaken up but we haven’t been given an explanation”.

Another user said they were on an operating bus although @anxrosa said the bus stations at Magic Kingdom appeared to be blocked off with police cars, sharing another quick video from exiting the park.

from magic kingdom? they have it blocked off with police right now to my knowledge pic.twitter.com/uA687GPVKz

— D (@anxrosa) August 30, 2024

User Taylor Bybee said they have loved ones who were at the park and are safe. They also said the incident was on Main Street, U.S.A. Guests “ditched everything to hide” and Cast Members ushered many guests into usually off-limits backstage areas.

I have loved ones there (who are currently safe) and they said it’s concentrated to around Main Street, and people were getting pushed and shoved everywhere, kids crying… absolutely awful pic.twitter.com/nISOl1vp44

— Taylor Bybee (@coasterstudios) August 30, 2024

X user @niksenergyadv also said they were sent backstage at Magic Kingdom and shared a photo of half a dozen police cars in the bus loop outside the park.

you guys i’m at magic kingdom and they sent us backstage and there are lots of police. i’m scared af pic.twitter.com/MVvwc0Bj7m

— figment (SAVE MUPPETVISION * 3D) (@niksenergyadv) August 30, 2024

Monorail service from Magic Kingdom is reportedly closed but guests are allowed to leave.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office posted to X at 10:43 p.m. that there is not an active shooter situation at Magic Kingdom, and that the gun scare was instead a “popping” sound, possibly a balloon, that occurred during a fight.

ALERT: There is NO active shooter at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. A fight occurred, and a “popping” sound was heard that we believe was a balloon. Guests began running and that’s how the active shooter rumor started. There is no active shooter. pic.twitter.com/iaGo8Y5jEX

— Orange County Sheriff’s Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) August 30, 2024

We have reached out to Disney for comment on the situation but have not heard back. This is a developing story and we will share more information as it comes to light.

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The post BREAKING: Enhanced Police Presence at Magic Kingdom After Incident, Guests Report Evacuations & Stampeding appeared first on WDW News Today.

“Let’s all go to the lobby!” We’re back in Carey, Ohio (as if Ohio wasn’t scary enough) for a visit to the drive-in to see eight new horror B-movies. No, not that Bee Movie, we’re talking campy, gory concepts that serve as testing grounds for new Halloween Horror Nights concepts in Slaughter Sinema 2.

House

It’s time for another horror movie marathon at the Carey Drive-in! Scream through scenes from creature features, grindhouse gore and more.

Backstory

While a sequel to 2018’s Slaughter Sinema, the houses are only related in that they both take place at the Carey Drive-In, and they both feature a mash-up of morbid movies. You don’t need to know anything about the first house to understand this one. Trailers for each of the fake B movies are projected on the drive-in screen outside the house (once it’s dark out).

The screen also advertises snack stand treats provided by Major Sweets Candy Factory.

Review of Slaughter Sinema 2

This is a weird house to review, since it’s like eight mini-houses in one. We’ll go through each section and then the house as a whole.

1: Mardi-Gras Murders

Two lovers, recently engaged, meet a grizzly fate during a visit to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. There’s fake vomit in this room, if that bothers you. We were too busy dancing to “My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now” to care.

2: Heavy Metal Hell

Inspired by the 80s hysteria, this “movie” asks the question, “What if metal music really was Satanic?” One teen finds out in a gruesome manner. (P.S., bring your 3-D glasses). You get to walk through a corpse, which is cool.

3: Killer Kringles

“Christmas, but make it creepy” may be overdone, but old-school HHN fans will appreciate the throwbacks to H.R. Bloodengutz. This one also deserves a warning for the implied deaths of children. The bag of naughty kids moves. The elves are creepy. Santa came at us with an axe and said, “Ho-ho-hold still.” It’s exactly what you expect but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

4: Night of the Undead Clowns

This is the only actually creepy part of Slaughter Sinema 2, set in a dark, underground space. Are you afraid of zombies? How about clowns? Okay, but what about zombie clowns? These are officially the best versions of zombies HHN has done in a while. Sorry infected and walkers — you’re boring. Zombie clowns are awesome. We love the tie-in to last year’s Bugs: Eaten Alive.

5: Hatchet and Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters

We had a chance to tour Slaughter Sinema 2 before the event began, but tonight, we couldn’t remember a thing about this from the tour. And frankly, there’s not much going on here. It’s supposed to be about a pair of hunters named Hatchet and Chains who hunt demons, but one of them is actually a demon. There are a few chained-up demons in the space but they aren’t effective. We saw one hunter — we don’t know if they were Hatchet or Chains.

6: Blood and Chum

This is a winner just because of the enormous shark puppet. “Blood” glows in its teeth. Plus, the set design does lend itself to underwater vibes. But seriously. Enormous. Shark. Puppet. (Give us a “Jaws” house, please!)

Unfortunately, in our second go through the house, the shark puppet wasn’t being operated, which made the scene much less interesting.

7: Mummy Strippers Unwrapped

We love when HHN leans into classic campy horror, and this is just that. There’s also a cameo from The Mannequin Formerly Known as Tim Foyle (as seen in Case Files Unearthed: Legendary Truth from HHN 30). His eyes glow when his soul is stolen, which is a nice effect.

8: Zyborgs

This is sci-fi horror and utilizes elevation to put us in the trenches of a cyberpunk war. For a Sprung Tent location, they do well with the allotted space. It’s a good and interesting scene.

Overall

This is bound to be a hit with HHN hardcore fans and may be entertaining, at least, for newcomers or casual fans. The whole house is visually interesting with pretty costumes. It’s fun and fast-paced. The queue video is a love letter to the fans. But it’s not scary.

The best “movies” are Night of the Undead Clowns, Zyborgs, and Blood and Chum. Eight movies were too many, though. Most of them only get one tiny room. Even with low crowds, you still move too fast to connect with any characters or premises. The concepts are all there but the pacing kills it.

Rating out of 7: 4

Location of Slaughter Sinema 2

The entrance to Slaughter Sinema 2 is located in World Expo near Coca-Cola Refresh. Find it at I on the map below.

More Slaughter Sinema at Halloween Horror Nights 33

Stop by the lobby for a snack! A Carey Drive-In themed food booth is located outside the Animal Actors Amphitheater, serving Walking Tacos, Sinema Popcorn, Rocks From Hell, and more.

There’s no Slaughter Sinema-specific merchandise, but the logo is featured on the house lineup collection, which you can see in our full list with prices.

Halloween Horror Nights 33 at Universal Orlando Resort runs on select nights from August 30 – November 3. Stay tuned for our full guide to this year’s event.

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