So, this last Friday, I spent my day over at the California Resort largely to see the first

two shows of the revamped Fantasmic. Just over a year ago on April 22nd, 2023, that massive

animatronic of the dragon, nicknamed Murphy, central to the show's finale, caught on fire and

slowly burned to the ground, also destroying

the main drop pit and some other show elements that were stored there. In our May 23 news update,

we took a detailed moment-by-moment look at how the fire started and spread, as well as how

the heat caused various failures in the animatronic and

fire delivery systems. Though there were no public reports released on the incident, after the

fire a number of things likely happened. First, there was all that cleanup. The charred steel

skeleton of the dragon wouldn't retract back into the subterranean pit,

so a scrim was placed around it as piece by piece it was removed.

Beyond this, there was surely an extensive fire investigation,

an OSHA investigation, as a few cast members were treated for a smoke inhalation,

and an internal investigation largely to determine cause,

establish safety of using fire effects in the future, and likely to revise existing protocols

for using those effects. Beyond this, there was likely an insurance investigation,

as insurance money was almost surely claimed for an incident of the size.

I bring these up partially to account for the year that the show was down. Serious work on the

revised scenes I've been told did not begin until last September, seven months after Murphy burned

down. That brings us up to last Friday night.

If you've ever been to a ride show or even a large restaurant opening at the Florida resort,

you know that it's often a crush of people filling the park for a new experience.

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