Earthquake Shakes Disney World, Rides Suspended as 6.1 Magnitude Near Cuba Quake Hits Florida

Visitors expecting fireworks and rollercoasters at Walt Disney World instead found themselves looking around in confusion on Monday afternoon after tremors from a powerful Caribbean earthquake rippled across Florida.

For several uneasy minutes, some of the resort's biggest attractions stopped operating without warning as guests tried to work out what was happening.

Where The Earthquake Struck?

The 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck just west of Cuba shortly after 2 p.m. EST on 8 June, according to the United States Geological Survey. The quake's epicentre was located roughly 64 miles from Mantua, Cuba, at a depth of around 16 miles.

Although no tsunami warning was issued, the shaking travelled far enough to be felt across large parts of Florida, including Orlando and the Walt Disney World Resort.

Guests reported halted rides, temporary evacuations and cast members scrambling for information as safety systems appeared to trigger across multiple attractions.

One guest posting on Reddit said operations at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad suddenly stopped mid-afternoon.

'We are in line at Big Thunder Mountain and they just suspended operations. Cast member doesn't know what. So much is down around the park!'

Sudden Closures Across Magic Kingdom

My Disney Experience app showed a cluster of major attractions temporarily listed as closed at roughly the same time. Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Tiana's Bayou Adventure and TRON Lightcycle / RUN were among the rides affected.

Disney has not publicly linked the shutdowns directly to the earthquake, but large theme park attractions are equipped with automated safety systems designed to pause operations when abnormal movement or technical irregularities are detected.

By Monday evening, most rides had resumed normal operations.

At Disney's Hollywood Studios, visitors described feeling a brief but noticeable tremor during indoor shows and queue lines. One guest said the shaking began moments after the 'Beauty and the Beast' stage performance started.

'We're at Hollywood Studios. Felt it just as the Beauty and the Beast show started,' the visitor wrote online.

Another person reported that the Feature Animation building was evacuated shortly afterwards.

'Ride operations shut down for a few minutes,' the commenter added, citing a cast member's spouse.

Florida Felt The Shockwaves

The National Weather Service office in Miami confirmed that the earthquake was felt throughout much of South Florida and central Florida. Residents across Miami, Tampa and Orlando reported mild shaking, swaying furniture and rattling windows.

Earthquakes strong enough to be felt widely across Florida are relatively uncommon because the state sits far from major tectonic plate boundaries. Yet Cuba and the surrounding Caribbean region remain part of a seismically active zone shaped by the interaction between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates.

Monday's quake was not among the largest recorded in the Caribbean in recent years, but its reach caught many residents off guard precisely because Florida is not normally associated with earthquakes.

Not every Disney guest noticed the shaking. Some only became aware something unusual had happened when rides abruptly stopped, or crowds began checking their phones.

'I was eating tots in Fantasyland and didn't feel it,' one guest posted online. 'It really just depends where you are location-wise.'

Disney's attractions are engineered with extensive monitoring systems, and the temporary shutdowns suggested those safeguards activated exactly as intended.

There were no reports of injuries at Walt Disney World connected to the earthquake. Cuban authorities also did not immediately report major structural damage following the quake.