Woman arrested for taking loaded gun to Disney park

Park visitor had 9mm firearm hidden in her bag

The entrance to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World (AP Photo/John Raoux)

A woman was arrested after taking a concealed weapon to a theme park.

Marcia Temple, 27, was found with a loaded gun in her bag while visiting Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Florida, on 8 October.

The 9mm firearm, which was loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition including one in the chamber, was “readily accessible”, according to Deputy Sheriff Nadia Engwall, reports USA Today.

Temple was visiting the park with children at the time of her arrest, according to the police report.

The weapon was discovered when Temple was seen hiding her bag behind a plant pot before going through metal detectors at the Disney Ticket and Transportation Center, a major transportation hub at Walt Disney World.

According to the report, a hospital worker who was taking visitors’ temperatures as they arrived saw Temple deposit the bag before going through security, and informed park staff.

The incident was then reported to local police.

Temple was charged with Carrying a Concealed Firearm after it was found she didn’t have a concealed weapons permit for either her home state of Georgia or the state of Florida.  

She has also been banned from returning to all Walt Disney World facilities.

“Our rules are clear. Weapons are not allowed at our resort,” a Disney spokeswoman told the Orlando Sentinel.

The Independent has contacted Disney for further comment.

It follows the news that Disney is expected to lay off 28,000 of its employees across its parks, experiences and consumer products divisions, citing difficulties operating the company’s theme parks with prolonged coronavirus-related closures and limited openings.

The company’s head of parks Josh D’Amaro wrote a letter to Disney’s employees to announce “difficult decisions” to reduce the size of its staff across executive, salaried and hourly roles as it approaches the end of its fiscal quarter after billions of dollars in revenue downturns in 2020.

“We initially hoped that this situation would be short-lived, and that we would recover quickly and return to normal,” he wrote “Seven months later, we find that has not been the case.”