Tokyo Disneyland canceled its popular parades for the first time in its 25-year history Wednesday after a 660-pound steel pillar adorned with colorful planets tumbled from a Buzz Lightyear float.
The pillar on the float, part of its popular Disney Dreams On Parade, crashed to the ground Tuesday afternoon — just yards away from children lined up to watch the twice-daily extravaganza at the theme park.
There were screams but no injuries among visitors and the characters on the float, including Buzz, the hero from the 1995 Disney movie "Toy Story," according to the park's operator, Oriental Land Co.
But Disneyland is canceling its two daily parades while it carries out safety checks, the first time both events have been canceled since the park opened in 1983, according to Oriental Land spokesman Tsutomu Kato.
"We'd like to apologize for causing panic," Kato said.
The accident came after visitors were evacuated after a small fire broke out on the roof of the Swiss Family Tree House attraction at Disneyland last week. Nobody was injured, and firefighters extinguished the flames an hour later.
The park is investigating both accidents but doesn't yet know what caused them, according to Kato.
Disneyland, the first Disney park to be built outside of the United States, is one of two hugely popular theme parks Oriental Land operates just outside of Tokyo.
In 2007, 25.4 million people flocked to Disneyland and its sister attraction, Disneysea, both just outside the Japanese capital.