Disneyland’s Toontown evacuated after explosion

A small explosion from an apparent dry ice “bomb” at Disneyland’s Toontown on Tuesday afternoon forced officials to evacuate people from the popular area, law enforcement authorities said.

No injuries were reported from the blast, which rocked the theme park about 5:30 p.m., the Anaheim Police Department said. Toontown, a popular area for families with small children, was reopened about two hours later, police said.

The dry ice appeared to have been placed in a plastic bottle that was left in a trash can and the explosion was confined to the can, police said.

The device appeared similar to other devices that have exploded in Anaheim neighborhoods in recent months, Sgt. Bob Dunn said.

“Unfortunately,” Dunn told The Times, “it’s an all-too-common occurrence.”

He said police were investigating whether there was any connection between those explosions and the blast at Toontown. Investigators planned to review video surveillance footage and examine Internet postings and social media to try to find out who was responsible, Dunn said.

Disneyland said on its Twitter account that Toontown was evacuated “in an abundance of caution.”

Vistors to Disneyland said Tuesday night that they were shocked that someone would leave an explosive device at the popular family destination, which bills itself as “The Happiest Place on Earth.”

“You wouldn’t expect situations like that coming to a place like this. That is crazy, that’s wild,” said West Covina resident Jonathan Rosario, who was at the park with a toddler as music to “It’s a Small World” echoed in the background. “It reminds us we all need to do our part to be safe.”

Shortly before Toontown closed for fireworks at 8:30 p.m., Cristina Garcia of Napa was still shopping for Minnie shoes for her daughter, Brianna. “I wish there were a way to control stuff like that,” she said of the explosion. “When you have kids you want it to always be safe.”

Her husband, Hugo Garcia, added that “it might be good to have more security in times like this. We want Disneyland to keep its good reputation.”

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Times staff writer Robert Lopez contributed to this report.