A line of thunderstorms rolled over the Disneyland Resort on Friday night, October 23, and shut down most of the outdoor rides at both parks. By about 7:30 p.m., the Disneyland app listed more than 20 attractions as temporarily closed, from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Matterhorn Bobsleds to Radiator Springs Racers and the Incredicoaster across the esplanade.
Guests in the parks described a sudden, heavy downpour with thunder and lightning overhead, water pouring off rooftops and puddles spreading across the walkways. Videos of the flooding spread quickly on social media.
Which Rides Closed
One guest checking wait times from the app posted the list of rides showing as closed at that point. At Disneyland Park, it included the Disneyland Railroad, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Indiana Jones Adventure, the Adventureland Treehouse, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Alice in Wonderland, Storybook Land Canal Boats, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, King Arthur Carrousel, Mad Tea Party, “it’s a small world,” Autopia and the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.
Disney California Adventure was hit just as hard. Radiator Springs Racers, the Incredicoaster, Inside Out Emotional Whirlwind, Goofy’s Sky School, Silly Symphony Swings, Grizzly River Run, Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters and Mater’s Graveyard JamBOOree were all down too. The guest said there were more closures beyond the ones they listed.
Something going wrong at the parks? A whole lot is temporarily closed
by u/silentcmh in Disneyland
Several indoor rides kept running through the worst of it. Haunted Mansion, which is in the middle of its Haunted Mansion Holiday season, stayed open, and one guest said it was barely drizzling when they went into Space Mountain but the rain was coming off the buildings “like a waterfall” when they came out. Another guest shared a clip of the downpour starting while they waited to pick up dinner at Hungry Bear Barbecue Jamboree.
Indiana Jones Adventure had only just come back. The ride reopened Friday after a six-week refurbishment, then joined the list of closed rides that evening when the storm moved in.
What The Weather Service Saw
The National Weather Service office in San Diego put out three special weather statements covering Orange County and the Inland Empire between 6:10 and 6:57 p.m., tracking a cluster of strong thunderstorms as it moved south at about 10 miles per hour from Yorba Linda through Orange and Tustin. Anaheim was named in each one. The statements warned of wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour, brief heavy downpours that could cause minor flooding in low-lying areas with poor drainage and, in the later two, pea-size hail.
At Fullerton Municipal Airport, about five miles from the resort, the weather station logged distant lightning to the northeast from about 6 p.m., a thunderstorm overhead from 7 to 7:17 p.m., and lightning to the southeast until about 8 p.m. The sky there was clear by about 9 p.m.
Friday’s storms capped a wet week in Southern California. Forecasters had warned that an October storm could bring up to 2 inches of rain to parts of the region midweek, and guests in the parks earlier in the week reported rain Wednesday afternoon as well.
Why So Many Rides Closed At Once
Outdoor attractions are typically the first to close when lightning is in the area, and coasters, flat rides and anything with guests sitting out in the open come down first. That is why the list leaned so heavily toward Fantasyland and the coaster-heavy side of Disney California Adventure, though a few indoor rides like Indiana Jones Adventure and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh went down too.
The weekend looks much easier. The National Weather Service forecast for Anaheim calls for sunny skies Saturday with a high near 78 degrees, and sun again Sunday with a high near 81.
If you are heading to the parks during a storm, keep the Disneyland app open, since that is where closures show up first. Indoor rides like Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean and Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! are your best bet until the lightning clears.
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