Thousands of guests at Disney California Adventure Park were caught off guard earlier this month when the second Disneyland Resort theme park suddenly announced it was closing earlier than expected.
Disneyland Resort provides set operating hours for Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park weeks in advance. Guests can check these hours ahead of time on the official Disneyland Resort website or the park’s app. The posted hours are typically reliable, and major changes are rare, unless there is a special event or extenuating circumstances. Many Disney Parks fans, particularly Magic Key holders, plan their visits based on these schedules, hoping to make the most of their time at the park, especially in the evening hours.
However, earlier this month, Disneyland Resort made an unexpected announcement that caught guests by surprise. The announcement over the park’s PA system informed guests that Disney California Adventure Park would close at 8:00 p.m., two hours earlier than the posted closing time of 10:00 p.m. Naturally, this announcement shocked many guests who had planned to stay until the later hour.
One Disney Park guest, who shared their experience on Reddit on July 2, questioned whether the early closure was a mistake.
“Did anybody that hear the park closed message at DCA at 8pm just now?” the guest asked. “A few cast members were confused about it considering the app shows as closing at 10pm. A VIP tour guide walked by and said ‘Somebody hit the wrong button!’”
The confusion was compounded by the fact that Disneyland Resort did not issue a follow-up announcement to clarify that the park was still open until 10:00 p.m. The initial announcement likely led many families to leave the park early, believing they had lost valuable time.
“I’m surprised they didn’t make a correction announcement,” the Redditor concluded.
It turns out that the Disney California Adventure Park closing message was a pre-recorded message that is usually played at the park’s regular closing time, not a live update. The message was sent too early, causing unnecessary confusion.
“Yes we were in Cars Land waiting for the sunset sha-boom and everyone was like what?!” Reddit user u/DisneylandPlan commented.
“Yeah it was sent too early and was a mistake,” u/rosariobono added.
Despite the confusion and lack of clarification from Disneyland Resort, Disney California Adventure Park did remain open until its originally scheduled closing time of 10:00 p.m. Guests were simply left unaware of the continued operating hours due to the premature announcement.
Have you experienced any surprises at Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park? Disney Fanatic would love to hear from you in the comments!
