On December 21, 2023, many guests reported seeing increased police presence in and around the Disneyland Hotel; the police department issued a statement providing clarification on the events.

While both the Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort are agreed upon to be places of magic and wonder, there are occasionally times when we have news of a more serious nature to report.

On Thursday, December 21, guests reported that they had seen much more increased police presence around Disneyland Hotel, but at the time, no one had answers to why this was the case. Anaheim police officers responded to the situation with their guns drawn, which certainly left many guests wondering what had prompted such a response.

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Anaheim Police Explains Their Presence at the Disneyland Hotel

As it turns out, Anaheim PD had received a hoax call-in about an active shooter in the area and had gone to investigate the claims. Here’s what happened.

Taking to social media, the Anaheim Police shared their account of what happened on the evening of December 21. The post explains,

Tonight, at approximately 6:10 p.m., Anaheim Police Department Officers received a report of an active shooter at or near the Disneyland Hotel prompting a significant police response. Responding Officers quickly determined the report was a hoax. Officers thoroughly checked the area and did not locate any evidence a shooting occurred.

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A post shared by Anaheim Police Department (@anaheimpd)

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In addition, the Anaheim PD also determined that the Disneyland Hotel and the Disneyland Resort had no further threats, though they added, “There will be an increased police presence at the Disneyland Resort and surrounding area throughout the evening.”

The Fantasy Tower of the hotel was reportedly the primary affected area.

As reported by Deadline, “The Fantasy Tower of the Disneyland Hotel was evacuated, according to Disneyland officials.” At the time of the event, Disney Scoop Matt reported on X, formerly known as Twitter, “A bunch of cops are walking around with big guns and we just heard a police dog barking aggressively. They’re not even letting cast members up to the hotel.”

As of the publishing of this article, all is well at the Southern California Disney resort, and no injuries were reported due to this hoax.

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