Royals Celebration Shatters Expectations in Kansas City

The crowd that flooded downtown Kansas City for a Royals' World Series championship celebration has shattered expectations.

City officials on Wednesday increased estimates of the size of the crowd at Tuesday's rally and parade to 800,000. That's about four times the number of people officials had expected.

Kansas City has a population of about 470,000, with a metropolitan area of about 2 million.

City spokesman Chris Hernandez called the festivities the largest in the history of Missouri.

Downtown businesses turned their conference rooms into parade-viewing areas. Hundreds of patients at a downtown hospital canceled appointments. And many schools closed for the day.

Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman Pam Whiting says "not a lot of work got done," although everyone was in a "fabulous mood."